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Nissan Motor Co. CEO Makoto Uchida acknowledged that the market for electric vehicles is growing faster than anticipated in the United States. He also noted that Nissan will invest $250 million in its powertrain facility in Decherd, Tennessee. The facility will support the electrification of the company’s American lineup.
Uchida did not provide a timeline for the $250 million investment or specify what it will be used for. However, he stated that the investment is part of Nissan’s increased efforts to promote electric vehicle adoption in the United States.
“The world is accommodating EVs much faster than we thought in the past… The electrification ratio in each market will probably grow faster than we thought,” Uchida said in an interview with Automotive News.
Uchida stated that the growing popularity of electric vehicles is actually being driven by an increase in competition and the availability of more electric cars in the market. He also highlighted the role of regulations and government incentives in creating a favorable environment for the adoption of electric cars. Uchida specifically cited tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act as a factor that could support long-term demand for EVs.
“The IRA is maybe a challenge for us in the short term. But in the future, it will probably make for more penetration of the market by electric vehicles,” Uchida said.
Nissan’s planned investment in Decherd is part of the company’s efforts to establish a US-based EV production hub. The facility currently produces approximately 1.4 million engines annually, as well as the electric motors used for the Nissan Leaf, the company’s ubiquitous electric hatchback. Expectations are high that the new investment would expand the Tennessee plant’s electric motor output.
Inasmuch as Nissan seems serious about its push towards electric cars, the company’s current EV output still leaves much space for improvement. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, only 1.4% of Nissan’s volumes in North America came from battery-electric cars. The company also only has two EVs for the US today, the Nissan Leaf and the Ariya. But while the Leaf has long been a mainstay of the electric vehicle market with sales of 12,025 units in 2022, the Ariya only saw 201 units sold by the end of the year.


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Zuffenhausen is lovely place for Porsche enthusiasts to visit. The biggest draw by far is the massive Porsche museum, a big showroom where the parking places are full of Porsche’s! On a recent visit, we spotted five Porsche Carrera GT’s.
These five pieces of Porsche automotive art were part of a group of twelve cars which rolled through just a few hours before my visit. The cars were just ending a tour which started somewhere in Italy.
The Porsche Carrera GT was manufactured between 2004–2007 and final count of car was 1270. The Carrera GT is mid-engine sports car powered by a 5.7 litre V10 engine producing 612 hp. Official figures claim that the Porsche Carrera GT will accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and has a maximum speed of 330 km/h.
At this moment Porsche offers a new successor, a hybrid super car called the Porsche 918 Spyder.
We shot a video as a bonus for you!

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Iran’s Guardian Council, a constitutional body that reviews parliament’s legislation, has approved a law that reduces customs duties on imports of raw materials, parts and machinery needed by Iran’s manufacturing sector.
Guardian Council spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif said in a tweet on Tuesday that the body had approved a parliament bill ratified earlier this month that will reduce tariffs from 4% to 1%. on raw materials, semi-finished products, parts, machinery and equipment.
Tahan Nazif said the legislation was not considered by the Council to be contrary to the Iranian Constitution and religious principles.
He said the administrative government had already reduced an excise tax it collects on imports of the same products.
The approval could be a major breakthrough for Iranian manufacturers looking to increase production and make their prices more competitive in the market.
Iranian manufacturers have complained in recent months that high costs of importing raw materials and machinery parts have contributed to higher prices for various handicrafts.
Iran’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIMT) had asked the government in July to remove or reduce import duties on certain equipment and parts needed by manufacturers in the country.
The ministry said at the time that the high tariffs had also led to an increase in the smuggling of raw materials across Iranian borders.


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Ofcom opens complaint about BT Group and alleged margin squeeze
It appears that the annual complaints from TalkTalk over the pricing of the BT Retail Infinity products in comparison to the wholesale costs has escalted this year, as Ofcom has now opened a complaint about an 'alleged margin squeeze in superfast broadband pricing'.
The issue is that the TalkTalk Group believes that the retail price for BT Infinity products is so close to the wholesale costs that it is very difficult for TalkTalk (and others) to undercut the BT Retail products and still make some profit.
Back in the days when Ofcom was Oftel the regulator operated a margin squeeze test, which then operated on the BT Wholesale pricing and was thus unpopular with many smaller providers, and ultimately it led to the introduction of the current charging system which meant charging for speed was abandoned by BT Wholesale. Interestingly with the launch of FTTC and FTTP services by Openreach speed based charging has made a come back.
If Ofcom finds in favour of TalkTalk we might see BT Retail forced to increase the price of the Infinity products, or alternatively Openreach reducing their prices, while BT Retail is required to keep its product prices fixed.
We should not expect a conclusion rapidly, as when Freeserve over a decade ago was complaining about BT Retail when a basic ADSL service was retailing at £39.99 (plus voice line rental) having an unfair advantage the issue ran on and on with changes in the wholesale market largely solving the issue.
Seven years ago Carphone Warehouse really got the LLU market going with its full LLU service, that sold broadband, with calls and voice line rental for £20.99, given the disparity of numbers of FTTC customers between TalkTalk and the BT Retail Infinity it may take a similar gutsy move to upset the apple cart again.


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Some MIUI 12.5 users report COD Mobile & PUBG get stuck, crash, and have loading issues; community mod says fix in the works
COD Mobile and PUBG Mobile are some of the most graphically demanding and intense games you can try out on your smartphone. They push mobile gaming to the edge by offering nearly a console/PC level gaming experience.
However, such resource-intensive games do not come without caveats – complaints about lags from budget device owners are quite common.
Further, the fact that the games get updated constantly ensures that there always are new bugs and issues waiting to be encountered.
For example, we recently highlighted a bug that prevented players from selecting a weapon right after it’s picked on Call of Duty Mobile.
But as it stands, not all issues encountered on games like PUBG and COD, or any other game for that matter, are due to bugs in the games themselves. Rather, the trouble is sometimes buried deep in the software that powers a device.
And the latter is exactly what seems to be in the case of Xiaomi’s Android skin presently. There have been several reports from COD players about the game getting stuck (freezing) following the MIUI 12.5 update.
why are games in my phone crashing like call of duty ain’t opening I’ve done everything. I’ve re-installed the games I’ve contacted their customers care but nothing please help.
My pubg is not opening. Why is this happening. In both network (data and wifi) my pubg is not opening. If I uninstall the pubg apps and then download then it will open.
And it’s not just freezing that is acting as a cause of bother, as there have also been a few complaints about the game failing to load and showing a black screen instead.
PUBG is also suffering from the very same issues, thus cementing that the issue is indeed linked to MIUI software.
Devices reportedly affected by the problems include Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro (Redmi K20 Pro), Poco F2 Pro, Mi 11 Lite, and quite possibly several others.
Thankfully, a community moderator has now acknowledged the issues leading to games like COD and PUBG getting stuck on Xiaomi and Poco devices following MIUI 12.5 updates saying that a ‘future solution’ is being worked on.
While the acknowledgment was in response to a complaint from a Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro owner, it is likely that similar bug-fixing updates will be rolling out to other affected devices as well, given the ubiquitous nature of the issue.
For the time being, stay tuned to our dedicated MIUI 12.5 update bugs and issues tracker.
PiunikaWeb started purely as an investigative tech journalism website with a main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Fox News, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, MacRumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.


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[Beijing, China, May 27, 2021] At CCBN2021, Qu Yaxin, Vice President of HiSilicon (Shanghai), laid out a new paradigm for 8K and AI.
In a keynote speech entitled "8K+AI, Omnimedia∙New Device," Qu noted, "The TV realm is far from the only field that will benefit from 8K." The omnimedia era is just around the corner, and consumers' expectations for smart devices have soared. As a cornerstone omnimedia technology, 8K has not been merely confined to the entertainment space. Instead, it has been coupled with AI, and helped blaze a trail in the smart convergent device landscape.
8K+AI as a Catalyst of Smart Home Software & Hardware Innovation
Compared with traditional STBs, which are mere basic expression-type devices in homes, AI-capable smart STBs are remarkably versatile: Consumers can use them to watch TV, immerse themselves in VR games (by connecting the device to VR glasses via an HDMI cable), and enjoy the wide-ranging benefits of a smart home edge computing center.
The smart TV marries 8K and AI. From TV shows, somatosensory gaming, online fitness, facial recognition, and gesture recognition, to detecting posture mistakes during exercise, it redefines how users interact with smart TVs.
The unique combination of 8K and AI promises to attract substantial investment from across the value chain, and will soon be seen in a growing number of smart home applications. Notably, smart home devices are a main strategic focus for the HarmonyOS ecosystem in 2021. HiSilicon will continue to invest in the HarmonyOS ecosystem, and play a leading role in supporting STB, mini-LED display, and other product forms. For example, the HiSilicon and HarmonyOS teams have committed to equipping STBs with basic HarmonyOS capabilities, such as fast networking and fast device discovery, and partnering with app developers to roll out home-dedicated apps, such as calling, learning, and shopping apps.
HiSilicon will also team up with industry partners to explore new product forms, such as mini-LED displays and all-in-one smart home hosts.
8K+AI Office Capabilities
8K can interact with AI to improve the productivity of work, transcending distance and language barriers. HiSilicon and partners have built numerous common application scenarios where 8K and AI can be combined to reinforce office devices in a globalized setting, such as multi-party conferencing, screen projection, low-latency writing on interactive whiteboards, remote presentations, and remote collaboration. For example, in a conference where the attendees speak different languages, AI can ensure that communications remain seamless, enabling the camera to track the speaker, auto-translate the speaker's words, and provides real-time subtitles.
8K+AI in the XR World
As a next-generation mobile computing platform, XR bridges the physical and digital worlds, and is set to serve as a next-generation immersive entertainment, gaming, and social platform. It will continue to be used in a wider range of industries, in addition to manufacturing and education, providing a new and exciting way to boost productivity. XR wearable devices incorporate perceptive, connected, computing, and expressive capabilities. They are getting better and better at perceiving their environments and identifying human needs, making interaction with the physical and digital worlds more convenient and natural than ever before.
To create an optimally immersive experience, a VR device must be able to support low-latency decoding of videos in 8K or an even higher resolution. A VR 360-degree video is produced by stitching images captured from multiple angles and channels. Some of the images are decoded and presented on the device. The more pixels decoded within the field of view (FOV), the better the immersive experience restored on the device. The on-device 8Kp120 decoding capability allows for a 3D video experience in 2K or higher, which is an important step towards a retina-resolution experience.
AI-based human and object recognition further unleashes the power of AR and VR for industry applications. For example, in the security field, AR glasses that can recognize people and compare them with preset targets in the system, allow for security officers on patrol to quickly detect targets.
We have an almost insatiable appetite for video, since we get most of information from what we see in the physical world, and receive response from the digital world mainly through visual input. And when coupled with AI, video can play an even greater role in our lives. As opposed to HD, 8K is able to capture moments at the millisecond level, and provide a greater level of detail with more vibrant colors, for lifelike viewing. To accommodate the growing demand for enhanced human-computer interactions and cutting-edge experiences, 8K and AI will continue to play a prominent role in industry digitalization, particularly in fields like manufacturing, education, energy, and security.


