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Ad spending on social gaming increased 60% since 2009, according to eMarketer. No doubt advertisers have noticed that 56 million Americans are playing social games and that the branded virtual goods market is booming. But more than just social gaming’s growing popularity has gotten attention from advertisers. Social games also represent an environment that is largely conducive to advertising.
Singer Files $250-Million Lawsuite Over Video Game
A backup singer with the Cypress Hill rap group has hit the makers of the “Grand Theft Auto” video game series with a 250-million-dollar lawsuit. According to documents obtained by Courthouse News, Michael “Shagg” Washington claims a friend introduced him to the developers of “Grand Theft Auto” in 2003, who asked him about his life on the streets.
Renren, China’s largest social networking site is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States in the first half of 2011, the Reuter reported. Oak Pacific Interactive, Renren’s parent company had hired Credit Suisse and Deutsche bank to underwrite the IPO.
One of the key early decisions to game design or creating a virtual currency platform is designing the price and exchange rate of virtual currency. Unfortunately after it’s been released, it’s also one of the most difficult to change, because the change impacts the userbase and economy of the system as a whole. So if you’re starting out, how do you decide how to price your virtual currency?
Even though the first lawsuit ended with a $65 million settlement, the Winklevosses now claim that Zuckerberg lied to them about the value of Facebook and is guilty of securities fraud, demanding an unspecified amount of (extra) money.
The Ohio Supreme Court said Wednesday that judges on Facebook can be a “friend” to lawyers appearing before them but must be careful not to violate ethics rules. The opinion issued by the court’s Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline says that following its guidelines for social networking “will require a judge’s constant vigil.”
Google’s ultra-secret social project is slowly becoming less and less secret. Last week, a Quora posting revealed a new internal codename for the social initiative, as well as the affirmation that it’s being tested. Yesterday, TechCrunch got its hands on a screenshot exposing a “share” button and also reaffirmed a possible new name, Google +1.


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How Nantucket’s restaurants have evolved amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In mid-March, many of Nantucket’s restaurateurs were so busy preparing for the impending season that few anticipated that the novel coronavirus would threaten to decimate their businesses come summer. Two weeks later, nearly every eatery on island had been shut down, along with the rest of the local economy. The only restaurants that remained open were delivering meals to the island’s elder and at-risk communities.
“At the time it was kind of an unimaginable scenario that this would impact summer,” said Orla Murphy LaScola, co-owner of Proprietors Bar & Table on India Street. “Reopening has been difficult and it has been extremely hard to figure out how to anticipate what’s coming next, along with the guidelines we’ll have to abide by.” LaScola indicated that due to a variety of reasons, Nantucket has conspicuously lacked a restaurant association in recent years. When the potential impact of the coronavirus on their industry became more apparent, LaScola and other restaurateurs formed a representative committee under the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce, which has since worked tirelessly to save our local restaurants and reopen them in an effectively safe environment.
As the state allowed more and more people back into restaurants, the Town of Nantucket endorsed local initiatives enabling island restaurants to seat customers outdoors, either on their own property or in areas belonging to the Town. Three downtown cross streets were also closed to traffic to allow several restaurants critical additional seating. To date, most of these outdoor expansions have been well received, with many restaurants fully booked with reservations days or even weeks in advance.
According to Nantucket’s Board of Health, all patrons dining indoors and outdoors at island restaurants must wear a face mask at all times, unless they are sitting at their own table eating or drinking. Some restaurateurs lamented that enforcing these requirements has been tested by a subset of patrons unwilling to adhere to these guidelines due to personal beliefs. This has often resulted in restaurateurs having to remove stubborn would-be customers. One restaurateur said that the joys of the job have been stripped away by how careful they have to be serving patrons and interacting with them, which has also made it difficult to motivate their staff.
Another challenge includes a percentage of guests who make reservations at multiple restaurants, then decide to pick one at the last minute, letting the others go. While this was already a frustrating trend prior to the pandemic, this summer this loss of business levies a significant blow to small businesses already struggling to stay open. “Every restaurant has an investment in the guest right now even before they show up,” said a restaurateur who wished to remain anonymous. “People don’t realize that this type of behavior is really hurting the industry. We’ve all had to start taking credit cards at the reservation point. It’s not great hospitality, but we can’t afford not to.”
Recent reports in the Inquirer & Mirror and elsewhere indicate a tepid “we-hope-to-break-even” outlook shared among restaurant owners, with some making dire predictions should the economy be forced to shut down again. If that were to happen, many restaurateurs worry that their establishments will be doomed to close for good.
However, with patrons, restaurateurs and the town working together, one of Nantucket’s most cherished industries has a fighting chance. “We were blessed that our town showed leadership on this,” LaScola concluded. “At the end of the day we want people to know we are trying as hard as we can to be welcoming and provide a great experience while keeping everyone safe.”

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Citizen Staff Writer
A California man coming to Arizona from Mexico found out smuggling may be for the birds.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents uncovered a stash of eight exotic birds and two chickens in the back of his sport utility vehicle Monday morning, CBP spokesman Officer Brian Levin said in a news release.
The 60-year-old man’s lesson began around 9:30 a.m. when he was passing through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales and was nabbed by CBP agriculture specialists, Levin said.
Levin said the man’s veritable aviary consisted of two Amazon parrots, two parakeets, two finches, two Monk parakeets and the two chickens hidden in bird cages and cardboard boxes under piles of clothing in the back of his Chevrolet SUV.
Levin did not disclose the man’s name. Federal officials typically do not release names immediately after an incident.
The man was given a $300 fine by CBP and $1,025 fine by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the release said. According to Levin, the birds were seized and turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services.
More live cargo was found at the same port around 8 a.m. the following day, Levin said, this time in the form of Mexican fruit fly larvae.
CBP officers searched the vehicle of a 48-year-old man from Oregon who had a stash of tropical fruit that included fresh nanches, hog plums and 103 mangoes.
The man, who Levin did not name, was fined $300 by CBP for failure to declare the agricultural items.
Levin said everyone’s fate could have been much worse, however, because CBP agriculture specialists cut open the mangoes to discover eight Mexican fruit fly larvae.
