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These 10 women-led start-ups are set to duke it out for a €50,000 prize at the Women Startup Challenge Europe final in London.
Women Who Tech, a non-profit organisation founded in 2008, gives women-led start-ups a platform (and a prize-winning opportunity) through its Women Startup Challenge competitions. Running in the US since 2015, this year will mark the first international competition with Women Startup Challenge Europe.
“This is our first ever international competition and the response from the tech community has been extraordinary,” said Women Who Tech founder Allyson Kapin. “We had more than 200 applicants, and our finalists include some of the most innovative women-led start-ups based in Austria, Finland, France, Ireland, Spain and the UK.”
Women Startup Challenge Europe was created in partnership with Craig Newmark (yes, he of Craigslist fame) who sits on the Women Who Tech advisory committee, along with Rajeeb Dey, Mary McKenna and Jimmy Wales – all of whom will have played a role in crowning the winner of the European contest.
“Only 10pc of global investor money goes to women-led start-ups, yet women-led companies yield a 35pc higher return than those led by men,” said Newmark. “We’ve got to invest in talent and close this gap.”
And so, the winner of Women Startup Challenge Europe will walk away with €50,0000 in cash, courtesy of the Craig Newmark Philanthropic Fund, plus $210,000 worth of cloud services from event sponsor IBM.
A panel of esteemed online judges sifted through the hundreds of applications looking for disruptive game-changers capable of having a real impact with their start-up. The 10 selected finalists will now appear at a pitch event on 3 May in London’s City Hall, graciously hosted by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
“As a proud feminist, I am delighted that City Hall is hosting this exciting competition,” said Khan, who recently unveiled a Digital Talent Programme aiming to boost the proportion of women working in the technology industry.
At the event, the female founders will be evaluated by tech industry veteran Martha Lane Fox, founder of Doteveryone; Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales; Marie-Laure Sauty de Chalon, CEO of auFeminin.com; and Rajeeb Dey, founder of Enternships.com and CEO of Learnerbly. The event is open to the public with tickets available via Eventbrite.
Hailing from Austria, Blitab has developed a sort of ‘iPad for the blind’, using tactile text and graphics. The award-winning Blitab tablet gives blind users braille interface through which they can learn, work and play on a mobile device. Co-founder and CEO Kristina Tsvetanova will pitch the product at the London event.
Represented by co-founder Elsa Hermal, French start-up Epicery built an app for people to order fresh food online directly from local artisan shops. With the Epicery app, produce from the local butchers, fishmongers, cheesemakers, pastry shop or organic trader is made available on-demand and delivered to the door in one hour.
Postdoc genomics researcher Dr Maria Chatzou is the brains behind Spanish start-up Lifebit, which is said to be creating the operating system of genomics. Lifebit’s unified framework system enables insightful real-time genomics analyses by making them easy to deploy, portable across clusters and clouds, scalable no matter the size of the data to be analysed, reproducible, and more time and cost-efficient.
The first UK start-up in the mix is Open Bionics, an award-winning young company that is revolutionising healthcare by using 3D scanning and printing to create advanced, affordable and stylish bionic limbs. Pitching via COO and co-founder Samantha Payne, Open Bionics said it is turning children with limb differences into “bionic superheroes”.
Co-founder Kate McLaughlin leads Pop, an online marketplace for sourcing film and TV production teams. The UK start-up is scrapping old-school processes plaguing this industry with a platform that allows users to book, manage and pay a production crew simply and seamlessly.
Another UK start-up, See Fashion is targeting fashion brands (obviously) by helping them to identify trends and buy opportunities in their market. Pitching founder Ivana Ojukwu will hope to wow the judges with some real-time data-led insights. You see, See Fashion collects and shares data from designers’ e-commerce sites along with marketplace metrics, turning this into highly segmented and contextualised product insights.
Cambridge, UK-based Simprints has developed an inexpensive biometric scanner, mobile app and cloud platform that could become the first source of providing identity to the 1.5bn people worldwide who do not have formal IDs. Simprints uses people’s fingerprints to accurately link them to records, in an effort to prevent users being denied services (such as healthcare) because of a lack of identification. The company was co-founded by Alexandra Grigore while pursuing a PhD in nanotechnology.
Happy #InternationalWomensDay from @Simprints team! pic.twitter.com/HU2uU82S89
— Simprints (@Simprints) March 7, 2017
Restored Hearing (Sound Bounce)
Any avid Siliconrepublic.com reader will have been following this Irish start-up’s story since two young women – Rhona Togher and Eimear O’Carroll – brought their tinnitus-tackling project to the BT Young Scientist Exhibition. This eventually spawned the start-up Restored Hearing, which recently smashed a Kickstarter target for its Sound Bounce hearing protection technology.
Sound Bounce is an acoustic metamaterial that provides significantly improved noise attenuation when compared to conventional materials. This high-tech muffler can be integrated into automotive, aerospace, construction and many more industries to drastically reduce the impact of environmental noise.
Once an investment banker, Colleen Wong founded UK start-up TechSixtyFour after a trip to a farm with her two kids where she heard a boy was lost and staff were searching for his parents. Now, her company is behind the Gator watch, a wearable mobile phone and tracker made for young children, and continues to focus on developing technologies that can have a positive impact on family life.
Co-founder Caritta Seppä will represent Finland’s Tespack, which claims to have solved the biggest problems of smart clothing, battery life and connectivity with its range of Smart Wear. Tespack’s product range includes ultra-light battery packs and thin solar panels that can be fitted to its super-durable backpacks. Clients of Tespack include Vodafone and General Electric, and they are based at the latter’s Energy Village start-up campus in Helsinki.
Live every moment, Laugh everyday, Leave every wall socket! ? ⚡⚡⚡#FutureOfEnergy Stay powered! ?Link is in the Bio . . . . . #Laugh #adventure #travelling #Mountains #instagram #adventuretime #picoftheday #solarcharger #photography #travel #cool #GoPro #Solar #technology #happy #power #hiking #landscape #startup #entrepreneur #climbing #relax #outdoors #inspirational #unstoppable #Power #Free
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China's Dec inflation falls to 7-month low at 2.5%
CHINA's inflation rate fell to a seven-month low in December on the back of easing food prices, reducing the odds of monetary tightening.
The consumer price index (CPI) eased to 2.5 per cent in December from 3 per cent the previous month. This was well below the 3.5 per cent target set by
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text: In the third quarter of the year 2020, worldwide tablet shipments grew by nearly 25%. That's absolutely bonkers, considering the way the world is today. Or is it? According to ICD, it was our current global pandemic that pushed "demand for affordable access to basic computing and larger screens to facilitate remote work, learning, and leisure." IDC also noted that throughout the year "consumer spending on technology has also been on the rise."


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Also ranked second in the world by Food Products Industry Index
Thai Union Group PCL published robust fourth quarter data and all-time high annual financial results for 2021, driven by an ongoing recovery in its frozen and chilled business. During the fourth quarter of 2021, their sales have reached record of THB 38.5 billion, a 15.1% year-on-year increase. The reason of this is a rebound in the frozen and chilled seafood business following the reopening of food service, restaurants and hotels in the United States.
Sustainability still is Thai Union’s business center. The company was pleased to be included in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), for the eighth year in a row. Also, Food Products Industry Index ranked Thai Union second in the world in 2021.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, Thai Union’s management team helped ensure the business. Furthermore, they emerged stronger and in even better financial health. Last year, they also established Thai Union Lifescience. This will be responsible for distributing supplements to consumers in that fast-growing segment.
“Our long-term strategy of strengthening our core businesses while building value-enhancing new operations, along with financial discipline focused on profitability and sustainability, helped drive these excellent 2021 financial results,” said CEO Thiraphong Chansiri.
Thai Union is one of the world’s leading seafood producers and one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products. Their annual sales exceed €3.9 billion ($4.5 billion). A global workforce of more than 44,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.


