We’re living longer and having less babies, which is forcing governments to rethink retirement. Denmark just raised the pension bar to 70, while Germany’s pitching retirement pots for kids as young as six. With German parents being 15% more likely to say their kids have a bank account than average, the groundwork's already there.
Scroll down to read about American tourism, AI ads, and affluent consumers.
Stats to power your week
🧳 Reddit’s travel sages urge globetrotters to let their tourist dollars do the talking, and Canadians are practically shouting. Since the US election, the share of Canadian vacationers planning to visit the US has dropped from 49% to 39%. GWI Travel
🎮 82% of Switch users are planning to or have already bought the Switch 2, a sign Nintendo’s doing something right. Though, most aren’t in any rush; around half expect to wait at least 7 months before checking out. It’s a reminder that week-one sales figures are just a sneak peek at a console’s overall performance. GWI Zeitgeist
🪖 Several NATO allies are set to back to a Trump-inspired pledge to spend 5% of their nation’s budget on defence. Unfortunately, just 27% of Europeans would support their government increasing national debt to boost defence spending, so its leaders will need a well-shielded case to sway skeptics. GWI Zeitgeist
🚗 Demand and investment don’t always go hand-in-hand. There’s been a 44% rise in Americans saying they use car-sharing services weekly since 2023. Meanwhile, brands like Gig Car Share and Getaround continue to exit the US market. Maybe Turo and Uber will find a way to make the model profitable. GWI Automotive
What’s on our radar
Past hits are seeing a second lease of life; Phineas and Ferb, an animated comedy that aired in 2007, is making a comeback on Disney+. And TikTok’s fueling a Noughties binge, with people revisiting old series’ from Vampire Diaries to Skins.
More people are joining the US military, while the nation’s manufacturing jobs stay understaffed. Changing work patterns are a big contributor to the global trend of gender and age polarization, which doesn’t seem to be getting any better in South Korea or Poland.
Launching podcasts on YouTube has led to “explosive results” for The Rest Is Politics producer Goalhanger, in terms of both audience and revenue. Meanwhile, leading podcasters in Kenya are now outperforming major broadcasters on YouTube.
While weight loss drugs may be the main reason obesity is finally dropping in the US, their side effects could slow down the boom. Women using these jabs have been warned after dozens report surprise pregnancies, as some male users experience a very different change.
We’re at an interesting point with AI adoption; it’s becoming clearer where the technology offers relative advantage. In productivity terms, a new PwC report finds industries most exposed to it are recording big productivity gains, and a landmark government trial shows AI could save UK civil servants nearly 2 weeks a year. Meanwhile, a noted software developer is going all-in on AI’s potential, while another is pushing back on the skeptics.
Similar conversations are happening about AI in film. New York magazine makes the bold claim that everyone’s already using it (and hiding it), with the late David Lynch reportedly having said the tech is a tool like any other. Elsewhere, Black Swan director Darren Areonofsky is championing its capabilities, though one writer makes the intriguing comparison between generative AI and polyester - an amazing technology that sparks backlash through overuse in the long-run.
After the release of Google’s Veo 3, there’s more experiments with AI-generated video ads. One credit card company is claiming to have made the first fully AI TV commercial, though Indian marketers have also been experimenting.
Organic pet food? That's cute. There’s a new status symbol trotting round the block. Fi’s AI-powered dog collar lets you monitor pets’ behavior via an Apple Watch.
Chart of the week
Are you rich? It’s a direct question (sorry!) and a difficult one to answer - most of us spend our time comparing ourselves with the people immediately above us, so we probably don’t recognize our wealth and privilege enough.
But perhaps with data, we can settle this debate somewhat. If we calculate the average income of people who describe themselves as affluent, we can put a line in the sand to say: if you’re above this, you’re probably well-off.
Here, we’ve used the UK as an example. In London, feeling rich calls for an annual household income of about £80k, and around £275k in savings or investments. In Wales, the figures are £54k and £143k, respectively. Applying a regional lens unlocks further insights - for example, Southern UK consumers in this group are the most incentivized by loyalty points when it comes to buying online, while those in Scotland are the most motivated by eco-friendly options.
🔥Hot take
Punchy perspectives, with data that nudges the narrative
“Support for immigration doesn’t just come from the liberal elite”
Say “pro-immigration” and some people picture a kind of “tofu-eating wokerati”: liberals (usually women) on a college campus waving rainbow flags. But the data paints a different one.
Men are more likely to think immigration is good for their country in 93% of the markets we survey. Even when it comes to education and political stance, there’s a lot of variation. In APAC, people with a secondary education are more likely to be pro-immigration than those with a degree. And in Denmark, it was the left (not the far right) that made hardline immigration laws.
Why might this be? Male migrants (just) outnumber female ones, so some of it might come down to lived experience. And some research suggests women feel their employment prospects are more vulnerable to competition from overseas. In any case - support, and resistance, toward controversial issues turns up in unexpected places, so you can’t rely on demographic assumptions.
.png?upscale=true&width=1180&upscale=true&name=Retail%20report_OTD%20(1).png)
