Brigadoon Weekend | March 5, 2022
Brigadoon Weekend curates ten emerging issues shaping commerce + culture so you can make intelligent + innovative decisions.
ONE
European Space Agency claims joint Russian Mars rover won't launch this year.
A joint Russian-European mission to Mars will likely be delayed in light of new sanctions against Russia and the country's ongoing assault on Ukraine.
Known as ExoMars, the mission entails sending a series of robotic spacecraft to Mars, culminating in the launch of a robotic rover to explore the Red Planet's surface.
The European Space Agency and Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos have worked together on the program for the last decade.
The rover was initially supposed to launch as early as 2018 but was pushed back because the equipment wasn't ready in time.
Look for the mission, if it ever happens at all, to be delayed until 2024, when Earth and Mars are closest together on their orbits around the Sun again.
TWO
Europe gets about 40% of its natural-gas imports from Russia.
Europe's reliance on imported natural gas from Russia has again been thrown into sharp relief by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
According to the IEA, the European Union could reduce its imports of Russian natural gas by more than one-third within a year through a combination of measures that would be consistent with the European Green Deal and support energy security and affordability.
Look for the European Union to make significant policy moves to limit Russia's use of its natural gas as an economic and political weapon.
THREE
People are booking Airbnbs in Ukraine without the intention of using the space.
Curbed reports that as people outside Ukraine search for ways to support those trapped by the current crisis, an odd trend has emerged: booking Airbnb rentals in the country without intending to stay there.
The Guardian reports that Airbnb is waiving its fees in Ukraine, and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tweeted out the trend, framing the donations as an effort to help "Hosts."
Look for the rise of "ghost" service transactions as a quick tool to send money and support for future natural disasters and war-torn regions.
FOUR
Obama to keynote misinformation event.
Axios reports that former President Barack Obama will give the keynote on April 21 at a forum on disinformation at the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Look for more political, business, and civic leaders to address the spread of disinformation now burgeoning in the United States and abroad.
FIVE
UN moves towards a historic plastic treaty.
The United Nations took the first step towards a historic plastic treaty with the formal launch of negotiations to address a plastic trash epidemic.
The amount of plastic trash entering the oceans is forecast to triple by 2040, and governments have been under pressure to unite behind a global response to the crisis.
According to sources close to the negotiations, AFP reports that the framework for a comprehensive treaty has been approved by UN member states, including significant plastic producers like the US and China.
Look for treaty negotiators to consider new rules that target plastic pollution from its birth as a raw material to its design, use, and safe disposal.
SIX
Netflix names the company's fourth marketing chief in just three years.
Former Spotify executive Marian Lee replaces Bozoma Saint John as Netflix CMO.
Saint John first joined the streamer in 2020 after holding executive roles at Uber and Apple. Lee arrived at Netflix in July 2021 as VP of marketing in the US and Canada.
The average tenure for CMOs is 43 months.
CMOs more likely to move up and out of positions between 30 and 45 months, according to a report by Winmo provided to Marketing Dive.
CMO tenure is less than half that of a CEO, which averages 7.2 years compared to a CMO's 3.6 years.
Look for the tenures of chief marketing officers to continue to shrink as companies face growing global and disruptive competition.
SEVEN
NFT sales continue to slide.
NFT daily sales have been down 83% since January 31, and the selling price of NFTs has dropped to below $2,000, according to NonFungible data.
Bloomberg reports Nonfungible tokens -- most often digital art such as cartoonish-looking apes and penguins -- saw their daily average price last year go from $128 to nearly $4,000, according to NonFungible. OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace, recorded its best month ever in January.
Since then, prices have steadily retreated as concern about easing pandemic era stimulus, and geopolitical tensions weighed on the entire crypto market. The decline has only accelerated since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Look for further price declines due to the likelihood of increased regulation as the US Securities and Exchange Commission is scrutinizing creators of NFTs.
EIGHT
TikTok goes longer.
TikTok now lets users upload videos as long as 10 minutes in a challenge to YouTube.
TikTok, owned by ByteDance in China, launched with a one-minute limit on uploaded videos but bumped the cap to three minutes last year.
As TikTok evolves into longer-form videos, look for YouTube and Instagram to expand their use of short-form videos.
NINE
Chevron raises clean energy bet.
Chevron announced its intention to acquire Renewable Energy Group, an Iowa-based manufacturer of renewable fuels, for $3.15 billion.
REG, which is known for making sustainable biodiesel fuel out of byproducts such as animal fat and corn oil, will remain in Ames, Iowa, as a branch of Chevron after the merger.
Major oil firms are facing increasing pressure from governments and investors to shrink their carbon footprint and join the fight against climate change, given their extensive contributions to global emissions.
Look for US refiners to take advantage of increased state and federal subsidies to decarbonize their fuels with renewable diesel production.
TEN
Ligue 1 is the next major league to sell a stake to private equity.
Front Office Sports reports France's top soccer league is taking bids for shares in a new entity that would hold its media rights business.
The league is looking to raise $1.7 billion through the investment and reportedly asking bidders how large a stake they seek for that amount, rather than how much they would like to invest price-wise.
In March 2021, France's National Assembly voted in favor of a bill to allow professional sports leagues to create a commercial entity and sell a stake to external investors.
Look for European sports leagues to seek foreign direct investment with rules ensuring that leagues maintain control of any entity's voting and economic rights.
Look for more athletes to embrace the knowledge that bodies need to adjust based on environments and altitudes, focusing on how athletes should eat and hydrate in unfamiliar conditions.
