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“Zero VOC” labels and claims have landed two major U.S. paint and coating companies in hot water with a federal agency that’s on a mission to cut out misleading environmental marketing verbiage.
The Sherwin-Williams Company and PPG Architectural Finishes Inc. settled Thursday (Oct. 25) with the Federal Trade Commission on charges that they misled consumers to believe that some of their paints were free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
|The orders would ban the companies from claiming that their paints contain “zero VOCs,” unless they have zero VOCs after tinting or the companies can prove the claim.|
Under the similar agreements, the companies said they will stop making allegedly deceptive claims that two of their interior paints are “zero VOC,” the FTC said.
The settlement orders carry no fines.
FTC: Paints Not Truly ‘Zero’
The products involved in the FTC cases are Sherwin-Williams’ Dutch Boy Refresh and PPG’s Pure Performance interior paints, which contain “more than trace levels” of the potentially harmful chemicals, according to the FTC.
The definition of “trace” comes from the “trace amount” test included in the FTC’s recently revised Green Guides for environmental marketing claims.
The federal agency said that while the companies’ uncolored “base” paints may truly be “zero VOC,” the same is not true for tinted paints.
Moreover, the tinted products typically have much higher levels of the compounds and are more frequently purchased by consumers, FTC said.
This is the third time in three years that Sherwin-Williams has been rebuked on its advertising claims.
In March 2010, the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division urged that Sherwin-Williams cease advertising claims that its Dutch Boy Refresh Paint boasted “odor-eliminating technology” and could eliminate household odors.
|FTC says that Sherwin-Williams’ claims on Dutch Boy Refresh interior paint are misleading. Refresh drew another advertising complaint in 2010.|
In 2011, NAD again slapped Sherwin-Williams for advertising its Harmony paint line as VOC free. That case was sparked by a complaint from Benjamin Moore.
NAD urged Sherwin-Williams to discontinue ads that claimed that the entire line—even hues that used conventional colorants—was VOC free. Sherwin-Williams argued that “both consumers and the industry understand zero-VOC claims to pertain only to the majority of colors in a paint line, as opposed to being a 100% ‘line claim,’” but the company agreed to drop the claim.
VOCs are carbon-containing compounds that easily evaporate at room temperatures and can be harmful to human health and the environment. Historically, interior paints have contained significant levels of VOCs, the FTC noted.
The new proposed consent orders are the same for both PPG and Sherwin-Williams.
The orders “prohibit the companies from claiming that their paints contain ‘zero VOCs,’ unless, after tinting, they have a VOC level of zero grams per liter, or the companies have competent and reliable scientific evidence that the paint contains no more than trace levels of VOCs,” according to the FTC.
“Alternately, the orders would allow the companies to clearly and prominently disclose that the ‘zero VOC’ claims apply only to the base paint, and that depending on the consumer’s color choice, the VOC level may rise,” the agency said.
In cases where the tinted paint’s VOC level could be 50 grams per liter or more, the proposed orders require the companies to disclose that the VOC level may increase “significantly” or “up to [the highest possible VOC level after tinting].”
Reducing Environmental Claims
The orders also prohibit the companies from making any VOC claim or other environmental claim unless it is true and not misleading, and unless the companies have competent scientific evidence to back it up.
Finally, the proposed orders prohibit both Sherwin-Williams and PPG from providing anyone—including independent retailers or distributors—with the means of making any of the prohibited deceptive claims.
PPG Pittsburgh Paints
|PPG’s Pure Performance interior paints contain “more than trace levels” of potentially harmful volatile organic compounds, according to the FTC.|
Finally, the orders require the companies to send letters to retailers requiring them to remove all ads for the covered paints that have “zero VOC” claims and putting corrective stickers on current paint cans making these claims, the FTC said.
The agreements are subject to public comment until Nov. 26, after which the FTC will decide whether to make them final.
FTC Issues Green Guidance
“Environmental claims, like the VOC-free claims in this case, are very difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to confirm,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
“That’s why it’s so important for the FTC to give clear guidance to marketers, like the Commission’s recently revised Green Guides, and to police the market to ensure that consumers actually get what they pay for.”
The FTC recently revised its Green Guides to crack down on false or misleading marketing claims.
The new guidelines are summarized here.
Sherwin-Williams: Studying New Rules
Sherwin Williams said it was reviewing its labeling and other marketing information to ensure compliance with the FTC’s new procedures for describing VOCs in marketing information for paint, according to a statement.
News of the FTC case came on the heels of Sherwin-William’s better-than-expected third-quarter results, which were released early Thursday.
With annual sales of $7.8 billion, the Cleveland-based coatings manufacturer is the largest in the U.S. and the third-largest in the world. Its brands include Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy, Krylon, Minwax, and Thompson’s WaterSeal.
PPG: Working to Clarify
PPG said that its Pure Performance interior base paints do not contain VOCs, and the company’s marketing claims apply only to the base paints, according to a statement by Jeremy Neuhart, the corporate public relations manager.
However, Neuhart said added colorants may result in products containing “varying levels of VOCs.”
PPG said it was working with the FTC to clarify its marketing messages about low- or zero-VOC paints.
A subsidiary of PPG Industries Inc., PPG Architectural Finishes Inc. does business under its own name, as well as under the names PPG, Pittsburgh Paints, Porter Paints, Pure Performance Paints and Olympic stain. The company is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.


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Consumer indulgence didn’t end there — Samsung’s lineup of earbuds, watches and tablets also helped drive the bottom line. But the benefits of bored consumers and profligate government stimulus packages went further, into TVs and flat-screen monitors. Even its memory-chip business enjoyed a surge in demand, because PCs and handsets are greedy users of such components, especially in high-end models. The company’s sheer size comes into play: Shipments were higher than expected despite lower prices (which are purely a function of supply and demand), an indication that it can leverage economies of scale.
The South Korean giant, like its global peers, will have to wait until at least next year for a real recovery to come. In the interim, it’s warning of a fourth-quarter downturn, particularly in smartphones and chips. Some of that will be due to macroeconomic malaise, while new products, such as Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone and Sony Corp.’s forthcoming PlayStation 5, will also vie for consumer budgets.
Samsung will get through it all. But just like consumers, tired of quarantine lockdowns and travel restrictions, the company will first have to get through a bleak winter.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Bloomberg News.
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Axe and Baby announced earlier this week that they have collaborated on a new manga, Shonen Baby, which will be released on July 11.
The collaboration, according to ComicBook, is meant to commemorate Axe’s “new Fine Fragrance Collection at Walmart.” To gain access to the manga, fans must purchase an Axe product from the Walmart collection, which will be officially available for download “during an exclusive invite-only virtual launch event” this summer.
“Produced by Passion Pictures with artist Future Power Station and Lil Baby in tow, Shonen Baby is teased as a manga that taps into the aspects of Shonen action manga releases,” the report continues. Shonen Baby follows Lil Baby and AXE as they embark on a one-of-a-kind journey to save Atlanta from the evil Culture Vultures out to drain the city of its juice, all while discovering their inner G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time).’Lil Baby will also use special abilities for the manga.”
If anyone is qualified to save Atlanta, it is Baby, who has already been designated as a city holiday.
Axe’s official website has started a countdown clock to the Shonen Baby release and outlined all of the required steps: Purchase any qualifying Axe product through Walmart before May 31, upload proof of receipt by June 15, and you’ll be able to “unlock the Ll Baby experience.”
Axe has previously served as a vehicle for Baby to express his love for anime. According to Revolt, Axe and Baby created “three animated digital episodes” in September to “give people an inside look into some of [Lil Baby’s] most distinct memories associated with Axe scents.”
“I’ve always been a big fan of anime,” Baby said at the time, “so having Axe turn some of my intimate memories and thoughts into an animated mini-series is kind of surreal.”
Watch the Shonen Baby teaser above.


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Furthermore, in yet another announcement, LG shared more details regarding the availability of future software updates for eligible smartphones. According to which the premium LG devices sold in and after 2019 will get 3 OS updates whereas certain devices from the Stylo and K series sold in 2020 are guaranteed to bag 2 OS updates. Thanks to this information, we can now accurately predict which LG smartphones will get the upcoming update to Android 12. Before checking out the eligible models, let’s first talk about the availability and release date of Android 12 for LG smartphones.
At the bottom of this story, new updates are being added. The original story is as follows (published on April 8, 2021): You’ve probably heard about LG’s announcement on its exit from the smartphone market if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few days. Due to its planned closure at the end of July, the South Korean company will no longer produce and market smartphones, at least not in the near future. However, the business also disclosed in the official announcement that it will keep offering software support for specific models in specific locations.
Google is expected to release the stable Android 12 update by the end of August or within the first two weeks of September. This means that we might see LG begin beta testing the update in December if past trends are taken into account since LG released the Android 11 beta for the Velvet 5G in mid-December. The stable Android 12 update should begin rolling out to flagship models such as the LG V60 ThinQ 5G, LG Velvet 5G, and LG Wing 5G in January. Of course, this could change drastically considering the fact that LG will no longer release new phones and can have undivided attention on sending out the software updates. Granted that LG just confirmed the models that are guaranteed to bag 2 or 3 OS updates, the devices listed below should get the update to Android 12 as long as the OEM sticks to its word.