“This pest can have a devastating effect on the nation’s agriculture industry, food supply and forestry if introduced into the country inadvertently or on purpose,” Levin said.


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2011 NACS Show in Full Swing
CHICAGO -- The 2011 NACS Show blew into the Windy City this weekend and continues through tomorrow at McCormick Place. More than 22,000 attendees are expected to attend this year's event, which features more than 60 educational workshops and 1,300 expo exhibitors.
NACS Chairman Jeff Miller of Norfolk, Va.-based Miller Oil welcomed attendees to the show, which coincides with the trade association celebrating its 50th anniversary. Miller reflected on his year as chairman and the trends he witnessed during his months of travel. But first, he pointed out that the recent swipe fee reform was the "biggest legislative victory in [our industry's] history."
Summarizing a news report about the industry's upset victory over big banks and Wall Street, he said, "We came together. And we kicked ass."
Miller cited globalization and technology as the most important trends for retailers. "We see that convenience retailing is very similar around the world. We all sell convenience and immediate consumption," he said. "There are very few unique regional or country-specific issues. Instead, at any moment in time, retailers experience a different phase in the life cycle of each issue."
He also commented on the rapid multiculturalism that is impacting "what we sell, how we sell it, and who and how we hire." More than 1,800 of the expected 22,000 NACS Show attendees come from one of more than 50 different countries outside the United States, he added, saying New American growth is a great opportunity for the industry, particularly among the large single-store-owner portion of the industry, which represents more than 60 percent of the industry's 146,000 stores.
The other big trend opportunity is the personalization of technology, which he predicted will have an even greater impact on all c-store retailers in the future.
NACS President and CEO Hank Armour began his presentation by hailing the more than 30 past NACS presidents and founders who were in attendance. His talk focused on fuel, foodservice and grassroots advocacy. Armour pledged that NACS is dedicated to ensuring that convenience stores remain America's fueling stations and said the association has formed a committee to explore future fuels that will be used and sold in the country.
"We are not going to wait for mandates to redefine our business," Armour said. "We think it should be the other way around. We're going to do everything in our power to ensure that convenience retailers remain the most important player fueling America."
Opportunities for Learning
Education is a big focus at this year's NACS Show. In total, the event is offering 11 different tracks of educational sessions, broken up according to attendees' job functions. The tracks are: Executive Leadership, Foodservice, Fuel, Global Perspectives, Human Capital, Independent Operators, Marketing and Category Management, Operations, Supplier, Technology and Operator Training.
In the Marketing and Operations track, private label was the focus of one workshop. While the c-store industry still lags behind other channels, private label has been trending upward for several years.
"If you think about what's going on right now, it's probably more in than out," said Jim Wisner, president of Wisner Marketing Group Inc. and one of the presenters at "The Ins and Outs of Private Label" session. "It has been a long-term trek that began about 15 years ago."
There are several factors behind the growth, he explained. These include higher-quality products, retail consolidation, investment, community pressure, improved packaging, higher price gaps and retailer emphasis. Lastly, Wisner said, is the economy. "Quite frankly, over the long-term trend line, [the economy] is the most insignificant thing," he added.
Private label is important to the retail industry because every retailer's main goal is improving return on investment, and there are three ways to do that: raise prices, bring costs down or improve the mix. "The best way to improve the mix is with a strong private label program," Wisner advised.
In the Human Capital track, employee health and wellness programs took center stage in a seminar. With health insurance premiums and the cost of healthcare itself soaring, promoting healthy lifestyle changes to employees could seem like it's not worth it to some company leaders. But in the "Taking Charge of Your Organization's Health" workshop, presenters shared stories about how health and wellness programs can lead to lower healthcare costs, lower worker's comp costs, improved productivity, and higher employee engagement and morale -- just for starters.
"Our story is about driving down our cost and creating a healthier workforce," said Nancy Rumpf of Quick Chek, named one of the "Best Places to Work in New Jersey" in 2010 and again this year.
The company introduced a Fit for Life program, which offers team members significant discounts on fresh and healthy food at work. The retailer also mailed the Mayo Clinic's newsletter to their homes, providing them with healthy recipes and healthy living ideas. Quick Chek also introduced a third medical plan that utilizes a high deductible with a health savings account and covers preventive services at 100 percent.
Becky Smith of Wallis Cos. followed up with another organization's journey to better health. Smith serves as the director of human resources for Wallis, a family-owned group of five companies headquartered in Cuba, Mo., and is a certified senior professional of human resources.
"Wellness is something I'm very passionate about," said Smith. While companies can't control the cost of health insurance, "the one thing that we can bring to the table is healthier employees."
People who are healthier are quicker at getting things done, said Smith. Employee well-being will lead to employee passion and engagement, which leads to customer engagement, ultimately resulting in increased profits for the company.
According to Smith, the best thing the company did was begin health screenings, which got people concerned as they learned their numbers and started watching them. An online incentive book made it easier for them to participate.
Businesses who want to start a health and wellness program should work hard to ensure leadership and supervisor support, Smith said, and listen to the employees themselves, asking what will work for them. Companies also should provide incentives, get employee spouses and families involved, take advantage of team camaraderie and competition, and "absolutely use success stories."
For much more on the 2011 NACS Show, go to www.csnewsbeyondtheshow.com. And check back often as new content is being added constantly to keep you abreast of all the latest show happenings.


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On April 27, FMCG behemoth Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) declared an 8.6 percent increase in independent post-charge benefit at Rs 2,327 crore for the fiscal year ended March 2022, compared to Rs 2,143 crore the previous year.
On a sequential basis, the net gain increased by 3.7 percent as compared to the benefit of Rs 2,243 achieved in the December 2021 quarter.
HUL’s independent Q4 revenue from jobs was Rs 13,462 crore, an increase of 11% over the previous quarter’s revenue of Rs 12,132 crore. On a year-on-year basis, earnings increased by 2.8 percent above the Rs 13,092 crore enrolled in the October-December period.