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Catch up on the big issues in this week’s Small Business Bites. We cut through the noise to dig out stories that really matter to UK small business owners, from the last month. Here’s our roundup of things you need to know.
Over half of small business leaders suffer sleep deprivation over money
53% of small business leaders believe they routinely suffer from sleep deprivation due to finance-related worries, according to a survey of over 250 leaders commissioned by KPMG.
More than 1 in 8 of those who are routinely sleep-deprived say their sleep is disrupted by financial concerns on most nights. Having 3 or more money-related worries typically results in leaders losing sleep up to once a week.
The main causes of sleepless nights are matters that are not typically managed by an accountant, with almost 75% saying management of cash flow is a major worry. Accountants’ basic responsibilities are much less of a concern, with only 29% of leaders saying that correct filing of tax returns is a current or previous concern.
Katy Tanner, director at Robert Half, spoke about sleep issues: “Daily stress factors at the office follow us all home. While most employees have lost sleep over work, there are certain measures we can follow to reduce stress. Regular meetings, addressing issues while they’re fresh, being proactive with planning and taking regular breaks, all help us to ease workplace stress and get a better night’s sleep.
“A bad night sleep also kills workplace positivity, which has huge business implications. Employees who are burned out, frustrated or unhappy are far more prone to skip work. In contrast, well rested employees are much more committed, healthy and productive. This, in turn, has a direct impact on the bottom line. Now is the time for employees and employers to realise the importance of sleep and its impact on effectiveness and wellbeing.”
‘Digital tax will cause £330m IT burden on small businesses’
Small business owners may be set to endure yet more sleepless nights as they adapt to new tax rules.
According to the government, most small businesses will have to upgrade their computer hardware to comply with the new regulations. This includes landlords and the self-employed.
The official estimate is that small businesses will need to spend £330m to meet requirements to keep digital records and and send quarterly updates to HMRC.
In order to meet the government’s plan to digitise the tax system, half of the affected small businesses (3.4m) will have to upgrade their hardware, while 1 in 10 will need to purchase new equipment.
HMRC insists that businesses will save money because people will no longer waste time recollecting transactions that took place months ago. The tax authority believes the initiative will reduce the £8bn a year in tax lost from taxpayer errors, while saving small businesses a net £80m of administrative costs a year.
The Federation of Small Businesses has a different view however, saying the change could triple the administrative burden on small businesses. It says the changes could cost them about £3,000 a year in time, salaries and accountants’ fees.
The estimates provided by HMRC revealed that it will take each business 6 hours on average to get used to the new system. This will cost small businesses £430m in total. The availability of free software is likely to limit the extra software costs to £10m, but businesses are also expected to pay an extra £90m of accountancy costs.
Andrew Tyrie, chair of the Treasury select committee said: “There are huge differences between the FSB and HMRC about the administrative burden of ‘making tax digital’. This is the heart of the matter . . . A comprehensive pilot should shed some light on which assumption is closer to reality.”
The changes will affect around 3.3m self-employed individuals, including around 900,000 landlords, 1.6m companies, over 400,000 ordinary partnerships, and about 600,000 businesses with income from different sources.
The good thing is that business owners have time to prepare for the change, as following a concession in the Spring Budget, the new rules will not come into force until April 2019 for those with an annual turnover below the £83,000 VAT registration threshold. Those with turnover of less than £10,000 will be exempted from the updates.
Almost one in five of Britain’s SMEs miss payday in battle to stay in business
Many small businesses could do without this ‘£330m burden’, as they are struggling to survive as it is.
17% of British businesses have had to miss a payday to stay afloat, according to research commissioned by npower business.
The energy supplier surveyed over 1000 SME Senior Decision Makers, also finding that 19% of SMEs rely heavily on personal savings for financial support.
Richard Longbottom, Acting Head of npower Business, urged SMEs to help each other: “SMEs are super powering towns and cities across Britain, helping to determine the success and character of regions across the UK. However, it’s clear from our research that some of these businesses are relying entirely on themselves to succeed. At npower Business, we believe SMEs could do more to learn from each other in the same way that we continually learn from those who we talk to everyday. This is why we are calling on SMEs to share their superpowers and learn from each other to help improve their bottom line.”
The findings also revealed that a substantial proportion of SME leaders are uncertain about their business’ growth. A quarter of the respondents are less confident about their growth prospects than they were last year.
67% of these leaders attributed their concern to Brexit. It will be interesting to see how the confirmation that Britain will leave the EU, through the triggering of Article 50, will affect SME leaders’ confidence after so much uncertainty. Reassuringly, over a third (36%) are actually more confident about their business prospects for 2017.


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Frankfurt is on the path to become a world leading fintech hub, leveraging Germany’s economic strengths in the tech industry and the city’s position as the European Union’s financial center, according to Startup Genome’s annual startup ecosystem report.
Frankfurt currently employs over 70,000 people in the financial services industry and is home to five Forbes 2000 companies in the financial industry with a combined market capitalization of US$66.3 billion.
Based on these unique advantages and assets, the ecosystem is focusing on building a fintech cluster through targeted programs such as accelerators, corporate involvement initiatives and co-working spaces.
“The ecosystem’s focus on fintech is clear,” the report claims.
“Frankfurt has the highest concentration (tied with another ecosystem) of startups in a given sub-sector globally across the nearly 100 ecosystems we studied. In addition, more than 50% of local venture capital investment went into its fintech startups between 2012 and 2017.”
Nearly all major banks and financial institutions in the world have their German headquarters or global headquarters in the city. Today, Frankfurt hosts more than 300 banks as well as the largest stock exchange in Continental Europe, Deutsche Borse Group.
Most of these banks and financial institutions have launched programs specifically tailored towards the needs of fintechs and insurtechs. For instance, Deutsche Bank launched Digitalfabrik in September 2016, a program that supports the development for digital banking products. Commerzbank introduced the Main Incubator, the bank’s investment arm and incubator targeting fintech startups, in March 2014. Deutsche Borse unveiled Fintech Hub in 2016, an initiative aimed at supporting the fintech community in Frankfurt and in the Rhein/Main region.
In addition to bank-led initiatives, Frankfurt also boasts a large pool of accelerator programs such as Accelerator Frankfurt and Finlab. These were established to nurture the region’s most promising ventures in the areas of fintech, regtech, insurtech, and more.
One of the newest programs to arrive in the city is the iconic Silicon Valley accelerator program Plug and Play, which launched a new European fintech program in collaboration with TechQuartier earlier this year. Launched in 2016, TechQuartier is an international community, incubator and co-working place. It aims to serve as a focal point to the startup and fintech community in Frankfurt as well as a platform connecting all stakeholders in the financial services industry.
Omeed Mehrinfar, regional director of EMEA at Plug and Play, said the company was looking to establish “a centralized accelerator hub for our innovation activities in the fintech space across Europe” in Frankfurt.
Saeed Amidi, CEO and Founder of Plug and Play, noted that Frankfurt was a major financial capital and “on track to also become a global fintech hub.”
Alongside TechQuartier, The Spot is another fintech hub that was launched in 2017. Its main tenants are Commerzbank Group’s Main Incubator, startup companies such as robo-advisory services provider Ginmon and digital payment services provider Billwearl, as well as fintech-focused venture capital firm Digital+Partners.
One of Frankfurt’s most notable success stories is foreign exchange trading company 360T, which was acquired in October 2015 for nearly US$800 million by Deutsche Borse, which runs the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The acquisition is still to date the largest fintech exit to ever take place in Germany.
Other notable fintech ventures in Frankfurt include insurance robo-advisor Clark, which raised US$29 million in its Series B funding round in April, and AI startup Arago, which raised US$55 million in 2014 from KKR & Co.
Last year, Deloitte ranked Frankfurt as the third largest fintech hubs in Europe, behind only to London and Zurich.
Along with pointing out Frankfurt’s rapidly growing fintech industry, the Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2018 also notes China’s continued dominance in the global fintech scene.
China is the largest market for digital payments with mobile payments reaching US$5.5 trillion in volume in 2017, or 50 times largest than the US market with US$112 billion.
China is also home the Ant Financial, the country’s largest fintech company with a valuation of about US$60 billion.
It also noted the growth of wealthtech and robo-advisors supported by advances in the fields of AI, Big Data and machine learning technologies, as well as increasing demand for security and better recognition infrastructure related with the rise of mobile payment systems and digital wallets.
Biometric authentication, which includes technologies like face recognition systems, iris detection and fingerprint recognition, will be increasingly used in a variety of bank and payment scenarios, such as withdrawing cash from ATMs, authenticating mobile bank apps.
Featured image: Frankfurt, Germany, Pixabay.