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Mercado Libre will launch an official store in Chihuahua
CIUDAD JUAREZ – With the intention of positioning the region’s products nationwide, Mercado Libre will launch an official store in Chihuahua, where small- and medium-sized companies can increase their online sales possibilities and grow their business.
Within the framework of the presentation of the “Chihuahua Digital” platform, Alehira Orozco, director of Government Relations and Public Policy at Mercado Libre México, announced that the online sales platform will soon launch an official store in the state, as part of the program “Viva México,” which seeks to promote online commerce in coordination with the country’s federative entities.
The new page will be called “Arriba Chihuahua,” where local companies will be able to promote their products, not only in Mercado Libre, but also in this official store, which will allow them to have greater visibility.
This strategy will be carried out under a coordination between the digital platform and the Ministry of Innovation and Economic Development (SIDE), which will also include training on how to properly carry out electronic commerce processes.
“We are happy to be allies of Chihuahua in this project in the part of e-commerce and digitization, in this store, entrepreneurs will have a double opportunity to make their products visible and increase their sales,” said Orozco.
She indicated that as part of the mechanics of this platform, small- and medium-sized companies will be able to upload their products to Mercado Libre, from where they will link all their information with the official store of Chihuahua.
The intention of the new site would be to promote local consumption, giving SMEs the opportunity to complete their digitization processes.


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“I also think there’s a whole other conversation to be had around intergenerational wealth and owning and passing on homes,” said Ms Harris, the niece of Vice President Kamala Harris. “It’s also something we’ve been deprived of, isn’t it? It’s almost radical just to say that even though it’s temporary, it gives me joy. It’s something I celebrate, and I put it on the walls and all around me.
One of the things Harlem Toile does by taking inspiration from traditional 18th century French design is to reference the history of black American elite communities that are currently featured in popular culture, from a reboot series as “Bel-Air” on shows such as “The Gilded Age” and “Bridgerton”.
Growing up in Atlanta, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, the Tony-nominated actress who is married to Samuel L. Jackson, was inspired by the history of black wealth that surrounded her. “I’ve seen fabulous homes with beautiful fabrics,” Ms. Jackson said. “It’s the story I’ve always wanted to tell, which brings us back to why I couldn’t put the original Toile de Jouy in my house. So I like the fact that Sheila saw something else. Ms. Jackson has Harlem Toile wallpaper in three rooms of her Los Angeles home and has also used the fabric to upholster furniture.
Chris Gibbs, owner of famed streetwear brand Union LA, saw Harlem Toile for the first time at the Underground Museum in Los Angeles. “It was mind-blowing to me,” he said. “In particular, being of Afro-Caribbean descent, the juxtaposition of this African influence on what would have been typically this type of European art, or wallpaper, really blew my mind. It stayed with me for a very long time. »
Mr. Gibbs was inspired to use Harlem Toile on sneakers and Sonos speakers, and some of the limited-edition items sold out within just hours, something Mr. Gibbs is used to but which took Ms. Bridges off guard. Laughing, he recalled her calling him and saying, “’Man, like I’m getting killed on Instagram because I did something, and it sold out too quickly. Like, I never thought I’d say that.
What is the 1619 project?
Recognize a historical moment. In August 2019, The New York Times Magazine launched Project 1619, led by Nikole Hannah-Jones. The project explored the history of slavery in the United States and was released to coincide with the anniversary of a ship carrying the first enslaved Africans to English colonies.
Designing more affordable items gave Ms. Bridges as much pride as creating the wallpaper (basic colors cost $300 a roll). I bought the speakers while I was saving for the wallpaper. Ms. Bridges also sells a Harlem Toile umbrella for $30 and melamine plates, which cost $54 for a set of six. “I don’t have any children to pass it on to, but for me it’s part of my legacy – this design and the creation of these beautiful, meaningful things, accessible to many more people than would normally be able to access me. through interior design services,” she says.


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But there was good news coming out of last year. Retail sales of Mattel products at our top U.S accounts were up 12 percent, and yearend retail inventories were down 30 percent, positioning us well for 1999.
- Jill E. Barad
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Nigerians have taken to social media to react to the news that Italian sports car maker, Automobili Lamborghini, has already sold all its six-figure cars until 2024 amid the global economic uncertainties.
Lamborghini CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, made this know to AFP on Tuesday, with luxury goods seemingly unaffected by global economic uncertainty.
Prospective buyers will have to wait until the next 18 months after the Volkswagen subsidiary revealed it has an order book covering the period as wealthy customers flock to the brand despite the global financial fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We have more and more stepping into Lamborghini. Because they trust the brand, they see how beautiful the cars are, how (high) performing they are,” Winkelmann said.
In detail, Lamborghini delivered 5,090 cars across the world for a turnover of 1,332 billion euros.
This is an increase of 4.9% and 30.6%, respectively, compared to the first six months of 2021.
Reacting to the news, Emmanuel Frank wondered if the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war has ended. He said,”Russia and Ukraine still dey fight?”
Another social media user, Hassan Shola, wondered, “And some of APC and Buhari fans are seeing this bcos it’s only Nigeria that is affected by the global economic meltdown, rescission and Russia and Ukraine war”
Prince Uduak Pedro wrote, “Global financial fallout affects the poor but makes the rich even richer. Some people gain heavily from recession and financial inflation.”
Kingdom John added, “I know Nigerians politicians will order 2030 model, even when they are not certain of being alive till the next month”
Another user identified as Nwadozie John commented, “And yet the world is full of hungry people who go days without what to eat and when they finally do they don’t know when their next meal will come from”
Kings Chikezie Chikezie commented, “I know Dino Melaye must have gotten two for himself. Ex-senator of luxury cars🚗🚗🚗”
This is just as Ossy Nwanze said, “If not that Hushpuppy is behind bars I would have said that he bought about 20℅.”


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Police say they’re searching for a suspect who stole around $850 in cash from a safe at a Jersey Mike's location just off Dave Lyle Boulevard.
The business owner told police an unknown suspect entered the store around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night and stole the cash from a safe, according to a police report.
The owner told police the suspect is either a former or current employee who had a key to the store.
According to the report, the suspect went straight to the safe, unlocked it and then left. The owner told police that the alarm didn't go off because of problems with the alarm system.
The case remains active pending further investigations.
David Thackham: 803-329-4066


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INDIANAPOLIS -- An updated, successful coffee program, a new point-of-sale system and an outlook for growththese are just some of the steps forward that are driving optimism and excitement at the Village Pantry convenience-store chain.
There are a lot of positive things going on that are really just the opposite of the speculation that has gone on previously, Kent Raphael, vice president of merchandising for the c-store chain, told CSP Daily News, referring to suggestions by analysts and others that store closings were on the horizon and a repackaging [image-nocss] and resale of Marsh Supermarkets' c-store arm was likely.
Indianapolis-based Village Pantry was bought by Sun Capital Partners in September as part of its purchase of the Marsh Supermarket chain.
Where probably we were a bit neglected under Marsh management, [now] we're getting money to upgrade our systems, said Raphael. We have very old POS systems that we're going to update. We're getting the VeriFone Sapphire [system], which is a big investment. We're getting another accounting system to coordinate our store-level pricebook and systems. And where we've been losing store count over the past few years, very shortly we're going to start adding stores again.
On the growth side, Raphael said expansion is likely in the form of both acquisitions and new construction. We're anticipating building two [stores] this year, and they're out working on some [acquisitions] right now, he said. The sites we're looking at are in our current operating marketsbut we see the possibility of going farther into Ohio or Illinois or even Michigan.
The most progressed project, however, is the rollout of the updated Bean Brothers coffee program, which began as a test in seven stores late last year.
It's now in about 100 of our 148 stores, Raphael said. We keep rolling out additional stores every week. It is about $5,000 to $6,000 worth of equipment that has to be installed into the store, then there's training and so forth. We are anticipating having it in all the stores somewhere in late May.
The program includes a new coffee blend with a heavier throw weight created by Marsh's catering arm. Raphael said when the conversion is completed in a store, there is an almost immediate sales boost, even without a major marketing campaign.
We've already seen a 23% increase in sales, and we haven't even really started promoting it in an efficient manner, he said. Just with the soft introduction, the in-store sampling and the in-store signage we've seen that. I expect that once we start getting pumptoppers out, street signs and advertising in different media, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 40% increase.
Overall, Raphael said the coffee program is just one example of the leaps forward he expects Village Pantry to take in the near future under Florida-based Sun Capital's ownership.
They're making substantial investments. It's been quite exciting, he said.


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Chinese revenge spending for Prada too. After Furla, the brand led by Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada announces a rebound in sales in Beijing. A rebound that does not compensate, however, the losses suffered during the lockdown. Meanwhile, by publishing the 2019 CSR Report, the brand puts its supply method of raw materials in writing. Prada purchases nearly 30 million square feet of leather every year: 78% of which is Italian.
Chinese revenge spending
Interviewed by Bloomberg TV, Patrizio Bertelli (pictured) revealed that Prada’s sales in China have grown “significantly”. In other words, they recorded an increase rate of more than 10% in May, compared to the same month a year ago. But, Bertelli himself warned, it is a result that is still far away from compensating for the losses suffered with the closure of the shops. “The European market depends heavily on tourism – added the entrepreneur – and tourism will resume when a vaccine is developed”. Bertelli reiterated that delisting, that is the exit from the stock exchange, is not in the company’s plans: “Our work is focused on the development of the brand. We are working on new products, on expanding our sales network, on enhancing digital technology”.
In 2019, Prada purchased 29.5 million square feet of leather, a slight increase compared to 2018 and 2017. 78% is Italian, 4% of European origin, 18% come from the rest of the world. With regard to Italian purchases: 42% comes from the Santa Croce sull’Arno district, 40% from Arzignano, 12% from Solofra and 6% elsewhere. The data are contained in the 2019 Social Responsibility Report published on May 19. The report underlines the direct link between Prada and the Italian territory, also considering that the brand has collaborated altogether with 370 subcontractors, 85% of which are Italian.
- Reshoring for Church’s: less in Italy, more production in the UK
- Extinction, not offshoring, is the real danger, claims Bertelli


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Last week when Lieutenant Pike was demoted to Sgt Pepper he instantly became fodder for the internet practice of meming (photo-shopping current events into a parody image). From fascist pig to laughing stock overnight is quite an amazing transformation even in these speed-of-light, world-wide-web times.
You would think people would get the message that pepper spray is a social no-no in non-hostile situations. But then shopping at Wal-Mart on Black Friday could be considered hostile.
Late last evening, in an L.A. Wal-Mart, 20 customers were subjected to pepper spray, not from law-enforcement or over-eager security guards, but from a fellow shopper protecting her turf.
If seems that when the covering was lifted from a stack of electronics, a female shopper whipped out her pepper spray to hold the crowd at bay while she snagged the object of her frenzied shopping eyes.
In the ensuing melee, nearly two dozen customers were injured, many from “rapid crowd movement.” Police are still searching for the competing pepper sprayer. Those not affected by the spray continued their late night shopping excursion.