From April 2021 to March 2022, the benefit increased by 10.9 percent to Rs 8,818 crore, up from Rs 7,954 crore in the previous fiscal year.
Income for the full year increased 11.3 percent to Rs 51,193 crore, compared to Rs 45,996 crore in FY21.
The organization’s benefit and income details were higher than the examiner’s expectations.
“We have developed seriously and preserved our plan of action in demanding situations by keeping up with edges in a firm reach,” stated Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and Managing Director. “I’m very pleased that in this year, we’ve grown to a Rs 50,000 crore turnover firm.”
“Our dependable presentation is cognizant of our vital clarity, brand strength, functional magnificence, and dynamic monetary management of our firm,” Mehta stated.
While there are near-term concerns about massive expansion and slowing market development, Mehta is confident in the Indian FMCG sector’s medium-to-long haul prospects and is focused on transmitting a trustworthy, serious, useful, and mindful development.
Despite the inflationary pressures, the company was able to maintain its EBITDA (profit before revenue, duty, depreciation, and amortization) edge at 24.6 percent, compared to 24.4 percent in the same quarter the previous year.
“With regards to spectacular development, we continue to deal with our organization by progressively driving reserve funds tougher across all lines of P&L and making altered estimating movements employing Net Revenue Management standards,” the administration said in its earnings release.
HUL’s home consideration business grew by 24 percent year on year, thanks to strong performance in texture wash and family care. Both of these classes accounted for two digits. During the quarter, fluids and tactile sensations also delivered strong results.
HUL has taken coordinated cost increases throughout its business to offset the crucial expansion in input prices along the route.
Magnificence and Personal Care (BPC) increased by 4% year on year during the quarter, supported by double-digit growth in skin purification. The evaluation and strong implementation of its Lux, Dove, and Pears brands drove the development. During the quarter, the organization’s hair care segment contributed to overall industry improvements.
“An aligned methodology toward cost growth in Skin Cleansing and Hair Care has protected our strategy even as vegetable oils continue to develop at historic levels,” the organization said in its delivery.
High growth had an impact on the healthy skin and various beauty care products industry, which had a quiet quarter due to a drop in optional use.
The organization’s Food and Refreshment business gained 5% year on year on a high base of the previous year, with all business segments within this sector experiencing significant footing.
The company has proposed a final profit of Rs 19 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, based on value sections of Rs 1 each. On November 12, 2021, the Company had previously given an interval profit of Rs 15 for each offer. The total profit for the full year is Rs 34 for each value piece of the assumed worth of Rs 1 each.
The HUL shares closed Rs 3.25 down at Rs 2,145.1 on the National Stock Exchange on April 27. It has lost 10% in the last year and gained 9.8% in the last month.


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Earlier today, a former PlayStation executive, Shawn Layden, was speaking to Gamesbeat’s Dean Takahashi where he revealed his thoughts about the current AAA video game model that is established in the games industry. Layden was appointed as the CEO of SIE in 2014 and in October 2019, PlayStation announced the Shawn Layden is stepping down from the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, after five years.
Current AAA Game Model Not Sustainable
“The problem with that model is it’s just not sustainable,” he said. “The problem with that model is it’s just not sustainable. Major triple-A games in the current generation go anywhere from $80 million to $150 million or more to build, and that’s before marketing. It’s a huge up-front cost.”
“I don’t think that, in the next generation, you can take those numbers and multiply them by two and think that you can grow. I think the industry as a whole needs to sit back and go, ‘Alright, what are we building? What’s the audience’s expectation? What is the best way to get our story across, and say what we need to say?’ he continued.
- PlayStation 5 Has “So Many More” Unannounced Games In Development, PlayStation CEO Says
- PS5’s DualSense Controller Is ‘Tailor-Made’ For Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Weaponry – Creative Director
- Sony Patent Reveals Gaming News And Content Feed Application For PlayStation
“It’s hard for every adventure game to shoot for the 50 to 60-hour gameplay milestone because that’s gonna be so much more expensive to achieve. And in the end, you may close some interesting creators and their stories out of the market if that’s the kind of threshold they have to meet… We have to reevaluate that.”
“Instead of spending five years making an 80-hour game, what do three years and a 15-hour game look like?” Layden continued. “[AAA game development] won’t be less expensive than the current generation of game development. 4K, HDR art, and creating worlds don’t come cheap.”
“Personally, as an older gamer… I would welcome a return to the 12 to 15 hour [AAA] game. I would finish more games, first of all, and just like a well-edited piece of literature or a movie, looking at the discipline around that could give us tighter, more compelling content.”
Sony unveiled their next-gen console, PlayStation 5, earlier this month during the Future of Gaming reveal stream. We got a lot of new game announcements during the event. Some of the PS5 exclusives include Spider-Man Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, etc.
If you’re looking for PlayStation news, rumors, leaks, and guides, then make sure to check out our PlayStation Archive which covers everything related to PlayStation.
PlayStation 4 was officially released on November 15, 2013, in the United States and Canada. PlayStation 5 release date is expected in the holidays of 2020.


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Brands continue to pursue sustainability commitments, including to boost packaging recyclability and the use of postconsumer recycled content. In many cases, the actions come in anticipation of legislation that would mandate such features. But keeping ahead of, and complying with, regulations is creating headaches for packaging companies, according to speakers at Pack Expo from Sept. 11-13. Some want policymakers to slow down in developing this legislation.
While certain movements, such as sustainability, garnered widespread support among Pack Expo attendees, sustainability-driven regulation prompted debate. Discussions among attendees and speakers at educational sessions covered an array of areas for potential regulation, such as chemical recycling, but extended producer responsibility and bans on certain materials — especially plastics — dominated conversations.
Regarding plastic bans, “I think we know in the industry that that’s not what we want to do. Plastic plays a really important role, particularly when you’re talking about food and beverage [or] talking about medical and health and beauty,” said Alison Keane, president and CEO at the Flexible Packaging Association.
At the same time, she said the organization’s members don’t want to contribute to plastic waste in the environment. FPA tries to help its members keep products fresh and sterile with packaging, “but also try to solve that end-of-life circularity and not have any trade-offs, if that’s even possible,” Keane said.
