Follow Impact Makers for more episodes on product innovation, consumer behaviour, and the future of decision-making.

In our first fully visualised episode, Impact Makers explores a future that is already taking shape.

Two shifts are colliding.
Millions are changing how they eat through GLP-1 medications that reduce cravings and reshape habits. At the same time, AI is learning to shop for us, selecting and ordering what ends up in our homes.

Featuring behavioural science insight from Dr Paulina Lang and AI strategy expertise from Walter Pasquarelli, this episode examines what happens when hunger changes, habits reset, and decisions start happening without us.

Backed by new consumer data and real-world signals, from rapid AI shopping adoption in China to shifting attitudes in Western markets, we ask a bigger question:
If we stop choosing, who, or what, chooses for us?

For brands, retailers, and product teams, this raises a clear challenge, how do you stay relevant when the consumer is no longer the only decision-maker?

Impact Makers is the product-obsessed marketing podcast exploring the future of consumer behaviour, innovation, and product experience.

Credits
Hosts: Andrew Wardlaw, Caitlin McLean
Executive Producer: Alex Berteanu

Production
Ideal Insight, Cody Leigh-Stannard, Henry Cooper, Nick Twigg

Design and Presentation
Aradhana Chand

Research
Toluna, VoxPopMe

Publicity
Camargue

Social Media
Palesa Mthiyane

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If you want to understand just how quickly consumer needs are evolving, look no further than the beauty category. In this research-led episode of Impact Makers, Andrew and Caitlin draw on insights from 2,500 beauty-forward consumers across nine global markets to explore a powerful shift taking place beneath the noise of social media trends and viral product launches. Beauty is moving beyond surface-level aesthetics toward resilience, regulation, and everyday emotional support. From microbiome skincare and neuro-beauty to climate-adaptive formulas and mood-boosting sensory rituals, the episode unpacks how products are being reimagined to help people cope better, not just look better. Featuring Marie Drago, Founder of Gallinée and an early pioneer of microbiome science in skincare, alongside nano creator Caitlin Costello on the future of trust, inclusivity, and AI in beauty, this episode offers a front-row seat to how cultural, emotional, and physical needs are reshaping the future of brands. In a world that feels overwhelming, beauty is being asked to do something deeper, to help us feel steady again.

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Once purely functional, the cleaning aisle is being completely reimagined. In Episode 15 of Impact Makers, Andrew Wardlaw and Caitlin McLean explore how a new generation of “dirt disruptors” are turning home care into something emotional, intentional, and even therapeutic - and how cleaning behemoth Unilever is adapting its marketing.

From refillable systems and planet-friendly formulas to fragrances you actually want in your home, cleaning is no longer just a chore to rush through. It’s becoming a ritual people choose to engage with, a way to restore calm, control, and wellbeing in an increasingly chaotic world.

In this episode, Andrew and Caitlin unpack how cleaning has evolved from background necessity to cultural signal, driven by social media, sensory design, and a shift in how we define self-care.

● Cleaning as culture, not just function
Why cleaning has become content, therapy, and identity - and what restock videos, ASMR cleaning, and Sunday reset culture really signal about modern life.

● The emotional role of cleaning
How control, calm, and emotional regulation are now central to why people clean, and why mood states matter more than germ kill rates.

● Semiotics of clean with Megan Bourner-Powell (Huxly)
How the category has moved on from bleach, citrus, and “domestic goddess” tropes to something more human, grounded, and emotionally intelligent.

● Sensory testing: Kinfill vs SMOL vs GreenCo
MMR sensory expert Matt Barrett puts three disruptors to the test, decoding how sound, scent, texture, and design change the cleaning experience, and why Kinfill currently sets the benchmark.

● The Z-Factor: cleaning on TikTok
Why Gen Z turned cleaning into aspiration, how creators replaced brands as trusted voices, and why “clean” is now shorthand for mental clarity.

● How Unilever is responding
Ammarah Issufo shares how Unilever Home Care is using creators, cultural insight, and new marketing frameworks to make cleaning feel relevant, human, and exciting again.

● The future of clean ✨
Why clean is no longer an outcome, but a state of being, and how emotion, ritual, and sensory design will matter more as AI and automation take care of performance basics.

The brands winning in home care aren’t promising “effortless cleaning.”
They’re rewarding effort with calm, dignity, and emotional payoff.

Kinfill
SMOL
GreenCo
Unilever Home Care
Huxly
MMR Research

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