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- Americans are preparing to spend money this holiday season at a rate exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
- Prices for many popular gifts are expected to be lower than they were in 2022, thanks to record discounts.
- Despite lingering concerns about the economy, the consumer continues to show their resilience.
Despite some strong signals, most Americans still don't feel great about the economy. And yet, there are also some promising signs that consumers are ready to splurge on deals this holiday season.
A new Deloitte survey shows that Americans are preparing to spend money this holiday season at a rate exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, there are signs that shoppers will get more bang for those extra bucks as many common holiday items are cheaper this year despite sticky inflation.
In Deloitte's survey of 4,318 consumers in late August and early September, it found that 95% of Americans plan to participate in holiday shopping, up from 92% a year ago and 88% in 2021. That is also much closer to the pre-pandemic level of 97% in 2019.
Deloitte also found that the people surveyed plan to spend $1,652 this holiday season, up 14% from last year and 10% from the pre-pandemic level of $1,496 in 2019.
Survey respondents expect to spend $156 more this year compared to 2019. Nearly all of that is expected to come on the two biggest shopping days of the year, with spending around Black Friday and Cyber Monday expected to go up an additional $152.
However, this is only half of the story. While consumers are prepared to spend more, they are also going to find better deals.
Shoppers may be in for a pleasant surprise
While Deloitte's survey found that 72% of respondents expect higher prices due to inflation this year, that may not be the case.
According to a new report from Adobe, which tracks online sales, retailers will have record-high discounts for many common categories of gifts, especially around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Many categories are expected to see unprecedented average discounts of as much as 35% for categories such as toys, electronics, apparel, sporting goods, TVs, appliances, and furniture.
The steeper discounts will mean that prices for many products will be cheaper this year compared to last year's holiday season, according to the Wall Street Journal. For example, smartphones will cost 12% less on average, and TVs will cost 9% less.
However, one area where shoppers plan to pull back is food and beverage gifts. Based on total expected spending in the Deloitte survey, food and beverage ranked third in 2022, behind only gift cards and clothing, including accessories. This year, food and beverage is ranked fifth, falling behind toys and electronics.
While pricing pressures may be easing in some areas, food costs have been especially hard on consumers, which might still be fresh in their minds.
Despite lingering concerns about the economy, the Deloitte survey and Adobe report paint a picture of continued consumer resilience. As retailers look to give shoppers more incentives with record discounts, the opportunity for significant savings suggests we could be in for a bigger gift-receiving season than maybe we were expecting.


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Absa Group has become the first African bank and only the second company on the continent to join the global Sovrin Foundation as a Founding Steward – a move that means Absa now has the technology platform to build sophisticated self-sovereign digital identity capabilities for its employees and clients.
“Self-sovereign identity – the emerging answer to the myriad challenges associated with identity management – has the potential to not only revolutionise how we manage and secure our personal information, but also to play a key role in driving financial inclusion in Africa,” says Andrew Baker, Chief Technology Officer at Absa Group.
“Self-sovereign identity means that people and businesses can store and update their digital identity data in an identity ‘wallet’ on their own devices, and share it efficiently and securely with those who need to validate it. By using digital signatures and distributed ledger technology, this addresses the many gaps and challenges in securing and verifying identity-related information online, a problem inherent to the internet since it was first developed.”
As a Sovrin Founding Steward, Absa will play a pivotal role in creating, operating, and maintaining Sovrin’s decentralised, permissioned digital identity network.
“This enables us to create an open-source based digital identity manager and mobile app (Android and iOS) for internal use as well as for our retail and corporate customers,” says Baker. “Through this network, individuals will be able to take ownership of their digital identities, and we can establish a much needed, privacy-preserving flow of information.”
Baker says that Absa has begun building a proof-of-concept, initially for employees and then later for customers, which they will be able to use whenever they engage with the bank. This will run in parallel with Absa’s current means of authentication.
“Self-sovereign identity management has the potential to lower transaction costs, protect people’s personal information, limit the opportunity for cybercrime, and simplify identity challenges in delivering new innovations to the market,” he says.
“More importantly, efficient identification will promote financial inclusion. By lowering the cost to banks of opening accounts for small businesses, financing becomes profitable for the banks and therefore more accessible for the small businesses. It is a key component of becoming a truly digitally-led organisation.”
Baker adds that the proof-of-concept will initially focus on the bank’s South African employee and customer base, but with the long-term aim of implementing the solution across the continent.
“Self-sovereign identity is the next chapter of the Internet, the one where we — the characters in this story — get to control our digital identities,” says Heather C. Dahl, Executive Director of the Sovrin Foundation. “With Absa’s approval as a Founding Steward, we are a step further toward transforming the way we use the Internet into a place where identities and transactions are verifiable and trustworthy, and the full potential of digital commerce and services can be unleashed.”

domain: news


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The activities of scammers within the cryptocurrency industry is on the increase. It is suggested that the increased popularity of Bitcoin and other altcoins such as Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin may have stirred up some genuine curiosity in the faculties of newbies and other hopefuls around the crypto ecosystem. It is this growing curiosity that is milked by con artists who take advantage of the ignorance of their victims.
Knowledge is everything
When it comes to disruptive technology, knowledge isn’t just power, knowledge is everything.
The right knowledge about any given innovation will always offer genuine and sustainable benefits. On the contrary, a distorted idea of any given technology will not only be misleading, but it remains a metaphorical time bomb that will eventually explode when the time comes.
“In as much as Blockchain and the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) offers a huge platform for various kinds of innovations and investments, the promise of unrealistic returns on investment is a common characteristic that cuts across almost all cryptocurrency scams.”


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Apple will reduce its fee for a subscription app to stream video content up to 15%
According to recent figures by Bloomberg, Apple may reduce the percentage of revenue that it takes to sign in apps for streaming video content presented in the App Store.
Sources familiar with the situation argue that for these applications, Apple plans to reduce its portion of revenue from 30% to 15%. For other applications, which offer users a subscription, the decline of the Apple up to 15% will occur only if the user subscribe to the year.
Earlier this year, Apple has already announced its plans to reduce the percentage of their income on subscription services up to 15%, but it was only about the applications, not related to the streaming of video content.
Apple has not yet commented on the new hearing.


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The GfK consumer confidence index in the UK held steady for a third month at -13 in April 2019, slightly below market expectations of -12. Increases in indicators measuring economic situation over next 12 months (-34 vs -36 in March) and over last 12 months (-30 vs -33) were offset by declines in indexes measuring personal finances over next 12 months (0 vs 2) and last 12 months (-1 vs 0), and big purchase climate (-1 vs 1). “We have reported a -13 headline for the past three months and it appears it’s a case of ‘Keep Calm’ when it comes to how confident consumers are feeling right now. Despite political carry-on in the Westminster bubble with the clock ticking on Britain’s eventual departure from the EU, consumers are holding firm and remain unshaken by the daily headlines of turmoil and intrigue, although we remain in negative territory,” said Joe Staton, Client Strategy Director at GfK. Consumer Confidence in the United Kingdom averaged -9.03 Index Points from 1981 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 10 Index Points in June of 1987 and a record low of -39 Index Points in July of 2008.
Consumer Confidence in the United Kingdom is expected to be -12.00 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Consumer Confidence in the United Kingdom to stand at -10.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United Kingdom Consumer Confidence is projected to trend around -2.00 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.