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Northwest suburban police blotter
• Charges are not evidence of guilt. Under law, individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
• Tatiana Lattimore, 21, of the 1100 block of Sandpiper Court, Bartlett, was arrested around 7:15 a.m. Oct. 23 at her home and charged with criminal damage to property. Her court date is Nov. 13.
• Ashley A. Cahill, 23, of the 900 block of South Millwood Drive, Bartlett, was arrested around 2:05 a.m. Oct. 24 at Railroad and Oak avenues and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, DUI and a traffic violation. Her court date is Nov. 9.
• Anthony C. James, 53, of the 1200 block of Court E, Hanover Park, was arrested around 7:05 p.m. Oct. 21 at 125 E. Stearns Road and charged with retail theft. His court date is Nov. 6.
• Nolan McMahon, 18, of the 2200 block of Cinema West, Hanover Park, was arrested around 2:25 p.m. Oct. 23 at 701 W. Schick Road and charged with local ordinance fighting. His court date is Dec. 10.
• Burglars broke a window at a home on Longford Road around 8 p.m. Oct. 25 and stole undisclosed items. Loss was estimated at $6,000.
• Thieves stole a boys' bicycle from the front of a home on Hale Avenue around 3 a.m. Oct. 23. Value was estimated at $150.
• Burglars broke into a car on Saddleridge Place around 7:20 a.m. Oct. 16 and stole a small laptop computer, camera and GPS. Loss was estimated at $875.
• Burglars stole a purse out of an unlocked vehicle on Faircroft Road around 1 p.m. Oct. 17. Value was estimated at $470.
• Rosamaria Gavin, 21, of the 900 block of Bryn Mawr, Bartlett, was arrested around 8:35 p.m. Oct. 22 at Irving Park and Jensen roads and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of an uncased pellet gun and driving while license suspended.
• Refat Ahmedi, 47, of the 0-100 block of Jefferson, Streamwood, was arrested around 3:35 p.m. Oct. 21 at 7435 Barrington Road and charged with retail theft.
• Jesus J. Alvarez, 18, of the 7200 block of Astor, Hanover Park, was arrested around 9:15 p.m. Oct. 20 and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and no valid driver's license.
• Juan Daniel Leon, 18, of the 600 block of Grand Canyon Parkway, Hoffman Estates, was arrested around 3:40 p.m. Oct. 18 in a women's locker room at an apartment building on the 900 block of Grand Canyon Parkway and charged with public indecency. His court date is Nov. 30.
• Ella Mae Comer, 51, of the 5300 block of Lansbury Circle, Lake in the Hills, was arrested around 5 p.m. Oct. 19 at Target, 2800 N. Sutton Road, and charged with retail theft after she reportedly took seven DVDs and a cosmetic lotion, value was estimated at $90. Her court date is Nov. 14.
• Angela M. Fischer, 38, of the 100 block of White Oak Court, Schaumburg, was arrested around 3:35 p.m. Oct. 20 at T.J. Maxx, 19 Golf Center, and charged with retail theft after she reportedly took merchandise valued at $65. Her court date is Dec. 10.
• Caroline L. Pena, 18, and Merrie E.T. Scipione, 20, both of the 400 block of Lauren Lane, Buffalo Grove, were arrested around 7:20 p.m. Oct. 19 at Sephora in Woodfield Mall and charged with retail theft after they reportedly took cosmetics. Their court date is Dec. 3.
• Agnieszka B. Apola, 32, of the 200 block of Teak Lane, Streamwood, was arrested around 5 p.m. Oct. 22 at Kohl's, 171 N. Barrington Road, and charged with retail theft after she reportedly took various clothing items. Her court date is Nov. 13.
• Margaret R. Lykowski, 61, of the 1800 block of Eton Drive, Hoffman Estates, was arrested around 3:25 p.m. Oct. 12 at Target, 2621 W. Schaumburg Road, and charged with retail theft after she reportedly took 14 merchandise items including clothes and cat food. Her court date is Nov. 19.
• Wanda Denise Verlinden, 53, of the 1800 block of West Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, was arrested around 7:35 p.m. Oct. 16 at PetSmart, 1440 E. Golf Road, and charged with theft after employee Verlinden reportedly created fraudulent returns between Jan. 7 and Oct. 4. Her court date is Nov. 19.
• Franko S. Pacheco, 21, of the 3500 block of Fremont Street, Rolling Meadows, and Paige A. Wainwright, 18, of the 1200 block of North Doe Road, Palatine, were arrested around 1:25 p.m. Oct. 11. Pacheco, who was arrested at his home, was charged with four counts of retail theft and Wainwright with three counts after they reportedly took video game controllers from Target between Aug. 30 and Sept. 28. Their court date is Nov. 16.
• Donell Tyrell Adenekan, 20, of the 1000 block of Glouchester Harbor, Schaumburg, was arrested around 2:50 p.m. Oct. 19 at his home after he reportedly took two bottles of vodka from Dominick's, 200 S. Roselle Road. His court date is Nov. 30.
• Angelica Maria Galvin-Maldonado, 31, of the 1700 block of West Chariot Court, Mount Prospect, was arrested around 3:05 p.m. Oct. 23 at Macy's in Woodfield Mall and charged with retail theft after she reportedly took three clothing items. Her court date is Nov. 16.
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PVC-U and aluminium fabricator, Conservatory Outlet, has announced ‘major expansion plans’ on its 10th anniversary.
Directors at the company have launched a five-year plan to achieve 100% UK coverage, establishing a new exclusive retail partner in the remaining areas not currently supplied by the Conservatory Outlet network.
Managing director, Greg Kane, said: “We have invested heavily in our manufacturing infrastructure over the past couple of years in order to accommodate the growing demand from our clients, as well as to prepare for our expansion. National coverage has always been our target and, with our retail partners going strong, we feel it’s time to take the Conservatory Outlet network to the next level.”
The fabricator will look for suitable partners in Aberdeen, the Highlands, Essex, North and South Wales, the South West and Oxford.
Greg continued: “We’re ready to welcome both installation-only companies, as well as installers who fabricate, but wish to focus solely on retail activities in the future. Two of our established members have previously been involved in manufacturing, and we’re seeing an increased number of small fabricators focusing on retail alone, as it becomes more profitable for them to buy in.”
Once full UK coverage is achieved, Conservatory Outlet says it will focus on helping all its network members to become and remain the dominant window retail businesses in their respective areas.
For more information visit www.conservatoryoutletdealers.co.uk or call 01924 239813


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Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) has hiked prices of two of its most popular soap brands - Lux and Rexona by Re 1 and 50 paise respectively.
The company has increased the price of Lux and Rexona (150 gm) by Re 1 each at Rs 16.50, while the price of a 100 gm Lux bath bar has gone up by 50 paise at Rs 11.50. The variant of Lux, Lux International (125gm), will now cost Rs 26 from the earlier Rs 24.50.
According to the company sources, the prices were increased because of the surge in raw material costs.
With the market leader in this category HLL hiking the prices, other companies such as Godrej Consumer Products, may follow suit.
During 2001, the company launched a hair and body wash variant of Breeze, which has helped the brand gain ground. HLL also arrested the declining trend in Lifebuoy franchise. The company has also relaunched Lux and Lux International.
For the year ended December 31, 2001, HLL's home and personal care grew by 7 per cent, led by a 9 per cent growth in its power brands.
Despite strong growth by Breeze and reversal of the Lifebuoy decline, overall personal wash sales were marginally lower.
HLL reported a net profit of Rs 1,641 crore for 2001, an increase of 25 per cent over 2000. Net sales for the year grew 3.5 per cent to Rs, 10, 972 crore.Sources: Business Standard
Emery says everything that Unilever CMO Keith Weed says has a touch of genius. He also talks about his expectations from Cannes, WPP without Sir Martin Sorrell and his love for Mindshare India.
In an interaction with exchange4media, PC Musthafa, CEO & Co-Founder iD Fresh Food shares how the brand deals with competition and marketing strategies followed by them.
Varun Raina, Marketing Manager, Airbnb India speaks to exchange4media about the successful #LiveThere campaign and how Bollywood helps them connect with its young consumer
Tim Castree is all praises for his team in India and trusts it to be a result of ‚Äúan excellent execution of agency‚Äôs global strategy‚ÄĚ headed by Kartik Sharma
Mookerjee will lead the agency‚Äôs focus on strategic media planning, technology, data, content and ROI driven solutions
Lizol continued to reign the top spot in BARC‚Äôs Top 10 Brands for Week 23 (June 2-8, 2018)
Mazhavil Manorama which was at the fourth position in Week 22 climbed two positions up, bagging the second spot in Malayalam GEC category. Zee Telugu came in the first spot outdoing Star Maa in week 2...


