Most Innovative Companies

Unilever

Lists

2020: Beauty

2017: Social Good

2011: Consumer Products

2010: Advertising and Marketing

Stories about Unilever

Dove deepfakes moms to illustrate the impact of toxic influencers on teens

The brand’s newest short film explores the influence and impact of beauty advice on social media.

Dove deepfakes moms to illustrate the impact of toxic influencers on teens

Advice for founders: When building something you believe in, nobody can sell it better than you

Jaime Schmidt started an indie personal care company in her kitchen with no money and no network. That didn’t stop her. She eventually sold it for 9 figures to Unilever.

Advice for founders: When building something you believe in, nobody can sell it better than you

SheaMoisture CEO Cara Sabin isn’t just marketing to Black consumers—she’s investing in them

At the Fast Company Innovation Festival, the Sundial CEO shares what it’s like to be a Black executive in the beauty industry.

SheaMoisture CEO Cara Sabin isn’t just marketing to Black consumers—she’s investing in them

Innovation By Design

How Degree redesigned deodorant for people with disabilities

Degree Inclusive is a winner in the 2021 Innovation by Design Awards.

How Degree redesigned deodorant for people with disabilities

Fast Company Magazine

How activist hedge funds went from corporate raiders to climate heroes

Engine No. 1’s defeat of Exxon Mobile was just the start. A new breed of activist investors is pushing companies to embrace stakeholder capitalism.

How activist hedge funds went from corporate raiders to climate heroes

Stock up on toothpaste, shampoo, soup, and cereal now before prices jump even higher

Citing increased costs for packaging, ingredients, transport, and labor, consumer products companies continue to raise prices.

Stock up on toothpaste, shampoo, soup, and cereal now before prices jump even higher

Now you can wash your clothes with recycled carbon emissions

Unilever’s latest laundry capsule is made from CO2 taken from a Chinese steel mill.

Now you can wash your clothes with recycled carbon emissions

Dove is paying for other brands to put more diverse faces in their ads

It really shouldn’t be this hard to persuade advertisers to showcase diverse models.

Dove is paying for other brands to put more diverse faces in their ads

Calling some types of hair or skin ‘normal’ ends now, Unilever pledges

The new normal is not saying normal. Unilever has announced that it will no longer use that word to describe hair and skin types on its products.

Calling some types of hair or skin ‘normal’ ends now, Unilever pledges

Unilever’s new nano-factories fit in a shipping container, so they can go anywhere in the world

Designed to make small batches of products with local materials, the consumer goods giant hopes the new factories can cut down on their footprint by allowing them to make products closer to the source.

Unilever’s new nano-factories fit in a shipping container, so they can go anywhere in the world

Surprise: Your cleaning supplies are full of fossil fuel-based ingredients

As part of its plan to lower its footprint, Unilever is removing petrochemicals from its home cleaning products.

Surprise: Your cleaning supplies are full of fossil fuel-based ingredients

The Facebook ad boycott has to be indefinite to actually work

Unilever, Diageo, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and other marketers ditching the social network is great PR, but there needs to be more to have any real impact.

The Facebook ad boycott has to be indefinite to actually work

Unilever dropping ‘whitening’ products and ‘Fair & Lovely’ brand names—but is it enough?

The CPG giant is removing the words fair/fairness, white/whitening, and light/lightening from its products’ packs and communication.

Unilever is investing $1.1 billion in a new climate fund—and hopes to reach net zero emissions by 2039

The goal is to hit the benchmarks set by the Paris Climate Agreement far earlier than the 2050 deadline.

Unilever is investing $1.1 billion in a new climate fund—and hopes to reach net zero emissions by 2039

Giant brands love Loop’s zero-waste packaging—and now it’s coming to a store near you

A year after it launched, the delivery service that takes back its packaging to be reused is expanding, and you’ll soon be able to find its innovative packaging designs at retail stores.

Giant brands love Loop’s zero-waste packaging—and now it’s coming to a store near you

How Dove is playing it cool with Oscar-nominated animated short film ‘Hair Love’

The Unilever brand is playing a soft-sell marketer in the critically acclaimed short.

How Dove is playing it cool with Oscar-nominated animated short film ‘Hair Love’

Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and PepsiCo are the world’s biggest plastic polluters—again

Here’s an idea: If they’re not going to change it, make them pay for it.

Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and PepsiCo are the world’s biggest plastic polluters—again

Dove is redesigning its packaging to use way more recycled plastic

Dove is aiming to cut its virgin plastic use by 20,000 tons a year by 2025.

Dove is redesigning its packaging to use way more recycled plastic

How consumer products giant Unilever plans to dramatically slash its use of plastic

The company plans to cut its use of virgin plastic packaging in half by 2025 through a series of steps—including selling toothpaste that comes in chewable tablets, among other things.

How consumer products giant Unilever plans to dramatically slash its use of plastic

Loop, the revolutionary new reusable packaging delivery service, is now open for business

The project, which ships you products like detergent, ice cream, and toothpaste in resuable containers that you then send back, is now operating in the Northeast.

Loop, the revolutionary new reusable packaging delivery service, is now open for business

Impact

Climate inaction could cost the world $178 trillion

This nonprofit will use big data to fight voter suppression in the midterm elections

This startup makes carbon-neutral, high-protein pasta from fungi

News

Why Margaret Atwood is taking a flamethrower to ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’

Musicians say their labels are pressuring them to go viral on TikTok

The Kardashians’ favorite salad is about to go global

Co.Design

9 ways design can actually help you heal in the hospital

See the retro icons that let you turn your computer into a 1984 Mac screen

How one New Hampshire sawmill is taking a stand against big timber

Work Life

Gen Z doesn’t want to go back to the office without these 3 things

It’s time to tap your secret recruitment weapon: your workforce

Yet to try a 4-day week? Here’s how to do it productively