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India's crypto industry has formed a new advocacy body almost four months after the previous one was disbanded under cloudy circumstances, according to an announcement on Thursday.
The body will be called Bharat Web3 Association (BWA), a shift in branding toward Web3 from the earlier Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC). The word Bharat represents the nation of India.
India's crypto tax regime was criticized Thursday by Changpeng Zhao, CEO of crypto exchange Binance, during a panel at a fintech conference in Singapore. Zhao said the high level of taxes is "probably going to kill the industry," in the country, Bloomberg reported.
Leading members of the new association involve Polygon, Hike, Coin DCX, CoinSwitch Kuber, Zebpay, and WazirX, making it the most prominent Web3 advocate in India. Some registration and procedural formalities remain, three people familiar with the plan said before the announcement.
The goals of the body include driving awareness about Web3, pushing for technology and innovation, supporting ecosystem partners and outreach to regulators to communicate steps towards consumer protection.
"Owing to its thriving developer community, entrepreneurial spirit, fast-growing economy, sound digital infrastructure, and deep digital adoption, India is poised to become a leader in the Web3 space," said Sandeep Nailwal, a co-founder of Polygon Technology. "BWA will play a pivotal role in helping India achieve its potential as a global Web3 leader," he added.
India is gearing up for its yearlong stint of holding the presidency of the Group of 20 nations starting next month. The "BWA is committed to working with the Government of India" to lead a collaborative regulatory framework for digital assets, according to the announcement.
CORRECTION (Nov. 3, 11:01 UTC): Corrects acronym of BWA in second paragraph.
UPDATE (Nov. 3, 12:47 UTC): Changes sourcing to official announcement from people familiar; updates headline to reflect sourcing; adds context, quote from an industry leader and Zhao comment.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.


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The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has welcomed the extension of the business rates review announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement today.
A major overhaul of the business rates system was announced earlier this year, with uniform rates set to be abolished. Local councils will, by 2020, be able to set their own level of rates, giving local authorities the power to compete with one another for business.
Earlier this year Osborne called the overhaul a “devolution revolution” and said it is the “biggest transfer of power to our local government in living memory”. Some £26bn raised in business rates each year will be left within the control of local councils to spend as they see fit.
However, speaking to the House of Commons earlier today, Osborne confirmed the plans but said that year-long review of the outdated business rates system will be extended, with the report now expected at the March 2016 Budget
Helen Dickinson, BRC director general, said: “It is encouraging that the government appears to be taking [its] time to consider their options for fundamental review of the business rates system.
“We have long said that it would be better to take the time to get the solutions right on the first go and design a system that is fit for purpose. How rates reform will fit into the wider Business Tax Roadmap will be a big question in 2016.”
She said that the Chancellor needs to reduce the “disproportionate burden” of business rates on the industry and keep going with its review because it is the “key” to delivering the core of the government’s reform programme.
She added: “While we eagerly await the detail behind the plans to devolve rates to local authorities over the next few years it is clear that devolution does not address the key problems of the rates system.”
Osborne said that that he would extend the Small Business Rate Relief scheme for another year to help small businesses with the cost of rates.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor also confirmed an apprenticeship levy, which will be set at 0.5% of payroll and apply to firms employing over 150 employees. It is hoped the levy will raise £3bn a year and fund three million apprenticeships by 2020.
On the subject of apprenticeships, Dickinson said: “The government is absolutely right to want to increase the number of apprenticeships but in doing so it must make sure the quality is increased too.
“We welcome the decision to establish a new employer-led body to set the standards and ensure quality.”


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Introducing Sergey Brin’s Google Girlfriend
Google hangouts are taking on a whole new meaning.
Sergey Brin, Google’s CEO who recently split with 23andMe cofounder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, has reportedly been seen (aka dating) with a younger Google employee, 26-year-old Glass marketing manager Amanda Rosenberg. She in turn is said to have previously been linked to another Google executive, Hugo Barra.
As Valleywag pointed out, Brin and Rosenberg have been spending a lot of time together promoting Google Glass around the world.
Brin — reportedly worth $24 billion — and Wojcicki were married in 2007. They have two children.
Though they’ve been living apart for several months, Forbes report they will “remain good friends and partners.” According to their spokesman, they will also continue work on their “several philanthropic and business ventures together.”


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AMD is getting ready to launch the next GPU RX 6000 in their RDNA 2 family of video cards. Recently the company sent out a save the date invitation to the press and public. Announcing their third “When Gaming Begins” event to introduce “AMD Radeon RX 6000 line of graphic cards, on March 3rd.
AMD initially revealed the first of their Ryzen 5000 series processors at the first “when gaming begins” event. Later it announced the RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, and RX 6900 XT graphics cards at the second event. And this third event will officially launch the Radeon RX 6700 XT and/or RX 6700 graphics cards.
AMD announced that it will add new graphics cards that utilize the underlying RDNA 2 microarchitecture. The event is scheduled for 11 am ET on March 3 for the West Coast people have to tune in at 8 am PT. AMD unveils its plans with a little bit of ambiguity.
Here are the details of the AMD event and its Radeon RX 6000 GPU
The main aspect of this event will be introducing the new Radeon Video card. Recently in a tweet, AMD also posted a short looping video of the card which gives us a glimpse of this AMD Radeon RX 6000 product. This short video highlights the fairly sizable card and this new GPUS open-air cooler with dual axial fans.
In addition to this tweet, AMD made a page on its website announcing the March 3 presentation, except that there is no further information from the company about what new cards will be revealed along with AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphic card. To this day the Radeon 6000 family only consists of Radeon RX 6900 XT, Radeon RX 6800 XT, and Radeon 6800 cards.
Before this AMD Radeon RX 6000 GPU announcement there were some rumors suggesting that AMD will be coming up with a more affordable GPU. This Radeon RX 6700 XT card may come with 12GB of video memory to compete with Nvidia’s mid-range and entry-level GeForce RTX cards.
Whatever AMD plans for the event, the AMD Radeon RX 6000 Graphic card will be powered by the same RDNA 2 microarchitecture. Which also powers the company’s high-end PC graphics cards and latest consoles. Such as Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Sony’s PlayStation 5. Some rumors suggest that these new AMD graphic cards will be competing against Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3000 series. All of this is based on the competing Ampere architecture.
AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphic cards details based on rumors
Based on rumors, AMD’s new Radeon RX 6000 graphic card will come with these specifications. The RX 6700 XT may feature 40 compute units, 2560 cores, and 12 GB 192-bit GDDR6 memory. Also, this new graphic card is rumored to come for under 250 USD. However, there is no official information if the graphic card will actually be available at this price.
And the RX 6700 comes with the same 12GB 192-bit GDDR6 memory but it includes only 36 compute units and 2304 cores. AMD may also announce its laptop plans and software features at this event. This new model will use the RDNA 2 architecture including hardware-accelerated ray tracing and variable rate shading.
However, we are going to find more about this AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphic card next week anyway. AMD’s new graphic card may be positioned to compete against NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3060 series. Also, today’s announcement by AMD clearly seems like it’s planning to be a bit of a spoiler of NVIDIA’s tomorrow’s launch.
As of now, AMD’s product stack halted at the $579 RX 6800, So it raises questions about where exactly the new AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphic cards will land. If this new graphic card positions itself closer to the $400 RTX 3060 Ti, or the $329 RTX 3060. With all this, it seems that both AMD and NVIDIA’s GPUs will be slightly out of alignment with this generation.
With the latest news, we know that Nvidia is also making its new RTX 3060 graphics card available at $329. Nvidia stated that it is going to make its most affordable GPU in the RTX 3000 series. Which will be available at retailers from the beginning of February 25th.
To support the global GPU shortage AMD and Nvidia have their own plans. Nvidia’s new graphics cards and the AMD RX 6800 and 6800 XT all graphic cards are hard to find. And they are being sold out rapidly whenever they appear. The global shortage of GPUs, that resulted in incredible demand for these GPUs. And reports say that the new AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphic cards also may receive similar demand
Also, Team Red gamers are very excited about this AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphic card announcement. Recently graphic cards have been very much affected by the global shortage in the semiconductor industry. This especially hit hard the GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD. Due to this graphics cards are being sold out quickly as soon as retailers fill their stock with what little inventory they get in.
Nvidia says that last year shortages of their graphic cards will persist through the first quarter of this year. While AMD predicted that this shortage may last at least through the first half of the year.
Recently AMD has announced its third “When Gaming Begins” event. Where the company is planning to introduce the AMD Radeon RX 6000 line of graphic cards. This event is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET on March 3. Peoples on the West Coast will have to tune in at 8 a.m. PT. Similar to other models this new graphic card will use the RDNA 2 architecture including hardware-accelerated ray tracing and real-time variable-rate shading.