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Pavilions of Harrogate has been announced as Wedding Venue of the Year at Britain’s Asian Wedding Awards 2020.
Group Head of Sales, Fiona Stilborn and Sales Manager, Ben Chatburn picked up the award at the ceremony at the Mercure Piccadilly Hotel in Manchester.
We are absolutely delighted to be recognized as venue of the year. We would like to thank all our wonderful brides and grooms for their support. The wedding industry is booming for us at Pavilions of Harrogate and we are proud to be known as a leading Asian Wedding venue.
The UK Asian wedding industry has grown at an unprecedented rate in recent years and suppliers have exceeded all expectations in what they’re able to deliver to make a couple’s wedding day the best in their lives. The award ceremony was held to celebrate those who service Britain’s ever-growing Asian wedding industry. It rewarded the graft of excellent suppliers and thanked those who go above and beyond to make someone’s special day the most memorable of their life.
Irfan Younis, CEO of Oceanic Consulting said:
I’ve enjoyed watching the Asian wedding industry’s evolution look forward to seeing what direction the industry takes next; best believe we’ll be back next year with more ground breakers and wedding shakers.
Nancy from Vie Candles Co. said:
We are delighted to sponsor this event; we are experts in the wedding and special occasions industry and can offer bespoke fragrances to capture the perfect essence of the big day.
With 13 years of experience, Oceanic Consulting host annual award ceremonies in major English, Scottish and Irish cities. Campaigns include the Curry Awards, Asian Business, Asian Food, British Muslim, British Indian and Britain’s Asian Wedding Awards.


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Meet a $10 Million MSP Built On Amazon Web Services
Admittedly, that $10 million figure is in Australia currency — making it closer to about $7.2 million in U.S. dollars. But the figures are growing fast — incredibly fast. According to Bulletproof, the Australia-based company’s AWS-related revenues were the following over the past three years:
- 2013: $100,000 Australia (or about $72,000 in U.S. dollars, at the current exchange rate).
- 2014: $2.7 million Australia ($1.94 million in U.S. dollars).
- 2015: $10.7 million Australia ($7.7 million in U.S. dollars).
And the growth won’t end there. Bulletproof recently acquired Cloud House, an Amazon Web Services consulting firm in New Zealand. Bulletproof CEO Anthony Woodward walked ChannelE2E through the past, present and future of his company during a briefing yesterday.
2000 – Traditional Hosting: Bulletproof launched around 2000, right in the middle of the dot-com crash. The company’s leaders had dial-up Internet experience, and focused their initial efforts on managed services for SMBs. Bulletproof built out an enterprise-grade platform that featured shared hosting, no single points of failure, firewalling, load balancing and more. Along the way, customers started asking for dedicated hosting and Bulletproof pushed in that direction.
2005 – Rise of VM Hosting: Around the 2005 timeframe, Bulletproof starting to see the digital revolution taking off. Midsize businesses were kicking off ecommerce projects. The company realized those applications wouldn’t scale on dedicated hardware.
To capitalize on the wave, Bulletproof partnered closely with VMware and introduced VM hosting services. Headcount grew to about 15 to 20 employees.
2010 – Here Comes the Cloud: Around this timeframe, Bulletproof started to see global cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) taking off. Frankly, so did our team here at ChannelE2E. That’s the year we launched a cloud-focused IT media site (which we’ve since sold).
“We knew that an industry shift was coming, ” says Woodward. “Instead of competing with a cloud platform, we knew we would eventually have to partner with a cloud platform and focus on managed services for that platform.”
Apparently, Amazon agreed. The cloud service provider approached Bulletproof about a relationship in 2012. At the time, AWS was building its first Sydney, Australia data center. “We put all of our efforts behind the Amazon relationship,” recalls Woodward. Around that time, Bulletproof grew to about 40 people.
2014 — Listed on Australia Stock Exchange: To fuel even more growth, the 50-person company was listed on the Australia Stock Exchange. The company acquired Pantha (an AWS consulting partner focused on DevOps) and Infoplex. Growth continued, and by the end of 2015, headcount reached about 160 employees.
Bulletproof: 2016 and Beyond
The MSP still has its VMware platform, and continues to offer private cloud services because “some apps won’t go to the public cloud,” Woodward says.
Still, the AWS side of the business continues to grow fast. And the Cloud House acquisition — featuring about a dozen employees — should help Bulletproof to expand significantly in New Zealand.
Bulletproof and Cloud House have been working together in New Zealand since about 2014. The two companies met via Amazon’s AWS partner ecosystem. Cloud House provided up-front consulting services for AWS projects, and then Bulletproof offered the ongoing managed services platform to those customers. A more formalized partnership emerged in May 2015.
The synergies look extremely promising. Bulletproof believes it is the only AWS partner that holds both the Premier and Managed Services Partner designation in Australia. Through synergies with Cloud House, Bulletproof will achieve that rare double-status feat in New Zealand as well, Woodward asserts.
For MSPs seeking to succeed in the cloud, Woodward offers this advice:
- The shift is not about replacing on-premises infrastructure with cloud infrastructure.
- Also, the shift is not about earning reseller margin off the AWS platform.
- Instead, the cloud shift is about adding value above the AWS platform.
Clearly, Bulletproof is following Woodward’s advice.
PS: Surely there are additional MSPs generating $10 million or more on AWS. If you’re out there, ChannelE2E would love to hear from you. Just email me: [email protected].


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Honda and Cruise to test autonomous vehicles in JapanHonda and Cruise to test autonomous vehicles in Japan
Cruise Origin vehicles to be evaluated on how they adapt to traffic
September 10, 2021
Automaker giant Honda announced it’s set to begin testing autonomous vehicles in Japan.
Honda will be testing its driverless vehicles in Utsunomiya City and Haga Town, in Tochigi Prefecture – north of Tokyo.
As part of its tests, the company will be using a specialized vehicle to create high-definition maps. Upon completion of the mapping, an autonomous vehicle will then drive on public roads.
The driverless cars will be tested on how they adapt to traffic environments.
Mobility service plans on the horizon
The Japanese firm said that its tests will allow it to “take a step toward an autonomous vehicle mobility service (MaaS) business” in its home country.
Honda is planning on launching its MaaS business in collaboration with General Motors and self-driving company Cruise.
GM and Honda joined Microsoft in investing in Cruise – with the trio, along with institutional investors, holding an equity investment of more than $2 billion.
Retail giant Walmart also holds a stake in Cruise, with the pair having previously worked on a delivery pilot project in Phoenix, Arizona.
As part of its testing in Tochigi, Honda and Cruise will work together – with the eventual aim to establish an operations test site in the area.
The eventual MaaS business spearheaded by Honda, GM, and Cruise will use the Cruise Origin, a vehicle jointly developed by the trio.
Honda Mobility Solutions Co, a Honda subsidiary, will be the operator of the eventual MaaS business in Japan.
The company said it is “striv[ing] to create new value for mobility and people’s daily lives by offering its customers the joy of expanding their life’s potential through its autonomous vehicle MaaS business,” upon announcement of its Tochigi tests.
Away from Japan, Honda’s Chinese arm joined forces with AutoX – the autonomous vehicle startup spun out of Alibaba and Shanghai Motors - to test driverless cars on public roads back in April.
Accord and Inspire models were fitted with AutoX’s AV technology, with the pair hoping to eventually deploy autonomous vehicles in some of China’s most densely populated cities.
And in March, Honda announced intentions to sell a limited batch of its Legend vehicles fitted with Level 3 autonomous technologies to Japanese consumers – marking the first time Level 3 autonomy has been approved by regulators.
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(NEW YORK) — Arguably one of the oddest commercial that aired during the Super Bowl was Tide’s spot that featured Jason Alexander’s giant face on a messy guy’s hoodie.
And now, it can be yours, for a good cause.
In a callback to Seinfeld, the ad was set to “Believe It Or Not (Theme from The Greatest American Hero)” — which references George Costanza’s phone message when he was avoiding an inevitable break up — and showed the giant face reacting to being slobbered on by a dog, sat on, and dirtied by other sloppy situations.
Tide has just announced it is giving away “a limited supply of the same hoodie from our Super Bowl LV commercial,” and all you need to do is go to charityhoodie.tide.com and click a button to contribute anywhere from $5 to $25.
“All contributions will be split evenly between Feeding America and Matthew 25: Ministries to help families in their time of need,” the detergent company notes.
However, just like fighting a stain, time is your enemy: entries will only be accepted until Wednesday, February 10, 11:59 PM.
By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