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Tag "htc droid dna"
A number rumors of an HTC Deluxe have surfaced over the months, and even more so in the wake of the Droid DNA. Expected to hit the global markets as
New information and images surfacing over the last few days suggest HTC will be deploying the rumored “DLX” smartphone to a wider audience this fall. According to reports, the 5-inch


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Pakistan cracks down on wheat hoarders in response to soaring flour prices
A “grand operation” has been ordered by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan against wheat hoarders and profiteers to relieve a shortage of flour supplies.
Prices of flour and bread shot up last week as the grain disappeared from shops and wholesale markets. The cost of wheat flour has surged from PKR43 ($0.27) per kilogram to PKR75 ($0.48) per kilo in different parts of the country.
“As per the prime minister’s instructions, we have been working closely with provincial administrations to resolve the crisis as quickly as possible,” Javed Humayun, senior joint-secretary at the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, told Arab News.Also on rt.com Imran Khan promises breakthrough year for Pakistan’s economy in 2020
He said the federal government had also started releasing additional wheat stocks to provinces to meet demand. “Provincial governments have also been directed to launch a crackdown against hoarders and profiteers to overcome this artificial crisis,” said the official.
A committee has been set up to take measures to control the commodity’s price. Islamabad also approved the import of 300,000 tons of wheat on Monday, with the first shipment expected to arrive by February 15.Also on rt.com Pakistan mulls tax breaks for exports to boost trade
Pakistan exported more than 600,000 metric tons of wheat from late 2018 to June 2019, according to its statistics bureau. Although the government banned exports in July last year after poor crop yields in the last harvest, some 48,000 metric tons were still sent overseas before October 2019.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section


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UK-based Monarch will introduce new non-reclining seats with built-in tablet holders, in response to feedback it has received from passengers, who have increasingly expressed a dislike of reclining seats.
“Our new ergonomic seats have been designed with our customers’ needs in the forefront of our minds,” explained Tim Williamson, the leisure carrier’s Director of Customer Experience and Marketing. “The new non-reclining design gives our customers far more ‘living space’ than traditional seats, without the fear of the person in front impinging on their personal space.”.
He explained that the tablet holder will enable passengers to “create their own personal in-flight entertainment system” provided they have content stored on their personal device, while it can also be used to hold smartphones, e-readers and books. The seats also include “bungee cord” seatback storage, as opposed to the traditional pocket, which Monarch says offers more storage space and flexibility.
The PF2000 seat, developed by Pitch Aircraft Seating, which has worked alongside Intier Automotive and Design Q, will be rolled out across the Monarch fleet starting this summer.


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Garmin has increased the integration and capabilities of its high-definition action camera, VIRB, with Garmin Pilot. When VIRB is used in conjunction with the new Garmin Pilot v6.0 for iOS devices, users will be able to view live video simultaneously in Garmin Pilot. In addition, users can remotely control VIRB with the iOS app, allowing them to start and stop video recording and take still photos. This feature will be available in split-screen mode, so pilots can simultaneously view their moving-map display in Garmin Pilot while also controlling VIRB.
The free weight-and-balance program developed by FltPlan is available for more than 400 makes and model of aircraft and can be used either on the FltPlan website or on its iPad and Android apps. The company added 165 new makes and models to the program since March. Flight departments can share weight-and-balance profiles so all users are working with the same parameters. The iPad and Android app versions can be used offline, too. Users can also email the final results to maintain a record of the weight-and-balance calculations.
Jet Aviation St. Louis has received Saudi certification as a repair station for aircraft registered with the country’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The approval expands the facility’s authorizations, which include the 32 countries of the European Aviation Safety Agency as well as Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, South Africa and Gabon.
Apple’s new iPad Air, which is thinner and weighs one-third of a pound less than the previous-generation iPad, has passed rapid decompression testing conducted by Jeppesen. The company tested the iPad Air to 51,000 feet, similar to tests conducted on all previous iPad versions. “No anomalies were detected during testing of any of the iPad models,” according to Jeppesen, which makes the Mobile FliteDeck and FliteDeck VFR apps for the iPad.
FltPlan is offering its free aircraft weight-and-balance program via its website and mobile apps for more than 400 models. Since the program was launched 18 months ago, pilots have created 38,000 customized aircraft weight-and-balance profiles. In the past six months alone, FltPlan has added 165 aircraft models, ranging from a Cessna 150 to a Gulfstream G280. The cross-platform format works on the web, as well as on iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices, FltPlan said.
Pilots will be able to use their tablet devices as fully functional Class II electronic flight bags (EFBs) thanks to the new Tablet Interface Module (TIM) being introduced by UTC Aerospace Systems. The low-cost solution has been developed by the group’s Sensors & Integrated Solutions division.
Apple’s new iPad Air, which is thinner and weighs 20 percent less than the previous-generation iPad, has passed rapid decompression testing conducted by Jeppesen. The company tested the iPad Air to 51,000 feet, similar to tests conducted on all previous iPad versions. “No anomalies were detected during testing of any of the iPad models,” according to Jeppesen, which makes the Mobile FliteDeck and FliteDeck VFR apps for the iPad.
Bombardier has launched a free Proximity App for its business aircraft customers. It’s available from the Apple App Store and provides users with instant access to Bombardier’s support team on their iPad and iPhone. “Each day, our worldwide team works hand in hand with Bombardier aircraft operators to ensure they reach optimal dispatch availability,” Andy Nureddin, Bombardier Business Aircraft vice president for customer services and support, told AIN.
With Magnastar system service set to be discontinued next month, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport-based Banyan Air Service is urging operators to plan their upgrades soon, warning that the number of qualified shops and available equipment is nearing capacity. There are approximately 1,100 Magnastar operators.
Blue Sky Network’s portable HawkEyeLink Bluetooth interface is now able to transmit electronic forms such as a flight plan, a passenger manifest or a maintenance request. HawkEyeLink enables Blue Sky Network’s D1000 Iridium/GSM transceiver (originally designed for the operator to track its helicopters) to connect to iOS devices (iPhone and iPad). The new capability allows users to download forms to the iOS device at the operator’s base via Wi-Fi, and then complete and transmit them in flight.


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PMI: A Mixed End of 2020 for UK Manufacturing
In December, with Brexit looming, companies started to panic about the future of their business and manufacturing norms; for the sake of cost, people started to bring forward orders in an attempt to acquire stock before the end of the Brexit transition period. That, paired with the ongoing bounce from the re-opening of the global economy, boosted inflows of new orders and pushed output higher. However, port delays and other logistical disruptions meant that supply-chain delays lengthened to one of the greatest extents in the survey's history.
Reaching All-Time Highs
The seasonally adjusted (PMI®) rose to a three-year high of 57.5 in December, up from 55.6 in November. The PMI level was mainly boosted by a marked lengthening of suppliers' delivery times and the substantial increase in stocks of purchases as part of preparations before the end of the transition period (which also boosted new order intakes). Manufacturing output rose for the seventh month running in December, albeit to a lesser extent than one month ago. Growth was registered across the consumer, intermediate and investment goods sectors. The steepest expansion was at intermediate goods producers, while consumer goods output returned to growth following back-to-back contractions. Job cuts were made for the eleventh consecutive month.
December saw new orders rise at the quickest pace since August, as intakes improved from domestic and overseas sources. A large part of the latest expansion reflected clients bringing forward orders to guard against potential disruption caused by the end of the Brexit transition period (including delays at ports). Quantities of purchases rose at the third-fastest rate in the 29-year survey history, as companies built-up stocks in advance of the end of the Brexit transition period. Inventories of purchases subsequently increased to the second-greatest extent in the survey history (only March 2019 saw a stronger increase). Manufacturers experienced substantial disruption to supply chains in December. Vendor performance deteriorated to the third-greatest extent in the survey history, 'beaten' only by the increases in lead times seen during the pandemic’s first wave. Raw material shortages, port delays, freight capacity issues (air, sea and land) and Brexit concerns all contributed to supply-chain disruption.
Rising Costs Across Volatile Supply Chains
Average input costs rose at the quickest rate in two-and-a-half years in December, reflecting input shortages, vendor price rises, increased transportation costs, Brexit uncertainty and exchange rate factors. Manufacturers responded by increasing output charges. Business optimism eased in December, with 56% of manufacturers forecasting output to rise over the next 12 months (compared to 61% in November). Positive sentiment was linked to ongoing economic recoveries, hopes of a lesser impact from COVID-19 reduced uncertainty following the completion of Brexit and planned strategic investments.
Rob Dobson, Director at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey stated that “the Manufacturing PMI rose to its highest level in over three years in December, mainly reflecting a boost from last-minute preparations before the end of the Brexit transition period. Customers, especially those based in the EU, brought forward purchases, boosting sales temporarily. It seems likely that this boost will reverse in the opening months of 2021, making for a weak start to the year. Note also that the December PMI data were collected prior to the border closures, which will have led to further logistics and production disruptions for many companies.
“Worryingly, the manufacturing sector was already beset by near-record supply-chain delays even prior to the closure of Dover-Calais shipping. Manufacturers reported freight delays – especially at ports – plus shortages of certain raw materials and a lack of supplier capacity. Vendor lead times, a bellwether of supply-chain pressures, lengthened in December to a similar extent to during the first wave of the pandemic.
“UK manufacturers also built-up input stocks to one of the greatest extents in the 29-year survey history in expectation of heightened logistics issues continuing during the first part of 2021. If this is the case, as expected, the disruption to deliveries and production schedules, alongside the unwinding of Brexit inventories, may place the manufacturing recovery under greater threat in the coming months.”
Stockpiling To Avert Strife
Duncan Brock, Group Director at the : “New orders rose at one of the fastest rates since January 2018 in the last quarter of the year as both UK and European firms stockpiled goods and materials at a fair lick in an attempt to sideline further disruption this winter.
“This rush to secure supplies meant already stressed supply chains paid the price with some of the longest delays in the near 30-year survey history. Bunged up ports caused backlogs to rise to levels not seen for a decade and optimism for the year ahead dropped to a six-month low as the challenges for manufacturers just kept coming.
“After a severely turbulent year, UK makers still have a great deal to worry about. Job numbers continue to fall, and material shortages have resulted in the highest cost inflation since 2018. The sector is holding its breath until the terms of the new deal are fully understood and whether new business can be sustained in the same way in a post-Brexit marketplace.”


