Focus: Latest
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Focus
Paleo: dieting goes back to the Stone Age
- 16/05/2012
Paleo is a diet that emphasises the importance of understanding our species' evolutionary history by determining which foods promote optimal health. When consumers aspire to go back to a time before your brand existed, how do you engage them?
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Industry Behaviour Food & drink Location Global Keywords Natural Mindset Forever Now Informed Consumerism Civic Brands Hyperawareness of Health Diet Healthy living Processed food Organic
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Focus
Uber: lessons from dynamic pricing
- 14/05/2012
'Dynamic pricing' means prices can quickly adapt to reflect changing levels of supply and demand. When Uber, a private New York-based taxi service trialled the idea, some customers were charged over $80 per mile, causing widespread anger.
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Industry Finance Retail Transport Location New York Keywords Informed Consumerism Mobile Living Dynamic pricing Agile Taxi App Reputation Customer service Data
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Focus
NimbleTV: one step closer to TV Everywhere
- 11/05/2012
NimbleTV is a new service that frees up satellite and cable TV subscribers to watch content on any device and in any location. It flies in the face of restrictive content providers, and heralds the gradual implementation of 'TV Everywhere'.
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Industry Television Technology Location Global Keywords Hyperconnectivity Global Mindset Mobile Living TV Everywhere Cloud Disruptive Agile Time Warner IPTV
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Focus
We Are Lucky: philanthropy with personality
- 10/05/2012
The multimillionaire founder of We Are Lucky has pledged to give away his fortune, £1,000 at a time, to the people he meets on his daily travels. His personal story is part of a deeper social movement towards generosity and away from greed.
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Industry Social & charity Location Global United Kingdom Keywords Rising Social Conscience True Stories Serendipity Philanthropy Random Acts of Kindness Giving
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Focus
Coca-Cola says 'Hug Me': gestural marketing gets personal
- 08/05/2012
Companies are beginning to look at ways of encouraging consumers to respond with gestures as well as words, as the rise of gestural marketing sees brands seeking new ways of showing that they understand the needs of their audience.
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Industry Experiential Behaviour Retail Location Singapore Keywords Simple Interfaces Alternative Currency Experience Economy Interactive Vending machines Coca-Cola Gestural marketing
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Focus
Transparency and honesty from 'charity: water'
- 04/05/2012
In just five years, New York-based charity: water has raised nearly $50m. This has been achieved by emphasising transparency; 100% of donations go directly towards projects, and donors can track exactly where their money is going.
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Focus
CashStar: digital gift cards and mobile giving
- 02/05/2012
In societies that are cash-rich but time-poor, gift cards have emerged as a popular solution. The gift card market in the UK alone is currently worth £4bn; and with smartphone penetration rising, gift cards are becoming digital.
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Industry Behaviour Mobile Retail Location United States United Kingdom Keywords Mobile Living Alternative Currency Giving Social giving Mobile money e-gifts Serendipity Starbucks
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Focus
23andMe: a genetic Facebook
- 30/04/2012
For a couple of drops of saliva and a few hundred dollars, US-based genomics business 23andMe will extract your DNA and screen it for genetic disease markers. Since launching in 2007, the company has processed 150,000 paying customers' DNA.
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Industry Behaviour Healthcare Technology Location United States Keywords Being+ Hyperawareness of Health True Stories Brand Me Genomics Ancestry Science Identity
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Focus
48: conquering the youth mobile market
- 27/04/2012
How do you attract a notoriously fickle youth demographic to a new mobile phone network in an already saturated marketplace? Easy: you give them an exclusive, members-only deal which makes all other networks appear, well, a little bit lame.
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Industry Advertising & branding Demographics Mobile Location Ireland Keywords Inside Track Alternative Currency Neo-tribalism Pay as you go Subscription Niche Bad Taste Youth FOMO Offense Sex
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Focus
Kaggle: playing the data game
- 24/04/2012
The open data platform Kaggle uses advanced crowdsourcing techniques to solve complex problems. Its popularity with brands presents one of the most convincing arguments yet for opening up data to as wide an audience as possible.