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Zero-Touch Technology and Its Strategic Implementation in Business
- Today, people are avoiding touch due to the fear of coronavirus.
- Zero-touch technology might help offer services without the need for touch.
- Pandemic has changed the behavior of people to a great extend.
- Digital, online, and contactless payments in America is rising.
- Businesses can adopt Zero-touch technology to become more appealing to customers.
The coronavirus pandemic that started in Wuhan province of China has now spread to every part of the world. Almost every country imposed lockdown and quarantines to avoid loss of human lives and other damages for the past few months. While some were successful in containing the virus, others saw a great loss of human life. Nonetheless, with economies facing heavy losses, countries are now starting to open up. This move by various countries will mean office, schools, universities, restaurants, and other social places will open too.
Despite being several rules in place, people are still going to be a little paranoid. Zero-touch can help that. Technology has been a major force behind various efforts to contain the virus. Touch is one of the most fundamental modes of communication. The ability to touch something is crucial be it a handshake, a fist bump, a pat on the back, or a hug, these are gestures of affection. However, touching is the primary mode in which the coronavirus spread’s, people are trying to avoid it as much as they can.
In the near future, people might keep avoiding touches until there is some kind of control over the spread. Coronavirus is known to stick on different kinds of surfaces and survive from anywhere between a couple hours to up to 5 days. People are naturally suspicious and scared to touch any kind of surface which might expose them to the virus. However, several essential activities require people to touch public surfaces such as groceries, ATM machines, opening doors, calling the elevator, or signing for delivery.
Zero-touch technology is also known as no-touch, touchless, and contactless. It has the potential to perform essential activities without exposing its users to a possible contagion. There are a few sectors that have already implemented and using no-touch technology even before the COVID-19 crisis. Regardless of the usage of this technology has been scarce and scattered. Now, the coronavirus, the implementation of the technology might soon become widespread as well as prominent in every aspect.
Developments in Zero Touch Technology
In the last ten years, zero-touch or contactless technology has observed considerable developments. For example, voice-based technology such as Alexa or Google Home, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), and Near-Field Communication (NFC), and haptic technology involving kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch. Voice-based platforms are have not become both mainstream and integral parts of our lives. Since 2018, the number of smart speaker owners in the U.S. grew by 40% to reach 66.4 million or 26.2%, according to a new report from Voicebot.ai and Voicify.
These technologies have the potential to be developed and expanded to create a sanitized and contactless ecosystem. One of the sectors which have seen immense growth in the adoption of this technology is the healthcare sector. The sector has turned to remote monitoring devices to provide care to non-coronavirus patients. Other than healthcare, business conferences, and events have all shifted online through virtual platforms. All these small steps are practically pushing us towards a holistic digital life.
Potential of Zero-touch Technology
Zero-touch has already achieved great accomplishments. Its employment has facilitated contactless cash withdrawals at ATMs, faster checkouts at retail POS, distanced delivery of goods, and automated calling of elevators. Organizations in several sectors are developing the required solutions for instilling a no-touch technology to better service their offerings. For example, AxleHire, a logistics company, has introduced no-touch technology for delivery. It allows their customers to sign the delivery of the packages through the company’s app on their smartphones. It enables them to receive deliveries while maintaining the required social distance measures from the delivery personnel.
Coronavirus has bought down the trust among people on retailers and on every surface and object which might have been previously exposed to others. The zero-touch technology has the potential to not just provide convenience but help businesses establish trust with their customers. Hence, the post-coronavirus zero-touch technology software application will become a new norm and will be able to empower businesses to retain their customers as well as imbibe a sense of trust and safety. Nevertheless, businesses should remember that the implementation of technology should be smooth, secure, and robust to guarantee quality assurance.
Other examples of Zero-touch technology include, Burger King is working on making its drive-thru’s contactless for pickups and payments. Publix, the grocery chain in Florida, said that they have rolled-out tap-to-pay registers at more than 1,200 locations across the Southeast. Similarly, Walmart is now offering no-contact services for payment, delivery, and even pickups.
Change in Customer Behavior
Recently, a survey found that nearly 74% of people have either worn gloves or wiped down before using a public touch surface or touchpoint. Among these surveyees, as much about 80% believe that they are going to behave differently while interacting with public technology. This would include washing or sanitizing their hands after using public touch screens for 51%, less usage of cash machines for 25%, and using contactless payments for 48%.
Another survey canvassing 500 online global consumers by Astound Commerce, between March 9 and March 16, in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and the Middle East. It found three momentous, changes in consumer behavior:
- Globally Online Shopping Spiked to 55%
Unexpected lockdown forced to shut the doors of physical stores. This in turn resulted in major shifting of demand towards e-commerce as people were trying to secure essentials by any means. Nearly 20% percent of the shoppers in the U.S. reported paid a premium due to stocks running out.
- Consumers Returned to the Basics
The perspective of consumers has changed the consuming pattern due to panic buying which focused on non-discretionary products such as healthcare products, shelf-stable food items, and cleaners. According to the U.S. discretionary items such as apparel saw declines in purchasing of over 120 percent.
- Pickup and Delivery
People are scared and most of them don’t want to leave the safety of their homes due to the natural spread of the virus. In the U.S. nearly 72 percent of shoppers indicated an intentional shift towards contactless interactions. This has resulted in shoppers using more omnichannel services such as store pickup (the U.S. up 44 percent) and delivery. Grocery delivery increased by 39 percent worldwide.
To understand how consumers are opting for Zero-touch or Contactless technology lets look are some numbers:
Image Credit: Business Insiders
Now, the initial shock of the pandemic is wearing off. However, it is time for shoppers to settle into this new normal. So what do these behavioral changes mean for retailers?
Leveraging Zero-touch Technology for Business Continuity
As zero-touch technology is becoming essential as not just because of virus spreads on surfaces but more because customers are frightened. As businesses reopen, it is going to be hard for customers to enter a public space and be not to be hyperaware that it might have intercepted someone else’s sneeze or cough. Places can range from door handles to checkout touchscreens. Hence, businesses should opt for Zero-touch technology that doesn’t require customers to touch anything.
Businesses need to realize that a crucial part of the customer journey is a physical channel. Hence, they should consider converting to contactless operations. Second Story, experience design agency, has recently rigged prototypes using zero-touch tech such as elevator buttons using sensors that can be pressed by hovering a finger to eliminate the need for contact. The agency is also working with retailers, museums, restaurants, and other businesses and organizations to help them reimagine life with its new program called Adaptive Spaces.
Joel Krieger, Chief Creative Officer says “None of our physical spaces were designed for post-quarantine existence, and so we imagine that for these spaces to reopen in any sort of meaningful way, we have to give it a lot more thought.”
By adapting will help businesses finding better ways to limit the number of people in a space. Designers of the company are also working on different ways to direct people safely around spaces without annoying them. They are also focusing on maintaining a healthy distance between them. Designers are working on an opportunity for technology to help reduce the infection chance through spread on surfaces. Some companies are taking the concept far by shifting business models. For example, Starbucks is planning to close its 400 cafes to replace them with pickup-only stores.
Businesses can also opt for zero-touch technologies that are already mainstream. For instance, the automatic sliding doors that became widespread in the mid-20th century. However, another technology that is still isn’t ubiquitous can also be implemented. For instance, the Leap Motion Controller can sense someone’s hands using ultraviolet light and sensors. Integration of leap motion controller in a building can help facilitate interactions with many things such as touchscreen without having a need to actually touch it.
According to a global study by Mastercard conducted on 15 markets, consumers are moving away from cash to contact-free and digital payments. Mastercard SpendingPulse reports recorded growth rates across the globe as consumers increasingly shop online. Businesses can work on simplifying the online checkout experience to an in-store tap on a contact less terminal. They can also implement click-to-pay for a one-click checkout experience. Moreover, they can incorporate designing digital products rather than just focusing on supporting physical cards for digital experiences.
This technology can prove to be fairly inexpensive for retail stores and museums that have already invested heavily in touchscreen displays. However, in this circumstance businesses are finding themselves in very tight spot money-wise. Hence, they might shy away from re-plumbing all their technology. So they can work on how they can modify the existing technology. For example, businesses can utilize voice technology to replace touchscreens. Voice commands could be potentially used in elevators.
Businesses should adopt these technologies as avoiding the need for touch is better than relying on cleaning. Furthermore, businesses should now remove the band-Aid fixes that were deployed during the initial phase of lockdowns. They should now be replaced will more careful solutions.
In the United States, Walgreens has rolled out drive-through shopping experience. Customers order from a menu of available items such as household goods, medical supplies, and groceries. Store associates assemble and check out the order—all from the convenience of the drive-through window. Grocery chains have kept their physical stores open to shoppers but are adding touch less measures, including new installations of plexiglass “sneeze guards” at every cash register to protect customers and employees.
Digital delivery has also gained significance due to the necessity for customers that are confined at home. Its adoption has been grown strongly, even among the most digitally resistant customers. The rapid development of digital functionalities has become a key to ensuring the continuity of services for some companies. Many players in service industries have already accelerated digital value-added services. This may also include deliveries via drones or robots. Other companies have taken steps to make their digital services free to help existing customers and broaden their reach.
Many fitness companies are now extending free trials for their online and app-based classes. Users can download an app and sign-ups to convert into a digital customer. This approach has opened up new possibilities that many customers the company has reaches online and converted to digital services will stick with them even after the crisis is over. Businesses have shifted to digital platforms to deliver great experiences and maintain relationships with customers.
Similarly, businesses should also focus on contact less home delivery. In the past few months, it has gone from convenience to necessity. For instance, during the time of crisis, online contact less grocery home-delivery users in Italy double between February and March. Also, the United States has seen a rise in home delivery options beyond food. Pharmacies offer extended free trials on their prescription delivery service and car dealerships offer to pick up and drop off vehicles for repair and maintenance.
In the time of crises, Zero-touch technology can be both empowering and intimidating. It has the potential to help businesses normalize their day-to-day activities to quite an extend. It can reduce the need to contact objects or other common surfaces. It can help people gain the confidence of the retailer they are buying from. On the other hand, retailers will also have an opportunity to create a more friendly and safe environment for the customers. Businesses can opt for this technology at various levels from doors to payment systems.