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Staying in a reformed European Union is the most popular option for local Hull businesses.
This was the result of a major survey of opinion amongst hundreds of local businesses in Hull undertaken by Hull’s MPs over the first three months of 2016.
Over 200 responses were received representing small and large businesses from a wide range of different industries - collectively employing over 20,000 people.
The key findings were:
• 45% supported staying in the EU.
• 35% supported leaving the EU.
• 20% were undecided.
Other findings included:
• Of those Hull businesses who trade overseas 93% traded with the EU and damage to trade was the biggest concern identified if the UK left the EU.
• In addition, a significant number of businesses had received direct support from the EU through development funds and a number of respondents highlighted the need to be able to recruit staff from within the EU.
• The major concern with the EU appear to be with the imposed regulatory burden. While only 35% of businesses said it affected their businesses, a reduction in regulation was cited by nearly 70% of respondents as the key reform they would like to see from the EU. This reflects an overall impression that further reform of the EU would be preferential to leaving.
• Given the choice between leaving the EU and reforming the relationship nearly 80% backed reforms that would transfer some powers back to the UK.
Head of the Labour In Campaign and Hull West and Hessle MP Rt Hon Alan Johnson said: “The results of our business survey in Hull show that the majority of local businesses recognise the value of membership of the EU for jobs and trade. I am convinced that one of the reasons Siemens decided to invest in Hull was because as members of the EU we have open access to the World’s largest free trade area, which is crucial to jobs and prosperity in Britain.”
Hull North MP Diana Johnson said: “Although expressing frustrations with the EU and wanting reform, it seems that Hull businesses are facing the economic reality about the long term damage to trade, jobs and living standards that UK withdrawal from the EU would mean - especially for cities like Hull.”
Hull East MP Karl Turner said: “It is clear that the Port of Hull is an important gateway to markets in the EU. The results of our survey show that local businesses rely on free trade within the EU for building their business and maintaining and growing local jobs.”


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This week, Google’s been hosting their I/O conference. It’s an annual event where the giant shows off the best they’ve got cooking. And throughout the show, one theme has been clear — Google […]
Every year Google invites hundreds of tech writers and industry insiders for a big conference. It’s where the company announces some of its biggest projects and releases for the coming year, and it […]
The post The Best Announcements from Google’s I/O Conference appeared first on Geek.com.
The new Photos app looks very much like the photos component of Google+, but it has a few new tricks, and unlimited storage.
The post Sorry, Flickr: Google announces new Photos service with unlimited storage appeared first on Geek.com.
After living up to its promise of delivering a preview of the mysterious Android L (now Android Lollipop) a few months ago, Google has now rolled out the final build of Android 5.0 for Nexus devices. […]
The post How to flash Android 5.0 Lollipop on your Nexus phone or tablet appeared first on Geek.com.
As the launch of Android L gets closer and closer, Google’s internal preparations for this visual overhaul continue to spill out onto the internet. This time, it’s the Google Play Store getting ready […]
The post Leaks show off Material Design in Google Play Store appeared first on Geek.com.
We’ve only had Android L in its Developer Preview form for about a week now, but there has already been some incredible discoveries that weren’t part of the keynote presentation. Google’s next update […]
The post Android L: 5 cool new things we didn’t hear about at Google I/O appeared first on Geek.com.
You don’t need a $300 Oculus Rift developer kit to experience VR, according to Google. All you need is a bit of cardboard and your Android device. Google handed out these makeshift VR […]
The post Get your own Google Cardboard visor replica for under $20 appeared first on Geek.com.
If you take one thing away from Google’s developer conference this year, it’s that soon Android will stop being a brand name that only geeks know about. Despite being around for quite a […]
The post After I/O 2014, Google has ensured the Android brand takes center stage appeared first on Geek.com.
Get ready for two hours of Android, more Android, and probably even more Android. Google I/O 2014 is here, and we’re still not 100% sure what Google has in store. Google’s annual developer […]
The post Watch the Google I/O keynote livestream here at 12pm ET appeared first on Geek.com.
Perhaps you’ve noticed the bevy of Android leaks over the last few weeks. There have been clues to the interface, design language, and workflow improvements in Android’s “L release,” and now we may […]
The post Google’s Android boss says ‘Android L’ release will be previewed at I/O 2014 appeared first on Geek.com.
Google's big conference is right around the corner. Here's what we think will go down.
Remember that new design we said was coming to Google's apps? It's here.
The post Google’s new UI appears alongside next-gen Play Services appeared first on Geek.com.


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V-Guard eyes Rs 2,000 cr turnover this fiscalWednesday, June 25, 2014 l Source: PTI
Electrical equipments major V-Guard Industries today said it is looking at Rs 2,000 crore turnover in the current fiscal.
"We have set a target of achieving Rs 2,000 crore turnover in the current financial year against Rs 1,500 crore in last fiscal," V-Guard Industries Vice President (Marketing) Deepak Augustine told PTI here.
Augustine here launched company's new range of water heaters 'Pebble'. The water heater's organised market size is of Rs 800 crore and it is targeting at capturing 25 per cent market share with Rs 200 crore turnover, he said. The company is also working on a plan to introduce new series of room heater and gas geysers before winters in the country.
Terming Madhya Pradesh as a "major market", he said it will do a business of Rs 50 crore this year in the region against Rs 32 crore in 2013-14. He hoped that within next two years the company's annual turnover in Madhya Pradesh would reach Rs 100 crore mark.


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'Saturday Night Live' Format Comes to China, Seeks Local Comedians
The video site already streams the U.S. version, but 'Saturday Night Live China' will be tailored to Chinese audiences.
Online video site Sohu.com is teaming up with Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video Entertainment to bring the Saturday Night Live format to China and will recruit comedians across the country in coming months.
China's online viewership is exploding, with 60 percent of the audience using smartphones and tablets to watch, and finding content to meet burgeoning demand has led to streaming sites getting into production, often by buying formats.
"SNL, which combines the best elements of live music and sketch comedy, will be a refreshing new option for Chinese viewers," Sohu said in a statement.
The deal is the latest in a series of deals by Sohu offering legitimate content on the online TV and movie market in China, which is the world's largest Internet market with 649 million users.


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How will Liverpool's new Nike shirts look next season?
It's the first time Liverpool kits will be made by Nike
Liverpool announced recently that their kits will be made from Nike from the 2020/21 season onwards after the club's agreement with New Balance was ended.
It's the first time that the Reds' kits will be manufactured by Nike, after a number of years with New Balance, and, previously, Warrior, adidas and Reebok.
Currently Nike make kits for three Premier League sides, Chelsea, Spurs and Brighton, and have previously made kits for Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton, among others.
The manufacturer's efforts with Chelsea and Spurs may give some indication of what is in store for Liverpool's kits next season but we still can't be sure what it's going to look like, so we travelled down to the Classic Football Shirts shop in London to speak to some experts and find out.
Looking at some of the most popular Liverpool shirts, the most iconic Nike designs, and the American brand's more recent innovations, we put together what we believe would be the ideal Liverpool home shirt next season.