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Next Sunday at Allegiant Stadium the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will decide the champion of the NFL in it Super Bowl LVIII, one of the events that drive not only the region’s economy, but also where brands show their financial muscle with spots in the game broadcast.
This year, The CBS network will be in charge of broadcasting the Super Bowl, in which, in addition to meeting the next owner of the Vince Lombardi trophy, agencies will be seen trying to captivate the audience with advertising proposals.
In 2020, when the Chiefs and 49ers faced off for the first time in Super Bowl LIV, the FOX network charged $5.6 million for a 30-second spot.
In 2024, Kansas City and San Francisco will reissue their rivalry, now in Las Vegas, and for the event the CBS network, owner of the transmission rights, will charge $7 million for a 30-second spot.
In November of last year, when the NFL regular season was underway, CBS sold out of all available spots to advertise on the big game.
As it is expected that the assistance of Taylor Swift To draw even more eyes to American football’s biggest day, advertisers have already lined up big stars and invested considerable cash to win the commercial wars.
Last year, approximately 200 million people tuned in to the Super Bowl LVII. That’s a lot of eyeballs for any company and explains why advertisers have already snapped up all the game day inventory, practically selling out spots weeks in advance.
The price of a 30-second ad during the superbowl experienced steady growth over the years. On January 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl took place, which was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS networks, which charged their advertisers for a minute of transmission the amount of US$37,500 (NBC) au$. s 42,500 (CBS). The ads from that edition were seen by more than 24 million viewers.
With the passage of time the audience of the NFL grew in number, and the Super Bowl became the party that no advertiser wants to miss.
In 1984 the ABC network was in charge of transmitting the Super Bowl XIX, where San Francisco defeated Miami 38-16, and for that occasion the television station already He asked for US$525,000 to advertisers for a period of 30 seconds.
More than a decade later, the same ABC network became the first to ask for more than $1 million for a 30-second spot in the Super Bowl.
He Super Bowl LVII, where Kansas City beat the Philladelphia Eagles 38-35, FOX was in charge of charging a fortune of US$6.5 million dollars for each spot.
The brands that participate in the Super Bowl are aware of the high cost of advertising, which is why they invest in creative and innovative strategies to stand out and capture the public’s attention. Advertisements not only seek to sell a product or service, but also to generate emotions, create conversations on social media and leave a lasting impression in the minds of viewers. Some examples of successful Super Bowl advertising strategies include:
- Humor: The use of humor is a popular strategy to connect with the public and generate positive brand memory.
- Emotions: Ads that appeal to emotions, such as nostalgia or inspiration, can create a deeper connection with viewers.
- Celebrities: Involving popular celebrities can increase the appeal of the ad and generate more attention.
- Interactivity: The use of digital platforms and social networks allows us to create interactive experiences that go beyond the traditional advertisement.
Return of investment
Although the cost of Super Bowl advertising is high, brands believe that the return on investment (ROI) justifies the expense. Massive exposure, generating conversations on social networks, increasing brand awareness and the possibility of boosting sales are some of the benefits that brands can obtain by participating in this event.
The list of advertisers for the Super Bowl 2024 has yet to be confirmed, but iconic brands such as Oreo, Dove, M&M’S, Nerds, Pringles, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, Opendoor, Coors, BMW, Kia and BetMGM are expected to participate. It is estimated that the advertising time during the broadcast will be around 13 minutes, which means there will be room for approximately 26 brands.
He superbowl is a unique event that offers brands an unparalleled platform to connect with a global audience and generate a significant impact on their marketing strategies. The high cost of advertising is offset by the return on investment that can be obtained in terms of exposure.
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.


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The draft drone rules, published last week may allow goods' delivery via drones. This will also be determined by the result of Civil Aviation Ministry's upcoming "beyond visual line of sight" (BVLOS) drone projects, the ministry clarified to MediaNama. "Once the BVLOS experiments are over and the detailed specs are notified by DGCA [Directorate General of Civil Aviation], the regulator may permit delivery of goods in a manner and procedure as may be prescribed," Amber Dubey, joint secretary at the Civil Aviation Ministry, who oversees the drones division said. Dubey also clarified that the Ministry will allow for such operations in a new notification, which "may come as a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR)", but will be "decided at a later date". This is an important clarification because the DGCA has allowed several drone and e-commerce companies to carry out BVLOS projects, essentially green-lighting them to test delivery of goods using drones, among other things. BVLOS operations are seen as a cost-effective way for delivering goods over distances, and are a crucial use case of drones, especially for e-commerce companies. What are the upcoming BVLOS experiments? At least 10 consortia, including Reliance-backed Asteria Aerospace, Nandan Nilekani-backed ShopX, Spicejet, and Google-backed Dunzo, among others have been permitted by the DGCA to carry out “beyond visual line of sight” (BVLOS) drone projects in designated airspaces across the country. This is being done under an effort by the DGCA to formulate regulations around commercial BVLOS drone operations, and the regulator is looking at these projects to…
- Why did the Delhi High Court restrict use of Amitabh Bachchan’s image and voice? November 25, 2022
- Why did an Indian exchange, CoinDCX, publish its Proof of Reserves days after releasing its R2L ratio? November 25, 2022
- DPDP Bill, 2022 Has Received Good Response From Stakeholders: MeitY’s Ashwini Vaishnaw November 25, 2022
- Twitter Blocks Tweet of CJ Werleman’s YouTube Show Discussing Police Violence Against Indian Muslims November 25, 2022
- Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) says verify Aadhaar as ID proof using QR November 25, 2022
MediaNama’s mission is to help build a digital ecosystem which is open, fair, global and competitive.
The Structure and Style of a Dogma Community: Conspiracy theories and organized Twitter engagement on Sushant Singh Rajput
Studying the 'community' supporting the late Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) shows how Twitter was gamed through organized engagement
Do we have an enabling system for the National Data Governance Framework Policy (NDGFP) aiming to create a repository of non-personal data?
A viewpoint on why the regulation of cryptocurrencies and crypto exchnages under 2019's E-Commerce Rules puts it in a 'grey area'
India's IT Rules mandate a GAC to address user 'grievances' , but is re-instatement of content removed by a platform a power it should...
Why ‘group privacy’ should be recognised, and how ‘non-personal’ data becomes a regulatory blindspot
There is a need for reconceptualizing personal, non-personal data and the concept of privacy itself for regulators to effectively protect data
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USA > Snyder's of Hanover
April 28, 2010
Snyder’s of Hanover has introduced new pretzel bags made from 90 percent plant-based, renewable PLA. The maker of the PLA claims that when compared with traditional petroleum-based packaging, the renewable materials are produced using half the energy and generate 52 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing process. The company is currently testing the bags to confirm that they are compostable in an industrial, environmental setting. The bags feature a bright yellow graphic in the upper right corner, which calls out the packaging’s eco-friendly material and points consumers to the back of the package for more information on the benefits of the packaging – all while differentiating the bags on-shelf.