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A breathalyzer for fat-burning? The folks at Seattle-based Levl claim to have come up with just that.
Blow into a small container for about five seconds then put it in a sensor-laden machine, and out pops a report that purports to tell you how much acetone you're producing. A number around 4 on a 5-point scale suggests you're incinerating the lipids. Below that and you might want to cut back on the carbs and get some exercise.
A few days of changed behavior can make a difference, the company says. The app is designed to encourage users who can manage a long streak of fat-burning; it estimates how many calories they'll burn in fat per day. But there's one big gotcha: drinking alcohol could throw off the reading and make it seem like you're burning more fat than you are.
The company aims to sell the product this year but hasn't determined a price.
The Federal Aviation Administration says it has developed a smartphone app to show drone operators where it's OK to fly and what areas are off limits.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta also announced at a news conference at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas that by early Wednesday, 183,061 operators had registered their drones as new rules require.
The FAA launched online registration Dec. 21. Officials say they hope registration will help them trace drones caught flying too close to manned aircraft or over crowds, and create a "culture of accountability."
The smartphone app, B4UFLY, uses maps that identify the operator's current location and restricted areas in a radius around the operator. It's available now for Apple devices from the App Store and for Android devices from the Google Play Store.
Kids tossing around a football probably hope to throw a perfect spiral in a big game one day. Technology is about to help them out.
Sports equipment maker Wilson is preparing to release this year a smart football equipped with accelerometers that measures stats like spiral efficiency, spin rate, speed and distance. It can even tell if it was caught or dropped.
Developed by a trained aerospace engineer, the ball knows to wake up its Bluetooth transmitter with a specific snap motion, says Bob Thurman, Wilson's vice president of innovation. And because it can ignore the toss back by the receiver, a future Hall of Famer can drive down the field under time pressure without actually going anywhere. Talk about fantasy football.
Wilson is already selling a smart basketball for $199 that can tell whether you've swished or missed and keeps track of your lifetime stats. It wakes up by being spun in the air. Thurman says the ball is 97 percent accurate at reading misses or makes. That's probably better than your free throw percentage.
Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc. is unveiling what it calls the world's first drone capable of carrying a human passenger.
Ehang's booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center features a prototype of the Ehang 184 — covered with a cloth for a planned noon unveiling. In the meantime, the company played a video of the vehicle flying over cityscapes. It looks like a small helicopter but with four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones.
According to the company, the electric-powered drone can carry up to 100 kilograms of weight (220 pounds) and fly for 23 minutes at sea level. With propellers folded up, it's designed to fit in a single parking spot. The cabin fits one person and a small backpack and even has air conditioning and a reading light, Ehang said.
Some of the company's claims border on the heroic. The company said the drone can be fully charged in 2 hours, adding that after setting a flight plan, passengers only need to give two commands, "take off" and "land," each controlled by a single click.
US authorities are just starting to lay out guidelines for drone use, and a human-passenger drone seems certain to face strict scrutiny.
The beginning of life itself? Now there's an app for that.
Pregnancy-test maker First Response is introducing a new Bluetooth-enabled stick that still requires nature's call. But it'll also distract a would-be mom with in-app videos or quizzes from BuzzFeed while she waits three minutes before she gets her answer.
Pregnancy tests have evolved rapidly from sticks with one or two lines, to digital readouts that say "yes" or "no," to tests that can detect a likely pregnancy several days before a missed period. Competitor Clear Blue also offers a digital test that it says can estimate the number of weeks a woman has been pregnant prior to taking the tests.
Having the test talk to your phone may be a new development. The app is designed to stick around as a resource for expectant mothers; it offers a calendar aid for calculating the likely due date and assistance for reaching out to a doctor and for letting others in on the news via texts and email.
First Response says the tests will ship to stores in the spring and should cost $14.99 or $21.99 depending on where they're sold. That's a bit more than the company's other digital and analog versions that offer two for $9.99 or $14.99.
Netflix subscribers watched 12 billion hours of programming on the Internet video service during the final three months of 2015, a nearly 50 percent increase from the previous year.
CEO Reed Hastings disclosed the growth during a Wednesday presentation in Las Vegas at CES, a high-profile showcase for gadgets and technology services.
Netflix entered the fourth quarter with 69 million subscribers compared to the previous year's 53 million, a group that watched 8.25 billion hours of programming. That means Netflix subscribers watched a weekly average of 13 hours of programming in the 2015 period versus 12 hours in 2014.
The company's periodic revelations about the behavior of its subscribers are one of the few ways outsiders can gauge the popularity of its series and movies.
Netflix's stock rose $2.40 to $110.07 in early afternoon trading.
The much-hyped Oculus Rift virtual reality headset will cost $599 and ship to 20 countries beginning on March 28, the company said Wednesday.
Bundles that include a powerful computer needed to use the device will be available for pre-order in February starting at $1499.
The pricing details and shipping information had been long awaited. Oculus, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $2 billion, began accepting pre-orders for the device at 11 a.m. E.T. on Wednesday.
It will also be available in some undisclosed retail locations starting in April.
The Rift comes with a built-in headphones and mic, sensor and an Xbox One controller. It also comes with a remote to help navigate virtual worlds.
PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster said the cost of the Rift is higher than the $449 he expected, but said he still expects a few hundred thousand units to sell during 2016.
The CES gadget show, which officially opens at 10:00 a.m. today in Las Vegas, has begun catering more heavily to startups hoping to break through the noise. The sprawling show has sections for wearable fitness gadgets, drones, autonomous vehicles, education, virtual reality, video games, robots, 3-D printers and smart homes.
The startups will help fill a gap left by many of technology's biggest names, who have been no-shows for some time. That roster includes Apple Inc., which has skipped the show since the 1990s, Microsoft Corp., which abandoned its keynote slot after 2012, Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
The Consumer Technology Association that runs CES is aiming for attendance this year at or below last year's record 176,000.
Shawn DuBravac, the CTA's chief economist, argues the show's maturity is a good thing because its focus has shifted over two decades from the "technologically possible" to the "technologically meaningful." In other words, it's no longer about a robot that can walk up steps. It's about robots that actually mow your lawn.
CES is first and foremost a venue for promoting the tech industry, and sometimes the hype falls flat. 3-D screen technology unveiled at CES in 2010 went from the next big thing to a mostly unused feature. Netbooks introduced in 2009 took a back seat to the iPad released a year later. And concepts such as the smart home have taken a really long time to materialize.
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Hewlett-Packard’s difficult year continued this week when India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence accused the IT giant of customs duty evasion to the tune of Rs 1,450 crore ($325 million).
The company has strenuously denied what the Times of India describes as “the biggest customs duty evasion by any company in India”, saying it will challenge the allegations ‘through the judicial process’.
The DRI alleges that HP’s Indian division, Hewlett Packard India Sales Pvt Ltd, undervalued computer equipment it imported to the subcontinent, thereby reducing the amount of duty owed.
The news continues a run of negative publicity for HP. Last month, it emerged that company is under investigation by authorities in Germany and Russia over bribery claims.
This follows a high-profile legal defeat in the UK by BSkyB, which sued over a failed customer relationship management (CRM) deployment, as well as industrial action over staff pay and allegations of selling defective equipment in China.


