Unilever announced an innovation challenge through its Foundry IDEAS online platform which aims to reduce laundry water consumption. With laundry accounting for 19 percent of water consumption in Nigeria and with 4 billion people forecast to be affected by water shortage by 2025, the need to reduce water use when doing the laundry is quite urgent, the company said. According to Unilever, consumers who wish to participate in the challenge are encouraged to develop ideas for “new products, devices, services, communication tools or experiences.”
"Reinventing laundry to be less water-dependent", Unilever, October 15, 2015
Unilever says its 3rd quarter sales boomlet is due to success in its innovative ice cream and personal care brands and in its e-commerce business. Sales in the period grew 9.4 percent to £9.9 billion (€13.4 billion), and underlying sales grew 5.7 percent. Sales in Europe grew by 2 percent. Food sales rose 1.6 percent while personal care and refreshment were up 6.2 percent and 8.5 percent respectively. The company said innovations like Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Core helped fuel double digit growth, along with the premium Magnum Pink and Black brand. In addition, e-commerce globally is growing at 20 percent a year and now accounts for seven percent of the overall business.
"Unilever credits beauty and ice cream innovation for Q3 growth", Marketing Week, October 15, 2015
Sweden-based inventors Morgan Gustavsson and Paul Binun launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter for the Skarp Razor. Designed to shave hair with a laser, Skarp Razor raised $650,000 in its first 10 days on the fundraising website. Gustavsson and Binun aim to release the laser razor by March 2016, with a retail price of $159.
"A futuristic razor that shaves hair with a laser has raised nearly $4 million on Kickstarter", Business Insider, October 10, 2015
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PSFK.com, October 09, 2015
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