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Eugenia can call herself a multy-interested person, as she is always in search of new proffessional fields to encompass. After graduating from Belarussian State University with Bachelor degree in both International Communication and Public Relations, she joined a travel startup Fresh Adventures, where she worked for 3 years creating unique itineraries through exotic countries, travelling around the world and developing the company as a partner. Currently, she works as a business analyst in the field of information technologies. She believes that IT is the future, that is why it is so important to keep up with the latest trends in this rapidly growing industry.
Bloomberg Terminal has announced the addition of HB10 crypto market index launched by Huobi Pro to its terminal service.
A modern icon of financial markets, Bloomberg Terminal, has announced the addition of HB10 INDEX launched by Huobi Pro, a well-recognized digital currency trading platform and exchange, to its terminal service. According to the recent news, the users of Bloomberg Terminal can now track the aggregated performance of the top-10 cryptocurrencies that are available for trading on Huobi Pro exchange.
Huobi Pro represents itself the world’s third largest exchange by trading volume, referring to CoinMarketCap. HB10, a digital asset tracking Huobi main force index, was officially launched last month. It is designed to promote the exchange and circulation of digital assets at low risks.
The HB10 INDEX is composed of 10 coins that are listed on Huobi and have the higher market value, larger scale and better circulation to reflect the overall performance of Huobi Pro’s market. The index uses weighted samples to track a pool of top-10 crypto assets traded on its platform in real-time against tether (USDT), a U.S. dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, based on their liquidity and market capitalization.
Trading data of nine cryptos against USDT on the Huobi exchange will also be listed on Bloomberg Terminal, including bitcoin, litecoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, ethereum classic, XRP, dash, EOS and zcash.
Not so long ago, in May 2018, Huobi was joined by the former chief executive officer of the Hong-Kong based OKEx – Chris Lee. After quitting his previous position, Lee was eagerly welcomed by the Huobi team and got the role of Board Secretary and Vice President of Global Business Development.
Bloomberg Terminal represents itself the most powerful, flexible platform for financial professionals who need real-time data, news and analytics. It was launched in 1981 and brought transparency to financial markets long before PCs and the internet became ubiquitous. It connected market participants to a groundbreaking data, analytics and information-delivery service and revolutionized an industry.
Last month, Bloomberg has announced its partnership with Galaxy digital Capital Management, a digital asset management firm founded by Bitcoin bull and billionaire Mike Novogratz. The collaboration was targeted at launching the cryptocurrency index fund called Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index (BGCI), designed for tracking the performance of some of the biggest and most liquid cryptocurrencies in the market.


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Taking Actions To Prevent Cyber Risks: Partnership With Group-IB
In a permanently changing crypto world cybersecurity should be a top priority. The level of cybercrime on the Ethereum platform only has increased signifficantly, together with Token Sale financing, with total cybercrime revenue exceeding $225 million by the end of 2017. One of the major cybercrime incidents occurred to “The DAO” in 2016, resulting in heavy financial losses ($74 million, nearly a half of contributed funds). Last year, another $30 million was stolen from the Parity wallet. According to industry’s estimates, there have been approximately 30 000 victims of exploits, hacks, phishing and ponzi schemes, losing on average $7500 each.
To avoid becoming a part of this terrific statistics, we have taken actions to minimize cyber risks, while ensuring own cybersecurity, and signed a partnership agreement with Group-IB, an international company specializing in preventing cyber attacks and the development of information security products.
“Cyber attacks are one of the main threats that companies’ and ICO projects’ websites are exposed to nowadays. The number and scale of the attacks on crypto industry projects are increasing from month to month — phishing sites are created at daily basis and scammers are active as nobody. The losses resulting from these attacks may reach tens of millions of dollars. Since our project has a crowdsale mechanism in its heart, securing the comprehensive and complex protection from cyber attacks is of high priority to us. The contributors’ money is not the thing that we can afford to expose to risk. We’re working in the crypto industry, where decision speed is several times higher than in any other business, and we are implementing a project with unique architecture (DAICO), and our goal is to minimize any possible risks. Therefore, the security of our IT infrastructure is supported by Group-IB solutions that allow to identify and neutralize the threat at an early stage”. — said Konstantin Boyko-Romanovsky, the founder of The Abyss.
To protect our DAICO, the Group-IB specialists will be constantly (24/7) monitoring more than 3 000 000 resources, including databases of phishing sites, domain names, online shops, aggregators and bulletin boards, social networks, mobile application stores, contextual advertising, etc. And a special attention will be paid to the crypto industry’s popular messengers, such as Telegram and Slack.
“We are proud that Destiny.Games has chosen us to protect the world’s first DAICO project,” — comments Ruslan Yusufov, director of private banking at Group-IB. — The team made a number of steps to protect its contributors — community members, as well as public relations with investors, and minimize the risks of fraud during DAICO, such as phishing, domain substitution, illegal use of the project’s brand for criminal purposes, and attacks on the project’s co-owners and community members. The Abyss is an example of a responsible approach to conducting the Token Sale, which many crypto projects are still lacking”.
The involvement of Group-IB experts (who have a significant experience of working with crypto projects that are moving towards their Token Sales), is an additional measure of security of The Abyss brand.
Read the full story to learn more about the latest technologies, that will help to ensure the cybersecurity of the world’s first DAICO.


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For most of the Steve Ballmer era at Microsoft, Microsoft’s revenue growth was sporadic — there would be big jumps whenever the company had new versions of Windows and Office, followed by lulls. The one exception to this was what Microsoft called its “Server & Tools” segment, which included products big organisations use to run their computing infrastructure, like Windows Server and the SQL Server database. Revenue in that segment grew around 10% per year, quarter after quarter, year after year.
In recent years, Microsoft has changed its financial reporting segments to emphasise its shift to cloud services like Azure. But these older products still generate boatloads of revenue and profit.
This chart from Deutsche Bank shows its analysts’ revenue estimates of those server products for the last couple of years, and it looks like growth just hit a wall, and next quarter will see a decline. (The blue bars show annualized growth in constant currency, or “c/c”, to wipe out the effects of foreign currency fluctuations, which are significant because Microsoft sells so much product outside the U.S.) That’s one reason why the stock is down more than 10% since its last earnings report on April 21.
Overall, Deutsche Bank remains bullish on Microsoft, noting increases in other areas like consulting (“enterprise services”) and the cloud business. Still, while Microsoft is managing its shift to the cloud better than most legacy tech companies, there will be bumps along the way.
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When Dress For Success came out in 1975, it set rigid rules for executive attire: The “proper” colors for a suit were blue, gray and beige; the most “authoritative” suit was a dark pinstripe; and the “most acceptable” dress shirt was white or solid colors. (No dresses here; The Women’s Dress For Success Book didn’t come out until 1977.)
Today, there are no rules, other than being put-together from head to toe, no detail spared. The proper colors are ones that work with your coloring, the most authoritative clothes are ones that fit impeccably, and pretty much any shirt, dress or jacket is acceptable if it projects the right image for your company and industry. Dressing for success means finding the look that works, and sticking to it.
“There’s a power to looking consistent,” says Jon Patrick, creative director of men’s custom clothier J. Hilburn. “It makes you seem focused.”
Here are the CEOs who have it down pat.
By Gail Belsky, Special to CNBC.com
Posted 22 May 2012
Institutional Investor's CEO of the Year for 2011 and 2012 may not feel in control these days, given his bank’s huge trading loss on a risky bet and the ensuing fallout, but he always looks like he is. Named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2011 by Time magazine, Dimon, 56, sets the banking style bar with his signature blue suit, white shirt and blue tie. (He does change it up with the occasional gray suit, magenta tie and black cuff links.)
“He’s spot on,” says Michelle T. Sterling, founder and principal image consultant of Global Image Group in New York. “He looks distinguished, his colors go well with his personal coloring, and his suits fit impeccably. His ties have strong color, which denotes a strong personality, and his cuff links suggest refinement.”
Dimon should look refined; he earned $23 million in 2011, according to The New York Times.
As head of the world’s largest media company and some of the world’s greatest icons — Mickey, Minnie and company — Iger, 61, knows how important personal style is. And because his kingdom is so vast (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ESPN and ABC), his own style has to take him everywhere from the red carpet to Space Mountain.
“He does a nice job of balancing; he always looks pulled together,” says Julie Rath, founder of Rath & Co. in New York, an image and style consulting company specializing in men.
The country’s 7th-highest-paid CEO (according to The New York Times) favors gray and silver, which work with his coloring.
“He’s classy, sharp, confident — decisive. It looks powerful,” says Rath.
In this case, looks don’t deceive. Disney second-quarter net income rose 21 percent, and its stock soared in mid-May on the news that it was planning a sequel to “The Avengers,” which has already raked more than $1 billion in ticket sales.
During the 13 months she served as White House social secretary, Rogers took heat for being too fashion conscious (a breeze compared to the 2010 Salahi party-crashing scandal that cost her the job.) Since becoming chief of Johnson Publishing Co., which produces Ebony and Jet magazines, her wardrobe and high profile has been a plus.
A descendent of aCreole voodoo priestess, Rogers describes her style as “classic with a twist and not trendy.” She’s been seen in designers ranging from Nina Ricci to Lanvin to Jil Sander.
“She is gorgeous and always beautifully dressed,” says More magazine editor-in-chief Lesley Jane Seymour. “She commands a room when she enters it.”
On the job for less than two years, Rogers, 52, is turning around the struggling publisher. Circulation figures for both magazines saw double-digit gains in the second half of 2011, and Rogers has plans to increase their digital presence.
CEOs who inherit the job need to reflect their brand, but with founder-CEOs, the brand reflects them. So what does it say about rising media company PMC that its chief is also the owner of IndyCar team Dragon Racing, the son of racecar driver and billionaire CEO Roger Penske, and the former beau of at least four Hollywood models and actresses? It says that the company is on the move, perhaps?
Between his signature open collars, black suits and long hair, “Penske looks young, modern and distinguished, as in up-and-coming, with his company in an up-and-coming industry,” says Sterling.
PMC owns the entertainment websites Deadline, Movieline, TVline, Hollywood Life and Holly Baby, along with the multiplatform entertainment news network ENTV, in partnership with ION Television. And if Penske ever buys Variety, a rumor circulating for much of 2011, some of his style might rub off on it, too.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company has weathered 47 recessions in its 210-year history. Ellen Kullman took the helm during the worst one since The Great Depression. She spent her first year restructuring, laying off thousands of employees, and asking the rest to take unpaid vacations. Her leadership was smart and strategic — which is exactly what her style reflects.
Kullman, 55, is as fashion-forward as the chemicals industry will allow, but she softens the conservative dress with accessories like pink scarves and giant pearls that make her more accessible, says Sterling: “She has a classic sense of corporate style; she looks authoritative.”
Kullman is that and more. DuPont posted record earnings in 2011, and its shares have returned 99 percent. Now, Kullman is steering one of the country’s oldest corporations into a new era and industry with the $6.4 billion purchase of food-ingredient producer Danisco.
It’s classic rags to riches: An enterprising college football player sets out after graduation to build a better T-shirt — one that wouldn’t leave athletes drenched in sweat. Fifteen years later, he’s built a $1.5 billion empire of sports performance apparel, footwear and accessories, with product sold in more than 25,000 stores worldwide.
Plank celebrated a milestone in 2011 — he joined the Billionaires Club. He finished up the year with a total compensation package of $1.1 billion. That he already looked like a billionaire—in everything from pinstriped suits to polo shirts — before he became one doesn’t surprise J. Hilburn’s Patrick.
“The sports culture is based around clothing, cars and status symbols,” says Patrick. “It’s so pervasive; athletes are always looking great. They’re competitive in every arena.”
When you’ve single-handedly revolutionized the way the world dresses, you can wear whatever you want and still look stylish — even if it’s unstructured, un-tucked and virtually unchanged from year to year. Drexler, aka “The Merchant Prince,” made his name turning around Ann Taylor and transforming The Gap from a jeans store to a fashion megabrand before taking the top spot at J. Crew. A believer in uniforms, Drexler, 68, has a simple one: gray t-shirt; buttoned-down designer shirt (shirttails out); jeans and a J. Crew blazer. (He hasn’t worn a suit in years.)
“Mickey is the ultimate nondresser-upper,” says More magazine’s Seymour. “He looks boyish, even at his age, but is the height of self-made style.”
That style has served Drexler well. He put $10 million into J.Crew when he joined in 2003. After taking the company private in 2010, his stake was $150 million.
In two decades at the top of the record industry — at LaFace Records, Arista, Island Def Jam and now Epic — Reid has cultivated a slew of superstars, including Avril Lavigne, Outkast, Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, Usher and Rihanna. Along the way, the three-time Grammy winner and “X-Factor” judge also cultivated a personal style that conveys the influence he’s had over popular music since he and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmunds teamed with Arista Records in 1989 to form LaFace.
With his signature eyewear and perennial pocket squares, Reid takes his style to the next level, says Rath: “He puts the effort into dressing well; his look is bold without being over the top.”
Reid’s sophisticated style is a testament not only to good taste, but also to good tailoring, adds Rath: “He’s a big guy, and a good tailor will cut in a way that looks slimmer.”
While many 8-year-olds have obsessions, most aren’t fixated on city maps, police cars and taxis. But a fascination with urban life, plus a gift for software programming, led Dorsey, 35, to create Twitter, the social media platform that has shaped everything from presidential campaigning to political uprisings since it launched in 2006. In 2008, Dorsey created another digital service called Square, which allows anyone to accept credit card payment. (By then, he was named one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35 by the MIT Technology Review). Dorsey keeps a low profile, but when he does make an appearance, his dress reflects his success.
“He keeps it simple, modern and impeccably tailored,” says Rath. “He looks youthful, without being a fashion victim.”
With Dorsey’s tendency toward black and white, “he creates a high-contrast look, which is an authoritative look,” adds Rath.
Despite her many titles (chairwoman of Harpo Inc., co-founder of Oxygen Media); credentials (producer/host of the highest-rated daytime talk show in history); distinctions (richest African-American of the 20th century); and awards (47 Emmys; the George Foster Peabody Individual Achievement Award), the media magnate known throughout the world by her first name only recently became a chief executive. Four months after launching OWN TV Network with Discovery Communications in 2011, she named herself CEO — the company’s fourth since the announcement of its formation in 2008.
Perhaps the most visible woman in the world, Winfrey is an elegant style maker whose use of bold colors reinforces her powerful image, according to image consultants Rath and Sterling.
“She’s not afraid to mix different colors, like chartreuse and magenta. She’s a big personality, and that makes a big statement,” says Rath. Or, as Sterling says: “She is fabulous…and true to herself.”
Mickey Drexler is the “King of Retail,” turning fashion labels into iconic brands. Discover how he took J.Crew from tired to trendy and changed the way a nation dresses for success.
• Visit the show page
• Best Cities for Shopping
• Power Dressing for Success
• Wedding Dresses for Less
“J.Crew & The Man Who Dressed America” premieres Thursday, May 24 at 10 p.m. ET, with a re-air at 1 a.m. ET.