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A year ago, at the end of 2019, our outlook for the U.S. chemical industry was for modest but positive growth. Amid the backdrop of a maturing economic expansion, challenges from protectionist trade policies, a global manufacturing slowdown, and uncertainty about the upcoming U.S. presidential election, the industry faced multiple headwinds. As news of a novel coronavirus in China captured the world’s attention during the first month of the year, companies prepared for a significant supply disruption as it became clear that quarantine directives to contain the outbreak would substantially impact manufacturing in China, the world’s largest chemicals producer. Just two months later, by the end of March, as much as half the world’s population was under some kind of lockdown order and demand for goods and services collapsed with unprecedented speed and severity.
COVID-19 has been a classic “black swan” event. Nobody at this time last year anticipated a global pandemic that would close borders and shutter businesses, plunging the world into the fastest and deepest downturn since the 1930s. Between February and April 2020, more than 22 million Americans lost their jobs as large swaths of the U.S. economy were closed for business and a majority of office workers were forced to work remotely from home.
The global pandemic hit the pause button on the $84-trillion global economy. Spending fell throughout the world and across all economic sectors in a matter of weeks. With more than 85% of basic and specialty chemicals sold to industrial consumers, all but a handful of products suffered substantial negative impacts. However, several chemicals — those tied to personal protective equipment (PPE), disinfection and sanitation products, medical supplies and equipment, and protective barriers — saw soaring demand that partially offset devastating declines in demand for other products. Plastic packaging also got a positive bump through food distributors redirecting bulk foods intended for institutional markets into smaller household-sized packages, alleviating shortages at the retail level.
Despite the increased demand for several COVID-19-critical materials, overall U.S. chemical production fell in 2020 but not as much as that in just about every other manufacturing sector. Motor vehicle production dropped sharply, as did output in its lengthy supply chain. However, housing made strong gains in 2020 due to shifting patterns of remote work and record-low interest rates. Most other end-use segments declined, though.
While the downturn was rapid and deep, with second quarter gross domestic product off by nearly a third (on an annualized basis), the recovery that likely began at the end of that quarter has been swift and demonstrates the resiliency of the U.S. economy, supported by unprecedented Federal stimulus and a broad expansion of unemployment benefits. However, moving into the end of 2020, the strong rebound during third quarter tapered off and the U.S., like most of the rest of world, experienced a troubling surge in the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19. With renewed restrictions across much of the country, the outlook remains uncertain as the worsening health situation casts clouds on confidence, mobility and spending. Fortunately, a number of vaccines seem poised for widescale use while the medical community has made significant gains in treatment for patients, improving outcomes for millions of infected people.
Figure 1. Most sectors should achieve good growth through 2022.
As the world emerges from this health crisis in 2021, the American economy continues to boast fundamental advantages. The U.S. has undergone significant tax and regulatory reform in recent years and American workers are among the most productive in the world. In addition, the U.S. enjoys an energy advantage that is the envy of many nations. Protectionist policies enacted during the Trump administration harmed many U.S. manufacturers and consumers but the incoming administration likely will take a more-measured approach to trade that will stimulate U.S. economic growth. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) looks forward to working with the Biden/Harris administration and members of Congress to ensure the right policies are in place to support sensible, science-based regulations and robust and responsible energy and infrastructure development that will keep our industry and economy on a path to strong growth.
As factories reopened toward the end of the second quarter and inventories were drawn down, demand has firmed across many economic segments. However, restrictions on trade movements during the lockdowns and weakness in many trading partner economies caused a significant drop in U.S. exports of goods in 2020. As a result, industrial production fell by 6.9% in 2020, with declines in nearly every industry sector. With the recovery in place, however, industrial production will continue to strengthen and should increase by 3.7% in both 2021 and 2022. Growth expectations are positive for all industries in 2021 except oil and gas; motor vehicles, aerospace, appliances, iron and steel, petroleum refining, and plastic and rubber products should show the largest gains (Figure 1).
Figure 2. This leading indicator points to continued recovery this year.
The Chemical Activity Barometer — an ACC-developed composite leading index of broader industrial activity — rose for the seventh straight month in November. While key indicators are mixed, they remain largely positive and point to continued recovery in the U.S. economy in 2021(Figure 2).
Light vehicles are an important market for chemicals, representing over $3,170 in chemicals per vehicle. Sales were very strong during 2015–2019, averaging almost 17 million units each year. However, the U.S. light vehicle industry experienced sizeable lockdowns and, as a result, sales should total only 14.4 million in 2020. A V-shaped recovery in this industry is occurring and sales should rise to 16.4 million in 2021. An eventual return to normal job and income levels as well as some continuing pent-up demand will support this rebound. The outlook is for sales to improve and remain at elevated levels over the next several years. (Editor’s note: In addition, the automotive market likely will play an important role in the advance of circular chemistry, i.e., use of renewable and end-of-life materials. See: “Cars Can Drive Circular Chemistry Ahead.”)
Housing also consumes a lot of chemicals; the outlook is for a gain this year (despite COVID-19) to 1.34 million units as many households move from urban areas to suburban, ex-urban and rural areas. Low mortgage rates also provided some much-needed stimulus. Expected growth in household formation — the leading determinant of housing demand — coupled with job and income gains in the long-term will support continuing, albeit more modest progress through 2025. However, shortages of labor and available lots will constrain the pace of growth. Housing starts are set to edge higher to 1.38 million in 2021 and 1.36 million in 2022. This is a market that could surprise to the upside.
Going into 2020, the American chemical industry was poised for positive (but weak) growth. Following a challenging 2019 that reflected ongoing trade tensions and slower growth abroad, the industry faced further headwinds as the global economy struggled to maintain growth. As it unfolded, the pandemic initially disrupted chemical supply chains that ran through China. Then, broad lockdowns sent economies around the world off the rails and demand for chemicals in many important end-use markets declined sharply.
Policymakers quickly recognized the important role of the chemical industry in producing the materials to combat COVID-19 (fibers and resins for PPE, hand sanitizer and disinfectant ingredients, packaging materials for retail food distribution, medical plastics for test kits and ventilators, safety barriers, etc.). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security designated chemical manufacturing an essential industry because of its critical role in providing these materials.
Despite increased demand for materials related to the pandemic response, chemicals that support other end-use markets, e.g., durable goods, oil and gas extraction, refining, etc., saw a sharp fall in demand during the lockdowns. As the recovery emerged in the third quarter, demand for chemicals firmed. In 2020, chemical production (excluding pharmaceuticals) likely fell by 3.6%, the largest decline since the Great Financial Recession, but one of the better performances within the manufacturing sector.
Chemical production also declined in most worldwide regions in 2020 but should rebound, in some cases even more strongly than in the U.S. (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Worldwide growth in chemicals output should occur.
Prospects By Segment
As the recovery continues to build and end-use and export markets strengthen, chemical output should rebound by 3.9% in 2021 and 2.7% in 2022 (Figure 4). The competitive advantage that U.S. chemical production enjoys due to investment in unconventional oil and gas resources will foster this growth. Looking ahead, as the world economy climbs out of the deepest recession since the 1930s, growth rates through 2025 likely will lag those of the previous five years. Capacity utilization dropped to 78.4% in 2020 as demand fell at the same time new capacity came on line. A slower pace of capacity growth and stronger demand will push operating rates up through 2025.
U.S. basic chemicals (inorganic chemicals, petrochemicals, plastic resins, synthetic rubber, and manufactured fibers) continue to enjoy a competitive advantage. Going into 2020, higher tariffs were only the first hurdle to a difficult year. During the lockdowns, demand from many end-use customers, both domestic and abroad, collapsed. Basic chemical production declined 1.3% in 2020, as strong demand for plastic resins partially offset weaker growth in other segments. In fact, plastic resins were the only major chemical segment to post growth in 2020, up by 0.9%. Production of petrochemicals and organic intermediates that supply the resin segment among others fared relatively well, declining by only 0.9%. Inorganic chemicals fell by 1.9%. However, with tire production at a small fraction of its usual levels during the second quarter, synthetic rubber fell by 18.9%. Manufactured fibers, a segment under long-term structural pressures, fell by 11.7%. All basic chemical segments should rebound strongly in 2021 as customer markets and the trade environment improve, and shale-advantaged feedstock production expands.
Figure 4. Output of basic chemicals should pace the ongoing rebound.
While the year was challenging for basic chemicals, it was especially difficult for specialty chemicals. Even before the pandemic, specialty chemicals had started the year on a soft note with weakening customer markets. As end-use market demand fell through the second quarter and energy investment collapsed, specialty chemicals declined by 10.8%. However, as the industrial sector recovers in 2022 and beyond, specialty chemicals’ growth will resume.
Within the U.S., all regions saw declining chemical production in 2020 — with the largest drops in the specialties-heavy Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and West Coast regions. During 2021, the recovery that began in the second half of 2021 will evolve and all regions will see growth. The Gulf Coast region should experience the largest gains.
The chemical industry, which is the largest energy-consuming sector in America’s manufacturing base, continues to benefit from investments to take advantage of the U.S. energy abundance. While gains in U.S. energy production stumbled in 2020 due to the unprecedented collapse in transportation demand brought on by social distancing measures, the U.S. remains the world’s largest energy producer.
As the COVID-19 recession accelerated, many companies delayed or extended projects. In addition, heightened uncertainty led to cancellation of some projects. As a result, chemical industry capital spending likely fell by 14% in 2020 and will experience only a modest 4.8% gain in 2021. Growth will remain moderate in subsequent years but could pick up afterward if the business environment proves supportive. By 2025, U.S. capital spending by the chemical industry should approach $37.3 billion, nearly three times the level of spending at the start of the last cycle in 2010 (Figure 5). Investment for bulk petrochemical and organic intermediates, along with that for plastic resins, will dominate. Spending for instrumentation, process equipment, and structures presents strong opportunities during this period.
Figure 5. Investment in U.S. production plants will continue to increase.
Following seven years of solid job growth, chemical industry employment fell during the pandemic because of demand declines in other segments. Overall, the industry lost 14,900 jobs (2.7% of its workforce) in 2020. Looking ahead, employment should recover and stay relatively steady through 2025 as increased productivity offsets output gains. Chemical workers are among the highest paid in the manufacturing sector (averaging $87,500 in 2019) and those earnings support local communities. (Editor’s note: Salaries of engineers in the industry range even higher, see: “Salary and Satisfaction Survive the Pandemic.”)
U.S. exporters in 2019 faced headwinds coming from escalation of trade tensions and uneven growth abroad. With retaliatory tariffs in place and continued trade tensions, chemical exports declined 2.5% in 2019. Imports also fell by 3.9% with the imposition of U.S. tariffs and a weakening manufacturing sector. In 2020, of course, the pandemic negatively affected port access and aggregate demand for goods dramatically. Globally, trade volumes declined 12.4% in 2020, only slightly less than during 2009. Chemical exports also fell sharply, down by 9.0% to $124.0 billion. Imports also dropped for a second year, by 4.9% to $96.8 billion.
At the end of 2020, the U.S. chemical industry was well into its recovery from the pandemic-induced recession. Because of its significant contributions to the response to COVID-19, the industry’s losses in 2020 were comparatively less severe than those in other manufacturing sectors. Moving forward into 2021, the industry will continue its recovery and, spurred by the ongoing advantage from abundant U.S. energy resources (in particular, natural gas liquids), production and exports are poised for growth.
The new capacity started up recently and slated to come online in the years ahead puts the U.S. in a top competitive position for the foreseeable future. More than half of the investments announced since 2010 have been completed or currently are under construction. As the global economy expands and key-end use markets strengthen, we expect growth in basic chemicals as well most other chemical segments through 2025. As new production expands to meet growing global demand, the U.S. chemical industry will remain a key employer, providing high-paying jobs and supporting local communities. Provided that access to export markets remains open to American producers and U.S. energy development continues, shale-advantaged chemicals sourced from the U.S. will meet much of this growing global demand.
Significant risks to this outlook include, most prominently, the containment of COVID-19. As of presstime, infection rates in the U.S. and Europe are climbing once again, leading to new restrictions on mobility. While several vaccines are progressing quickly, meaningful vaccine distribution may not occur until well into 2021. Despite the recovery currently underway, the momentum of the world economy can’t gain traction until the health crisis abates.
KEVIN SWIFT is chief economist and managing director of the American Chemistry Council, Washington, D.C. MARTHA GILCHRIST MOORE is senior director, policy analysis and economics, for the American Chemistry Council, Washington, D.C. Email them at [email protected] and


