The Discovery Channel’s Species project, a survey of 12,000 men aged 25 to 39, acts as the information base and through a social media platform developed by research agency Sense, participating companies can gain access to the data, interrogate it, add their own information into the mix and discuss it with others that are taking part.

Cambell’s Soup, Cancer Research UK, Do The Green Thing, E.On, Royal Mail and Sagem Mobile have all confirmed their participation in the project, which has received financial backing from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta), a body charged with promoting innovation in the UK.

Discovery’s Claire O’Connor, director for research, insights and innovation, told Research: “We’re happy to share Species because by opening it up to other brands and tapping into their own insights, we can keep it alive and build on it. We understand the challenges that other brands face with this demographic – and we can see what partnerships might take place around it.”

• O’Connor was interviewed as part of a feature that appeared in the January 2010 edition of Research, and which will be published online soon. For more on this project, you’ll find our original story here and our podcast interview with Nesta’s Roland Harwood here.