Fascinating Five: What's fascinated us in July
BCB London debuts
We attended the London debut of this iconic drinks trade show in July and fair to say it was a hothouse of passion and a cauldron of creativity – 100s of brilliant brands, some with fascinating brand worlds on display. Observations? We’d say No & Low are flying and defying (no global drinking slumps forecast here). Irish whiskey continues to craic the whip. Hyper local ingredient sourcing is picking up. Agave spirits are mezcalating (sorry) in popularity. And premiumisation, of liqueurs, cocktails & experiences, continues to glow up... To savour more insights, dive deeper.
One giant leap for fashion
How’s this for a cosmic collab? Prada, the Italian fashion house, has partnered with Axiom Space to create the new space suits for NASA’s upcoming Artemis III lunar mission. That’s what we call an innovative brand (out of this) world!
The project (launching in 2027) is the first crewed Moon landing since December 1972, when the Apollo 17 mission ended, and demonstrates the pioneering ethos of all three organisations, adding something unique to their brand worlds. Prada get to flex their ‘innovative tradition’ and ‘beyond boundaries’ values, allowing function to lead form. Axiom continue their next-gen attitude to making space travel accessible to everyone. And NASA get a suit with a 5(trillion) star rating and keeps their brand up-to-date and relevant. Milan to the moon indeed.
Dining gets immersive
Whatever happened to dinner and a show? Now it seems we’ve all gone mad for dinner with a show as the trend for immersive dining experiences continues. This is brand world heaven, building the strongest of emotional connections with an engaged audience. Good opps for relevant drinks brands? We’ve found two of the best…
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience
Inspired by the iconic TV comedy series in the 1970s (often touted as Britain’s greatest). Set in a fictional ramshackle hotel in Torquay, diners are served in a giant dining room while all comedic hell breaks loose around them.
Set in the 1920s, this combines fine dining and a Poirot-style murder mystery. With plenty of cocktails and scandal, this stylish and immersive experience is set and served on an opulent train!
DBAs aren’t a thorny issue
We enjoyed seeing NIKE’s epic PR stunt during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. To build hype around the Dutch national team, they created a new strain of tulip complete with thorns! Named Oranje Fatalis (Oranje = orange / Fatalis = deadly), it was a twist on tradition – turning soft into sharp; beautiful into dangerous – something to admire into something to fear. Just like the female footballers on the field. It’s a super inspiring example of the power of colour and proof that a distinctive brand asset (DBA) doesn’t have to be a logo within your brand world.
Consistency = brilliancy
Amongst the glitz, glamour and yacht-based shenanigans, something fascinating came out of Cannes Lions this year. System 1, the marketing effectiveness ninjas, gave a talk on The Power of Compound Creativity. And the data was riveting. To summarise crudely, products that showcase a consistent brand world are proven to outperform their competitors in just about every metric, from effectiveness to recall and salience to sales. Proof that creativity and consistency are not enemies – they are multipliers. Something we’ve been championing for years. Bravo!
We hope you were as fascinated as we were!
Want to share a brand world story? Get in touch hello@purplecreative.co.uk
Until next month’s Fascinating Five…