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Delhi's leading newspaper, Hindustan Times, made its
Mumbai debut on Thursday. People, who have seen the product, say, they like it. But the problem is very few Mumbaikars seem to have actually seen/read HT on the day of its launch.
To find out how Mumbai's advertising industry has responded to HT, agencyfaqs! spoke to a cross-section of industry seniors. It could be a coincidence, but out of the eleven professionals that we spoke to, only two - O&M's Piyush Pandey and McCann's Prasoon Joshi - had actually read the paper.
Our list included the who's who of Mumbai's advertising: Lowe's Pranesh Mishra, JWT's Colvyn Harris, Lowe's Balki, MindShare's Hiren Pandit, Media Direction's Sandeep Tarkas, rmg david's Josy Paul, Everest's Milind Dhaimade, JWT's Senthil Kumar, Mudra's Ryan Menezes, O&M's Piyush Pandey and McCann's Prasoon Joshi.
As the list suggests, most of the people that agencyfaqs! spoke to were from the creative side of advertising since these professionals know a thing or two about design, creativity and aesthetics.
What's heartening for HT is the encouraging reviews that it has received from Piyush Pandey and Prasoon Joshi - arguably the best known creative professionals in the country.
Joshi said, "I think HT Mumbai is very nice. I especially liked its lay-out and printing quality. While it's too early to comment on how the newspaper will do in future, I certainly liked HT's first edition." Pandey, on his part, described the edition as "extremely refreshing" and "very promising". O&M handles the advertising account of HT.
HT's Mumbai's launch edition has 24 pages, including sections such as HT Metro, HT Classifieds, HT Nation, HT World, HT Business and HT Sports. Besides, the edition has an eight-page supplement, HT Style. The launch edition also provided readers with Mumbai Magic, a 32-page photo magazine featuring some of the most talked about areas in Mumbai. There is also a luxury magazine 'Spend' sent across with this issue.
HT Mumbai is priced at Rs 2.50 between Monday and Saturday. The Sunday edition is priced marginally higher.
Some of the advertisers in the launch edition were Fidelity, BPL Mobile, LG, Intel, Ambi Malls, HDFC, Tata Steel, Orange, Casio and Siemens.
© 2005 agencyfaqs!


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“Qué mirás, bobo”: ya es furor el merchandising con la frase del enojo de Messi
La bronca del Diez contra un jugador de Países Bajos se hizo viral y se vende en objetos de todo tipo
LA28 and Team USA secure retail and merchandising deal with Fanatics
Athletes, officials, and spectators attending or streaming the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be able to purchase merchandise online and in-person under a new agreement signed between Team USA, LA28 and Fanatics.
ITU announce new global merchandise and licensing partner
The International Triathlon Union (ITU) today announced that Tribe Solutions Inc. will serve as its exclusive global merchandising and licensing partner until 2020.
No Full Slate of Sochi Sponsors But Record Revenue - On the Scene
(ATR) Some categories unfilled but Sochi 2014 today hailed Winter Olympic record revenues... ATR's Ed Hula III reports from Sochi.


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Grocery Tracker 2022
Grocers had to rapidly adapt to consumer needs by refocusing efforts on e-commerce. How will that focus shift going forward?
Grocery sales reach $803B last year
As the dust settles from the height of the pandemic, one fact has become irrefutable: grocery retailers were among the biggest winners of the pandemic. As an essential business that played a critical role in ensuring food supply during a time of great uncertainty, the grocery industry grew by 9.4% in 2020 and sustained that growth in 2021, with total grocery sales reaching $803 billion last year, representing a nearly 16.0% increase over pre-pandemic levels.
Moving forward, grocers that wish to remain competitive will:
- Focus on technology innovations to meet growing online grocery demand
- Create experiences to contend with the return of in-person dining
- Navigate the impacts of inflation and rising prices of food-at-home
Download the latest retail research report now to learn more about where the grocery industry goes from here.


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DETROIT -- It turns out that Jim Farley will take on two jobs at Ford Motor Co.
Ford announced today that Farley, 45, will assume the duties of Cisco Codina, who retired in September as group vice president of North American marketing, sales & service.
That is on top of Farleys role as Fords group vice president of marketing and communications, a new position reporting directly to CEO Alan Mulally. Ford hired the former Toyota executive for that post in early October.
That means Farley will be Fords chief global marketing officer and will have direct oversight of U.S. sales, marketing and dealer relations for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands. Farley will report to Mark Fields, Ford Motors president of the Americas, on the North American duties.
Now with Jims expanded role, he and Mark Fields will work together to help everybody understand that Ford cars and trucks are absolutely worthy of consideration once again, Mulally said in a prepared statement.
Farley is expected to begin full time at Ford mid-month.


