"Do you really need the newest thing? "That’s the real question, according to Joy Howard, our brilliant CMO at Back Market. When talking about our new global marketing campaign, Joy dropped some thought-provoking insights that are bound to challenge the tech industry's status quo. A few highlights: ???? "The only disruption worth pursuing now is for the planet." ???? "Not upgrade again but downgrade now." ???? "Those new smartphones are just as good as the old ones for what you do every day!" At Back Market, we’re pushing back against the relentless cycle of upgrades. As Joy pointed out, for 99% of us, the real innovation happened over a decade ago! It’s time to stop seeing new features as life-changing and start looking at tech through a more holistic lens—cost, daily use, longevity, and environmental impact. ?? The good news? The EU Green Claims Directive (coming in 2026) will put an end to planned obsolescence and force tech companies to be more transparent. From mandatory product lifespans to repairability, this is the shake-up we’ve all been waiting for. The future of tech is refurbished ?? ??
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"The real question is do you actually need the newest thing?" A truly brilliant speech from Joy Howard, the CMO at Back Market talking about their new global marketing campaign where she came out with some blinding quotes (link in comments). Here are a few to give you a taste: "The only disruption worth pursuing now is for the planet." "Not upgrade again but downgrade now" "Those new smartphones are just as good as the old ones at doing what you do every single day!" Back Market is challenging the tech world to stop driving customers to buy the latest most up-to-date model as though it will be life-changing. As she said, the peak of innovation for 99% of the new products coming onto the market today, happened over a decade ago! She also said that we as the public need to start seeing tech products not just as a list of upgraded functions but holistically look at how much it costs, how many of the functions we use daily and for how long, and decipher whether that would mean more to us than an older phone that in theory does almost the same thing for half the price and is better for the planet! The one positive thing that we need to be kept reminded of is that the EU Green Claims Directive coming into fruition in 2026 will prevent tech companies from building products that have planned obsolescence built in, driving software updates through that slow down the functioning of products to make you buy another and that can't be repaired. They also need to communicate at POS how long the product should last. I can feel those tech companies quaking! Posted from my four-year-old Fairphone that is still going strong! #backmarket #refurbished #tech #marketing #advertising