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There’s no question that times are tough for the travel industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in national lockdowns and travel restrictions, forcing holidaymakers to cancel their flights and hotel bookings, and business travellers to move their meetings onto Zoom.
These limitations have hit the travel industry hard. 2020 has seen an unprecedented decline in air traffic, with scheduled flights down nearly 60% from this same time last year. In the UK, hotel bookings have plummeted by 67%. Due to the pandemic, experts predict that the global travel and tourism industry could lose approximately 75 million jobs in 2020, with the Asia Pacific region and Europe being the hardest hit.
All of this doom and gloom begs the question: will the travel industry bounce back after COVID-19? Fortunately, we’ve got some good news. Our answer is yes, the industry will recover — and here’s how.
An industry that’s built to last
Although things might be bad now for travel brands, they won’t stay this way forever. The broad ‘travel and tourism industry’ encompasses many service sectors and, in total, accounts for approximately 10% of the world’s GDP. Countless people, governments, and businesses rely on the industry’s continued existence.
Of course, we don’t know when our current crisis will end, but it will eventually. And if there’s anything we can learn from the recent past, it’s that the travel industry always recovers from disasters and emerges on the other side more resilient and innovative than ever before. Travel is not only economically significant, but it fulfils a very human urge to get out, connect and explore the world. It’s in everyone’s interest for the industry to bounce back.
Learning from the past
When it comes to downturns, history can give us some hope. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, for instance, the travel industry suffered immensely. However, as the crisis eased, consumers began to embrace digital marketplaces and took to tech to start booking their own holidays. Online marketplaces, aggregators and DIY travel providers such as Airbnb became the new norm, opening up a host of new options and destinations for consumers.
As social media use increased, influencers drew mass attention to previously under-explored areas, providing opportunities for brands to market unique package holidays. Global development led to the growth of a new middle class in countries such as China, India, and Brazil, vastly expanding the overall marketplace and demand for travel products.
‘Staycations’ also became more popular as past crises such as swine flu and 9/11 made people wary of travelling abroad. More opportunities for exciting experiences closer to home became available, and this is sure to become even more popular after current lockdown restrictions ease up, with consumers demanding more day trips in their own region and packages for weekend-long city breaks.
In short, history shows us that once it’s safe to do so, people will want to travel again. And they’ll be hungry for new, innovative ways to see the world. Remember, after restrictions are lifted, there’s likely to be pent-up demand — and as a travel brand, you’ll want to be ready to meet this demand with ample supply.
Bouncing back by capitalising on trends
Judging by history, we can all be reasonably confident that industry recovery will happen. But there’s still a hard truth in all of this: not all brands will survive this crisis. Although government support is available to many businesses, financial relief alone might not be enough to keep a brand afloat.
To make it out the other side, brands must remain calm, focus on local travel, minimise spending, get creative with their offerings and encourage customers to postpone instead of cancel bookings. Ultimately, surviving this downturn means being savvy with strategy and approaching all decisions from both a short-term and long-term perspective.
For the smart brands that do survive this period, the best way to bounce back into action and meet the pent-up demand is by capitalising on ongoing trends. To do this effectively, travel brands will need to invest in solutions that will help them survive in the present and thrive in the future. Let’s take a look at just a few of the trends that will drive a brand’s continued success:
Personalisation of marketing & customer relationships
Online travel customers are savvier than ever. What’s the key to winning over these savvy customers? Relevancy. And how can you achieve relevancy? Personalisation.
You probably already know that personalisation of marketing and customer relationships is essential to a brand’s success now, and it’s likely to be even more essential in the future. After all, almost 80% of consumers say that personalisation increases their purchase intent, and 88% say that personalised content makes them think more favourably of a brand. However, only 22% of consumers report being satisfied by the levels of personalisation brands offer. This shortfall presents a valuable opportunity — and one that travel brands should seize.
Engaging with your customers on a personal level means collecting data and feeding it back into your offerings. You’ll want to consider all the myriad ways you might be able to customise and personalise your brand messaging, holiday deals, package trips and travel locations.
To deliver a personalised experience to your customers, it’s worth investing in leading-edge data and automation tools, such as unique promo code generators. These tech tools will enable you to gain valuable insights about your customers’ behaviours, motivations and desires. You can then use this data as fuel to drive your marketing strategies — and now is a great time to begin planning and fine-tuning these strategies ahead of the recovery period.
Catering to new travellers
Another promising trend to capitalise on is catering to the expanding number of new travellers from developing nations. In the years before our current crisis, the new middle class of the developing world became an increasingly important, and highly lucrative, market.
In 2019, China’s outbound tourism market was worth over $250 billion. By 2020, India is expected to see over 2 million luxury outbound tourists. It’s estimated that in the next ten years, 30 million more households will begin earning more than $100,000 annually, and approximately 30% of these households will be located in emerging markets. Now is the time to start thinking about how you’re going to cater to these travellers in the future.
Of course, meeting these travellers’ needs might require some research and out-of-the-box thinking. For example, many travel consumers from emerging markets enjoy the convenience, budget-friendliness and security of package holidays. Still, as these individuals become more seasoned travellers, there will likely be a growing market for more flexible options and new, more thrilling destinations. Over half of Chinese millennials, for instance, cite the importance of hip cultural ‘hotspots’ over historical sites. Once again, personalisation will play an essential role in reaching and winning over new customers.
Focusing on new destinations
Along those same lines, all travellers, and especially millennials, are eager to explore new destinations. Continuing to focus on new destinations is a vital way for travel brands to remain profitable in the coming decade. This trend is primarily driven by the following:
- Social Media: Over the past few years, social media has fueled a new interest in uncharted tourist destinations, including those in emerging regions, such as southeast Asia. Social media has created a suite of self-advertisers for previously under-explored destinations, meaning western Europe is losing its footing as the single most desirable holiday spot. Through 2030, travel to emerging economies is set to increase at double the rate of travel to developed economies. Social media marketing will play an important role in recovery efforts, and so will an emphasis on tourism in developing countries.
- New forms of transport: High-speed train travel has offered travellers an eco-friendly alternative to air travel across Asia and Europe. Continued investment in rail lines means this trend will continue, connecting travellers to new destinations. Twin-engine long-haul jets, such as the Dreamliner, have made possible new city-to-city routes. Nearly 200 million passengers have flown on Dreamliner jets since their commercial introduction in 2009. Taking advantage of these new modes of travel is a key way for brands to remain relevant and get their customers to where they want to go.
- New types of accommodation: Airbnb has helped prompt the shift to more DIY forms of travel, especially among millennials. Since 2008, Airbnb properties have hosted half a billion guests, many of them under the age of 40. By 2025, millennials and younger generations will account for nearly 75% of travel — and it’s likely they’ll continue to choose Airbnb. Integrating listings with Airbnb’s platform will be a critical step towards staying relevant in the recovery period.
Catering to customers seeking new, unique experiences and destinations means embracing the above trends and creating bespoke deals and packages for travellers. To prepare for this, brands should begin planning to integrate and collaborate with new communities of local providers, including hotels and resorts, car hires, and dining and entertainment partners. If nothing else, the current slowdown presents time to begin laying the groundwork for these collaborations and start strategising for a brighter future.
Coming back stronger than ever
The travel industry has suffered some severe blows in 2020. But like the crises that came before, this too shall pass. When it’s safe for people to travel again, the brands that have made a point to invest in their long-term future and take advantage of ongoing trends will be the ones who emerge on top.
Personalisation, emerging markets and new travel destinations are all trends that are here to stay. Preparing now to capitalise on these opportunities once the current crisis has passed is an excellent way for brands to look forward and position themselves for future boom times. Partnering with the right tech providers is a fantastic way to start.
This is a trying time, but short-term survival is possible — and with the right approach, so is long-term success.


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Continuing the strong momentum we have seen in Australia, I was invited to speak on Sky Business News by Peter Switzer, host of Switzer TV and recent Xerocon MC. The focus was on the imminent shift among SMEs to the cloud. I also spoke about Xero’s strategy in the Australian market and why our partners are such strong advocates for our company.
The success we have seen in Australia is huge. We are signing up 200-300 new clients every day, and have grown to 79,100 paying customers. This is almost two and half times the previous year. It has proven that small business owners want an alternative to traditional desktop solutions.
With AUD$200m in the bank and no debt, Xero is in a far sounder financial position than our competitors in the Australasian market. This week also marks the beginning of our October roadshow, where the Xero team will be travelling to seven cities across Australia. They will be talking to new customers about our product and the benefits of the cloud.


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Aarogya Setu has emerged with a new feature that will enable organisations to get the health status of their employees or any other user, provided they consent to it, an official release said.
With more than 15 crore users, the app hopes to get businesses and the economy back on their feet, using a new feature called ‘Open API Service’ to help allay fears about reopening. The app purportedly alerts business owners to COVID-positive employees, if users consent to sharing their health status. No doubt, businesses and organisations are likely to mandate the sharing of one’s health status as a prerequisite to getting back to work, in order to minimise the risk of the virus spreading to others. Business entities registered in India that have more than 50 employees can use the feature to query the Aarogya Setu application in real-time to get the health status of their employees or any other Aarogya Setu user, the release said.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT says the open API (application programme interface) that will help businesses access this data will only provide the Aarogya Setu status and name of the Aarogya Setu user with their consent, and will not divulge any other personal data. Since its launch on April 2, Aarogya Setu has traced more than 6.6 million contacts through Bluetooth and found that 27 per cent of those who have been tested were COVID-19 positive, the release said.