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CEVA Logistics and Kodiak Robotics Inc. yesterday said that they have teamed up to deliver freight autonomously between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, and between Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. The companies claimed that they are the first to do so in the state of Oklahoma.
“CEVA is committed to working alongside leading automation and robotics suppliers—like Kodiak with its proven autonomy technologies—to unlock value for our customers' supply chain operations,” stated Shawn Stewart, president and managing director for North America at CEVA Logistics. “Our partnership with Kodiak will deliver more business value to our customers, especially in light of the current supply chain crisis and the ongoing driver shortage.”
Marseille, France-based CEVA, part of CMA CGM Group, provides transportation and supply chain services for midsize and large companies worldwide. The third-party logistics (3PL) provider, whose U.S. headquarters are in Jacksonville, Fla., has about 78,000 employees and 1,000 facilities in more than 160 countries.
The company has more than 2,449 drivers in its North American fleet. CEVA said it has experience integrating automation and robotics into both its contract logistics and freight management operations to alleviate strain on its existing workforce. It has worked with Körber Supply Chain, Geek+, Berkshire Grey, and Locus Robotics.
Kodiak Driver designed to improve logistics
Founded in 2018, Kodiak Robotics said its self-driving technology stack is designed to make long-haul trucking safer and more efficient. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company in November 2021 raised $125 million in Series B funding.
Kodiak said its systems can also reduce costs and emissions and enhance truck drivers' quality of life. Its modular hardware approach integrates sensors into a streamlined sensor-pod structure that is optimized for perception, scalability, and maintainability.
The Kodiak Driver incorporates Luminar's Iris lidar, ZF full-range radar, Hesai 360-degree scanning lidars, and a range of cameras to capture and process hundreds of megabytes of perception data each second. These sensors allow the truck to “see” long range and all around the vehicle in a wide variety of weather conditions. This enables safe operation at highway speeds, Kodiak claimed.
Kodiak Robotics has been delivering freight daily between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston since mid-2019. Since mid-2021, the startup has been delivering freight weekly between Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio, operating autonomously on the highway portions of the routes.
CEVA moves goods weekly with self-driving trucks
CEVA Logistics and Kodiak Robotics said their partnership is a critical step toward their long-term goal of integrating Kodiak's technology into CEVA's North American truck fleet.
CEVA delivered its first load with Kodiak in November 2021. The company is now moving goods weekly on the 200-mile freight lane between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas.
The companies expanded the partnership in February 2022 with a new route between Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City on the Interstate 35 corridor. This route runs 200 miles between a CEVA facility in Dallas and the delivery point in Oklahoma City. On both routes, a Kodiak autonomous tractor pulls a CEVA trailer filled with consumer products.
Oklahoma's senate this week passed a bill to allow fully autonomous vehicles to operate on public roads without a human safety driver.
“CEVA is at the forefront of global logistics innovation and has recognized early on that the trucking industry will see the first widespread adoption of self-driving technology,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO, of Kodiak. “Kodiak and CEVA are focused on serving Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and Oklahoma City, because they cover some of the richest freight corridors in the U.S.”
“As Americans grapple with pandemic-related supply-chain issues and the long-term truck driver shortage, CEVA is leading the industry in adopting new technology that will benefit its customers,” he added.
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New research highlights the continued importance of frictionless shipping and returns processes. More than three-fourths of shoppers (76%) that highly rated their returns experience with a new retailer said they would shop with them again based on that positive experience, according to research that customer experience platform Narvar shared with Retail Dive. Slightly over half (51%) of respondents would not buy from a retailer in the first place if they had to pay for return shipping.
The report also found that more than half of consumers have tried curbside pickup or returns (56%) and instant refunds (52%), but they would only use the services for free. Less than half of consumers have tried two-day shipping (40%), scheduled delivery to home (37%) and same-day delivery (23%) and also said they would only use these services if free.
Consumers also indicated in the Narvar report that they will accommodate shipping delays if retailers communicate with them. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they experienced substantial delays, but only 19% were well-informed by retailers. Seventeen percent said they weren't well-informed by retailers of the delays. Forty-four percent of respondents said they typically expect to wait three to five days to receive online orders, and 26% said they expect to wait about a week.
As the pandemic has increased consumer reliance on e-commerce, the importance of fulfillment services and the returns process has grown. Amit Sharma, founder and CEO of Narvar, noted in a press release that retailers need to focus on giving consumers a convenient, predictable shopping experience during these uncertain times, particularly when it comes to delivery and returns.
Improving these processes can help retailers keep new customers, according to Narvar's research, as 32% of customers cited more convenient fulfillment services for delivery, pick up and returns as a reason for their loyalty, while 41% cited faster shipping. Communication is key to making the returns process easy on customers, the report found.
Out of the respondents who rated their last return as "very easy," 43% were notified when their refund was processed and 32% got notifications during the return journey, Narvar said. Convenience of returns also factors into decisions on where to purchase from: Not being able to do returns via the internet or the mail was a purchase deterrent for 26% of respondents, while concern about getting a refund quickly was a deal-breaker for 22%.
Many retailers have implemented same-day delivery, curbside pickup or in-store pickup initiatives to provide consumers with a more seamless experience while they avoid in-store shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Sephora and PetSmart have implemented same-day delivery services during the coronavirus pandemic in partnership with services like Instacart and DoorDash.
Sam's Club introduced curbside pickup across the U.S. in June, and Lowe's announced the rollout of pickup lockers to its stores in September. As a sign of the importance these services have taken on for consumers, Google added new search features allowing shoppers to find retailers offering in-store and curbside pickup options. As the pandemic drags on, curbside pickup may be here to stay.


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For every 50 shares, the company will accept 13 shares, ET Now said. The lower acceptance ratio is because more people tendered their shares that the market was expecting.
This also means those who wanted to take advantage of the buyback offer, buying shares just ahead of the buyback and selling after that, have to be content with lower profits, if any.
Ahead of the beginning of the buyback offer, analysts at Motilal Oswal had calculated about 5 per cent profit subject to 30 per cent acceptance ratio and selling untendered shares at Rs 3,818 after the buyback. However, the ratio has been lower and the stock is yet to hit that figure, meaning actual profit for them would likely be even lower if they sell these shares now.
TCS had proposed to buy back up to 4,00,00,000 shares of the company for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 18,000 crore, or 1.08 per cent of the total paid up equity share capital, at Rs 4,500 per share.
The offer was subscribed more than 7.5 times on Wednesday - the last day for tendering of shares. Investors offered 30.12 crore shares in the buyback process, which started on March 9, against the company's offer of four crore shares.
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Hardware sales in Japan have taken a downturn for the week ending September 2nd – the PS3 being the only exception with a marginal boost, shifting 18,068 units.
The DS sold less than 100,000 units during the week for the first time this year, reported
. Its 94,339 sales do, however, continue to lead the hardware market, while the Wii came second with 39,371 sales.
PSP sales fell by 3,893 during the week down to 22,196, and the PS2 sold a total of 14,280 units, down 859 on the previous week’s figure of 15,139 sales.
Elsewhere, the Xbox 360 sold 1635 units, the GBA 474 and the GameCube 73.


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Two Lotto players have taken home $500,000 each after winning Saturday night's First Division prize.
The winning tickets were sold at Whitcoulls Albany Mall in Auckland and New World Carterton.
They'll be ruing not striking it lucky with Powerball, which will jackpot to $16 million on Wednesday.
Strike Four was also missed, increasing to $400,000 at the next draw.
There's an extra chance to win big over the next week, with Triple Dip tickets bought before 7:30pm on Saturday putting gamblers in the draw to win Audi A1 cars, $20,000 travel prizes, $10,000 shopping sprees and $10,000 straight-up cash.


