Ethos Mag

Project type: words, films, website, social media, campaigns, digital, magazines/newspapers, branding

Print run: 1,000 per issue

Back in 2014 we were approached by the Social Enterprise Network, which proposed launching a newspaper for social enterprise in Liverpool – something along the lines of the City Tribune. The aim was to empower and grow the social enterprise community in Liverpool, helping connect enterprises and strengthen the community itself.

But we had bigger plans.

We realised that we wanted to do more than just talk to the social business sector. We wanted everyone to realise that business can be good (as well as bad) – and that everywhere you look there are businesses doing great stuff.

So, we set about finding and reporting on some of the best social enterprises, innovators and co-operatives from across the globe, to see if there were ideas and practices that could be implemented by readers far and wide.

Initially online, and eventually in magazine form, we created Ethos.

Ethos grew and evolved quicker than we imagined, and before long it was time to raise funds to support the print run for Ethos issue one. Through a successful Indiegogo campaign (fuelled by blood, sweat, and tea) we managed to make the magazine a reality, and have produced a further 20 issues, with readers all over the globe from Aberdeen to Arkansas, Uttoxeter to Utrecht.

We’ve covered sectors from eco farming in Germany to community-owned football clubs in Spain, or the forward-thinking practices of household names like Lego.

Alongside the print side of Ethos lies Ethos Films. Our films go hand-in-hand with the written content, giving us another way to tell stories, picking up nuances and feelings that you sometimes can’t get across in an article. Ethos Films champion the local heroes making a difference, and showcase their work and their beliefs in a way that may have gone un-noticed by their communities in the past.