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Industry Technology Location Global Keywords Open Data Self & System Crowdsourcing Collaborative Living Being+ Life as an Enterprise Gamification Play Prediction Incentive
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Focus
Japan's virtual kiss-o-grams
- 24/04/2012
Scientists at Keio University in Japan are developing digital advertising posters in the form of interactive kiss-o-grams which allow users to get up close and personal with their favourite pop idols.
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Industry Experiential Behaviour Hardware Location Japan Keywords Experience Economy Living the Dream Blended Reality Uncanny valley Screen Interactive Relationship Fake Youth
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Focus
No Cash Day
- 20/04/2012
No Cash Day encourages Italians – 91% of whom use cash for transactions – to use electronic transfers for purchases. The event is an attempt to raise awareness of physical currency's various pitfalls.
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Industry Behaviour Finance Location Italy Keywords Alternative Currency Cashless Mobile money Impermanence Digitisation Mobile Living Tax Crime
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Focus
TWINE: objects speaking to their owners
- 18/04/2012
Two MIT graduates have created TWINE, a system that sends a tweet when your laundry's done, an email when your basement floods, or a text message when you leave the garage door open. And it could prove to be incredibly handy.
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Industry Technology Location United States Keywords Internet of Things Self & System Being+ Mass Customisation Hyperconnectivity Mobile Living Smartphone Design thinking
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Focus
Du darfst: Fuck the Diet!
- 18/04/2012
Low-calorie food manufacturer Du darfst has outraged German audiences with a bold new campaign. In response to widespread frustration with dieting, and using shock tactics, it targets a newly emerging female consumer.
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Industry Advertising & branding Food & drink Health & beauty Location Germany Keywords Hyperawareness of Health Being+ Informed Consumerism Gender Diet Offense Controversy
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Focus
Barclaycard Ring: the crowdsourced credit card
- 17/04/2012
Touted as the first social credit card, Barclaycard Ring Mastercard has been built through the power of an online community. As the typically impersonal sector of electronic banking goes social, what are the potential implications?
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Industry Consumer finance Location United States Keywords Informed Consumerism Collaborative Living Crowdsourcing Online transaction Credit Card Barclays
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Focus
Beautiful and Bald Barbie
- 17/04/2012
Sexy and smart, Barbie is the 'perfect woman'; some might say a little too perfect. Can you ever remember seeing her facing any serious adversity? Well, in 2013, after a Facebook campaign, Barbie will find out her friend has cancer.
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Industry Product design Social networking Healthcare Location Global Keywords Mass Customisation Civic Brands Hyperawareness of Health Cancer Play Toys Kids Mattel Barbie
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Focus
Karma: the gift of convenience
- 16/04/2012
Karma is a mobile app that allows you to send thoughtful gifts to your friends and family based on what’s going on in their lives. The app connects to Facebook to encourage you to order a gift for them via text anywhere, at any time.
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Industry Behaviour Mobile Location Global Keywords Serendipity Codes of Conduct Random Acts of Kindness Giving Mobile Living Mass Customisation App Frictionless
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Focus
Boat magazine: inspiration in unlikely places
- 13/04/2012
Boat magazine explores the culture, history and life of each city it visits, tapping into a growing sense that our identities are formed less by the countries we live in, and more by the unique characteristics of our particular locales.
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Industry Print publishing Location Global Keywords Global Mindset Urbanisation City Cities Identity Travel Slow True Stories Inside Track
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Focus
MTV Under The Thumb: making television social
- 11/04/2012
MTV has launched a new app which grants smartphone and tablet users on-demand access to the full range of its television shows. Importantly, it also includes a built-in feature which allows users to chat with friends online while they watch.
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Industry Behaviour Social networking Television Location Europe Keywords We Are All Media Mobile Living MTV Smartphone Second screen FOMO Social media Interactivity App Gen Y
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Focus
Shanzhai phones: authentically fake
- 10/04/2012
Mobile phone imitations in China are a response to the massive local demand for cheap mobile functionality. This lucrative market is called ‘shanzhai’, and has resulted in brands such as as Nkia, Blockberry and Svmsung.
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Industry Mobile Location China Keywords Mobile Living Authenticity Fake Counterfeit Shanzhai Apple Android Smartphone