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Over the June-July period our consumer insights division talked to some of our leading retail CEOs and CIOs regarding their digital capability investments over the next 12 months and on average an increase to the order of 30 per cent in digital capability expenditure was forecast.
Retailers’ expenditure in both systems investment and digital marketing is certainly increasing. And, of course, the great challenge and opportunity is the relevance and return of that spend relative to the light speed at which this topic of digital is evolving.
Take for example the Internet of Things. I write this column as my alarm clock has woken me and notified my coffee machine to start. In driving to work this morning, my car is advising me of changing traffic conditions and advising team members of any implication to my arrival time.
Simply put, this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the internet and/or to each other. Globally, analysts are predicting that there will be over 100 billion connected devices by 2020 and now we start to see the implications for society from town planners to retailers through to consumer behaviour.
What does this mean for apps and many “mainframe” or systems applications that our retailers are currently investing in? Anything that can be connected, will be connected, which raises new questions around data security.
As David Dorf, senior director of technology for Oracle Retail, notes, the IoT is, “spawning new devices and new possibilities everywhere”.
“With an increasing number of connected devices, and the development of more and more smart objects on top of all the electronics we currently use instore and in-office, the potential is extraordinary,” Dorf has said.Dorf believes that the concept of the IoT has grown exponentially over the past few years because of four things: ubiquitous and cheap wireless networks; an increase in the number of radios and sensors; growth in network addresses; and an increase in data storage availability. Some key concepts include:
RFID: For IoT objects to connect with each other, they need to be augmented with an auto-ID technology, typically a RFID tag, so that the object is uniquely identifiable. RFID is a great instore weapon, as RFID tags are said to be able to increase inventory accuracy by as much as 99 per cent.
Smart TVs and connected cars: In short, these are TVs and cars equipped with internet access that can provide online interactive media. More and more of these connected devices are being introduced every day, and they will help move the IoT forward.
Wearables: These are technology devices that can be worn by consumers, and often include tracking information related to health and fitness. Wearables are among the top categories expected to take off in the IoT.
Instore Sensors: With the use of instore sensors (i.e., beacons), retailers can now track consumers’ behavior instore and make unique offers at the right time to drive conversions. With beacons, retailers have a huge opportunity to create “smarter” stores and shopping experiences for consumers, thus making them a big part of the IoT movement.
Home Automation: Home automation is technology that makes household appliances, temperature controls and other electronics ‘smart’ connecting them to the web so they can be programmed to function remotely.
There are now clear trends emerging as the connected consumer engages with their environment in a way that revolutionises our current thinking and in turn challenges retailers to consider their expenditure on digital technology.
Brian Walker is founder and CEO of Retail Doctor Group and can be contacted on (02) 9460 2882 or email@example.com. Vikki Weston, co-author of this column, is part of Retail Doctor Group’s Retail Insights team and can be contacted via email at firstname.lastname@example.org .
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Mumbai: Entrepreneurship and financial independence are the two mantras accelerating the work force in for the NextGen. Prathima Pingali, a 22-year-old photographer has given professional photography a new outlook.
The young photographer is the only professional “Pet Photographer” of India. Adding another feather to her cap, she has earned a spot on the list of top 100 professional photographers this year.
The Andheri-based photographer is a media graduate, born and brought up in Hyderabad who has made it to the “UK top professional photographer of the year award”.
“The pet industry is rapidly growing, and photography is something I love doing, so I tried to mix it up for a better purpose,” said Prathima informing that her entrepreurship and money-making skills are genetically inherited from her father who is also her pillar of support.
The bee of photography first stung her when she was in the standard X. Clicking a picture of the Powai lake in 2013, she had won the “Environment and sustainability” photography award from Singapore, soon after which she decided to take up the photography as a profession.
In an era when photographers are walking on the path of wedding and events photography, she chose to take the road less travelled doing assignments on pet photography, maternity photography with pets and also doing commercial photography using pet dogs as models.
“With Youtube and Instagram, the markets have become more diverse as well as transparent. If you do something out of the box, you will be rewarded,” she added.
Being an ardent animal-lover, she also runs her own pet clinic and shop in Hyderabad. She often sells merchandises created with her photography and spends a significant amount of the revenue for the protection and rescue of stray animals.
“Often, the money I earn is used in buying reflective collars for the stray dogs, which reduce the chances of dogs getting hit by cars at night,” she informed.
The young photographer has already collaborated with numerous brands of pet merchandises and is presently preparing for pet exhibition, soon to be held at Juhu. From which the money earned will be spent on the rescue and betterment of stray animals.


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JANESVILLE — A popular candy store in downtown Janesville will be on the move nearby to a bigger location.
Sugar Exchange owner Courtney Perakis made the announcement Friday on social media.
“There are so many good things coming. We are so excited to bring this to you,” she said in a video.
The store is expected to relocate to 113 W. Milwaukee St. early in 2024, Perakis said.
The new store will be across the street from the planned Children’s Museum of Rock County.
The Sugar Exchange opened in 2021 at 119 N. Main St. in the Bodacious Shops block downtown.
Perakis said the new space will have room for an event space for events like showers and birthday parties.
They plan to offer coffee and tea in the morning as well as adding bulk candy.


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2nd October 2020 –
SINGAPORE: A man has been fined S$418,000 for evading taxes and failing to keep documents and records related to motor vehicle imports, said Singapore Customs on Friday (Oct 2).
Tan Wee Leng, 43, the sole proprietor of Zion Auto imports, was sentenced on Thursday after he was found guilty of conspiring with three other motor vehicle traders to evade excise duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) relating to vehicles imported into Singapore.
He was also found guilty of failing to keep documents and records related to the imports “without reasonable excuse”.
Tan pleaded guilty to two charges while another three charges were taken into consideration.
Prior to the sentencing, Tan had voluntarily surrendered S$34,000 of profits gained from his “criminal conduct”, Singapore Customs said.
Singapore Customs officers had discovered discrepancies in the declaration of facts that were submitted by two vehicle traders, including Zion Auto Imports, for making duty or GST payments on motor vehicles.
Investigations revealed that Tan was engaged by Sunil Kishinchand Bhojwani of T Kishen and Company to apply for duty payment permits with suppressed values for 56 motor vehicles between March and May 2015.
In return, Tan was paid up to S$2,000 for each permit.
The authorities also found that Tan had declared suppressed values of an additional 37 motor vehicles meant for another car retail business between March and July 2015.
The business, Zion Auto Gallery, was registered under his wife.
The total unpaid duty amounted to about S$117,060 and GST of about S$49,160.
Tan also faced another charge for failing to retain documents and records related to the motor vehicle imports, said Singapore Customs.
“During the investigations, Tan informed officers that the trade documents relating to Zion Auto Imports were misplaced and he made no attempts to recover the lost documents,” it added.
Sunil was convicted and fined more than S$1.3 million on Feb 28, 2020. Tang Luan Yew, a motor vehicle trader who was also engaged by Sunil to fraudulently evade duty and GST was found guilty and sentenced on Sep 21, 2017.
Investigations are ongoing for a third motor vehicle trader, said the authorities.


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Using Google's Andriod platform has given HTC a boost, but now the Taiwanese handset maker are vulnerable to underwhelming sales in America and Europe. Their hope? China.
HTC only entered China in early 2010, much later than its established peers. It is playing catching up with international premium brands, such as Apple, Samsung and LG, where HTC is currently aiming to get a slice of the pie. However, the company is also facing stiff competition from local brands who operate at the lower price market.
In this Global Marketing proposal, we propose several initiatives for HTC to grow its current 1% marketshare in the China mobile phone market, including new products for HTC to tap into the lower price market as well as localized promotion campaigns to sell phones in rural areas.
It is time for HTC to sway away from satisfied with being 'quietly brilliant'.
HTC Corporate, founded in 1997, was a relatively obscure Taiwanese original design manufacturer (ODM). Incorporated as High Technology Computer, HTC focused on manufacturing of computer notebooks. The company created the world's first pocket size PC in collaboration with Microsoft in 1998; it later developed the iPAQ, one of the earliest PDA for Compaq in 2000.
HTC's close tie with Microsoft led them to develop XDA in 2002, first ever smartphone operated on Windows. The company remained true to ODM principles when it produced smartphones by efficiently catering for carriers' specifications and requests. HTC's ODM smartphones continued to generate profit margin as high as 20% compared to industry average of 5%. According to Harvard Business Review, HTC shipped more than 70% of the world's Windows smartphones in 2006 at its peak.
HTC won a reputation for excellent smartphones. But it wanted more, and began to invest more in innovation before eventually creating its own brand in 2007. HTC set up a unit called Magic Labs, where engineers from various disciplines come up with lots of ideas, even if most were quickly discarded. From this unit bred several ground breaking ideas, including HTC touch, a touch screen device that appeared few weeks before Apple's first iPhone; and first ever Android phone in collaboration with Google.
Reaping from the Android's high penetration rate, the company experienced unprecedented growth from 2008 onwards and became the top seller of smartphones in America in 3Q of 2011, according to Canalys Research. HTC has recently eclipsed Nokia in market capacity and has climbed up to the no.3 spot for smartphones sold worldwide, behind Apple and Samsung. In terms of brand equity, the company has invested heavily in developing its own brand and broke into Interbrand's top 100 Brands 2011 (no. 98) .
China: Macro-environmental Factors
China remained a single party directed country since the founding of People's Republic of China in October 1949. Putting political ideologies differences aside, efficient decision-making is widely seen as a characteristic of China's political system. The profound changes that have taken place in various fields of this nation: from Deng Xiaping's Special Economic Zone in the 80s to the economic leaps in the turn of the century.
Inefficiencies in the political system such as corruption still exist today, but China's communist party has taken bold steps for reform. The party has embraced market socialist economy to lead China out of poverty and soar to one of the most powerful nations in the world.
Despite China has mounted new heights in her economy, outshining Japan as the second largest economy in the world, the slowdown in economic growth has not abated. The housing boom in the past decade is now over, implying that growth now weigh on heavy industry and local consumption. In the past, China has offered massive infrastructure stimulus, as it did to prop up growth following SARS and the global...
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CommunterClub has returned to the UK-based equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs just after it raised £2.3 million in venture capital funding. The company launched its first crowdfunding round in 2015, which during that time had only £25 million pre-money valuation. Its pre-valuation is now up to £11,546,623 and it is offering 16.61% in equity during this funding round.
The company, which was founded by Petko Plachkov and Imran Gulamhuseinwala, notably helps commuters save time and money, offering an online retail solution for the sale of season tickets and payments through a subscription service. Basically, a Netflix and Trainline for commuting. CommuterClub makes money by financing annual tickets, earning interest and also from commissions from the retail of tickets.
“CommuterClub is initially targeting the estimated £5bn UK season ticket market and eventually expects to expand internationally into an estimated +£20bn commuting market in cities such as NY, Paris and Hong Kong. Since last listing on Seedrs, the business has made tremendous progress. The business expanded nationally, broadened its corporate solution and is in the process of launching a retailing proposition. Revenue has grown almost 3x in the last year and the business has processed close to £30mn in loans.”
According to City A.M., CommuterClub secured the £2.3 million venture capital funding from Indian financial services firm Wadhawan Global Capital (WGC), an investor in Zopa and Goldman Sachs-backed fintech startup Neyber, with previous investors also participating. Plachkov reportedly stated to the media outlet:
“Commuting in London and big cities is exorbitantly expensive and this new fundraising campaign will allow us to grow and offer our simple and transparent instalment plan to consumers in the UK and overseas. This industry is ripe for further disruption. It seems unbelievable that 95 per cent of people still buy their season ticket offline. Consumers deserve more.”
Funds from the latest Seedrs round will be used to continue CommuterClub’s expansion. It is set to close later this fall.
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