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Swedish Match North America’s mission statement, boldly posted in the tobacco company’s downtown Richmond office, says that the company is striving for “a world without cigarettes.”
The company, based in Sweden but with its North American headquarters in Richmond, sold off its cigarette business 21 years ago. While it still has a mass-market cigar business, Swedish Match has focused heavily on selling a variety of smokeless tobacco brands in the United States and its home country of Sweden.
Tom Hayes, a 14-year executive with Swedish Match who became president of its U.S. division last August, speaks earnestly about the mission statement as both an ideologically and financially sound goal.
“We are not content in just being a market participant,” Hayes said during a recent interview at the company’s Richmond office in the James Center. “We want to be a leader in providing consumers with more convenient, safer and innovative products for their needs.”
Swedish Match executives — as well as some public health and tobacco control advocates — have long argued that smokeless tobacco products should be viewed by consumers and treated by policymakers as a less risky alternative to combustible, smoked products such as cigarettes. They have talked about re-creating the so-called “Swedish experience” in the U.S.
Hayes points out that in Sweden — a country with a long-time cultural linkage to smokeless, pouch-tobacco products called snus — smoking rates are far lower than in other European countries, and smoking-related cancer rates are lower, too, even though there is a higher prevalence of smokeless tobacco use in Sweden.
However, re-creating the “Swedish experience” has been difficult in a U.S. and global tobacco market that remains overwhelmingly dominated by cigarettes, and where companies have trouble gaining wide consumer acceptance of oral products typically associated with chewing tobacco.
Hayes sees one of Swedish Match’s newest products as being its biggest step yet toward achieving its mission.
The product — called Zyn — is an oral, nicotine pouch product that Swedish Match introduced in limited U.S. markets in 2016 and has since expanded to retail sales at about 100,000 stores nationwide.
Unlike conventional smokeless products such as snuff, Zyn contains no tobacco leaf. The product consists of pouches that the user places between his or her lip and gums. The pouches are filled with powdery nicotine salts derived from tobacco, along with some flavorings and a few other ingredients.
“The big message is that it [Zyn] is without tobacco,” Hayes said. “It comes in an all-white pouch, so there is no teeth staining.”
It is also designed to be spit-free, which Hayes said enables it to be more attractive to a wider group of consumers.
Swedish Match has tried before to build a bigger U.S. market for alternatives to traditional products such as introducing its General Snus brand here.
Snus [pronounced snoose] is popular in Sweden. It is sold in cans containing teabag-like pouches of pasteurized, flavored tobacco that the user places between his or her upper lip and gums.
Swedish Match first introduced snus at tobacco shops in the U.S. in 2007 and rolled it out to wider retail sales starting in 2011. In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has regulated tobacco products since 2009, gave Swedish Match’s snus the agency’s first-ever “modified risk” designation.
The “modified risk” designation, which was based on extensive research submitted by Swedish Match, means the company can market eight versions of its General Snus brand tobacco as potentially less risky to a user’s health when compared with smoking cigarettes. But the FDA did not allow the company to change rotating labels on the product packaging that warn consumers about addiction and health risks.
Snus has gained customers in the U.S. However, compared to the overall moist snuff market of about 1.5 billion cans sold per year, snus as a product category remains a small share of about 60 million cans, Hayes said.
“Today, I would characterize the snus category as a somewhat niche category,” he said.
“It is fair to acknowledge that we tried for years and years to make snus successful in the U.S.,” Hayes said. “Ultimately, I think consumers did not quite understand it.”
When Swedish Match started to offer its non-tobacco nicotine pouch product Zyn in several markets in the western U.S., the company was uncertain whether it would perform the same way as snus did.
“Snus eventually kind of plateaued,” Hayes said. “What we saw with [Zyn] nicotine pouches was it continued to grow and grow.”
As the company has expanded the retail presence of Zyn nationally, sales have steadily grown. The Zyn product alone is now rivaling Swedish Match’s overall portfolio of moist smokeless tobacco brands, which amounts to about 130 million cans of moist snuff a year in the U.S.
“In the western [U.S.] region, in the most recent third quarter [of 2020], Zyn alone was 30% of the total moist snuff category,” Hayes said.
“If you can replicate that on a national scale, you’re talking about a category that could be 450 to 500 million cans” per year, he said. “It is important to note that in this context, Zyn has only been in the market for a handful of years.”
Zyn sales are still less than 1% of the overall tobacco market, but Hayes sees a significant growth potential. He is even confident that Zyn could start to make a dent in the overall cigarette market — which is north of 11 billion packs a year in the U.S. — by attracting smokers to an alternative brand.
“This is where we see the big opportunity,” Hayes said. “We are not limiting our growth prospects to only those tobacco consumers that are moist snuff consumers. It is really any and all tobacco consumers — those that want a different experience, and arguably a less harmful one than what is otherwise available on the market.”
Hayes said Swedish Match’s research shows “virtually no one” buying Zyn who was not already a tobacco consumer. “That’s good from a regulatory perspective,” he said.
“When we think about our ideal consumer out there, it is an existing tobacco consumer who is looking for an alternative,” he said.
With sales of Zyn growing, Swedish Match has made investments at its factory in Owensboro, Ky., to produce the brand, upping the production capacity from about 20 million cans in 2017 to plans to have a capacity of more than 200 million cans per year by the end of 2022.
“This is a category that is going to get significant investments in the next several years,” Hayes said.
Several other tobacco companies have now introduced non-tobacco, oral nicotine products similar to Zyn.
In June 2019, Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. agreed to pay $372 million to acquire a majority ownership stake in a Switzerland-based maker of a pouch nicotine product called On!
Altria, the parent company of top U.S. cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, has since rolled out the On! brand to about 56,000 retail stores, as of the third quarter, achieving a retail share of 2.1 percentage points of the oral tobacco category in the first nine months of 2020.
The second-largest U.S. tobacco company — Reynolds American Inc. — also has introduced a competing product called Velo.
That means Swedish Match, which had the advantage of being the “first mover” in the category a few years ago, is now facing more competition from the biggest players in the tobacco industry.
Swedish Match is “well-positioned” within the emerging non-tobacco, nicotine pouch category, said David Sweanor, a professor of law at the University of Ottawa who follows Swedish Match.
“The key question for me is whether they can aggressively press home their advantage,” said Sweanor, who has followed the tobacco industry for decades and is a longtime advocate of policies aimed at switching smokers to non-combustible products.
“Big tobacco [companies] can get more product into more places faster because they have a big distribution network,” Sweanor said. “But Swedish Match does have a good network, too.”
“They were first” into the nicotine pouch market, he said. “They moved quickly, and I think they have a relative advantage because they do not have a cigarette market to try to protect.”
“That is one of the big challenges for the big cigarette companies,” Sweanor said. “Even they can see that this [tobacco] market is being hit by disruptive technology. For Swedish Match, that is only an opportunity. For a company like Altria or BAT [British American Tobacco, the parent of Reynolds], there is a downside because it can eat into their cigarette business, which is the cash cow.”
Hayes became president of Swedish Match’s U.S. business last year after his predecessor, Rich Flaherty, retired.
The company has about 100 employees in Richmond, about 1,400 in the U.S. and 3,595 in the Dominican Republic.
Hayes, 54, grew up not far from Williamsburg and studied business at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He started his career in Charlotte, N.C., with the auditing, consulting and tax services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, now called PwC, where he had stints working in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and in Baltimore.
He returned to Richmond with PwC in 2001 before taking a job as controller and chief accounting officer at Chesapeake Corp., a specialty packaging company that was based in Richmond. Chesapeake was sold in 2009 through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, but Hayes left the company in 2006 to become chief financial officer for the U.S. division of Swedish Match.
During his time at PwC, Hayes had provided auditing services for Swedish Match.
“I knew enough about the company, its management team and its culture to know this would be a great place to be,” he said.
He has since held several roles within the Swedish Match business, including chief financial officer of the U.S. business and CFO of the international business. From 2018 until last year, he was the company’s group CFO and worked in Stockholm.
“I came back to the states the first of October  to take this position,” Hayes said.
He credits his predecessor, Flaherty, with setting the foundation and groundwork for the growth the company has been experiencing.
“We were considered pioneers when we launched our vision of a world without cigarettes,” Hayes said.
“We did it for two reasons — one was ideological and one was financial,” he said.
The financial part is that smokefree tobacco has been showing sales volume growth for 10 years.
On the ideological side: “We just believed that by providing consumers with less harmful products so they could still enjoy nicotine, it would be good for society,” Hayes said. “It would also be good for our shareholders.”


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Shiba Inu has been going from strength to strength recently, with its value continuously rising at a significant rate. There are currently around 45 cryptocurrency tokens with the words dog, Shiba and Inu in their names. This is likely to be the result of creators trying to recreate the success of the original meme crypto Dogecoin. This year, many of these coins have exploded in value, outperforming even some of the most sophisticated blockchain assets. New cryptocurrencies are emerging all the time, however, one crypto that has decided to stray away from the canine crypto theme is HUH Token.
HUH Token has self-proclaimed itself as the Shiba Inu Slayer and is determined to be a unique cryptocurrency and not just another ‘canine crypto copycat’. So how will HUH Token live up to the hype?
Standing Out In A Saturated Market
The cryptocurrency industry has become increasingly crowded over the last few years and not every crypto will enjoy the same success as some of the giants like Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, Safemoon and Babydoge. Every crypto creator wants to succeed but finding a unique selling point can be difficult in this industry. However, HUH Token are doing their utmost to make sure that they stand out in a crowd. One of their main advantages is that HUH Token is one of the first, if not the very first cryptocurrency to distribute both BNB and token. This is a huge bonus for investors because by distributing both, investors then have two separate streams of income. The system is designed to create generational wealth.
The other unique selling point of HUH Token is its intelligent referral system. The idea is that if you refer someone, you then get 10% BNB from their first purchase. What’s more, the rewards don’t stop there, as you both receive a discount sales tax from 20% to 10%. It is a clever concept and the creators of HUH Token clearly know how to play the cryptocurrency game.
Stability: The Volatility Slayer
Volatility is undoubtedly a huge part of cryptocurrency investments, however, HUH Token is suggesting that investing in HUH Token is a more stable option than the likes of Shiba Inu. The importance of stability cannot be overstated, particularly after the impact that Covid-19 has had on economies across the world. Investors, new and old, are always looking for new investment opportunities, and if one comes along that is more stable, while still exciting then this is likely to be the favourable choice.
Should Shiba Inu Be Worried?
This question is a hard one to answer as the world of cryptocurrency is continuously changing with prices soaring and dropping in an instant. HUH Token possesses a lot of potential and are bringing some new and exciting components to the crypto realm, however, their success will be dependent on whether or not they can live up to their roadmap. No cryptocurrency should feel comfortable at the top as there will always be creators trying to claw their way to the top.
A Final Thought
Remember, the bigger they are the harder they fall, and this saying is highly appropriate for the value of Shiba Inu. Right now, they are enjoying huge success, but what goes up must come down and when it does, HUH Token will be ready to assume their number one spot.


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What if you download 8K videos in 3D in about six seconds? Pretty Amazing…
Wireless industries are working to provide you the best internet service in the form of “5G”. Some of the companies like smartphone chip makers, cell phone carriers and the major network equipment companies are struggling to develop 5G network technology for the customers. Some of the hurdles are facing by these companies which have to be resolve before you see a 5G symbol on your smartphone screen.
Off course, it will be pretty much faster, smarter and less power-hunger than the 4G. 5G will let you to have more smart-home devices, faster smartphones and longer lasting wearable gizmos. It has the potential to offer speed up to forty (40) times faster than the 4G. For instance, you will be able to download a 3D movie in approximately 6 seconds as compared to 4G which would take 6 minutes. Furthermore, it could give the appearance of much faster loading website, applications, messages and videos.
How it will work?
If we compare today’s cell phone networks broadcast signal which are in a range of 700MHz-3500MHz. 5G is taking place in super high frequencies as high as 73000Mhz due to which it will provide consistence faster data speeds but these frequencies can’t penetrate walls and travel shorter distance. That means millions of the small cells or mini cell towers would need to be placed on top of each lamp post, inside every home, every building and potentially every room.
When is 5G coming?
It is expected that 5G will be tested during 2018 winter Olympics in South Korea. On the other hand Verizon is planning to bring it on a market as early as in 2017. Huawei is also eyeing at a 5G commercial roll out by 2020 with an investment of $600 million. But mass deployments might be from 2020.
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Now a network equipment maker, Nokia announced it would pay special dividends after reporting stronger than expected profits, as growth in China offset weaker demand in North America and Europe. We don’t know if it makes boots any more.
The Finnish outfit has secured regulatory approval for its proposed $17.1 billion takeover of Froggie rival Alcatel-Lucent.
Third quarter operating profit at the company’s network unit was $427 million, or 13.6 percent of sales.
That was roughly in line with $434 million year earlier but significantly above analysts’ average forecast of a profit of $324 million and a margin of 10.2 percent.
Nokia last year sold its once-dominant phone business to Microsoft and its navigation business to German car makers.
Curiously the company is thinking of releasing a smartphone again soon. Hard to think why. Maybe it should get back into the boot business.