She said that policy is driving innovation, but that’s not how the equation should work, and policymakers aren’t considering the whole picture when devising legislation.
“We should be driving packaging innovation based on the product ... protecting the product first and foremost,” Keane said. “[Policymakers] are not looking at the life cycle, they’re not looking at protecting the products. They look at one thing and one thing only right now, and that is: How much waste, packaging waste specifically, is in our environment, in our landfills, in the garbage.”
California is among the few states that already have adopted packaging laws that could create difficulties for packaging companies. “Other states look to them and adopt similar proposals,” which could spell further challenges, Keane said.
California passed multiple packaging-related laws in the last few years, including SB 54, which requires single-use packaging to be recyclable or compostable by 2032, and SB 343, which limits use of the common “chasing arrows” symbol on packaging.
California is among four states — the others are Colorado, Maine and Oregon — that have passed EPR for packaging laws and are in the system implementation phase. While “well thought out” EPR could achieve policy makers’ intended benefits, sources said, the piecemeal nature of every state passing different mandates spells trouble for packaging companies.
“Are you going to label it to be recyclable in California? Are you going to label it differently in Maine because they don’t take the same things in the recycling system? What about compostability?” Keane said. “We cannot label separately for different states.”
Speakers at a separate educational session focused on SB 343’s labeling requirements also addressed the hurdles.
“What California has put into law ... will be in direct conflict with 30-plus other states that have other requirements,” such as the chasing arrows in combination with resin identification codes, said Dan Felton, executive director at Ameripen. “That’s going to create some conflict” for companies that put out packaging across the country.
He echoed Keane’s concerns about fees that producers would have to pay under California’s system, saying that state’s program “isn’t EPR. Well, it is EPR, but it’s ‘EPR plus’: plus fees.” Regarding Maine’s EPR legislation, for example, in which producers would have to pay a fee, Keane said: “That’s a tax, a straight up tax.”
Some speakers recognized that the chasing arrows symbol has evolved into something for which it was not initially designed. For example, the resin identification codes were supposed to communicate to collected material sorters, but they weren’t intended to serve as a consumer education tool signaling that a marked item is recyclable. So while speakers agreed law modernization updates are appropriate, each state addressing the chasing arrows and other messaging separately complicates packaging manufacturing.
“The issue for us is less the fact that they are now requiring that people actually use the standard as it’s intended. ... but rather they did it in a way that is causing brands and their processor partners to really have to split their [manufacturing] lines in half,” said Patrick Krieger, vice president of sustainability at the Plastics Industry Association. “It’s a very unfortunate and uncomfortable position for people to be in: Which laws do you not want to follow?”
Ultimately he said that “extended producer responsibility is a good tool when coupled with other policy, like investments in infrastructure,” but the policies have to be well thought out and constructed.
Third-party certification, such as through How2Recycle or the Biodegradable Products Institute, is a way for brands to be consumer-friendly in labeling while ensuring regulatory compliance via an independent organization, said Patrick Keenan, a packaging engineer focused on sustainability at General Mills.
“Really, we’re not experts in the entire recycling conversation. We’re experts in how to make the products consumers want,” he said. Even if SB 343 prompts changes to the How2Recycle program, “we still think it will be a label that’s valuable to us as a brand,” he said, adding, “We need to be really transparent with the consumer and when something isn’t recyclable we need to also tell them that. ... We need to not shy away from not labeling when something’s not recyclable.”
All the speakers noted the widespread desire for a national standard governing packaging messaging and sustainability requirements. But Keane suggested that “one of the reasons you’re seeing so much state activity about this is because there is federal inaction.”
Felton referenced the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, the more than 30-years-old guidance for environmental marketing claims, which are currently under review for potential updates. Although many states base their own legislation on portions of the Green Guides, the federal document itself is not a law. Felton also offered the reminder that environmental claims aren’t just about recyclability, but compostability and reusability as well.
In the end, through sometimes heated voicing of concerns, speakers generally agreed that packaging companies will be able to navigate through the upcoming regulations, but it will take some work.
“We do have the innovations and we do have the solutions” along with recycling and converting partners, Keane said. “We need to solve this, and we all need to do it together.”


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Apple may finally be ready to pull the trigger on 4K HDR iTunes movies
For a company that’s supposed to lead the way in tech innovation, Apple sure does play catch-up a lot. While the likes of Netflix, Google and Amazon forge ahead with 4K HDR movies, iTunes is still offering content in piddly 1080p.
However, that might finally be about to change with news the company is seemingly preparing to offer movies in 4K HDR.
One iTunes user has discovered the company has started to list certain moves as 4K HDR in his purchase history.
In a discussion on the MacRumors forums, Tomas Jackson explains how he discovered the 2016 movie Passengers is listed at the greater resolution and in high dynamic range (see below).
However, it appears Apple is still in the early stages of testing as Jackson was only able to download the movie at 720p or 1080p HD.
The snippet comes amid rumours Apple is preparing an Apple TV 4K model for later this year.
A 4K HDR content launch through iTunes is likely to coincide with the release of that model and give Apple a shot at competing with Amazon’s Fire TV and other new-gen set-top boxes.
Related: What is 4K HDR?
The current 4th-generation Apple TV has proved somewhat of a disappointment, since it was released in October 2015.
Not only is it missing the 4K compatibility, but the Siri interaction is sub-par, the tvOS App Store has failed to develop sufficiently, and the new TV app that aims to bind on-demand services together still feels incomplete.
Really, things can only get better. Starting with 4K HDR iTunes movies of course.


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HARARE, November 17 (The Source) – The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says it will pay tobacco farmers an export incentive of 12,5 percent up from 5 percent, in a bid to spur production in the upcoming 2018 farming season.
HARARE, November 16 (The Source) – Cable manufacturer CAFCA reported a 73 percent increase in profit after tax to $726,213 for the year ended September 30, on the back of increased sales volumes.
HARARE, November 14 (The Source) – The European Union has pledged $30 million to fund development of the livestock value chain in Zimbabwe.
