Focus: Latest

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Leftover profits: Rubies in the Rubble

Each year, almost half of the world's food is thrown away. Putting the wasted food to wider social and commercial use, start-up Rubies in the Rubble makes gourmet chutneys from surplus fruit and veg.

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Shared emotion: Dove's social experiment hits a nerve

Half of teenage girls in the UK have avoided certain activities because they feel bad about their looks. Skincare brand Dove is out to tackle low female self-esteem with its new advert that tells women “you are more beautiful than you think”.

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Mean Stinks: how P&G created a social movement for tweens

Secret is America's best-selling female deodorant. Keen to encourage a new generation of consumers to take up the product, parent company P&G tapped into a broad social concern that connects parents and children alike: bullying.

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Give what you're good at: inside Nike's social innovations

When a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, killing hundreds of thousands and leaving 1.5 million homeless, Design Innovation Director at Nike Foundation Tom De Blasis knew Nike had to do something – but what?

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Honest Tea: communicating quality and provenance

At a time when food origins can be easily traced and disputed, brands are increasingly eager to open up and build trust. Honest Tea has a strong commitment to transparency, from their unconventional marketing to their organic products.

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A taste of authenticity: Wahaca's grasshopper fondue

Experimental eating is grabbing headlines, and Mexican street food chain Wahaca's new grasshopper dish is no exception. Can the foreign origins of these provocative products be harnessed to create an appealing sense of authenticity?

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We Are What We Do: tools to change behaviour

Environmental change begins with behavioural change, but simply telling people to 'be better' isn't enough. A new kind of pragmatic environmentalism is emerging – and the 'incidental change' pioneered by We Are What We Do is leading the charge.

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How Patagonia is encouraging sustainable behaviour

In an age of fluctuating fashion trends and disposable clothing, apparel maker Patagonia is on a mission to change how people think about clothes. So what exactly are they selling?

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How ParkatmyHouse is driving civic participation

ParkatmyHouse connects the owners of unused parking spaces with the drivers who desperately need them, proving the power of peer-to-peer consumption and its potential to challenge the annoyances that were previously just taken for granted.

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Reassuring parents at Jessica Alba’s Honest Company

Jessica Alba's start-up The Honest Company captures a growing demand for socially-conscious baby brands. As competitors try to balance quality, affordability, convenience and safety, it delivers them all through an innovative e-commerce model.

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Chemical concerns: why Greenpeace detoxed fashion

As consumers become more aware of the health effects of everyday objects, they are reconsidering what they consume. An investigation into toxic chemicals in clothes has sparked a widespread call for fashion brands to ‘detox’ their supply chains.

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Bloodline Club: why mobile is life or death in India

In emerging markets, social responsibility is more than marketing; it can improve the lives of billions. By better connecting consumers, a new social initiative from telecoms giant Tata Docomo is tackling India's growing blood deficit.

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Benetton’s Unemployee of the Year

Benetton's Unemployee of the Year rewards entrepreneurship and presents young NEETs as an untapped eager workforce. Amidst a slew of branded pro-social campaigns, can consumer creativity sit comfortably alongside corporate interests?

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Opower: the behavioural science of energy savings

Opower is opening up energy consumption data and motivating consumers by helping them share and compare. By doing so, they’re successfully reducing usage where utility companies have failed to engage.

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How Chobani's yoghurt swept America

Shifting consumer needs can quickly become national trends for nimble companies to exploit. In five years Chobani has grown from nothing into a billion dollar yoghurt brand by using what others saw as a fad to re-invigorate a tired category.

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Humble Bundle: why do people pay?

In the thriving world of indie content production and distribution, Humble Bundle has amassed $19.5 million in two years from its digital bundles of games, music and books – surprising, considering its pay-what-you-want pricing model.

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Fixperts: why fixing feels good

Whether austerity, environmental concerns or the need for tangible achievement, consumers wanting a more hands-on approach to consumption can now turn to the Fixperts – designers keen to help the public understand how to fix everyday grievances.

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Hidden charity at Paper & Cup

Paper & Cup is a café-bookshop that, unbeknown to most, is a social enterprise for former drug addicts. With plenty of coffee shops to compete with and a discerning local clientèle, why does Paper & Cup make no mention of its virtues?

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Natura: bottling Brazilian culture

Natura, Brazil's top cosmetics manufacturer, has revolutionised the health and beauty sector by combining environmental awareness with 'togetherness' – an innovative approach that holds insights and applications for every industry.

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Community power in Abundance

With just 3% of UK energy sources renewable and little expectation that big energy suppliers will do anything about it, a new platform called Abundance is bringing communities together to fund alternative sources of power.