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There’s a turf war unfolding between two US federal agencies, both of which claim to have the authority to regulate high-tech, cell-cultured meat companies.
On July 12, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a public meeting in Washington DC to discuss regulatory considerations for the nascent industry, which is readying meat products that don’t require slaughtering animals or running farms that pump massive amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into Earth’s warming atmosphere. The meeting occurred one month after the FDA proclaimed it had regulatory jurisdiction over the products, something the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) bristled at.
The six-hour meeting was a major coup for the startups behind such new meats—called “clean meat” by many in the industry—as founders for the first time shared a packed venue with meat industry groups, health advocates, animal welfare activists, and government officials hoping to shape the policies that determine how cell-cultured meats wind up getting to market. The session was also attended by the FDA’s busy commissioner, Scott Gottlieb.
Gottlieb’s presence represented more than just enthusiasm for a new food technology. In the last several weeks, the FDA has jostled with the USDA in what’s become a public spat. The FDA regulates some 80% of the food supply, including most fish, produce, and some specialty meats. The USDA regulates most meat products and catfish. By attending July 12 session, Gottlieb reasserted the FDA’s position that it should be the government agency to manage future oversight of clean meat.
Squabbling between the FDA and USDA has also caught the attention of the White House, which called a meeting between the two agencies on June 22. It’s unclear what happened at that meeting, but a letter obtained by Quartz, sent from the House Agriculture Committee to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, suggests little was resolved. “Our expectation was that the White House meeting would direct USDA and FDA to coordinate on this issue,” it reads. “Moving forward, we would request that as the administration continues to evaluate these technologies, USDA and FDA be required to work together.”
Whatever was said on June 22, the FDA is showing no signs of backing down. In opening remarks at this week’s meeting, Susan Mayne, the director of the agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, expressed confidence in the regulatory challenge ahead.
“This is not our first rodeo, so to speak, in this area,” Mayne said, adding that the FDA was already planning a fall meeting on cell-cultured meats with its science board.
Among the leaders of cell-cultured-meat startups, the FDA meeting was broadly considered a success. That makes sense: Such companies collectively favor a regulatory regime in which the FDA takes the lead in setting policies and rules for food safety and future package-labeling. They fear regulation by the USDA would put them on an unfair playing field with established meat groups, some of whom despise the fact that the startups call their products “meat” at all.
But the meeting also exposed also just how little is known about cell-cultured meat products. While a few of the startup companies talk about how far the science has come—one claims it will have something ready for consumers by the end of the year—there is still a big elephant in room: No outside regulators or independent companies have seen this new, high-tech meat up close.
“Samples of cultured tissue have not been available for evaluation of the safety, composition, functionality, and sensory properties to understand how it compares to meat from conventional animal production,” said Rhonda Miller, a Texas A&M University professor who often works with the American Meat Science Association.
This is bound to be a recurring theme. As outside scientists, food-safety advocates, journalists, and government regulators clamor to understand how cell-cultured meat will be regulated, the industry will be called upon to improve transparency around methods of production, ingredients, and consumer safety. How amenable companies will be to sharing that information remains to be seen.
While the FDA meeting was focused on questions of science and future policy, there is a chance that cell-cultured-meat oversight becomes a political chip for the White House. There are some agriculture policy insiders speculating that US president Donald Trump could use the issue to try to appease American farmers angry about his decision to wade into trade wars with China, the European Union, and Canada.
“Already bearing the brunt of global trade retaliation against American agriculture, US pork producers now face additional headwinds in the form of a regulatory land grab by the [FDA],” wrote the National Pork Producers Council in a statement. The group called upon the USDA to “assert its proper oversight” of cell-cultured meats and the use of gene editing in livestock production.
Eventually, the administration will have to make clear which agency is regulating cell-cultured meat. But until it does, the FDA seems highly motivated to keep a firm grip on the regulatory reins. Said Mayne: “We’re ready to face the challenge and to support the promise of this and other food technologies.”


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Ecommerce giant Amazon on Thursday launched its India-focused venture fund of $250 million (Rs 1,877 crore), joining rival Flipkart that had launched its own startup fund two years ago.
Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund will invest in startups focused on agriculture, healthcare and digitising SMEs.
Amit Agarwal, global senior VP and country head, Amazon India, said that the launch is aimed at helping the government realise its vision of self-reliant India or 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.
Amazon has previously invested directly in companies such as beauty brand MyGlamm, online insurer Acko and financial services marketplace BankBazaar.
In agriculture, the fund will seek to invest in startups using technology to bring the best produce to consumers, and making agri-inputs more accessible to farmers.
Within this space, it will look to bet on startups that offer tailored agronomy solutions to farmers to improve productivity, distribute credit and insurance to growers and reduce food waste by building efficient farm-to-fork supply chains.
In the healthcare space, the fund will focus on startups that are using technology for doctor assistance, telemedicine, e-diagnosis, and AI-powered treatment recommendations for digitising operations of healthcare providers.
Outside these two themes, the fund will seek to invest in startups that are aimed at improving SMEs.
The fund has already invested in M1xchange, an invoice discounting marketplace exchange for SMEs. It did disclose how much it invested in the startup.
This investment was first reported by VCCircle last month.
Previously, M1xchange, run by Mynd solutions Pvt Ltd, had raised a Series A round of funding from Mayfield India and SIDBI Ventures in 2019.
In 2019, homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart had launched an internal fund to back early-stage startups. The fund aimed to invest in e-commerce, fintech, payments and complementary segments.


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The EV Project, administered by ECOtality, announced today an expansion of the Project into Chicago, Philadelphia and Atlanta. The EV Project began in August 2009, and is a public-private-partnership tasked with building electric car charging infrastructure, and studying the usage of that infrastructure. Initially the EV Project covered 11 metropolitan areas, and has since expanded into a few more cities, with the expansion into Chicago, Philadelphia and Atlanta being the latest.
The EV Project provides subsidized free charging stations to individuals for use at home, or for businesses. Qualified residents of the respective metropolitan areas, who have bought either a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt, will receive a free Blink charging station and an installation credit of up to $400, subject to certain conditions.
“Now people interested in electric transportation in the Atlanta/Chicago/Philadelphia regions can join The EV Project and help us build a nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations”, said Don Karner, Chief Innovation Officer of ECOtality, Inc. “By signing up for a free charger, EV owners can take part in this massive research project that can help reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil. We are excited about bringing The EV Project to the greater Atlanta/Chicago/Philadelphia regions. With the expansion of this new market, The EV project is now in nine states and 21 major metropolitan areas throughout the country.”
“The installation of electric vehicle charging stations in the metro Atlanta area supports the mission of the Clean Cities program and represents another step in the reduction of the nation’s dependency on petroleum for transportation,” said Don Francis, Executive Director of Clean Cities-Atlanta. “Clean Cities-Atlanta provides tools and resources for voluntary, community-centered programs focused on reducing the use of imported oil, developing regional economic opportunities, and improving air quality. The expansion of the EV Project into metro Atlanta will significantly impact the deployment of clean, alternative fueled electric vehicles.”
“ComEd is pleased to be a utility partner to the EV Project”, said Michael McMahan, ComEd’s vice president of Smart Grid and Technology. “The Chicago region is quickly becoming nationally recognized as a leader in the deployment of EV charging infrastructure. The EV Project complements the extensive work that ComEd has done to date in collaboration with other Illinois stakeholders to prepare the region for consumer adoption of EVs, and we look forward to supporting the EV Project.”
The EV Project is being brought to the Philadelphia region in partnership with PECO, the energy delivery company for the Greater Philadelphia Region. “PECO and ECOtality share a strong environmental commitment”, said Craig Adams, PECO president and CEO. “Locally, more and more of our customers are exploring the use of electric vehicles and investing in this technology. To support this effort, in June, we launched PECO Smart Driver Rebates. This exciting programs offers rebates and incentives for residential and business customers investing in new electric vehicle technology including a $50 rebate for residential and business customers who have purchased an electric vehicle, a $1,000 rebate per unit for our government, institutional and non-profit customers installing up to two Level 2 public chargers, and a up to a $3,000 rebate for local counties who are installing a Level 2 public charging station. And, as we continue our efforts, we also look forward to working with The EV Project to support their efforts related to electric vehicle infrastructure build-out and data collection in our region.”