HARARE,November 13 (The Source)- CFI Holdings acting Chairperson Grace Muradzikwa has resigned ahead of the agro-industrial group’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) meant to fire her and two other directors. Muradzikwa has been on the board since 2004, she served as the acting chairman since April… Read More
HARARE,November 13 (The Source)- Caledonia Mining Corporation said its after tax profit increased almost three times to $3,1 million in the third quarter to September compared to $1,1 million in the same period last year on increased gold production.
HARARE, November 13 (The Source) – Zimbabwe’s largest retailer, OK Zimbabwe last week said its internal tracking of inflation showed that inflation stood at 7,69 percent in September, much higher than the 0,78 percent given out by the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency (Zimstats), laying bare the… Read More
HARARE, November 13 (The Source) – Zimbabwe has relaxed restrictions on fertilizer and agro-chemical imports as local manufacturers struggle to meet demand.
HARARE, November 10 (The Source) – Australian-listed junior miner Prospect Resources has secured a seven year offtake arrangement with Hong Kong based Sinomine Resources Exploration.
HARARE, November 9 (The Source) – Retail group OK Zimbabwe on Thursday said its net income more than doubled to $5,1 million in the six months to September, from $2,3 million in the comparable period last year on increased revenue and inflationary pricing.
HARARE, November 9 (The Source) – African Distillers sales volumes and revenue fell below budget in the first quarter to September, but the beverage maker expects improvement in the second quarter, boosted by demand in the festive season.
HARARE, November 8 (The Source) – Delta Corporation on Wednesday reported a 4 percent increase in after tax profit to $32,3 million for the six months to September, from $30,98 million in the comparable period last year on improved finance and income from associates.
HARARE, November 8 (The Source) – National Foods says profitability for the first quarter to September is largely in line with expectations,but volumes fell 10 percent below the same period last year.
South African cement maker PPC Ltd flagged an increase of as much as 40 percent in half-year profit on Tuesday, citing robust performance in Zimbabwe and Rwanda and lower finance costs.
HARARE, November 5 (The Source) – The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) industrial index gained 2.2 percent to 525,63 points after a recovery in some heavyweight counters.The mining index also gained 2,37 percent to close at 140,5 points. Market capitalisation increased by 2,25 percent in the… Read More
HARARE, November 3 (The Source) – Zimbabwe requires at least $10 billion to fund various power projects which would see the country generate an additional 4,192 megawatts and plug a crippling power deficit.


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FLORENCE — Guess Inc. is gunning for a fragrance revival with its forthcoming women’s scent dubbed Seductive.
Unveiled in this renaissance city last Friday, during the Pitti Uomo men’s wear trade show, Guess tried to create a historic moment of its own by trumpeting the first fragrance to comeout of its new license with Coty Inc., signed in August 2009. Parlux Fragrances Inc. previously held the license.
In what is likely to become part of the Coty office folklore, Steve Mormoris, senior vice president of global marketing for Coty Beauty Inc., recalled how he flew uninvited with his team to Guess’ headquarters in California to convince chief executive officer and creative director Paul Marciano to collaborate with Coty. Mormoris waited two hours in the lobby before getting a 15-minute slot with Marciano. “I rarely stay longer than 10 minutes in meetings, but I was seduced into staying two hours,” said Marciano. Guess piqued Coty’s interest because of what was perceived as an underdeveloped business. “The whole area of seduction — what Guess owns — wasn’t addressed in the fragrance market,” said Mormoris.
The American lifestyle label has taken aim at Europe. Marciano said by the end of 2010, the brand will have 414 freestanding stores in Europe, and 92 in the Middle East, part of an ambitious growth strategy to expand the footprint of its Guess-branded stores in Europe. As of May, Guess operated 433 stores in the United States and Canada and 817 stores outside of the United States and Canada, of which 137 were directly owned. “Six years ago we had a $42 million business in Europe, we plan to reach $1 billion in sales in three years,” Marciano said.
Retail expansion plans include a 330-square-meter freestanding store in Paris on Place de Opera, slated to open in August, and a 700-square-meter store in London’s up-market Knightsbridge, set to open its doors in July.
In December, the company plans to open a 12,000-square-foot store on New York’s Fifth Avenue. Asia also tops the company’s burgeoning plans. Former Levi Strauss & Co. managing director Kitty Yung started her role as Guess president for greater China on Wednesday to expand the Guess business in Asia, especially Greater China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, India and Japan.
Later this year, the brand will celebrate its 30th anniversary, a long way from its humble denim roots in downtown Los Angeles, to where it is now a global lifestyle company which recorded $5 billion in retail sales worldwide in 2009.
“Lifestyle is a trend. Just look at the success of this brand. It’s exactly why we wanted this brand in our portfolio and we’re exploiting it with this move,” said Bernd Beetz, Coty ceo, of the new fragrance set for global rollout in September.
“We plan to reach 30,000 doors globally by the end of year. I think we’ll have more demands but we want to keep distribution tight and upscale,” said Renato Semerari, president of Coty Beauty Inc.
The fragrance will be launched first in Sephora in Europe and the German drugstore chain Mueller. According to industry sources, the new eau de toilette could have a first-year sales target as high as $80 million at retail. “As a company, Guess is going through a renaissance with a huge sales push in Europe, and a broadening of its portfolio,” said Mormoris. “Seductive will easily make the fragrance top 10 in a year and be a significant player in the category.” He underlined plans to elevate the Guess fragrance house, starting with Seductive, by launching upscale fragrances at higher price points. Seductive is priced 6 percent higher than existing Guess fragrances, and is available in three sizes: $40 for 30-ml., $52 for 50-ml. and $62 for 75-ml. A 200-ml. body cream and 200-ml. shower cream will retail for $28 and $26, respectively.
The fragrance’s juice, created by perfumer Veronique Nyberg of International Flavors & Fragrances, was designed to mirror the experience of seduction. It has a luminous accord with light, sparkling top notes of bergamot, blackcurrant and crispy pear, with jasmine, orange flower and Florentine Orris — a historic note harvested in Florence and used in perfumery for centuries — as its middle notes. Base notes include vanilla, spicy olibanum and a musky cashmere wood.
