Enabling customers to make the most of their time while their car is being serviced, independent Porsche dealership Autofarm recently began offering a complimentary travel service to and from a nearby luxury outlet mall. Rather than waiting out the…
Continue reading " Porsche dealership drives customers to outlet mall for shopping while they wait "
The march of the hotel alternatives continues, this time with the arrival of a home-swapping service aimed squarely at the upper echelon of homes. Luxe Home Swap allows people with high-end dwellings to swap accommodation with others all over…
Launched at this year’s Future Everything digital arts festival in Manchester, RememberMe is a collaborative project between TOTeM (Tales of Things and Electronic Memory) and Oxfam which infused personal history into donated items by enabling people to attach stories…
Continue reading " RFID tags used to attach stories to charity shop’s donated wares "
The concept of the pop-up drive-in movie is not brand-new—we covered a California-based effort back in 2006, after all—but we’re pretty sure the involvement of a major car brand has not been seen before. Sure enough, though, that’s exactly…
Continue reading " Volvo supplies cars for new London drive-in "
If Fortnum’s can keep bees on its roof and sell the hyperlocal honey they produce, it stands to reason that other purveyors of food should be able to make the most of their rooftops in a similar way. Enter…
Continue reading " Grocer launches rooftop garden for hyperlocal produce "
Starting a family is such a fundamental part of human life that it’s no surprise that babies are an inspiring subject for enterprise and innovation. There’s a new idea born every minute 
Here are five we spotted recently:…
Continue reading " Five business ideas focused on babies & new parents "
We’ve seen airports engage consumers with everything from free dancing lessons and light therapy to a four-storey slide that rewards duty-free spending. The latest innovation? Gatwick Airport’s Runway Models contest. Launched in late May by the UK airport and…
Continue reading " Airport contest seeks new runway models "
Long gone are the days when "online" was synonymous with social isolation. In fact, we’re now witnessing the opposite: technology is driving people to connect and meet up with others in the "real world". This mass mingling makes for…
Continue reading " Five online services for getting together offline "
Earlier this year, we wrote about Shisheido’s Digital Cosmetic Mirror, installed at a Tokyo department store to let women test makeup without actually applying anything to their skin. Following in Shisheido’s augmented reality footsteps is L’Oréal, which will be…
Continue reading " Digital mirrors let customers try on cosmetics without applying "
While instantly gratifying, buying ice cream from a vending machine isn’t as fun as it could be. Which is why SapientNitro and Unilever created the world’s first smile-activated ice cream vending machine. The underlying technology is sophisticated, but the…
Continue reading " Unilever launches world’s first smile-activated ice cream vending machine "
The safety hazards of bicycle and scooter travel may demand protective gear, but that’s no reason to stop being stylish, as we’ve already noted before. Recently we came across a new innovation for participants in either mode of transportation…
Continue reading " Reflective lace combines style and safety for bicyclists "
Over the past seven years, we’ve covered dozens of businesses that let customers design or personalise products. People love having it their way, and entrepreneurs can gain a competitive advantage by combining offline manufacturing with online sales and personalisation….
Continue reading " Five (more) businesses selling personalised products "
Exclusivity is the key to many status-minded consumers’ hearts, so how better to convey that feeling than through a gift that can’t be purchased for any price? Such, in fact, is essentially the premise behind the Key-2 Luxury key…
Continue reading " Key ring delivers uber-premium freebies for life "
Just as summertime is the season for music festivals, so too has it become the time for an annual parade of innovative and eco-minded phone-charging initiatives to keep revelers’ phones juiced. First up this year? Orange Power Wellies, which…
Continue reading " Thermoelectric wellies charge festival-goers’ phones "
Much the way French Europcar shows customers the carbon emissions associated with each of its rental cars, so a new restaurant chain includes such information for every item on its vegetarian menu. With two restaurants in each of New…
Continue reading " Eco-minded restaurant lists carbon footprint for each menu item "
Good ideas seem to inspire the launch of countless variations. To wit: house swapping and subletting, which we’ve already seen on several occasions. Similar to Creative Caravan, UK-based Onefinestay facilitates that process with a service that’s designed to build…
Continue reading " Holiday sublet service offers hotel-style amenities "