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Where does press relations end and making headlines begin? We meet the London agency that aims to excel at both.
When I asked a fellow journalist who writes about PR for the name of the most creative agency in the UK, he gave me two names. The first was Hope&Glory PR. (Buy me a pint and I’ll tell you the second.) A couple of weeks later, I stepped off the Eurostar in London and walked the short distance to Hope&Glory’s office, not far from King’s Cross.
The reception area felt welcoming, with an expansive coffee table whose most noticeable feature was a large jar filled with chocolate bars (my fingers itched for a Snickers). There were also shelf-loads of awards. I had time to note that the agency was recently voted “A Great Place to Work” before joining co-founders Jo Carr and James Gordon-Macintosh in a meeting room.
The pair were outfitted for their roles: Jo the chief client officer in sharp business attire, James the creative director in a more flamboyant pink sweatshirt. Which is not to say they don’t take their jobs equally seriously. Prior to their current venture, they were managing partners at an agency called 77 PR. “We worked as hard as if it was our own agency,” says Jo. “But of course, it wasn’t our own agency.”
In fact it was owned by Omnicom. After what Jo describes as “an epiphany”, they founded Hope&Glory in 2011. “We felt we could deliver more value for our clients and our team by working for ourselves rather than having to answer to shareholders.”
At the beginning it was just the two of them and an intern. Today 90 people work there, for clients such as Airbnb, Uber, IKEA, NOW TV, Virgin Media O2 and (aha!) Snickers – to name just a few.
Jo says the agency didn’t have a distinct USP at the start. “We just aimed to be faster and more creative than our competitors.” James recalls an early post on their website – “probably the most conceited thing we’ve ever written” – that stated: “We’re not different, we’re just better.”
He adds some context: “At that time, they were very few creative-led consumer PR agencies. Most consumer brand agencies did press offices and product placement. Or they organised parties with celebs. So we were part of a very tiny group of agencies who set out to be creative.”
By creative, they mean devising attention-grabbing stories, but within a consistent brand strategy, underpinned by flawless account management. Jo adds: “I think what we’ve always done well is combine bigger set-piece projects that generate a spike in activity, along with an ongoing drumbeat of news through a creatively-minded press office.”
IKEA is one of the clients that best demonstrates what they do. As well as acting as the brand’s UK press office, they frequently devise headline-making campaigns. You might remember the expensive Balenciaga handbag that happened to resemble IKEA’s blue plastic shopping bag? H&G jumped on that one, provoking a swirl of media coverage and social buzz.
This year, a campaign alongside homeless charity Shelter was inspired by the fact that IKEA bases its in-store rooms on genuine homes. Four IKEA stores across the UK recreated the appalling temporary accommodation homeless people can find themselves in.
Back on a lighter note, for Airbnb they built a recreation of Winnie the Pooh’s home, so fans of the beloved bear could stay there.
Much of what the agency does requires a firm grasp of pop culture and a dose of wit. James confirms that entertaining audiences is a goal. Jo adds: “If we want to create ideas that earn attention, you’re more likely to stop in mid-scroll if you stumble across something that makes you think, ‘Oh, I love that!’.”
We were part of a very tiny group of agencies who set out to be creative.
When you know a journalist, it’s easier to break into their incredibly busy day.
While PR and advertising were once separate worlds, the border between the two is blurring. “There’s far more openness among clients to agencies other than ad agencies having ‘the big idea’,” James asserts. As a result, PR agencies are getting a bigger slice of marketing budgets.
Jo says: “The battleground is over ‘earned media’. Sometimes an ad agency will think, ‘Well, we’ve got an idea that will work editorially.’ It used to be that editorial coverage was PR and paid content was an ad agency. Now we’re all looking for the idea that will cut through.”
Yet there’s a precise craft to PR, she points out. “You can have an idea, but then you have to think about the copy, the visual assets, the video – how will I sell the story in, where will it sit, and which journalist might want to cover it?”
Perhaps the key attribute that separates a PR agency from its adland equivalent is a deep knowledge of how journalists think and work. Hope&Glory staffers are well aware of what a reporter would consider “a good story”. Plus they have WhatsApp access to the journalists most likely to tell it. Today, James observes, that might be the person who runs a newspaper’s TikTok channel.
“Often we find ourselves covering two demographics: we need TikTok to reach Gen Z, but the client is reassured when we get a piece in The Telegraph.”
Personal relationships have always been PR gold. Jo says: “After Covid there’s definitely a renewed appetite to meet in person for an event, a lunch, a coffee. When you know a journalist, it’s easier to break into their incredibly busy day.”
Influencers are the wild card in the media pack. Once they’d gleefully post about a free stay in a posh hotel. Today, says James, not so much. “They’re far more aware of their power, the value of their time and their relevance as a channel for brands. So, yes, they have an important role – but it tends to be on a paid basis these days.”
As an aside, I remark to Jo that PR has always been notable for strong women leaders. The reality, she tells me, is more ambiguous. “While 67% of the industry are women* only about a third of those make it onto the board. They can get blocked by a lack of flexible working options or poor parental policies, and agencies should be doing more to support them.”
However, “without wishing to generalise”, she suggests that women innately possess many of the skills PR requires: relationship-building, empathy, a sensitivity to the way people might react to a story. “We’re doing pretty well, compared to advertising, but I’d still like to see more women at the top.”
Meanwhile, the future looks bright for the consumer PR sector, which is expanding, partly due to the proliferation of media platforms. Jo says: “I think brands are aware that consumers have become more cynical about advertising. People know when they’re being obviously ‘sold’ to. So brands need to reach them in other ways, whether that’s through influencers, editorial, events, experiential and so on. Today, brands need to open a conversation with their customers.”
*Source: Chartered Institute of Public Relations


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The Cheesecake Factory's free cheesecake deal proved to be monumentally popular. But, the popularity has created some issues for the cheesecake chain and the delivery service DoorDash.
On Wednesday, The Cheesecake Factory launched a promotion to give away 40,000 free cheesecakes. All customers had to do was order using DoorDash.
After the deal kicked off at 11:30 a.m., the orders came flooding in. Then, the cheesecakes started to run out. Some customers were unhappy to have missed out on the chance to get free cheesecakes.
People visiting Cheesecake Factory locations reported that stores were crowded with DoorDash delivery people. A Cheesecake Factory in Arlington County, Virginia, reportedly faced chaos severe enough to required police intervention.
Cheesecake Factory told Business Insider on Wednesday that it ended up giving away more free cheesecakes than originally planned.
The food chain has extended the promotion and will be delivering more than 60,000 complimentary slices.


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Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is bringing their Camp of Beer to LA next year. They recently announced their 2nd Beer Camp Across America (BCAA) 2016 festival tour and Los Angeles is on the six city list. Scheduled on Saturday, June 25th, 2016.
Line-Up and ticket information will be fleshed out next year but look for locals and close to L.A. breweries such as:
· Beachwood BBQ & Brewing
· Port Brewing Co./The Lost Abbey
· Bagby Beer Co.
· Societe Brewing Co.
· Smog City Brewing Co.


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This time for a side airbag issue.
The Kia Sportage is the South Korean brand's best-selling car in the US, but this American-made crossover has had its ups and downs, including a recent recall, and now there's more bad news on the horizon: it's being recalled yet again.
Nearly 80,000 2023 Kia Sportage vehicles are being recalled for an issue related to the airbag system after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance found that the driver's side curtain airbag didn't deploy as it should. The airbags may have been twisted during the installation process.
The recall affects Kia Sportage vehicles produced between January 12, 2022, and November 17, 2022. The exact number of recalled vehicles totals 76,918 cars.
Owners of the affected vehicles will be notified of the recall via first-class mail and are encouraged to visit their nearest Kia dealership for a free inspection.
If a fault is found, Kia will replace the airbag free of charge, and any owners who had the problem fixed out of their own pocket will be reimbursed.
The latest recall comes as a surprise, as the Korean brand recently walked away with one of the top rankings for the JD Power 2022 US Vehicle Dependability Study.
The new Sportage was recalled in September due to a possible fire risk. The issue stemmed from a loose alternator battery nut that could cause the vehicle to stall or, in some cases, cause an electrical surge that could start a fire. In that case, 19,701 cars built between January 12 and August 8 last year were recalled.
The 2023 Kia Sportage is one of our favorite compact SUVs and is all-new for 2023. The new Sportage features a new 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine producing 187 horsepower, or if you're after something more frugal and powerful, the Plug-in hybrid offers a 1.6-liter turbo engine and electric motor for a total of 261 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque.
The hybrid is priced at $38,490 and offers an all-electric range of 34 miles and a targeted 84 MPGe. We wouldn't let a faulty airbag stand in the way of an otherwise fantastic car.


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According to the presentation on their web site the adjusted book value is still $49. This is what management estimates the company is worth if it were to liqudate. The conference call should be very interesting tomorrow .
Don't forget the $160m+ cash payment from DB to boost the balance sheet which will show up 2Q, and additional future loss share agreement as well.
I have this feeling the stock will sell off in the first half hour with the rest of the financials (thanks JPM), and then will rip higher for the rest of the day. Might be tempted to try to pick up the May 13 strike calls for a nickel early if that happens.


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Feb. 10, 2015—The newly-launched Cottman Man Blog features tips to keep a consumer’s car running smoothly and safely, transmission related articles, and profiles on Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care franchisees throughout the nation, according to a company announcement on Tuesday.
“Interaction with our customers has always been at the core of our customer service philosophy,” Derik Beck, vice president of digital marketing for Cottman, said in a release. “The blog is just another way to provide important information to the public about servicing their vehicle, but on a broader basis using today’s technology.”
Many believe that starting a shop blog can help business, and a well-run and easy to find blog can add immeasurable value to a shop.
Posts will be syndicated on Cottman’s digital assets including the company’s LinkedIn page, Google+ listings, Facebook (both national and local pages), and the local Cottman center websites so customers can find this information across the digital landscape.
Calling it “The Cottman Man Blog” meshes with a branding campaign started last July that puts the Cottman Man at the forefront of the chain’s marketing efforts, the release stated.