The bottle plays on Guess’ signature triangle logo, translated in the implied shape of the bottle and the cap completed by an embossed crocodile print panel that reflects the company’s signature animal prints. It’s accessorized by a ribbon charm composed of two gold hearts — a nod to Guess’ accessory business — whilst a color palette of cream, black and gold give it a timeless appeal.
Seductive’s print campaign takes a page from Guess’ history of bombshell babe advertising. The ad features newcomer Alyssa Miller, who resembles a young Sophia Loren, although she in fact hails from California. The black-and-white print campaign was shot by Vincent Peters in Rome and portrays a sexy encounter meant to echo a retro Italian film.
EXCLUSIVE: @tomford is opening its first-ever beauty store. The boutique, which opens November 20 in London’s Covent Gardens, was designed with the over the top glam Ford is known for. Read the full story on WWD.com, link in bio. #wwdbeauty #wwdnews (📷: Simon Wagner) #TomFordBeauty
New York-based DJ @harleyvnewton threw a party to celebrate the holiday collection of her dress and pajama line @hvn at the Ladurée Beverly Hills. It Girls @katebosworth, @rashidajones and more joined in on the fun, which included cocktails, croque monsieur sandwiches and a photo booth. #wwdfashion (📷: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com)
For the holidays, @Burberry partnered with 20-year-old artist @blondeymccoy on a series of three outdoor murals in downtown Manhattan. The murals are McCoy’s interpretation of a Christmas eve party, the idea of charity and the spirit of family. His third mural, pictured here, is the most personal. The image depicts McCoy’s grandparents and father in London’s Trafalgar Square in the Seventies. “My work often features lots of sentimental objects.” #wwdeye
For spring 2018, designers applied bold colors and cartoonish motifs on everything from sneakers and belts to key chains. See all the top men’s accessories trends on WWD.com. #wwdtrends (📷: George Chinsee; Prop Styling by @rnasti; Market Editor: @luiscampuzano)
The @dior-sponsored @guggenheim international gala pre-party has a history of drawing cool-girl musical acts to serenade the crowd –– and last night was no exception. @haimtheband performed songs both new and old, and lured a star-studded audience with the likes of Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Mamoudou Athie and more. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)
In a partnership between the @metopera and the @englishnationalopera, “Marnie” was born. The opera, with costumes sponsored by @mrporterlive, is an adaptation of the 1961 thriller by Winston Graham. Arianne Phillips, who created the costumes, is no rookie: She’s styled Madonna for her tours and created costumes for a myriad of films in the past. Read WWD’s interview with Phillips, where she talks about her inspiration for the opera’s costumes on WWD.com #wwdfashion
@barneysnyc took a different approach to their holiday windows this year. Instead of Christmas decor, Barneys tapped @thehaasbrothers to tell a story of positivity, gratitude and inclusivity via heartwarming silliness and humor. “It’s about kids and it’s about coming together and being family and loving each other,” said Simon Haas. #wwdfashion (📷: @joshuascottphoto)
Beauty influencer @kandeejohnson makes her foray into hair care with a collaboration with @ogx_beauty — making it the first time that OGX has teamed up for a product creation. The collab includes shampoos and conditioners in three scents. At 39 and a mom, Johnson is a different profile than the emerging social media stars, but is considered one of the pioneers of the digital beauty influencer world. Read WWD’s interview with her on wwd.com, including the strangest beauty product she’s ever tried #wwdbeauty


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If the Conservatives have it right, it is impossible for a society to tax and spend its way to prosperity: But by the Alberta NDP’s lights, we may be able to drink our way there.
After the oil crash of 2015, and surprise victory of an NDP provincial government, Alberta’s economy has struggled to recapture the high of its resource-fuelled booms.
In a bid to turn things around, the NDP has focussed on economic “diversification” — the hope that this province’s economy will flourish even as it weans itself off the extraordinary wealth created by the northern oil sands. And in no industry has the NDP placed more obvious hope and help than in — craft beer.
Every few months, the government seems to announce some new tax structure or rebate, or grant or scheme to build and grow the province’s craft breweries. It is, quite simply, the most visible recipient of the provincial government’s attention and largesse.
As far as industries go, nothing could be more compatible with NDP ideology; Brewed in small towns and urban centres, made with world-class Alberta-grown malt, consumed by a thirsty and weary populace. And if prices have skyrocketed and the province has to create an allegedly anti-constitutional quasi- protectionist regime to go about it, well, at least you know this Alberta industry is hipster friendly.
By many accounts, the NDP has succeeded in encouraging economic activity, here. Two years ago, there were 20 craft breweries in Alberta. Now there are 65, with more growth expected.
“One in five beers sold in this province now is from craft breweries, which is pretty incredible. A few years ago, it was the big (brewers) selling beer here. Small brewers in this province are an important part of economic diversification,” said Joe Ceci, Minister of Finance, boasting of new jobs and investment with each new brewer.
“It’s a grain-to-glass experience where all Alberta product is being used, including hops in many cases. This is really, truly a craft industry.”
One in five beers sold in this province now is from craft breweries, which is pretty incredible.
Ceci acknowledged that craft brewery only makes up a small percentage of the province’s overall GDP, but notes that it is a growing percentage.
“We believe the market could have been bigger had it not been an open market for so long in this province. Many companies across Canada and the world brought their product into Alberta because we were open, and I believe that stunted this industry. So it’s playing a lot of catch up now.”
Last week, the NDP announced a $60,000 grant to develop a brand and digital platform to transform Alberta into a craft-beer tourism destination: Certainly this province will have no luck with grapes, but there is some ambition to envision Alberta as a kind of craft beer Napa Valley, with tourists and locals driving across the plane and sipping Alberta-brewed pints amid the glory of the foothills from whence the grain that begot it was grown.
The government has liberalized and streamlined regulations, permitted bars and restaurants to gain more control over the size of their patios, for example. They’ve loosened time limits for happy hours. They even allowed craft beer to be sold in farmer’s markets.
