Unwrapping the rise of luxury advent calendars
Raconteur | B Corp?
Stories that connect modern business. Certified B Corporation. PPA Business Media Brand of the Year 2022.
It started as a fun DIY project. Back in 2014, PR worker Annem Hobson noticed there were plenty of chocolate advent calendars but none for cheese lovers like her. So she made her own version out of cardboard and supermarket cheese and wrote about it on her food blog. To her surprise, the post quickly went viral and was picked up by international media.
“It just seemed to really capture people’s imagination,” Hobson says with a laugh. “Advent calendars have always had an emotional pull… plus, people just really love?cheese.”?
Realising she was on to something, she spent the next?Christmas?making a website, whipping up customer interest and contacting suppliers. After linking up with cheese manufacturer Ilchester,?the calendar, which contains 24 individually wrapped cheeses, became a huge success, selling more than 1.3 million to date and spawning a host of?copycats.?
From socks to sriracha, it seems almost every brand has hopped on the advent calendar bandwagon. Clara Murray takes a look at whether the Christmas craze can continue forever. Read more.
Will ‘moral burnout’ become the next workplace epidemic?
The concept of moral burnout may be new to most people, but it is thought to be behind some of the most significant workplace trends of recent times, such as the so-called great resignation.
It manifests itself after someone has sustained a moral injury, generally over a prolonged period. A moral injury is a cognitive and emotional response that occurs when they undertake, witness and/or fail to prevent behaviour that violates their personal?values.
Wellbeing experts believe that this contagious condition could be fuelling harmful trends such as quiet quitting – and they don’t expect the number of cases to fall any time soon. Read more.
领英推荐
2022 in review – business milestones mark a year of pain and?gain
Amid ongoing social, political and economic upheaval, big business has managed to hit some major financial highs – and lows – in?2022.?
In January,?Apple became the first company?to reach a stock market value of $3tn (￡2.5tn). October marked one year since?Facebook rebranded as Meta?and presented its vision for the metaverse. And, after a lot of back and forth, Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was finally confirmed.?
While the tech industry notably recorded significant mergers and acquisitions, companies in other sectors were forced to close their doors for good. Francesca Cassidy looks back at this year's major business milestones. Read more.
More from the business world
If you haven’t already,?don't forget to subscribe?to receive our weekly rundown of the trends transforming the business world.