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John H. Costello, the architect of Sears' award-winning "Softer Side" advertising campaign, has decamped from the nation's second-largest retailer to become president of Wayne Huizenga's auto-retailing empire, Republic Industries Inc.
Costello, Sears' senior executive vice president of marketing, is the sixth executive officer of Sears to leave in the past year. Only two weeks ago, Sears chief information officer Joseph Smialowski left to join BankBoston. And in August, Sears chief financial officer Gary Crittenden joined Monsanto Co.
The departures come as Sears is winding up its second consecutive disappointing year financially, which will translate into slim or no bonuses for Costello and other top executives.
Costello, 52, was hired by Chief Executive Arthur Martinez in 1993 shortly after Martinez arrived at the then-troubled retailer. Using his experience with consumer products companies such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Pepsi-Cola USA, Costello worked with Martinez to identify women as Sears' core customers and developed an advertising theme--"Come See the Softer Side of Sears"--to win them back.
But Costello did more than that, reviving the Sears brand by sponsoring concerts with stars such as Phil Collins and Gloria Estefan, said Neil Stern, partner with McMillan/Doolittle, a Chicago-based retail consulting firm.
Costello also worked to bring younger consumers to Sears through sponsorships and awards for college sports teams, especially women's sports. And he made sure Sears was a founding sponsor of the Women's National Basketball Association.
"Sears has made tremendous strides as a marketer while he was there," Stern said.
Known for his amiable demeanor and industry connections, Costello was considered a candidate last year for the CEO's job at Quaker Oats Co., where he was a director. But the position went to Kraft Foods executive Robert S. Morrison.
Costello's departure isn't much of a surprise, industry experts say. His reputation as an advertising miracle worker was starting to fade as a growing number of analysts and consultants said the "Softer Side" campaign had grown stale. The evidence: Sears apparel sales have slumped recently, dragging down same-store sales in November for the fourth month in a row.
Sears said Costello's position will be filled by Mark A. Cohen, 50, senior vice president of merchandising for Sears' full-line stores.
Cohen, who has only been with Sears since January, has had a peripatetic retail career that includes stints with Bradlees, Federated Department Stores Inc. and Dayton Hudson Corp.
At Republic, Costello will have responsibility for both operations and marketing. He will be third in the chain of command, behind Wayne Huizenga, who is chairman and co-CEO, and Steven Berrard, who shares the CEO job.
Costello said it was a difficult decision to leave Sears, but he decided to go because "I've got this terrific opportunity to join this exciting company that is building a new approach to auto sales and rental."
His new boss says Costello is the right man for the job because he knows how to market to Middle America, Republic's target audience.
"It's time to put the accelerator to the floor in our effort to become a premier automotive industry marketer," said Berrard. "John Costello has the marketing skills and retail experience we need to drive us more quickly to this next level."


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Sainsbury’s sent packing as Blackstock Road store appeal is rejected
- Credit: Archant
Campaigners have defeated Sainsbury’s in a David-versus-Goliath battle over a new store in Blackstock Road.
The supermarket giant wanted to open a “Local” store in the old Highbury Vale police station building but the independent Planning Inspectorate has today rejected its appeal.
Neighbours who have been fighting plans every step of the way are over the moon. They believed the store would take trade away from local businesses and argued an “impact assessment” did not take into account the fact there was already an identical store on the same road, because it was on the other side – in Hackney.
Sainsbury’s appealed after Islington planners rejected the application in February, saying the store would “adversely impact the vibrancy of Finsbury Park town centre” and delivery lorries would cause congestion.
There were fears within the community that the plans would be granted, but inspector Claire Victory said: “I have found that the proposal [...] would have a materially adverse effect on highway safety due to inadequate servicing arrangements. Consequently it would be contrary to the development plan as a whole.”
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But she added the new store would not have harmed “the vitality and viability of the Finsbury Park town centre”.
Arsenal Wine store owner Hitesh Patel disagreed with her on that. He said the family run business would be forced to close after 35 years if Sainsbury’s opened and has welcomed the news.
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He told the Gazette: “We are extremely happy. We are pleased that common sense has prevailed and that the local businesses can continue to operate without the threat of another Sainsbury’s.
“This has dragged on long enough and now we hope that we can all move forward. We do hope the development currently under construction can be turned into something much needed which can support the local community.”
He quipped: “We only hope they don’t appeal to the Prime Minister as they seem to want to keep on appealing.”
Highbury East’s Cllr Caroline Russell, who has been on the front line of the campaign against the supermarket from the start, said: “The appeal judge rightly realised that more big delivery lorries would be bad for the local area and has sent Sainsbury’s packing.
“Small businesses are the engine of a resilient local economy. Local shopkeepers and residents have fought long and hard to keep Sainsbury’s out.
“This decision will protect the diversity of local shops in Blackstock Road and mean that people walking and cycling will not have to put up with the risks from extra delivery lorries.
“It’s the right decision and all those who campaigned and submitted representation to the planning process should feel proud of a job well done.”
Town hall development chief Cllr Diarmaid Ward also welcomed the decision. He said: “We’re very pleased the Planning Inspector has dismissed the appeal against our refusal.
“We had concerns about the highway safety of loading and unloading at the site, and also the impact of the proposals on the nearby Finsbury Park town centre.
“I’d like to thank local residents for all the views and feedback they have given about this application.”
What do you think? Email firstname.lastname@example.org.


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By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Those kitchen cabinets may soon get pricier.
A new law recently signed by President Obama limits the amount of formaldehyde used in U.S. products. Formaldehyde can be found in the glue that holds wood together, often used in furniture, cabinets, and inexpensive wood products.
While the new law will make furniture greener -- and safer to your health -- some furniture-makers will likely need to increase the cost of their products as they explore an alternative to using formaldehyde. Some industry experts predict that furniture pricetags may increase anywhere from 5-15 percent on items that currently contain the formaldehyde-based glue.
In high doses, formaldehyde can be dangerous to your health. Health experts have linked it to respiratory problems and even cancer.
The health dangers of formaldehyde gained widespread attention after trailers for victims of Hurricane Katrina were banned when some victims experienced respiratory problems from the formaldehyde used in the trailers’ walls, cabinets, and ceilings, according to a recent article in USA Today (Furniture to be Greener, But Pricier by Jayne O'Donnell).
It could be at least three years before all products sold in the United States must meet the new guidelines, which limits formaldehyde emissions to 0.09 parts per million or less. In California, which paved the way for the federal law, furniture stores must comply sooner -- Dec. 31, 2011.


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December 06 2015
The Elmira College Department of Athletics is holding a holiday craft fair at the Murray Athletic Center today, Sunday, December 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The "Under the Dome Craft Fair" will feature gifts and hand-crafted goods from local artists in time for the holiday shopping season. There will also be a special visit from Santa Claus, and children can enjoy Santa's Workshop while the adults peruse the fine offerings from a variety of local vendors.
General admission for the craft fair is $1.00, and door prizes will be given away every hour.
The Murray Athletic Center is located north of the Elmira College campus on Route 14 at 170 Huck Finn Road in Horseheads, NY.
For more information, including vendor registration for those interested in selling goods at the craft fair, please contact MaryAnne Boorse, Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Athletics & Coordinator of the Fitness Center, at (607) 735-1730 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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The Partnership sends updates for the most important economic indicators each month. If you would like to opt-in to receive these updates, please click here.
Retail sales in Metro Houston topped $32.6 billion in Q3/21, according to data released today by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. That represents a 25.2 percent nominal jump and an inflation-adjusted 18.8 percent bump from the $26.0 billion consumers spent in Q3/20.
Several factors drove the surge. Consumers continued to spend stimulus checks they received earlier in the year. Inflation began to kick, driving overall prices up 5.7 percent in the 12 months ending Q3/21. More Houstonians were commuting to work in Q3/21 than Q3/20, driving up the demand for gasoline. And with more vehicles being on the road, gasoline prices rose. From Q3/20 to Q3/21, the price of regular gasoline rose by $0.99 per gallon. The surge in sales at gasoline stations accounted for nearly half (42.9 percent) of the increase in retail sales.
Retail sales data provided by the Comptroller of Public Accounts typically lags by three or more quarters. The most recent data available, highlighted above, substantiates the robust recovery underway in Houston in the second half of ’22. Economists won’t know if the Federal Reserve’s recently interest rate hikes are affecting Houston retail sales until Q2/23.
Prepared by Greater Houston Partnership Research
Patrick Jankowski, CERP
Senior Vice President, Research
Retail sales topped $32,6 billion in Q3/21.


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The Memorial Day holiday weekend in the US is the traditional kickoff of the nation’s summer driving season. With this year’s Memorial Day holiday looming, the national average retail price for regular gasoline stands at $3.67/gal, as it was this time last year, said the US Energy Information Administration.
Gasoline prices increased 42¢/gal from early February to late April but have fallen modestly in recent weeks as increasing refinery crude oil throughput and higher imports have added supplies to the market.
The price of retail gasoline reflects both the price of crude oil and the wholesale gasoline crack spread.
“The price of North Sea Brent crude has averaged $109/bbl thus far in May, $6/bbl more than the May 2013 average. However, lower wholesale gasoline crack spreads compared with last year have offset higher crude prices,” EIA said.
For the 4 weeks ending May 16, crude oil inputs into US refineries totaled 15.9 million b/d, 0.8 million b/d higher than a year earlier, adding the market supply and lowering wholesale gasoline crack spreads.
Retail prices are the highest in California, averaging $4.16/gal on May 19 and lowest on the Gulf Coast (Petroleum Administration for Defense District 3), where on May 19 they stood at $3.44/gal.