The most controversial of these initiatives, however, has been a new tax. Originally, the government proposed lower mark ups for beers from within the New West Partnership, however, upon realizing that system wouldn’t stand a trade challenge, they introduced a new system. All beer in Alberta is to be taxed at $1.25 per litre. Small local brewers then receive a rebate depending on how much product they brew.
Critics argue this tax essentially acts as a tariff, undermining the free-flow of boozy goods between provinces. Both Ontario-based Steam Whistle Brewing and Great Western Brewing in Saskatchewan are subjecting the program to a constitutional challenge.
Courts have granted a temporary injunction on the tax while the case is heard.
“We would no longer be a feasible business in Alberta,” said Cam Heaps, the co-founder and CEO of Steam Whistle. “It’s a 125 per cent increase in our tax rate, which would price our beer out of competition.”
This is not how other provinces manage liquor mark ups, he added.
“The way most provinces deal with it, like Ontario, for example, is that if a brewer wants to sell in Ontario, they are eligible for all the same preferential tax treatment that a small brewer in Ontario gets,” Heaps said.
That may be true, but it doesn’t encompass byzantine nature of alcohol sales in Canada. Alberta is unique in that its distribution and sale structure is entirely open and private — which means a store in Alberta can buy liquor from just about anywhere.
Other provinces, like Ontario, manage sales and distribution through a monopoly, which means it can be difficult for Alberta products to eke their way in.
“There is no protection here, we’re totally open. But if you turn the table and look at the other provinces, they have protection going on,” Ceci said. “They have tasting panels and limited shelf space for out of province products, so it’s difficult to get on the shelves in other provinces.
“That’s why (Alberta brewery) Big Rock had to open breweries in Vancouver and Toronto. It was the only way they could sell their product in those provinces.”
Terry Rock, the executive director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association, put it bluntly: “If Alberta is off side, then every other province is worse.”
Craft brewing is a rapidly emerging industry thanks to the new regulatory and grant regime.
“The support we’re getting now is helping us recapture the ground that we should have had before. Alberta can be one of the world’s great brewing destinations,” he said. “Our perspective is that the whole thing is very complex. We have a national trade scenario that is difficult to work with and the government of Alberta worked with us to create a level playing field.”
Alberta’s brewery plans have also been challenged by a local business. Artisan Ales, which imports beer from all over the world, successfully challenged the new tax regime under Canada’s Agreement on Internal Trade. Company owner Mike Tessier won, but the government is appealing the decision.
“It is convoluted, but what they’ve done is they’ve given local brewers a 1,150 per cent tax advantage over (other) beers,” he said. That works out to about $3.50 per six pack, and doesn’t include other costs, Tessier added.
Artisan Ales co-owner Bo Vitanov is not impressed by the Alberta government’s insistence on pushing forward: “As to why they haven’t backed down, to me, that’s the way they behaved on everything. On the farm deal, on the power contracts, so I don’t think it’s any surprise.”
The beer policy even sparked an interprovincial spat between premier Rachel Notley and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.
The politics aside, Tessier said, the consumers have suffered. In addition to the devastating effects to his business: “Beer prices have gone from some of the lowest in Canada, to the second highest for craft beer in Canada,” Tessier said. Vitanov added: “The part that gets missed is that this move has made craft beer in Alberta really expensive.”


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Just hours after being dropped off, the Corvette Convertible becomes the parking lot owner's plaything.
Premier Parking Spot in Cocoa, Florida is one of those places that look after people's cars while they're on vacation, shuttling them to the port of departure in style.
What's different about this particular parking lot is that the owner thinks looking after cars means taking them for a joyride whenever he feels like it and treating them like his own personal vehicles. WFTV Eyewitness News was tipped off about the actions of lot owner Jay Nieves and decided to investigate by setting up a nice little sting. They rented an irresistible red 2012 Chevy Corvette Convertible, fitted a GPS tracking device, and headed to the lot with a couple of wannabe holidaymakers. Six hours later Jay Nieves was taking the 'Vette for a spin.
The news crew filming him doing burnouts, thrashing it down a dirt road, running some errands at Ace and even stopping for a bite to eat at Applebee's. All in Nieves clocked over 60 miles in the car before the news crew stepped in and confronted him about his actions. Unsurprisingly, the unscrupulous joyrider denied everything. Check back for a follow up as WFTV are planning on taking this story further.


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German department store boycotts Israeli products
In the wake of the European Union’s (EU) decision to label Israeli products from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights, a German department store has removed Israeli products from its shelves.
The store in question is KaDeWe, which is located in Berlin and is Europe’s largest department store. A spokeswoman for KaDeWe, told theDer Spiegel magazine that the store would return Israeli products to its shelves but “only after fixing the labels.”
She did not provide details on what kinds of products were pulled.
Responding to KaDeWe’s decision, a diplomatic source in Israel said on Saturday night that “KaDeWe’s move is appalling and disappointing. The store has a duty to repair the unnecessary damage it caused. Whoever starts with labeling products does not know how it will end.”
Following the EU’s labeling decision, Israeli officials responded with anger, saying the move was essentially a boycott of Israel.
EU officials, however, have denied that the EU is boycotting Israel. Last week, the EU’s ambassador to Israel
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Ecuador is a very interesting country when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Although the national government does not favor this innovative form of money, local entrepreneurs are ignoring its warnings whenever possible. In fact, there are now cryptocurrency ATMs in Ecuador, which is a pretty big development for the industry as a whole.
Bitcoin Continues to Thrive in Ecuador
No one will deny that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have made their mark on the financial sector. Although not everyone may be in favor of this new form of money, entrepreneurs all over the world are pretty confident this industry will only continue to attract the masses in the future. Making cryptocurrencies more accessible to the average person on the street, however, will not be easy whatsoever.
One way of making Bitcoin and select altcoins more accessible is by deploying cryptocurrency ATMs. While that concept makes a lot of sense in most parts of the world, the situation is very different in Ecuador. More specifically, the Ecuadorian government has no love lost for Bitcoin and other currencies, as it wants to ban this form of money altogether. All of those efforts have been in vain since 2014, though, as there is still no official ban on cryptocurrency in the country as of right now.