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“It’s been really quiet,” Ken Clinton, president of Intrepid Boats, said about the drop-off in business that occurred in mid-March.
Intrepid has stayed in business through the avian bird flu, ebola and the luxury tax. It survived the tsunami that upset production of Yamaha outboards, and it endured the largest recession since the Great Depression. But by mid-April, Clinton said, the coronavirus pandemic seemed different.
“When’s the finale?” Clinton asked. “It’s one thing when it’s the banking industry and you kind of had an idea of what was going on and who was affected. This virus doesn’t care what age, what race, economic background — no one is shielded from it. I just don’t know how deep the damage is. I’m trying to control my little piece of the world.”
Trying to maintain control amid a crisis of historical magnitude has been difficult for all kinds of marine business owners. They are being forced to figure out a new way of doing business — or not doing business — basically overnight. Immediate concerns include protecting the health and safety of employees, determining what services are essential, reacting as governments close marinas and ban fishing, tapping into stimulus money, and figuring out how to interact with consumers who are, in many cases, reeling themselves.
And at the time of publication, the human toll of the crisis was only just beginning to set in. Craig LeBlanc, owner and general manager of Allen Harbor Marine in Massachusetts, had lost his father and an employee to covid-19. He issued a plea to boat dealers around the country to take the virus seriously.
In terms of mandates to close businesses, states have taken the lead, sometimes with local and state officials contradicting one another and adding to confusion for companies and consumers. Epidemiologists say the inconsistent guidance at those levels, and at the federal level, gave the disease a head start, a reality that became evident weeks later as clusters popped up around the country.
The patchwork rules also made it wildly confusing for businesses to determine whether they were deemed essential. Even in jurisdictions where marine dealerships seemed to be under orders to shut down, those dealers provided service for law enforcement and Coast Guard vessels, which are considered essential. The same confusion stymied manufacturers with government contracts.
“We’ve got 14 locations across the country, so there are lots of different jurisdictions and areas and groups of employees, and so much uncertainty,” Correct Craft CEO Bill Yeargin said early on. “We were contacted by two vendors already. One supplies a high percentage of the industry, and they told me they have to shut down because they’re non-essential.”
Yeargin, as of mid-April, had identified three challenges the marine industry will face in addition to the kind of devastated marketplace that rattled business during the recession in 2008. Supply-chain disruptions will likely continue, as will government shutdowns; and employee health and safety will become more paramount than ever.
That last challenge is one that companies still operating are already trying to address. Some are instituting cleaning schedules and installing Plexiglas barriers at service and sales counters. Others are instituting restroom procedures, encouraging workers to close office doors and communicating more through technology. Still others are restricting customer access and adding escorts to ensure that customers don’t contaminate work spaces.
In some cases, businesses are turning to more tried-and-true sales tools. “Our brands have extended rebates,” one dealer wrote in response to a survey question. “It is helping us sell some boats.”
To Close or not to Close
The lack of government mandates on whether to close businesses in some parts of the country has left those business owners deeply concerned about choices that affect employee livelihoods and customer relationships.
“I really, truly believe that the best thing we can all do is stay home, as much as we want to keep things going,” says Eric Braitmayer, president and CEO at Massachusetts-based Imtra. “If this gets worse, we’re going to have a much slower time coming out of it. It would be really nice if states would mandate closures because we think it’s best for our people, but we don’t want to be telling our customers we’re doing that if it’s not mandated.”
Intrepid was still building boats as this magazine went to press, implementing strict social distancing and using personal protective equipment. Clinton says he was glad to pay employees who wanted to work. Other employees were home without penalty. “I have a bunch of employees that are counting on every paycheck, so it’s important to them,” Clinton says.
Intrepid also has had to juggle consumer desires to feel safe against keeping the manufacturing pipeline going. “We have orders in the queue that we’re moving forward on, and that’s been a struggle too,” he says. “People are scared right now, and in a lot of cases, my customers are in an older demographic. Here I am needing a material selection for a boat coming online, and they’re like, Are you kidding me?”
The lack of clarity around which businesses should close, and for how long, also made it difficult for company owners to determine how best to ensure their employees would receive government benefits for an appropriate amount of time. “If we’re shut down for two weeks and then the government shuts us down four more weeks, now people are out of work for six weeks,” Clinton says. “The provision they’re talking about [in the federal relief package] is for 80 hours; that’s two weeks. So how do these people survive for six? You have to make those kinds of decisions and let them dictate to you whether they agree. I’ve had a hundred people at least come and thank me for keeping the place open. It’s important to them.”
Marine dealers tend to operate with high fixed expenses and low cash reserves, according to a survey by Baird in conjunction with the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and Soundings Trade Only. That combination is likely to leave many dealers in need of government aid, at least in the short term.
The CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion relief package that President Trump signed into law in late March, includes a Payroll Protection Plan for small businesses to keep workers employed while cash flow wanes. But small business owners were largely still awaiting funds by mid-April, with banks and regulatory agencies overwhelmed by the number of applications.
The delays hurt the quarter of marine dealers who said in the Baird survey that they didn’t have enough cash on hand to make it through a whole month without revenue. “Everyone knows this is turning into a cluster,” says Adam Fortier-Brown, government relations manager for the MRAA. “Until the Fed starts to buy back some of that capital from the banks, things are going to stick like that.”
From the banks’ perspectives, most small businesses in any industry lack a long-term cash reserve, says Don Parkhurst, senior vice president of marine and RV finance for SunTrust. “If business dramatically drops off, they just don’t have a lot of staying power,” Parkhurst says. “They need cash flow to sustain themselves, and all of a sudden, that cash flow is way down, if not completely gone. Nobody’s ever really faced that before. This can’t go on much time, or they just won’t be solvent.”
Speaking generally about lenders, Parkhurst says several banks were offering deferments to customers and small businesses, offering a few months of relief. Other banks were doing moratoriums on repossessions. “I think banks are being much more accommodating than they were in 2008,” Parkhurst says. “They realize this is not businesses’ fault. As long as it doesn’t go on too long, I think most businesses will survive.”
Surviving, though, is a lot different from thriving, which many marine businesses were doing before the pandemic. One yacht brokerage company with around 300 sales reps nationwide responded to the Baird survey by saying sales stayed brisk until mid-March, when buyer leads decreased 30 percent and deals shrank 40 percent. The dealer subsequently cut out non-essential monthly costs but kept staff on, expecting to be reimbursed through the federal paycheck program.
“We have restructured and in some cases paused some of our online marketing with various vendors,” the dealer wrote. “Most vendors are willing to work with us by heavily discounting their services while allowing the advertising to continue. We have also cut back on most of our various sales contests and promotions for a few months. Many of our staff are under work-from-home orders, so we are delaying photo shoots of new listings, in-person showings, et cetera. At this point, we believe our business will be down about 40 percent for 2020, which is painful after a record Q1 to start 2020.”
For a seasonal businesses like boating, the pandemic couldn’t have hit at a worse time. It struck in the spring and is projected to continue at least into early summer in some locations. The bad timing was compounded by a strong first quarter — traditionally an extremely slow period for the boating industry — that led to companies to ramp up, expecting to be busy.
Oklahoma-based HydroHoist, with around $35 million in revenue and close to three-quarters share in Tier 1 markets for rotomolding and boat lifts, had a record first quarter in 2020, according to CEO Mick Webber. “We were aligned to kill it this year,” he says.
Many dealers were similarly positioned, says MRAA president Matt Gruhn. “Being in a situation where our dealers are carrying the most amount of inventory that they do in the year, where the payments are coming due and so forth, this hits at a really bad time,” Gruhn says. “There’s no doubt.”
The heavy inventory means dealer floorplan lines are basically maxed out, Parkhurst says, so interest and curtailments are at their highest. “We know we have a very seasonal business, and most of the sales occur in April, May and June,” Parkhurst says. “If they’re not fully stocked, the boats are probably on trucks on the way from the factory. It couldn’t have hit them at a worse point.”
The silver lining is that people who can go boating are going boating. One MRAA member reported an all-time-high number of boats launched during the pandemic, and has more than doubled his average on marina fuel sales, Gruhn says. “We can’t go to work, we’re supposed to social distance, and we’re cooped up at home with family — why wouldn’t we be out on a boat?” Gruhn says. “As time goes by, I think we’re going to see more desire for that.”
All the algorithms and projections that the marine industry previously relied on can’t help now, says sales consultant Sam Dantzler, who partners with MRAA on dealer education. “Nobody has been through this before — zero people,” Dantzler says. “But there are opportunities out there.”
The fact that the economy was robust prior to the pandemic should help, Gruhn says, adding, “Hopefully when the virus is behind us, we can ramp up quickly. And if that’s the case, I think people’s desire to be on the water is going to lead the way to the industry’s recovery.”
This article originally appeared in the May 2020 issue.


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It will be version 1.2 and here's what's going to be new:
2. Social search is getting added. So, say you want to look for Libya news, you can type in "Libya" and you get news coming from your social graph across Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Google Reader, and elsewhere. The news comes back in the Flipboard style.
3. The whole product is getting a light refresh. The design will be touched up to be cleaner and it will be made faster. McCue says the content will load twice as fast on iPad 1, and it will "absolutely fly" on iPad 2.
4. Flipboard is also announcing two new partnerships. Wired's web content will be formatted for Flipboard and available to look at throughout Flipboard. Same with photo blog site Pictory. The content from Wired and Pictory will have advertisements inserted between pages. McCue says the publishers will sell the ads, and Flipboard will add them to the content and take a cut.
It's a good time for Flipboard to update its app. The market for smart/social iPad readers is heating up. Today, Zite came out and received good reviews. Zite is a reader that figures out news you like based on what you read and delivers customized stories to you.
McCue says Flipboard is different because it's more personal than the other readers. "We're about connecting you to your friends, to people you're inspired by," says McCue, adding, "It's a very different model ... You can see things like photographs, and status updates and tweets," not just news stories.
Flipboard has seen over 1 million downloads, but McCue didn't say how many active users it has.
We'll be posting our full interview in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled for that. He talks about Android's tablets, raising money, and what it's like to be on Twitter's board.


