Brands including Unilever, BT and M&S are joining forces on a project that aims to make sustainable living "the new normal." The platform, dubbed Collectively, will be updated with stories, videos and blog posts on how to live more sustainably. Viewers will also be encouraged to submit their own ideas around themes such as "future foodies" and "the smartest city." The project came about at the World Economic Forum as brands discussed how to "inspire and accelerate" sustainable living. Currently 29 brands have signed up.

Mobile video ad spend has spiked 196 percent year-on-year to reach GBP64m in the UK -- making it the fastest-growing digital ad format, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers' latest UK Digital Adspend report. Total digital ad spend rose 16.6 percent to GBP3.5bn in the first half of 2014, driven largely by the UK public's increasing demand for video content on computers, tablets and smartphones. Online and mobile video advertising saw a combined rise of 59 percent to hit GBP202m.

Superdrug is reviewing its advertising account. It claims to be the UK's second-largest health-and-beauty retailer after Boots, and has issued creative shops with a request for information. According to the tender document, Superdrug is looking for an agency to create above-the-line campaigns for 2015 and beyond. HeyHuman (which was called Billington Cartmell until March this year) has held the creative account since January 2013. Mindshare handles the brand's media planning and buying business.

Tapping the female market has long been the Holy Grail for beer marketers in an industry desperately in need of extending its consumer base. Despite many high-profile failures, the world's second-largest brewer SABMiller is convinced it has the right marketing brew to woo women. The Peroni maker says shifting the image of beer among females could take up to 20 years, but believes there is an untapped thirst that has been ignored to date. SABMiller sees female drinkers as a key beneficiary of its bid to attract more consumers.

EE, Britain's biggest mobile operator, is expected to introduce its own set-top box on Wednesday as it aims to keep pace with telecoms rivals such as BT and TalkTalk, who have been gaining customers with their moves into television. It is understood the device, to be launched at an event at the company's headquarters, will offer a comparable service to YouView, the set-top-box technology used by both BT and TalkTalk. EE held talks with the consortium earlier this year but decided to pursue its own technology.

Tech-savvy Brits spent an average of more than five hours a week watching TV shows, clips and films on Internet-connected devices in the first half of 2014 largely due to the popularity of tablets and smartphones. TV programmes proved to be the most popular form of online content viewed by UK users, at an average of two hours and 35 minutes a week, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau. Films were watched an average of one hour 50 minutes a week, while video clip views averaged 51 minutes.

Programmatic trading has been described as many things -- opaque, murky and confusing to name just a few -- but rarely an "aid to creativity and storytelling." However, one major player in the space has just published a report that claims programmatic is the friend, not foe, of creativity. Almost half (47 percent) of agencies, publishers and brands responding to a poll commissioned by AOL said programmatic technology is "leading to new forms of creativity and storytelling in advertising."

Animal rights charity PETA has launched a Web site that evokes the style of Fortnum & Mason's logo to protest against the firm's support of foie gras in a move that legal observers claim could be the first of many following changes to copyright law. The animal rights charity has previously launched a number of parody Web sites in the U.S. but says it was banned from doing so in the UK. However, a new law brought into effect on 1 October now allows for a parody exception to copyright.

Online display ad spend in Europe will see a 10.3 percent hike to EUR12bn (GBP10bn) in 2019, according to Forrester's latest five-year forecast. The expected growth has been attributed to the rise in mobile display and video in European markets, with tablet ads predicted to spike 40.5 percent to account for a third of total online display revenue by 2019. In the UK, online display ad revenue is set to grow at 9.1 percent annually -- the slowest growth rate in Europe, attributed to it being the most mature.

Beefeater and Legoland have both appointed Cherry London to handle marketing propositions, fuelled by brand partnerships. Beefeater appointed Cherry London through the agency's latest service, Cherry Bites, a fixed fee, project-based service that allows brands and businesses the chance to trial brand partnerships. Other Cherry London clients include O2, Aviva and Western Union.