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NORTH FAYETTE — The famous restaurant chain, Wahlburgers, will soon be opening their second location in Pittsburgh. The restaurant chain announced that they will be opening a location at The Mall at Robinson.
The restaurant will include a chef inspired menu of burgers, signature sandwiches, salads, vegetarian options and more.
“We are so grateful to the people of Pittsburgh for the incredible success of our North Hills location,” said Donnie Wahlberg. “We are thrilled to launch our second location and continue to embed ourselves in the community. Pittsburgh has always been one of my favorite cities.”
The new location will also include a full bar, outdoor patio and full-service restaurant.
“Wahlburgers is extremely successful in Pittsburgh and will perfectly complement our vibrant retail and dining mix,” says Beth Edwards, general manager of The Mall at Robinson. “This addition will solidify the center’s appeal as a place to shop, dine and spend time with family and friends.”
Wahlburgers at The Mall at Robinson is set to open in the summer of 2019.


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According to legend, Grigory Potemkin, one of Catherine the Great’s ministers (and her lover), created a false impression of prosperity when the empress toured Ukraine.
.. the legend has become a byword for the general idea of prettifying reality to please a tyrannical ruler.
.. But Trump’s actual policy initiatives aren’t doing so well. His tax cut isn’t producing the promised surge in business investment, let alone the promised wage gains; all it has really done is lead to a lot of stock buybacks. Reflecting this reality, the tax cut is becoming less popular over time... the trade war that was supposed to be “good, and easy to win” isn’t generating the kinds of headlines Trump wanted... Instead, we’re hearing about production shifting overseas to escape both U.S. tariffs on imported inputs and foreign retaliation against U.S. products... making stuff up is actually standard operating procedure for these guys... Trade policy itself is being driven by claims about the massive tariffs U.S. products face from, say, the European Union — tariffs that, like the immigrant crime wave, don’t actually exist... he declared that the head of U.S. Steel called him to say that the company was opening six new plants. It isn’t, and as far as we can tell the phone call never happened... the Council of Economic Advisers did an internal report concluding that Trump trade policy will cost jobs, not create them; Kevin Hassett, the chairman, pressed on these reports, said that he could neither confirm nor deny them; in other words, they’re true... Hassett is declaring that last year’s corporate tax cut has led to a “massive amount of activity coming home” — which is just false. Some companies are rearranging their accounting, producing what looks on paper like money coming back to the U.S., but this has no real effect on investment or employment... declaration by Larry Kudlow, the administration’s top economic official, that the budget deficit is “coming down rapidly” as “those revenues come rolling in.”.. reports that Trump wants to withdraw from the World Trade Organization... The best hope for breaking the cycle of retaliation would be for Trump to realize that the trade war is going badly, take a deep breath, and step back from the brink... But who will tell him how things are really going?.. Trump will dismiss reports of problems as fake news. Reality will take a long time to break through, if it ever does. And by then the world trading system may be broken beyond repair.


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The TikTok ban has been complicated and at other times confusing. On December 7th The Verge confirmed a federal judge allowed a preliminary injunction. What it did is prevent the U.S. Commerce Department from banning transactions with the Chinese-based app.
The U.S. district court judge, Carl Nichols explained that the government likely exceeded the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In other words, the law allowed Trump to ban transactions between the U.S. and foreign entities. This was included and integrated into Trump’s August 6th ban.
All of these events stem from an executive order issued by the administration. In addition, if this had been carried out the App Store and Google Play would have had to drop the app from its stores.
Upon learning the recent decision by the presiding judge, a TikTok spokesperson said they were pleased and in agreement with the preliminary injunction. Moreover, the spokesperson went on to say that their efforts are centered around building a home for 100 million Americans (families and small businesses).
The tentative deadline for the ban had been set for December the 4th. TikTok had to present a new proposal to the government and divest the app to the front-runners of the deal (Walmart and Oracle). Previously Microsoft had shown interest in acquiring the app, but their proposal was rejected by TikTok’s parent company Bytedance.
In spite of the politics, TikTok has boomed in business on multiple fronts
According to Ad Age’s top 2020 marketers of the year included as you might have guessed, TikTok.
— TikTok (@tiktok_us) December 7, 2020
The above Tweet serves as a reminder that TikTok is unlike any other social media app and it outperformed other competitors in spite of the adversities. AdAge confirmed this finding in its analysis when it said “The list is topped by TikTok, which emerged as a major pop culture force and must-stop for an increasing number of brands, including several on our list.”
When it came down to marketing, there are compiled marketing case studies by Mediakix dot com. A detailed report revealed these effective TikTok marketing campaigns with outstanding results. Well-known brands that tested the platform with success included Chipotle, Mucinex, Charlie’s Angels, Kool-Aid, Gymshark, and others.
Here are embedded samples and the engagement visible within these videos for the sponsored campaign along with hashtags.
Marketing case study by Chipotle 1: #Boorito Challenge
Marketing case study by Mucinex 2: #TOOSICKTOBESICK Challenge
These samples are just a handful and there are more examples of campaigns constantly happening from day-to-day or week-to-week.
When it comes to app engagement it comes as no surprise that TikTok thrived thanks to the pandemic. Wallaroo estimates the app has 850 million monthly active users (MAU). What is even more confounding is the app reached a major feat when it was downloaded 2 billion times worldwide. This happened under the dominance of major existing social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and others.
Existing social networks launch their TikTok competitors
There is an old saying if you cannot beat them you copy them. Do you also benefit from having the app banned? Every social network previously mentioned recently launched a TikTok killer copycat app or is in the process of it creating a short video version of it.
For example, YouTube launched YouTube Shorts. They are shorter videos and happen to be quite similar to TikTok’s formatted videos. Facebook joined the effort by launching Reels, which is integrated into its existing Instagram app.
What about Snapchat? They also launched short-form videos for its Spotlight page. The concept is the same and uses identical functionality on how to edit short videos. You can choose from a selection of tracks or sounds, embed GIFs and text.
It also included a fund to finance creators. Guess what? TikTok launched the TikTok Creator Fund to support content creators there and continue to help grow the platforms’ popularity.
A unique algorithm and a variety of content creators from all walks of life
The experience on the platform as a user on the platform is different from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. Typically, if you are an established brand or influencer chances are you have a large following along with high engagement with posts you send publicly.
TikTok uses the For You Page or FYP. The platform curates the content and never shows it to the same groups of users or followers you have. What is very distinctively different is an unknown, but an established TikTok influencer can have just the same reach or more than a verified user with a blue checkmark. You do not have to be famous to start and grow a following. However, it can help yet the content creators who are visible can compete with larger user accounts.
One perk for newcomers of TikTok is when you reach 1,000 followers you can go live. This allows users to connect with new or existing followers. The icing on the cake is once you go live you can receive gifts or digital coins that can be later converted to actual money. One huge income and revenue driver for users who deploy engagement tactics to get followers to donate their money in exchange for a shout-out or an account review.
As an educator and classroom teacher, I became curious about the platform because of my conversations with both teachers and students. I joined the platform to see what was all the hype about and it became clear other educators are using it as a creative outlet. It is also a great resource and tool to garner the motivation of students.
You will find users of all professions today It is not just millennials and Gen Z. It has expanded its demographic from 15 to 24 year-olds.
BoredTeachers has made a list of 25 teachers to follow and below are some examples.
Takeaways and conclusions
Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love” to Bella Poarch’s “M to the B” are one of the many influential moments that cemented TikTok’s popularity and usage. People flocked there because people are more comfortable now making videos while new or existing followers engage with their content.
In a previous post, there are “9 Data-Backed Reasons To Be Advertising On TikTok” and it is not exclusive to a younger crowd anymore.
Now that the ban expired TikTok will continue its journey into 2021 with more to come. What are you waiting for? If you are curious about the app it will benefit you no matter who you are. If you are a business, an enterprise, an influencer, or someone with any kind of talent you cannot overlook the possibility to exploit a golden opportunity.