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NEW DELHI: Rising inflationary pressures, especially high food prices, have become a major cause of concern for Indians, who are being forced to cut down discretionary spends, according to The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index.
Despite being the most optimistic globally when it comes to their job and personal finance for the next 12 months, the survey said, in the next six months Indians will be most concerned about increasing food prices.
As per the survey, that polled over 29,000 Internet consumers in 52 countries in November 2010, 90 per cent of Indians were upbeat about their jobs, while 84 per cent of them are bullish on their personal finance.
"Increasing food and fuel prices remain a big concern for Indians and has a significant bearing on their lifestyles as they try and balance rising costs by cutting down other living expenses," The Nielsen Company Managing Director Consumer (India) Justin Sargent said in a statement.
Fifteen per cent of Indians (polled) considered it as their biggest concern and India ranks fourth globally in its concern for increasing food prices, it added.
Food inflation was at a high level of 15.57 per cent in the week ended January 15 on dearer vegetables.
The survey said compared to this time last year, more than seven out of ten Indians have changed their spending habits to save on household expenses, which is two percentage points higher than in the third quarter.
"More than half the Indians (51 per cent) surveyed, now spend less on new clothes to cut down expenses," it said, adding 50 per cent Indians now try to save on gas and electricity to save on household expenses, compared to 56 per cent in the previous round.
About 43 per cent of the Indians surveyed said they will cut down on out of home entertainment, 41 per cent on telephone expenses, 38 per cent on holidays or short breaks and 35 per cent will delay upgrading technology such as personal computers and mobiles to save on household expenses.
"Global economic conditions are acting as a deterrent to the spending habits of Indians. We saw a resurgence in spends in the previous two quarters but the last quarter of 2010 shows a decline in spending intentions," Sargent said.
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Restaurant service charge: Government puts service charge on menu for discussions with restaurant body
Consumers are being falsely misled about the legality of such charges and harassed by restaurants seeking to remove such charges from the bill amount, said a senior consumer, food and public distribution official. The collection of these fees is at the discretion of consumers and not mandatory by law, the official said.
“Since this issue affects consumers as a whole on a daily basis and has significant ramifications on consumer rights, the Ministry has found it necessary to examine it more closely and in detail,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary of the Ministry. of Consumption, in a letter to the President of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).
NRAI chairman Kabir Suri, however, said most customers were happy to pay for the services provided. “Most menus also mention that the service charge is discretionary,” he said.
The DoCA called the meeting after numerous grievances were registered by consumers on the National Consumer Helpline.
The ministry said in its guidelines, published in 2017, that a customer’s entrance into a restaurant cannot by itself be construed as consent to pay a service charge. Any restriction on consumer entry by requiring them to pay a service fee as a condition of placing an order amounts to a “restrictive business practice” under the Consumer Protection Act.
The guidelines mention that the fact of placing an order by a customer is equivalent to his agreement to pay the prices displayed on the menu card as well as applicable taxes.


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VT Garment, a sportswear and outwear designer and manufacturer, announces the successful reduction of 20 per cent in the time to market with the help of Centric PLM.
Centric Software offers digital transformation platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, luxury and home décor.
So what’s the software doing!
With the implementation of the software, the company has been able to increase productivity, shorten product development time and improve accuracy in costing with better visibility of sampling material, improve communication and eliminate the extra time involved in the manual work.
The installation was a result of need for a better system that would streamline the processes across the organisation and cut time in data entry, duplication and help the organisation to focus directly on product-related activities.
Centric PLM has helped the company to reduce lead time by 7 per cent saving the time involved in organising the data.
Moreover, the installation has also helped in increasing the transparency. One of the features that have majorly helped the company is handling sampling, materials and timelines.
Through the use of this feature it has been able to achieve greater accuracy in costing and reduce the time spent in preparing the material to create samples.
Furthermore, the use of product specification module has enabled the communication of technical requirement of Bills of Material (BOMs) across the organisation for sampling and bulk production.
The calendar management feature has also helped the company in sending automatic reminders to the merchandisers of the deadlines so that there is no delay in the process.
Overall, the company has been able to increase the productivity by 30 per cent.


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When it comes to games, Netflix is probably best known for the thriller revealed Monday that it will add 40 more games to its platform in 2023 and is working with partners to produce 30 more. Additionally, Netflix has 16 new games in production at its ., but the streaming giant also boasts a growing catalog of playable games that includes this . The company
Netflix said it’ll release new games every month in 2023, including an exclusive game from Ubisoft — Mighty Quest: Rogue Palace — set to debut on April 18.
A large part of the company’s gaming strategy focuses on developing games based on popular Netflix shows. Too Hot to Handle: Love is A Game, based on Netflix’s unscripted dating show of the same name, is already available on the service. Netflix is planning to add yet another Too Hot to Handle title later this year.
“The opportunity to expand the worlds of Netflix films and series through games is incredibly exciting to us,” the company wrote in a press release.
Netflix’s foray into gaming began in 2021 and steadily expanded last year. The company now has 55 games across a variety of genres.
You can access its games by launching Netflix on your iPhone, iPad or Android device and searching for mobile games. Clicking on a game will give you its information. Pressing the Get Game button will launch the app store, where it will be available to download onto your device. All games are included with any Netflix membership.


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- Special Features
Blogs & Columns
- Fun & Games
Do these Facebook makeovers ever stop? It seems almost monthly the Facebook team reformats the outline of the increasingly popular social media network. It’s a nuisance to users, who forever claim the previous layout was “fine,” pulling attention away from the site rather than towards it.
According to the Social Media Examiner, the newest layout gives more companies a chance to promote themselves and network. Now, over two thirds of screen space are available for the user to personalize and use for marketing purposes.
Business and corporate owners now have easy access to viewers, can create free advertisements, and have their voices heard. Extensive video tutorials are available on the Social Media Examiner website.
Social media blog Convince and Convert's founder Jay Baer expressed the time is now for companies to engage in social media, for it is a modern, centralized controlled structure. Facebook has significant advantages with internal communications, quite possibly the best way to contact someone these days. Using the “opportunity economy” will provide fast access to business expansion, as there are many ways to build a business using the network.
These adjustments are minor compared to a report from Sexy Social Media, confirming Facebook acquired Google group message service Beluga. Smart phone and computer savvies can create a secret group, a pod, where only group members can view updates, comments, etc. This helped validate the group message industry, even if now they (Beluga) hate them.
There is no way of knowing what might happen on Facebook. High school students usually start to make friends before college, but most users are on to write messages on their friends' page and post a million pictures. The demographic is changing, and it’s more than just a site for high school or college students. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles have joined in on the phenomenon, who may be as addicted as the youth.