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Your next credit card will have a built-in fingerprint reader.
Samsung is working with Mastercard, a financial processing firm, to create a payment card with an embedded fingerprint scanner. Both businesses are billing it as a protective mechanism to avoid human interaction (with the pandemic and all), but safety issues could hold certain prospective consumers at bay.
In announcing the partnership, the firms said that, instead of having to type a PIN on a keypad, users would automatically check their identity using a fingerprint reader installed into their cards.
The cards will use a new protection chipset from Samsung’s LSI Business System that packs several discrete chips to streamline design and production. They would be available at any chip or point of sale terminal that currently accepts Mastercard items.
Mastercard has been working with fingerprint scanners on payment cards since at least 2017.
The firms have acknowledged that the new tech would provide an additional layer of authentication to the already existing cards, although others do not see it that way. Given that data breaches are too frequent these days, asking another firm to keep sensitive biometric data secure from hackers might be a major question for others.
Any way, you have the time to think about it. The roll-out will not begin until later this year, and will be limited to corporate clients based in South Korea. No news yet about how long it would take for the tech to fool average customers around the world.


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App stores are all the rage these days, it seems. Now The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google's about to launch a new one for businesses, focused around creating software for Google Apps.
According to the report, Google's plan is to sell software built by third party developers to enhance Google's suite of apps (e.g. Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Sites, GTalk). These outside apps could be for adding more security, enhancing word-processing features or porting information into Google Apps.
A Google Apps store would work in the same fashion Android or the iPhone App Stores operate: Developers set a price and Google and the third party share in the revenue. It's a model that has proven very successful. If it took off, it could create a whole new marketplace and a new revenue stream for the world's largest search engine. It could even pave the way for app stores within Google's consumer products.
The announcement is slated to come in March or so, although now that news has broken, it's likely an official blog post from Google will come sooner. However, The Next Web points out that Google already has an "app store" known as Google Solutions Marketplace. However, what the WSJ reported on seems to be far more robust and better integrated with Google Apps itself than Solutions Marketplace.
Do you think a Google Apps Store is a good idea? Would you pay for certain features? Which ones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


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Yahoo has started selling Tumblr ads through Facebook’s ad network to improve sales. Tumblr was bought by Yahoo three years ago for $1.1 billion. But the social network is in such a bad shape. Tumblr is having a tough time getting brands and companies to purchase its ads. The company has resulted in relying on Yahoo’s traditional banner ads and Facebook’s ad network to bolster sales and stay in business. Is it not desperate using a rival to make sales?
Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Mayer confirmed that by the end of the second quarter of 2016, Tumblr ads were being sold through Facebook’s Audience Network ad network. Yahoo had remained silent about the ad deal between Facebook and Tumblr. Reports of the possibility of such a deal had been going round as early as March 2016, as Tumblr was struggling to sell as little as 15% of its available ads.
On Monday, during Yahoo’s earnings call, Mayer said that since Tumblr supply is growing so quickly, demand is getting outpaced resulting in monetization shortfall. Mayer seems to be suggesting that the Tumblr struggles are not caused by advertiser’s unwillingness to purchase its ads. According to them, advertisers are not willing to pay a high price for the ads. “The ad load on Tumblr is suitable. We only need to increase the demand,” Mayer added.
But Yahoo’s efforts to increase Tumblr demand are questionable. The company is growing demand for other products expecting that Tumblr demand will increase. Yahoo should stop treating Tumblr as a commodity. Tumblr is now a social network where advertisers can put ads that they can put on any other website.
Facebook found a way to offload the numerous ads by sending them on other sites, through the ad network. Ad network allows Facebook to continue selling its ads without cluttering the news feeds of users. Facebook does not permit advertisers to buy its ad network exclusively. Ads on ad network are in one way or another similar to the standard Facebook ads. The main difference is that ads on ad network will not appear on Facebook. The ads still appear to the Facebook audience and are sold at the regular Facebook ads rates, explaining why Yahoo turned to the ad network, where they will have to give Facebook 30% of revenue generated through their ads. The deal also requires Yahoo to give Facebook the connection to their advertisers.
The Facebook ad network is not the only avenue Yahoo is using to boost Tumblr ad sales. Tumblr ads are still available on Tumblr. Yahoo is also using the ‘native’ Gemini ads and the standard banner ads, famous for their large rectangular shape.
Tumblr was not supposed to use these desperate measures to remain significant. But maybe we should not be so surprised that the social network is doing so poorly. To start with, its parent company, Yahoo, has been struggling for quite some time now. Tumblr failed to reach revenue goals last year. The value of the company has significantly decreased in the past three years. Yahoo may have miscalculated when buying this social network.


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The phone app, Faceapp, has been making headlines about its privacy concerns recently. The Better Business Bureau says this is a wake up call for many when downloading phone applications.
The Better Business Bureau said that people need to be careful what permissions they are giving applications. Whether it be access to a phones camera roll or location, people may not know what the app is doing with those permissions.
The Better Business Bureau is reminding users to always proofread the terms and conditions.
“We have seen trends in the past with other apps causing issues,” said Jeremy Johnson, the southeastern Idaho marketplace manager for the Better Business Bureau. “We just want to warn people to be careful, understand the permissions, understand what you are giving access to and be a little weary before you just download quickly.”
Johnson said that the Better Business Bureau have not had any reports involving Faceapp.


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With the long weekend approaching, the city’s tourism industry, businesses and restaurants are gearing up for more guests than usual as visitors make the most of their time off.
“Once the weather’s nice, it gets pretty busy down here for sure,” said Michael Read, who works for Capital Cruises.
Although most tourists Read meets are from out of town, locals taking ‘staycation’ time are also taking advantage of the attractions here.
“We find that a lot of local people haven’t actually toured around a lot down here,” he said.
“They live around here, but have never actually gone to the Parliament buildings.”
The uOttawa student said he’s unexpectedly found himself an unofficial ambassador for the city.
“A lot of people ask where I like to eat. I’ll usually send them in the direction of the Market, because there’s a lot of variety in the area.”
The ByWard Market is seeing more activity than last year, said Paolo Copelli, markets co-ordinator with the City of Ottawa.
The William Street pedestrian plaza, which continues through August, may have something to do with it.
“People are enjoying the space, and they like the fact that they can relax there and watch the buskers perform. It’s a positive addition to the market lifestyle.”


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China filed a lawsuit under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism on the U.S.' 15 percent tariffs on $300 billion Chinese goods, the first batch of which started on September 1, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Monday.
U.S. tariffs seriously violated the consensus reached by Chinese and U.S. leaders in Osaka, Japan in June. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to it, read the note issued on MOFCOM's website.
China will follow the relevant rules of the WTO, firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, and resolutely defend both the multilateral trading system and international trade order, the notice said.
China's suit came after the China-U.S. trade war further escalated as the U.S. imposed fresh tariffs of 15 percent on $125 billion of Chinese imports starting midnight Sunday, which is the first batch of the $300 billion.
On the same day, China applied new tariffs ranging from 5 to 10 percent on the first batch of $75 billion U.S. goods as a countermeasure.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Monday that to continue China-U.S. trade talks as planned in September, the most important thing at present is to create conducive conditions for the talks, and both sides are in discussions over the matter.
China's courteous and legitimate behavior in the WTO's multilateral system, especially after the U.S. unilaterally and recklessly provoked and escalated the trade war, shows China's resolve to uphold multilateral trade, according to analysts.
Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that China insists on solving the escalating trade war through both bilateral and multilateral mechanisms, which may not provide a timely solution and shows China's commitment to trade multilateralism.
Even if the U.S. draws back from the current WTO mechanism, China's resolve to uphold the multilateral mechanism won't change, said Mei Xinyu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.


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Footfall on the Welsh high street has suffered a further decline in the face of Brexit uncertainty and migration to online, shows latest research.
In September, according to the Welsh Retail Consortium (WRC) and retail consultancy Springboard, footfall in Wales declined by 3.1% year on year, worse than the 12-month average decline of 2.4%.
This was made up of:
- A high street decline of 4.2% was the worst of all the UK’s nations.
- A retail park decline of 1.1% is better than in August.
- Shopping centres saw a 2.7% decline was significantly shallower than in August.
Sara Jones, head of policy and external affairs at the WRC, said: “It was another difficult month for Welsh retailers, with a decline in the number of shoppers across all destinations.
“High streets fared particularly badly with a decline of 4.2%, making Wales the worst performing nation. These poor footfall figures are reflected in September’s retail sales which saw like-for-like sales declining by 1.7 per cent compared to last year.
“With shoppers choosing to hold off from spending on non-essential purchases it is clear that the current political gridlock around Brexit is causing concern for both the consumer and retailer alike. We continue to press the case with the UK Government for clarity over our future trading relationship with our closest neighbours, it is vitally important that Britain does not leave the EU without a deal. “
Ms Jones called on the Welsh Government to support retailers by implementing its budget recommendations. She added: “More frequent revaluations and a lower business rates multiplier, an enabling plan for the industry coupled with greater investment in skills and development would signal to retailers that Wales is truly open for business.”
The Welsh Conservatives have also called for the Welsh Government to take urgent action to support retailers on business rates.
Its shadow economy and transport spokesman Russell George AM, said: “The continued decline of footfall in our Welsh high streets is nothing new and yet the Welsh Labour Government are doing nothing about it. Business rates in Wales are at a twenty-year high, damaging our retailer’s ability to be competitive.
“Welsh Labour have admitted that they haven’t known what they were doing with the Welsh economy for the last twenty years, but the Welsh Conservatives have a plan to lead Wales to a brighter future.
“We will support businesses by reducing business rates for small business, which make up the beating heart of our high streets and communities, helping them to be more competitive, attract more people to our high streets and provide more jobs for local people.”
Diane Wehrle, Springboard's marketing and insights director “Given the monumental changes that have occurred in our retail trading landscape over the past decade, it is unsurprising that the long-term footfall trend is a downward one.
“However, with 80% of spend remaining in store there is still much for bricks and mortar stores to play for in Q4 of 2019, which of course includes the all-important festive trading perio