When electric bikes run out of charge their batteries need to be replaced. Lime cut their battery costs in half by moving from fixed batteries to swappable batteries, so employees could charge bikes there and then, rather than having to drive them back to the warehouse to charge overnight.
All Threads
Hard Numbers, a PR company, claims that bosses of unicorns – start-ups worth $1 billion – who post regularly on LinkedIn and have lots of followers are more successful at raising money. But does one really lead to another? Or is the more likely case that successful business owners end up attracting lots of followers?
Don’t underestimate his influence. When Messi joined Inter Miami FC; subscriptions to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+ more than doubled; retailer Fanatics reported that Messi’s jersey was the top seller all sports; ticket prices skyrocketed by more than 1,700% on resale sites.
An ad at the Superbowl is famously expensive – $7 million for 30 seconds – so water brand Liquid Death used this to their advantage. Instead of paying for airtime themselves, they allowed brands to bid to advertise on packages of Liquid Death, which are seen in store by 200 million+ people per week. A great way of zigging when others zag, and making the most out of existing media.
London taxis must have a turning circle not greater than 8.535 m (28 ft). Why? To be able to navigate the small roundabout outside the Savoy Hotel.
The London Underground Map says the quickest route from Lancaster Gate to Paddington is to travel two stops, change lines, and travel two more. As anyone familiar with the area knows, it’s much quicker to ditch the Tube and walk – the 500 metre journey between the stations takes seven minutes.
Harry Beck, the creator of the iconic tube map, was inspired by his training as an electrical engineer. He knew that circuit diagrams don’t need to show actual locations of components, just where they are in relation to each other – and he applied this to the London Underground map.
Forget the link between loneliness and the elderly – it’s highest among those in their 20s. It’s an odd finding, given this age group is more likely to have see friends, families and colleagues. But perhaps physical contact doesn’t guarantee emotional fulfillment. As writer David Robson points out, it’s perfectly possible to be living in a large household without feeling any of those people understand you.
What’s the best way to recruit British soldiers in World War I? Appeal to authority. The iconic poster used none other than Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, to motivate the public to volunteer.
Louis Vuitton is one of few brands that never discounts products. “Items advertised as discounted on the Web are invariably fake,” it states online. This is a smart decision for the luxury brand, which realises that doing so retains the value of the products while sending the confident message that the original price is exactly as it should be.
Or is it Google?
The saying comes from a 1950s advertising slogan for Jubbly, an orange-flavoured soft drink. An early example of a distinctive brand asset.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler has single handedly changed darts. His 2023 World Championship final was the highest viewed non-football programme in the history of Sky Sports. For the Premier League Darts, which Littler joined via a guest invitation, there were 125,000 ticket sales on the first day – usually, they sell 60,000 in the first week.
Gone are the days when luxury bags flaunt a giant logo. The Row is one of the trendsetting brands that, according to the founders, shows how something made “beautifully, in great fabric, with good fit, can sell without a logo or a name on it.”
Rolls Royce reported a £5.4 billion loss in the first half of 2020. Like many luxury car brands, the pandemic had wiped out demand – but it proved to be temporary. In 2023 it delivered more cars than any other year in its history, and its share price was up by 150% compared to before the pandemic.