Buonasera from Merano!
Two smart little marketing ideas I liked this week.
The first is a bar in Tokyo where drinks are free — but only if you’re thinking about quitting your job. (Such a bar should exist in every city.)
You walk in, admit the thought has crossed your mind, get a drink, and talk to a career consultant. It’s run by a recruitment agency, so yes, there’s an agenda. Still genius 🙂
The second landed in my own inbox. An app called Sublime emailed people who had almost upgraded, offered them a discount code — and promised to mail them a real pair of socks if they went through with it. Their angle: cold feet are normal.
And it worked: Apparently, ~10% of the people who received it used the code and requested socks.
Both ideas worked for the same reason: they wrap the transaction in something more human and - like always - the best marketing ideas tend to feel least like marketing.
(I'll definitely steal the socks one at some point.)
Anyway — If you’re new around here: Every week, I share 5 of the nicest products from Europe I’ve discovered in the past 7 days.
I scout, you explore.
With love 🌞
Jakob
P.S.: Missed the last edition? The Ptolomeo book stand by Opinion Ciatti was the most-clicked product.
© Oros
Cloche Fumoir 🇫🇷 Not something you'd use every week
A table smoker by French brand OROS. Realistically, you'd only reach for it a few times a year — but for the dinner where you want to make an impression, it does the work. Butter, cheese, fish, vegetables. Add smoke, wait a bit. Ta-daah.
© Marset
Chispa 🇪🇸 A garage lamp with nowhere to be
Designed by Joan Gaspar for Barcelona-based Marset, the Chispa is portable, rechargeable, and waterproof enough for life outdoors. It runs up to 7 hours on full brightness and 28 on low, has three dimmer settings, and a hook so you can hang it from a pergola, branch, or wherever dinner ends up happening. I’d get it in orange.
© Jochen Lavéno Mangelsdorff Studio & Objects
Spegla Wall Edition 🇸🇪 A mirror until the candle says otherwise
In edition #78 I featured the Flare 40 (most-clicked back then) — a candle-powered lighthouse object that turned a single flame into a projected beam. Spegla works on a similar idea from a different angle. Designed by Jochen Lavéno Mangelsdorff Studio & Objects, it looks like a simple round wall mirror when unlit. Light the taper candle behind it and the whole thing changes — the flame seems to float inside the glass while the wall picks up a soft halo.
© Samsú
Samsú Cabins 🇮🇪 The rare place with a locker box for your phone
Rosanna Irwin burned out, went camping on the Danish island of Samsø, and came back to build this. Samsú's off-grid cabins sit in the Irish countryside about an hour from Dublin and come with a lockbox for your phone, plus a Polaroid camera, books, games, and a cassette player. No WiFi, no plugs, no pretending you'll "just check one thing."
© La Machine
La Machine 🇫🇷 Purposeless, French, and slightly alive
La Machine is a €99 desk object that moves, makes sounds, and seems to have a mind of its own. Somewhere between toy, sculpture, and tiny roommate — it does absolutely nothing useful but it’s hand-assembled in France and … just watch the video (with sound).
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