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Sainsbury's denies U-turn on food
SUPERMARKETS giant Sainsbury's is backtracking on its pledge to focus all efforts on selling food and admits it may be forced to stock more electrical and household goods to keep pace with rivals.
'Tesco and Asda are ploughing back the profit they make on non-food to reduce their prices in the food sector,' chief executive Sir Peter Davis said. 'If they are more competitive on food, it drives traffic into their stores and is a virtuous circle.'
Asda is still growing far faster than everyone and could snatch the number two spot from Sainsbury's if Christmas goes to plan. Davis said: 'We have been holding share but they are breathing down our neck. The chances are at some stage that they may go past us.'
Tesco is still the clear leader. Its share of the grocery market grew from 25% to 26% in the quarter to November, said Taylor Nelson Sofres. Sainsbury's fell from 18% to 17%, Asda rose from 15% to 16%, and Safeway dropped from 11% to 10%.
Denying a strategy U-turn, Davis said: 'Customers want us to enhance our non-food offer, but food will always come first.' He has appointed a new team to bolster home and cookware ranges.
Paul Smiddy at broker Baird said: 'He has seen the success of Tesco and Asda and wants a slice of the action'. But Sainsbury's has smaller stores than rivals so it may run out of space.
Sainsbury's beat first half forecasts with a 10% rise in underlying profits. Pre-tax profits rose from £277m to £320m. 'We have got some momentum now,' said Davies. The dividend rises 5% to 4.22p.
Davis has raised pension contributions by £15m this year. Some fear he may have to raise them much further. The group's pension deficit, £350m last year, may have ballooned to £1bn.
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EBay CEO Jamie Iannone has confirmed during an interview with CNBC that his company is interested in cryptocurrencies. When asked about eBay’s plans of developing and adding alternative payment methods Jamie said that the company has plans of adding multiple payment options including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and “other options, such as cryptocurrencies”.
The eBay CEO also went on to explain the adoption of new trends, thereby pointing out the organic aspect of certain additions. With more and more online businesses adopting cryptos as a preferred mode of payment option, Jamie Iannone’s confirmation of cryptocurrency adoption by eBay is not entirely surprising.
However, what is more interesting about eBay CEO’s interview is the fact that he confirmed that the platform is exploring NFTs realm. He said:
“We are observing [the industry] and exploring opportunities to see how we can easily authorize them on eBay. "
However, reports say that eBay remains cautious about digital currencies and including them as a preferred mode of payment. In 2019, eBay had joined the Libra Association, the project of Facebook dealing with cryptocurrency. When the project faced difficulties, eBay had left it high and dry.
With the confirmation of the eBay CEO, this is the first time since then that the company has shown interest in opening up to the crypto sector. It remains to be seen whether eBay adds both cryptocurrency payments and NFTs in the coming months. If it does then it will be nothing short of revolutionary.
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According to a blog post from Google, there will be introducing a new feature that allows you to message businesses on Google Maps. Once the update is rolled out to Android and iPhone users, they will be able to see a button that is labeled “messages” on the left side that will allow you to message the business that you are trying to find on Google Maps.
If a business is interested in working with Google Maps, it will have to use Google’s verification system called “My Business” and the app related to it to receive and send messages to users. According to many users, the update on the app has made it a place where you can do many things at once such messaging with customers and updating their businesses information on Google.
Google continues to launch new platforms based on messaging but they have yet to truly fix primary messaging as it still has a lot of bugs that it needs to fix. Along with that, neither Verizon or AT&T have let the public know when RCS will be ready to be launched. This shows that messaging with businesses is starting become a entirely new business of its own. Seeing as iMessage and Facebook Messenger already have that foundation, we are sure that Google would also like to share some of the space and be involved with this business.
Looking all these features that Google is implementing to Maps makes me start to realize that Google Maps is beginning to be difficult to use because of all the additions that keep on being added. These features include sharing your ETA, business “follow” button, a new Explore page, and a group planning that make it more complex to use what Maps is supposed to be used for, directions.


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Small business owners approach digital marketing practically.Read More »
Tag Archives: websitesFeed Subscription
Each New Year signals our season of self improvement, drawing a line in the sand between our old selves and the new and improved versions. If you haven’t already embarked on your own resolution, I would like to suggest one: ...Read More »
The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers plans to expand the number of top-level domains from 22 to almost 2,000.Read More »
GoDaddy spokeswoman Elizabeth Driscoll said the outage began at around 1:25 p.m. EDT. By around 5:43 p.m. EDT, the GoDaddy.com website was back up and service was restored for the bulk of its customers.Read More »
The Times is leading the defense of a diverse group of companies that use technology they assumed was free: sending text messages with links to mobile phones.
Tagged with: Apple Inc. Best Buy Co. Helferich Patent Licensing HPL hyperlinks inventors legal rights McDonald's Corp. mobile devices mobile technology National Basketball Association NBA Patent trolling Technology text messages The New York Times Co. The Walt Disney Co. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office URLs websitesRead More »
A one-click online payment system using Facebook and Twitter that could boost Internet sales for newspapers, music vendors and other low-priced goods and services is being tested by a major European media company, according to its developer. The Internet poses ...Read More »


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Slovenia: Harmonized inflation increases in November
Harmonized inflation rose to 10.8% in November, following Octobers 10.3%. The acceleration was largely driven by higher price pressures for food, as well as recreation and culture. That said, price pressures for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels softened.
The trend pointed up, with annual average harmonized inflation coming in at 8.9% in November (October: 8.4%). Meanwhile, consumer price inflation ticked up to 10.0% in November, from the previous month’s 9.8%.
Lastly, harmonized consumer prices increased 1.10% from the previous month in November, accelerating from the 0.80% increase logged in October. November’s result was the highest reading since June.


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THE Co-operative Group's Premium Christmas Pudding has been chosen as one of the best buys by the consumer magazine Which? in a taste test that puts it on a par with that produced by Prince Charles's estate.
The festive survey is featured in this month's edition of Which? and was carried out by three pudding experts, who did a blind tasting of 13 luxury puddings and six for special diets.
The Co-op's own-label premium pudding came joint second out of the 19 and scored seven out of 10 ? the same as the Duchy Original Organic Christmas pudding from the Prince's Cornwall estate ? and well ahead of more expensive upmarket puddings from Harrods and Marks & Spencer.
Co-op Premium Christmas Pudding with cider, brandy, sherry and rum, 454g, priced £ 4.29, was described as being "like Christmas again." The expert panel added: "It was dark in colour, yet had a light crumbly and moist texture with a very fruity and alcoholic flavour."
The pudding was also given special recognition as being the only one suitable for vegans as well as vegetarians.
Roger Marshall from the Co-operative Group, who buys the puddings for more than 2,000 Co-op stores, said: "We are delighted that our Premium Christmas Pudding has been chosen as a best buy by Which?
"The results of the survey reinforce the high quality of our own-label products and show that consumers really don't have to spend a fortune to find a top product."
Meanwhile the Co-operative Group has announced several new additions to its Truly Irresistible range in time for Christmas.
Six new products have been added to the range that was launched in July this year with the aim of encouraging customers to re-appraise the Co-op's image while reinforcing its commitment to offering customers unique products close to home at their local store.
The Co-operative Group believes that these products represent "mouth-watering, indulgent food and drink." All are mainstream enough that people will want to try them, but they also have a story, twist or angle to make them innovative and different.
This may be a particularly noteworthy ingredient, they may be sourced from a specific region or have a unique recipe created by a chef working in close partnership with the Co-op's suppliers.
The Co-operative Group's Susan Bromley said: "We are delighted that we have been able to launch the latest phase of Truly Irresistible products in time for the festive season. These delicious foods are ideal for this time of the year and provide a unique alternative to traditional Christmas fare.
"The new products reinforce our commitment to innovation and the range has performed exceptionally well since the launch and went down a storm at the recent BBC Good Food Show."
The new additions to the range are available in selected Co-op stores now. They include: Chargrilled Mediterranean-Style Vegetables with Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing; Braised Red Cabbage with Apple and Kentish Cider Butter; Beef Wellington; Lincolnshire Pork and Bacon Parcels with Bramley Apple and Mustard Relish; Italian-Style Chicken Fillets and Chicken Fillets with Mushroom and Marsala Sauce.
In a further boost for shoppers over the festive season many of the existing Truly Irresistible Range products are available at up to a third off until 4th January.