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The pandemic has drastically changed retail landscape, allowing clients to develop new shopping habit and to lift their brand standards. Digital marketing has also advanced as interactive networks have been built to replace interactions of people and redesign strategies to understand the new reality. However, with the rapid proliferation of emerging technology, behaviours, and patterns, qualified marketers should look into the future even more.
The level of boredom has risen as people are sheltering and many have become entertainment videos for short format: TikTok has become Gen Z’s favourite site, Snapchat’s key redesign has been introduced, and Facebook is releasing Instagram Reels. Since social media use increased for all generations, CMOs have diverted budgets to those platforms – almost 25% of total marketing budgets in the 2nd quarter of 2020, an increase of 13% compared to 2019.
Given that marketers love something quick and attractive, they have to invest in short-range video strategy and implementation to reach younger consumers. TikTok for Business launched earlier this year and is expected to broaden its payroll marketing and publicity opportunities in 2021 – marketers can now begin to research this enigmatic site.
The production of short form videos can seem tricky, but consumer analysis, strategy, and innovation will be key for balancing branded message with the carefree tone of short form videos. Gen Z, on average, takes 8 seconds to begin to try to convey the brand mission, product values and CTA in a quick and snappy way.
The way shoppers are discovering social media brands and products is changing, and we’ll eventually see social shopping on these short-form video platforms becoming more popular. By saying that 30 percent are shopping directly from social media platforms, you can explore innovative ways to integrate social media into your Omnichannel e-commerce strategy.
By 2020, the introduction of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CPA) prompted brands ads on Facebook to unexpectedly refuse to reach millions of shoppers in Calif. The CPA, which limits how businesses can treat shoppers’ personal data in California, represents a growing concern across the entire country for user privacy – 86% of customers worry about their privacy, Baby Boomers and Gen X being the least trustworthy.
The CPA will serve as a blueprint for the enactment of digital privacy laws in the coming year, along with General Data Privacy Regulation. The iOS 14 privacy feature of Apple meanwhile is now postponed to 2021, which will avoid the automated background collection of data for custom ad tracking.
Customers will face significant shifts in how the industry actually monitors, goals and removes them. In other words, sellers have to cast off their old playbooks. Any preparedness can be achieved here:
- Be vigilant about customer privacy and agree to the latest news in the industry by reading.
- Set up a meeting to explore how future changes to privacy can affect your pipeline, with your marketing automation platform members.
- Start communicating the value proposition for consumers to collect information to convince them that their fears about privacy are dealt with.
With the complexity of digital marketing technologies, it is not shocking that marketing automation is a requisite mainstream of the industry. Documents of touchpoints across many devices are so complex and flexible that specialized attribution models could only forecast results and reliably measure ROI. Over time, as a business expands, monitoring these numbers continuously would be almost impossible.
In reality, 67 percent of marketers already use marketing automation software. This is where a marketing automation platform comes in. While software for marketing automation exists for years, new digital capabilities are frequently launched. This technology will grow in 2021, which will allow marketers to turn leads better, generate custom contents and track results. Take it from us: in 2021 and beyond, marketing automation will be the only means for successful digital marketing.
Digital marketing matured in a year full of unparalleled change to fit brands and customers’ new preferences and demands. We are sure to claim that 2021, when the revolutionary use of technologies, marketing strategies and creative ideas is created or broken brands, will be a year of continous digital transformation and dedication. Rise beyond your competitors by planning for these four possible trends—start resource changes, start brainstorms and carry out study.


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- Ally Financial’s multimillion-dollar deal across ESPN networks requires 90% of the ad buy to focus on women’s sports.
- Women’s professional sports sponsorships grew 20% year-over-year in 2022.
- Alphabet’s Google announced a multi-year partnership with sports website The Athletic in November that promises to double the amount of women’s sports coverage with a focus on soccer and the WNBA.
A detailed view of Atlantic Coast Conference signage before the game between the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Florida State Seminoles in the second round of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 02, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Grant Halverson | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Female athletes are competing for greater fandom, higher viewership and more media coverage. A recent Ally Financial ad buy with Disney’s ESPN focused on women’s sports may be the biggest deal yet — in importance as much as the dollars attached.
The one-year, multimillion-dollar deal requires 90% of its investment to be put to women’s sports, through expanding game highlights, branded content and features across ESPN.
“We really think it’s at the top of the funnel to create the most fundamental change for women’s sports,” said Stephanie Marciano, head of sports and entertainment marketing at Ally. “It is rare that brands buy media deals, or buy sponsorship deals, where they are as skewed toward women’s sports as this one,” she said.
The Disney deal is tied to a new three-and-a-half year Ally sponsorship of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), whose conference tournament started this week, broadcasted on ESPN. The bank is the first-ever title sponsor for both the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament and the ACC Women’s Soccer Championship, and will also be the exclusive presenting sponsor for the 2023 ACC Women’s Lacrosse Championship.
It’s part of a bigger change in the way Ally is spending its ad budget, with a five-year commitment to equally split paid advertising between women’s and men’s sports coverage.
“There’s just so much upside in women’s sports and so much that hasn’t been done yet, and I think marketers are recognizing that,” said Jon Patricof, CEO and co-founder of Athletes Unlimited, a network of professional women’s sports leagues.
Since making its five-year pledge, Ally collaborated with Paramount Global’s CBS Sports and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) to move the 2022 Ally Financial NWSL Championship to be aired in a prime-time broadcast window for the first time.
A big money year for women’s sports in 2022
Ally’s deal with Disney follows a successful year for women’s sports on the media front, with sponsorship deals growing 20% year-over-year, according to sports and entertainment intelligence platform SponsorUnited. In addition, the first-ever network to focus on female athletes, the Women’s Sports Network, launched this past fall and female college athletes have expanded their ability to secure NIL deals.
Alphabet’s Google announced a multi-year partnership with sports website The Athletic in November that promises to double the amount of women’s sports coverage with a focus on soccer and the WNBA, as well as devoting more staffing and resources. Google had previously leveraged its partnership with the WNBA to help the league broadcast more games, including working with ESPN to ensure every playoff game was broadcast.
From Gatorade and Nike to Ally and Hilton Hotels & Resorts, more brands across more sectors are increasing ad budgets directed toward women’s sports. Athletes Unlimited, which operates basketball, softball, volleyball, and lacrosse leagues, saw sponsorship revenue increase by 122% year-over-year. It announced this week an extension of a deal it has had with Nike since the organization’s founding in 2020.
Social media engagement can be an added benefit for brands, according to Athletes Unlimited data. It cites average engagement on sports social media of less than 2%, versus Athletes Unlimited’s engagement rates closer to 5%. “So already over-indexing on engagement, and then if you look at our individual athletes, it’s like 11%,” Patricof said. That, in his view, is leading companies including Ally to recognize that an important and growing part of the value within sports’ social media engagement remains unrealized and untapped.
According to “name, image, and likeness” technology company and marketplace Opendorse, NIL-compensated female athletes are engaging in 19.6% more social media activities for their deals than male athletes, excluding football.
The proliferation of content across platforms is driving much of the action, said Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis. Brands understand there’s not only more content but women’s sports are a primary component of that content. Meanwhile, NIL deals in college athletics have created another avenue for women athletes to gain significant exposure.
“All of these things combine and just build this momentum,” Rishe said. “We can talk about people like Chloe Kim, the snowboarder. We can talk about Livvy Dunne, the gymnastics competitor at LSU. We can talk about Alex Morgan of the U.S. Women’s [National] Soccer Team. These are just three names, three different women at three different stages of their lives … all to a different degree leveraging social media, digital media to elevate their brands. Ten years ago, you wouldn’t have this,” he said.
Six women’s sports made the top 10 list for NIL-compensated sports, according to Opendorse, though in total dollar terms, men’s football and basketball command roughly 70% of the money, with NCAA football alone at just under 50%.
Olivia Dunne of LSU warms up on the uneven bars during a gymnastics meet against Auburn at Neville Arena on February 10, 2023 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Stew Milne/Getty Images)
Stew Milne | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Sponsorship of women’s sports also provides brands access to what experts call “change” narratives.
“Purpose-driven” consumers now make up the largest segment of the buying public, at 44%, according to a recent IBM survey.
“Part of advertising and part of the reason you do these deals is you’re building this cultural capital with consumers,” Rishe said. “If you stand for equity, and you represent that by partnering with women’s sports, then you’re hoping that that’s going to resonate with your current customers. And perhaps it’s going to attract newer customers who align with that.”
That’s a big part of Patricof’s pitch to the world of corporate media buyers.
“In women’s sports, there’s right now a great opportunity to not only get direct return on your investment, but also pick up that very intangible value in the minds of fans and athletes,” he said.
For Ally, bigger deals and longer-term deals are the next step. “We’re feeling good about the trend, and I think that 20% number is going to continue to increase,” Marciano said of the revenue growth in 2022 for women’s sports sponsorships. “We have a big year ahead. So, we’re excited to kind of keep our foot on the gas for the rest of the year and show up at major women’s sports moments and events,” she added.
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The Automated Clearing House Network handled 31.5 billion payments valued at $80.1 trillion in 2023, representing a 4.8% increase in payment volume from the previous year and a 4.4% increase in payment value, Nacha announced.
The ACH Network saw significant growth in same-day ACH payments in the first half of 2023, according to figures released by Nacha.
ABA offered feedback on a recent request by Nacha for comment on four risk management topics that could inform future actions by the organization, although no specific rules have been proposed.
The Automated Clearing House Network processed 30 billion payments valued at $76.7 trillion in 2022, representing a 3% increase in the volume of payments from the previous year, network administrator Nacha announced this week.
B2B payments increased by 15.5% from Q1 2021, with more than 1.4 billion ACH B2B payments made. It’s also a 35.5% increase from Q1 2020,
Banks that retain more of their brokerage activity in-house but outsource functions such as trade execution or clearing to third parties will face bigger hurdles.
As expected, NACHA today increased the dollar limit for same-day ACH transactions from $100,000 to $1 million. The change was executed in collaboration with the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House, the network’s two ACH operators.
As bank customers increasingly turn to electronic payments, the Clearing House today announced that transaction volume on EPN, its ACH network, increased 9.6% in 2021, outpacing the overall 2021 U.S. ACH network volume increase of 8.7%.
Electronic ACH payment transaction volume grew by 8.7% last year, reaching 29.1 billion transactions, according to a report today from NACHA, the electronic payments association.
The American Bankers Association last week urged NACHA not to change rules around financial institutions offering early funds availability due to the lack of statistical evidence, despite anecdotal stories of the practice increasing liabilities.