Lexus, a Japanese automaker, has promoted its new car model, ES Self-Charging Hybrid, through “emotionally intelligent advertisement.” The brand has launched its campaign named Feel Your Best by collaborating with The&Partnership and MorphCast. It uses facial expressions of the viewers to read and adapt to viewers’ emotions as they watch the video. The ads change the music, colour and intensity in real-time after a camera assesses the emotional state. They offer montage for a total of 3,125 possible combinations. The campaign also involves elements like social media placements, TV spots, and OOH. Read more from Marketingdive

The kinetics’ Reflex wearable device has reduced the lost work time of PepsiCo Frito-Lay employees by 67% in the first two quarters. This is the reason why PepsiCo has deployed wearable technology into its beverage division as well. The wearable device has reduced strain and sprain injuries among Frito-Lay employees by 19%. Plus, it alerts employees when they bend or twist in improper posture. Under a four-year program, PepsiCo Beverages plans to deploy thousands of kinetic wearable devices to avoid injuries and sprains. Read more from Fooddive

PepsiCo Inc. is establishing its digital hubs in Dallas and Barcelo. These hubs would promote and advance the company’s AI, machine learning and predictive analytics models. The Dallas hub would manage PepsiCo Foods North America and PepsiCo Beverages North America. The European hub would serve as PepsiCo Center of Excellence for Global Digitalization priority programs. These hubs would provide 500 job opportunities. The Digital Hubs aim to improve customer access and inventory data. Plus, they would offer decision-making tools to employees so that they deal with complex matters with efficiency. Read more from Foodbusinessnews

InnovoPro, an Israel-based food technology firm, has introduced the world’s first textured vegetable protein made from chickpeas. The chickpea-based textured protein would be gluten-free, allergen-free, and soy-free. InnovoPro claims that the tasty, textured protein can be utilized to make healthier plant-based meat recipes. The company says that the product has an “unmatched neutral taste and fibrous texture similar to real meat.” This delicious protein alternative has also been selected by Switzerland’s largest retail company Migros. Read more from Fooddive

One of the biggest names in credit cards, Mastercard, is planning to launch its buy now-pay later service. This service would allow consumers to buy a product and then pay online or in-stores in four installments with no interest fees. The company plans to launch this service in the coming year and has teamed up with big names in payment industry like Payment Processor FIS, Card Issuer Synchrony, Banking Behemoth Barclays and Modern Card Company Marqeta. Initially, the company plans to launch the service for consumers in Australia, US and UK. Later on this service would entertain global consumers of Mastercard.

Etsy has expanded its augmented reality services and roll out The Etsy House. Etsy house provides consumers with an opportunity to experience the first interactive virtual shopping house, furnished with products like gifts, Etsy Design Award-Winning Items, furniture, and art pieces. The Etsy House offers consumers true-to-scale renderings and a 360-degree view of the house. In case consumers like an item from the house, they can purchase it using the online link. The digitally creative Etsy House is established in partnership with The Boundary, which is a creative visualization studio.

TikTok has partnered with Square, a digital payment firm, to increase sales and help sellers find new consumers. With the help of this partnership, sellers can attract consumers to their stores via TikTok ads, videos, and integrated shopping units on consumer’s profiles. TikTok Ads Manager allows sellers to run their ads. Additionally, consumers can buy the products directly from the video through online links, which would boost seller’s sales.

In the present era, beauty brands test cosmetics using virtual technology. Therefore, Perfect Corp. has launched its YouCam tutorials that help brands create interactive beauty sessions with audience. These tutorials help consumers learn the techniques involved in the application of makeup. YouCam tutorials utilize AI, interactive text, and augmented reality visuals portrayed on clients’ faces to educate them. Besides this, the tutorials involve e-commerce capabilities through which consumers can buy the products used in the tutorial with one click. This new tool was debuted by Perfect Corp. in partnership with The Nolcha Show during New York Fashion Week from 12 to 14 September.

Technology is revolutionizing the Food Industry by producing eggs, meat, and dairy items without animals. Consumers are keen to know how these healthier food alternatives are being manufactured by the companies. Companies now carefully communicate their content across customers. Change Food’s mantra “the magic of microbes” explains how they manufacture cheese products via precision fermentation. Good Meat briefly elaborates how the company produces cell-based meat by selecting cells and natural scaffolding. Nature’s Fynd states its food to be the “food for optimists” and explains how the brand uses biomass fermentation to produce meat and dairy items.

Dirt kitchen plans to launch a technologically made snack bar, that would combine ingredients without any added sugar. Torr FoodTech has developed this technology that uses mechanical pressure and ultrasound energy to produce a snack bar. This bar is multi-textured and tastes exactly like a typical bar. These snack bars would add variety to the company’s snack profile and attract customers who look for healthier food alternatives. The company plans to launch these snack bars in four flavours using a creative mix of fruits, vegetables and spices.

58% of consumers want weekly SMS alerts from brands. Six brands have used this technique to achieve their respective aims. 1, Supergoop 2, Rainbow 3, ABH partnered with Attentive and launched “two-tap” sign-up at their mobile websites. This increased Supergoop sales up to 167%, Rainbow’s CTR up to 78%, and ABH subscribers up to 250%. 4, Dolce Volta sent six SMS to customers reminding them to shop during the sale season and generated 58% revenue. 5, Groove life wanted two-way conversational SMS for St. Patrick’s day campaign. They launched sign up units and promoted their St. Patrick scavenger hunt gaining 6000 new subscribers. 6, Pura Vida communicated with their subscribers via SMS and their subscription list grew by 411%.

Innovations in AI have reshaped the packaging industry. With less or zero human input, programmed AI would be able to create 3D packaging prototypes. AI would prevent downtime by self-assessing the machines and timely identifying the problems. AI can not only customise packaging but help visualise packaging products via algorithms. Consumers would be able to reorder groceries with the help of FRID Tags or QR codes. The augmented and virtual reality handsets would enable them to look inside the closed packages. Companies would be able to maintain sustainability with AI-driven optimisations and keen tracking systems. Read more from Packagingstrategies

Digital sampling is reshaping the beauty industry as sampling is a crucial step while purchasing beauty products. Due to the inclination towards personalization, members of Samplicity, a beauty sampling platform, allows sharing their data, so they receive specific market information. Brands benefit from this personalization as it helps them figure out subjective customer demands and provide them with the content they need. As per the Loreal Annual Report 2020, online sales of beauty products increased up to 40% as the feedbacks generated by offline sampling helped brands tremendously. Read more from Cosmeticsdesign