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MUMBAI (Reuters) - Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), India's biggest mortgage lender, reported a 16 percent rise in net profit for the Oct-Dec quarter on Monday, missing market estimates.
Standalone net profit for the fiscal third quarter was 11.4 billion rupees compared with 9.81 billion rupees a year ago. Total income rose 17 percent to 52.42 billion rupees over the same period.
Analysts expected HDFC to post a net profit of 11.96 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)
Trending On Reuters
Record IPO Demand
A $75-million market debut for Indian parcel delivery firm VRL Logistics Ltd has encountered record demand, drawing bids for more than 70 times the number of shares on offer late last week, as investors bet on an e-commerce boom. Read


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Ford: Drive One
- April 14, 2008
- Ford, The Car Biz
- Posted by George Peterson
- Comments Off on Ford: Drive One
Break the Cycle of Apathy
Ford Division had its national dealer meeting in Las Vegas during the week of April 7 with more than 3,000 dealers in attendance. The Bellagio Hotel was over-flowing with Ford logos, banners and geegaws. At the same time, Ford was selling dealers on its new advertising campaign “Ford: Drive One”. With “Drive One” as its platform, Ford is trying to create a 750,000-strong army of advocates to get consumers to reconsider its vehicles. Ford wants to break the “Cycle of Apathy” that appears to surround consideration of their products.
Ford figures if it can jazz up employees, retirees, dealers and dealership employees that word about Ford’s quality gains and new products will spread virally through the North American auto market.. This is in addition to Ford’s huge customer base and number of Ford enthusiasts that can be brought into the campaign, person-to-person outreach is the backbone of Ford’s multimillion-dollar “Drive One” campaign, which started this month. As Jim Farley, Ford’s Group Vice President of Marketing and Communications said, “There are thousands of enthusiasts with Ford Oval tattoos. I can count those with Toyota tattoos on one hand.” The key is to get them working together to stimulate consideration for the Ford brand.
Ford started in early April briefing employees and retirees on the plan. Last week, Ford told its dealers about the new campaign in sessions in Las Vegas.
Unlike the “Bold Moves” campaign in 2006, Ford promises that Drive One will be around for years. Time will tell how long Ford management continues the Drive One message. Too often, when new management gets in place, the first thing to change is the advertising theme. (After all, what was the first thing Jim Farley did? Change the ad themes).
Dealers Involved in Developing Drive One Strategy and Implementation
Ford included members of their dealer council in the development of the new Drive One strategy. During many meetings in Dearborn in January and numerous conference calls and countless emails, the strategy evolved that results in Drive One. On a broader base, Ford surveyed more than 700 dealers as it developed the campaign. When including regional and local advertising by dealers, Ford says it annually spends $1.5 billion on advertising in the United States including Tier 1 through Tier 3 advertising. In the case of Drive One, Ford says they have buy in from not only Tier 2 advertisers (regional), but also Tier 3 (individual dealers).
The biggest difference at this dealer meeting is that Ford executives really listened to what dealers had to say, said Jeff Robberson of Robberson Ford-Lincoln-Mercury in Bend, Ore.
Engineers at the Dealer Show
For the first time ever at a dealer show, Ford brought in more than 60 company engineers to share specifics of the automaker’s technological and product accomplishments with the people who are trying to sell vehicles. Many of the engineers had never met a dealer before in their career. This is typical of the isolation product engineers often operate in at a major auto company in the USA. (Asian and European manufacturers are much more likely to be giving their engineers hands-on, face-to-face experience with dealers and consumers).
Farley gave the example of an engineer demonstrating Ford’s soybean-based seat foam that provides about 5% of the oil content in the seat foams in several Ford vehicles today. She got more than 100 requests for samples from dealers. Many of the dealers are in farming communities but never knew that Ford was using material grown by their prospective customers. Now that they know, the dealers can market that connection more directly to local consumers.
Employees… and Face-to-Face, Town-to-Town
Ford employees are appearing in advertisements and Internet videos. The campaign is focused on telling people about Ford’s accomplishments in four areas: QGSS – Quality, Green, Safe and Smart.
While the employees will be touting QGSS, Ford is also using a spinoff of its 2007 research based ad theme where a Ford vehicle is put in the hands of a person for a week who presently drives a competitor and reacts to the Ford. In the Drive One scenario, Ford gives a Ford vehicle to a person driving a competitive product for a week. At the end of the week, the initial driver passes the vehicle to a friend so they can experience it as well. During the hand-off, Ford captures the transaction on video and uses it in their ads. Initially, Southern California and Atlanta are the areas used for the trials. Additional cities will be added as time goes on and even some individual dealers are thinking about doing this on their own.
Ford’s Press Release on Drive One is found below the fold:
DEARBORN, Mich., April 10, 2008 – Four hundred-plus employees, thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears as well as dealer insights are fueling Ford’s quest to win customers on the strength of its vehicle quality, fuel economy, safety advances and smart technology.
“The best part of Ford’s story is unfolding in the studios, labs, factories and dealerships, and we’re opening the door a bit, so people can see inside,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of Marketing and Communications. “Customers are smart. When they meet our team and see what they’re working on, people will finally understand where the excellence in our products is coming from. That’s what this campaign is all about.”
This week alone, Ford hopes to reach 70 million Americans with the best thinking and hard work of engineers, scientists, designers and technical experts and dealers throughout the country, who have been working together since November to start telling Ford’s story.
Their collective effort is called “Drive one,” which chronicles in digital, TV and print media how Ford employees have closed the gap with Asian competitors on quality, advanced vehicle safety, made vehicles more fuel efficient and led the industry in developing in-car connectivity. It also invites people to drive a Ford and see for themselves how the company’s vehicles stack up versus the competition.
“The four areas – quality, green, safe, smart – match customer concerns 100 percent,” said Victor Benitez, vice president and general manager of Gus Machado Ford in Hialeah, Fla. He helped develop “Drive one” with Ford employees, other dealers and Ford’s agencies – JWT Team Detroit and Wunderman Team Detroit, both part of the WPP Group.
The super group test drove 60 different themes and taglines, sometimes in unusually hands-on ways. For instance, Ford’s Marketing Dealer Advisory Board participated in a consumer-style focus group, complete with professional facilitators and one-way mirrors.
This week, Ford brought experts and hands-on technology demonstrations on quality, fuel economy, safety and smart technology to share with more than 3,000 dealers gathered for a product introduction event in Las Vegas.
“I’ve never seen this level of partnership between any automaker and the people who spend the most time every day face-to-face with customers,” said Charlie Gilchrist, owner of Southwest Ford in Weatherford, Texas and chairman of the national Ford Dealer Council. “The collaboration is great, but the end result is even better: ‘Drive one’ is a confident statement – and an invitation to help customers experience the product strengths that really matter to people.”
Finding the Story
“Drive one” is being introduced just as Ford’s rollout of new products is accelerating: 70 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products will be new or significantly freshened by the end of the year, and the company’s quality is at record levels.
This week, Ford released findings from the RDA Group research that shows Ford is second to none in vehicle quality in the U.S. Ford has now matched Toyota and Honda in initial quality. This news follows a strong showing in 2007, when Ford earned more J.D. Power Initial Quality awards than any other company.
To help tell the quality story, camera crews and agency reporters interviewed 115 designers, engineers and technical experts and visited facilities that most people inside the company will never see.
This includes a room called the “Bat Cave,” where Ford employees conduct virtual reality quality experiments, as well as the VIRTTEX lab. It features a full-motion driving simulator where Ford studies driver drowsiness, distraction and tries finding new ways to boost safety.
“What we found was inspiring,” said John Felice, Ford Division general marketing manager. “As strong as the technology is, what’s even more impressive is how proud people are of their work – and how much they want to help the company succeed.”
Count Product Design Engineer Jason Johnson among them. He works on SYNC, a Ford-exclusive technology that allows users to control Bluetooth-equipped cell phones hands-free, using voice commands.
“One of my favorite things to do is talk about the work I do,” said Johnson, who will be featured in Ford commercials and webisodes. “But going through this process, I was surprised to learn we’re using recycled and organic material in our seats, and I didn’t realize all the work we’re doing on safety and hybrids. Now I have more to talk about with my friends and neighbors.”
Employees including Elizabeth Baron, a virtual reality and advanced visualization technical expert, believes Ford might have a better idea in its new communications plan.
“There is a lot of good work going on at Ford, and I’m actually seeing results from the great products we’re putting on the road today,” she said. “My 16-year-old daughter’s friend wants to get a Focus because of SYNC, and her parents approve because of the safety ratings. The family is not loyal to purchasing Ford products, so I count this as a win. With ‘Drive one,’ now we have even more ways to win people over.”
Ford will continue to update www.forddriveone.com with new webisodes, with as many as 30 planned to launch over the spring and summer. Televised 30- and 60-second spots will air throughout the summer as well.
Regional Advertising to Focus on Vehicles, Consumers
drive smartConcurrent with the national launch of “Drive one,” Ford dealers around the country will begin airing a complementary series of Drive One television, print and digital ads built around the theme, “Town to Town – Friend to Friend.”
To film these experiences, Ford approached competitive vehicle owners in two towns – Marietta, Ga. and Windsor, Calif. – and asked them to drive a Ford for a week and then share it with a friend.
Ford crews filmed 180 test drives, creating more than 20 unscripted, 30-second commercials covering nearly the entire Ford product range. Although the vehicles varied, the results were the same: people were pleasantly surprised by Ford products.
“To be honest, I was skeptical of Ford vehicles. But after spending nearly a week in a Ford Escape, my perceptions completely changed about the Ford brand,” said Amy Hardigree, who appears in one of Ford’s “Town to Town – Friend to Friend” advertisements. “I was so impressed by the design and technology, I realized what I was missing in my Volkswagen Beetle, and it was great that I was able to then share the experience with my friend.”


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I’ve already discussed my love of immersive content in another Platform blog but I also have a fascination with displays. Asia has managed to combine both in a flurry of enticing content across the region. From the billboards in Hong Kong to video displayed in the MRT in Bangkok and the screens all around Seoul, video is an integral part of life in Eastern Asia.
This is why it’s no wonder that my personal favourite at this year’s IFA is leading Korean CE manufacturer Samsung. By launching the Samsung Gear VR, a virtual reality headset that is meant to rival Oculus Rift, the Korean manufacturer has shown once more its capacity to innovate in a market that is increasingly competitive. Working with the Samsung Galaxy Note, the new headset is immediately interoperable with Samsung’s phablet to enable consumers to enjoy 3D content, including movies, games, 360-degree video and more. It works with the Galaxy Note 4’s quad-HD display and can even convert 2D content into 3D enabling a true IMAX experience. While my interest would be piqued even further if it were compatible with the Galaxy smartphone series, it’s the first time that a virtual reality headset can be seamlessly combined with a second screen device.
The headset will open new doors for the gaming community, but could also become a new way for consumers to interact with their TV. For content owners, this provides ample opportunity to start planning the evolution of the second screen. Instead of using apps and quizzes on a smartphone or tablet, viewers could become part of the programme by projecting themselves into the content itself alongside participants. Taking it a bit further, this could also enable sports and music fans to feel as if they were physically in the venue, and I could finally be part of the cast of Mad Men (I’ll give Game of Thrones a pass, I’d rather not be a casualty).
The launch of this innovative new gadget also made me think of the potential in advertising. Although Asian ads are usually hard to translate and make little sense for Europeans, it will be incredibly exciting to see how creative Korean and Thai commercials will get once the Galaxy Gear VR becomes a fixture. It could even revolutionize in-game advertising.
While Samsung has demonstrated a clever strategy to increase the revenue it generates from its Galaxy Note series, broadcasters and advertisers can finally come up with truly immersive ways to utilize new gadgets as part of the TV viewing experience. Samsung is aiming at a $150 price tag for launch, which may sound fairly expensive for a gadget but the faster sales cycles mean that it will likely become affordable for the general public in a few months. It will be interesting to see when the content and the advertising industries make it part of their day-to-day multimedia creative offering – who knows, I could even become a Mad Woman!
Written by Segolene Roche.
Image courtesy of http://bit.ly/1wgaIBl


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Tenders will shortly be invited by Westfield for construction of the long stalled £275 million Broadway city centre shopping centre development in Bradford.
Site preparation works got under way today on the 12 acre Broadway site that has lain dormant since 2008, being dubbed the Bradford Hole locally. Westfield has developed the project along with Meyer Bergman which has organised investment to ‘forward purchase it with Westfield committed to design, construct, lease and manage it on completion.
Westfield director of development Duncan Bower said that site preparation works and a ‘meet the buyer’ event to be held on 11 December at Bradford Football Club were positive signs that the project would finally get properly under way, with a start date before the end of the year.
A growing list of retailers signing up to take retail space is behind the developer’s new confidence to take the project forward. The development is significantly smaller than the original 100-retail unit plan that received planning approval as long ago as 2003.
The development will now comprise at least 70 retail units over 570,000 sq ft of space, with parking for over 1,300 cars, new public spaces, restaurants and cafes and improved links to neighbouring areas.
Key retailers signed up so far include Debenhams which is taking over 100,000 sq ft, Marks & Spencer and Next. The Broadway development is part of a wider regeneration masterplan being led by the city council and will complete its “Connecting the City” project, providing new links to the major quarters of the city centre like City Park, the Law Courts and the Little Germany/Cathedral Quarter.


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Whitechapel and Pixel 6, Casio G-Squad Pro, Galaxy S21 one month later
- RIP LG: South Korean giant officially exits the smartphone market.
- The 6 worst LG smartphones of all time.
- What is your favorite LG mobile device?
- Exclusive: Pixel 6 will be powered by new Google-made ‘Whitechapel’ chip.
- How Google's secretive smartphone chip might stack up against Apple and Qualcomm.
- The Pixel 6 could take on the next iPhone with a custom Google processor.
- Casio launches first G-Shock Wear OS smartwatch.
- Caterpillar is bringing its newest rugged phone to the US for $699.
- Ryne: Galaxy S21 after one month... Whatcha think?
- Google Maps is getting a ton of new features — here's what to expect and when.
- Try the Spotify-based dating app I am apparently too snobby for.
- Microsoft shuts down Cortana on iOS and Android.
Read our show notes here: https://bit.ly/39OHhCo
Subscribe to All About Android at https://twit.tv/shows/all-about-android.


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An American woman who saved a McDonald’s burger and fries for 24 years has revealed the fast food items still look brand new, after more than two decades stored in her cupboard.
TikTok user @aly.sherb is going viral after she shared a video of her grandmother showing off the McDonald’s meal she kept wrapped in a shoebox for two and a half decades.
In the clip, Aly’s grandmother proudly shows off the science experiment, pointing out the 1996 Nascar wrapper, the lack of mold and the fact that the burger is still “completely intact” after all this time.
Aly’s grandmother didn’t explain what made her put the food away before Aly was even born, but she said “it lives in a box in my cupboard.”
In a viral video with nearly four million views, she opens the shoebox to reveal a brown paper McDonald’s bag inside.
She points to the NASCAR race ad with the year 1996, which she kept with the food.
“The fries look like they could have fallen under your seat about a month ago without rotting or rotting,” she said, holding the packet of small fries.
McMillions of years! American woman saved McDonald’s burger and fries for 25 years – and they still look brand new
“The burger itself – the bun never got moldy, the meat never rotted and it never even broke. It’s completely undamaged,” she says as she opens the wrapper and points to the burger inside.
It probably helped that the burger was completely simple, without the ketchup, mustard, or pickles often found on a McDonald’s burger.
McDonald’s food is notorious for showing no signs of decomposition, and several customers have gone viral over the years for saving very old meals.
McDonald’s responded to what he calls a “myth” that his burgers don’t break down.
“In the right environment, our burgers, like most other foods, could break down,” the statement said.
“The fries look like they might have fallen under your seat about a month ago and never rotted or rotted,” she said, holding the packet of small fries
“But, to decompose, you need certain conditions, especially humidity. Without sufficient moisture – either in the food itself or in the environment – bacteria and mold may not grow and therefore decomposition is unlikely.
“So if the food is or becomes sufficiently dry, it is unlikely to grow mold or bacteria or rot. Foods prepared at home and left to dehydrate could yield similar results.
“Look closely, the burgers you see are probably parched and dehydrated, and in no way ‘the same as the day they were purchased’.
“The reality is that our burgers are made only with 100% USDA inspected beef. There are no preservatives or fillers in our patties and the only thing ever added is a touch of salt and pepper on the grill.


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D CEO Commercial Real Estate
Reports on North Texas Commercial Property Deals
H-E-B Will Open Its First Two Joe V’s Smart Shop Locations in Dallas
The grocery store chain announced it would bring its Houston-centric concept to North Texas for the first time in southern and east Dallas. Both locations sit in areas that could use more grocery store access.