While it is true the government of Ecuador attempted to ban cryptocurrency a while ago, the central bank countered its effort earlier this year. According to the bank, buying and selling Bitcoin is not illegal, even though using it as a payment method for goods and services may prove to be a different matter altogether. Using Bitcoin for this purpose is risky, as it may lead to governmental scrutiny in the long run. Surprisingly, some of Ecuador’s Bitcoin entrepreneurs are not too concerned about these developments as of right now.
Instead, we saw the very first cryptocurrency ATMs pop up in Ecuador last month. This is a remarkable milestone for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. It is also worth noting that the ATM located in the capital city of Quito was built entirely in Ecuador. Two different models were unveiled recently, although they do not come cheap. One of these machines costs US$22,000, which may be a bit steep for most entrepreneurs in the country.
Even so, this venture is mainly designed to bring cryptocurrencies to the average consumer in a convenient manner. The ATMs exchange dollars for Bitcoin, Dash, and Pura, which is a rather interesting collection of currencies, to say the least. It is possible that more cryptocurrencies will be added in the future. As one would expect, both devices present users with digital wallets when they make their first purchase.
For the time being, these machines are not accessible to the general public, but that situation will change soon. They are merely an educational tool for now, as there are legal ramifications to using these machines as actual money conversion units. It is not surprising to learn the Ecuadorian central bank has already declared the machines to be illegal, although it remains to be seen how this situation will play out in the long run.


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The United States is 7.5 billion us dollars (6.9 million euros) in import duties into the European Union. The world trade organization on Wednesday decided to. It’s going to be the highest amount of the so-called response measures, which the WTO has ever been admitted to a handelsconflict.
in The case in which the penalties arise, turn to all of the fourteen-year-long dispute between the United States and the European Union over alleged government subsidies for aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The U.s. trade representatives have estimated that in the U.S. because of this, every year an estimated 11-billion dollars in damage to suffer from. The europeans claim to be, in their turn, that the united states, the Us and Boeing in an unfair way, to support it.
Last year’s decision by the WTO, though, that Airbus is effectively in the billions of euros in illegal state aid it has given, and has the US given permission to be 7.5 billion us dollars of import duties on Eu products. Charges may apply for European products such as beverages, food products, luxury goods, and aircraft parts.
the Diplomats in Brussels expect US, the fees at the end of this month to enter. They should have to make a choice from a list of goods for a value of nearly 25 billion u.s. dollars. It is anticipated that a particular aircraft and parts thereof, may be taken as food.
in Europe, announced that it also deals want to impose, because the WTO held that the U.s. aircraft manufacturer Boeing has as much in illegal subsidies it has received. The trade association explains, however, until the beginning of next year the scale of the European, the concern is fixed.
“If the new U.s. import duties, the European Union has no other choice but to have the same measure,” said the european Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström on Wednesday. She stressed, however, that it is now counter-measures to take “is short-sighted and counter-productive” because both the united states and the EU have made mistakes. Also, she emphasizes that she is still in a “balanced settlement” will be reached with the united states.
Airbus said Wednesday the act, to take note of the decision of the WTO, and warns that the U.s. duties are also bad for the Us airline industry. “They were an obstacle to free trade, and not only have a negative impact on American businesses, and American jobs, vendors, and people,” according to CEO Guillaume Faury. “Airbus is hoping that the US and the EU to find a solution before they are in the airline industry, the commercial relations and the global economy is in a serious battle damage.”
the Trump: “Huge win for US,”
The Us president, when He spoke of the decision during a press conference for “a major victory for the United States, but announced no duties against the EU. “The WTO is much, much better for us, since I have been president have come,” said He even at the press conference.
More about the United States of america, After emergency surgery: Bernie Sanders, will take part in a debate between the Democratic candidates in All of the 18 deaths occurring after use of the e-cigarette in the U.S., more than 1,000 people ill, he refuses to sollicitante due to bikinifoto, but it breaks down them sour at the Hotel, go up to the 800-million-dollar payment to the victims of the shooting rampage in Las Vegas


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Our approach to clothing has become furiously fast and frivolous, with the high streets offering fashion fads for a matter of moments.
Latest Blogs . .
We produce 80 billion new items of clothing a year
90% of clothing is made of genetically modified cotton
Cotton uses one quarter of global pesticides
An estimated 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile manufacturing
It can take up to 20,000 litres to produce one kilogram of cotton
One in six people are employed in the fashion industry globally
Workers are largely underpaid, unprivileged, modern day slaves - 85% are women
Fast-fashion is one of the most environmentally damaging and socially regressive industries in the world. . . . the second largest polluter after oil
Avoiding fast fashion is the best way to avoid responsibility for the negative environmental and social impacts of the textile and production industries.
Check out your favourite brands for their ethical index, and email them for clarifications and to apply pressure.
To meet massive demand, global brands in the textiles industry take out contracts with factories all over the world, most often in poorer countries.
From dangers in the fields, disasters in production, slavery in manufacture, unsustainable shipping and waste management - it is normally the poverty stricken that pay the price of production. By forming long and circuitous supply chains, big brands quietly exploit people down the line keeping the huge profits for themselves.
Most people think charity shop donations solve the problem of quick clothing fix discards. But the truth is, the majority gets sold back to developing countries where they create more problems.
More than 60% of clothing is manufactured in developing countries, made predominantly by women..
China dominated the cheap labour market and has since increased wages to match inflation. As a result, clothing corporations have begun moving to cheaper countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan and the Philippines.
War on Want's Stitched Up report found 86% of Bangladeshi clothing workers were women between 18-31 years who earn just £32 a month. Extra work is demanded suddenly and without warning to meet delivery contracts, so one third work of the women were found to have worked 100-140 hours unpaid overtime breaking international labour laws.
Cotton is one of the most wasteful industries for water. It takes 10,000 litres of water to make one kilogram of cotton. In countries like India, lack of regulation makes this more like 22,500 litres.
The cotton used in producing one t-shirt is the equivalent of flushing the toilet 250 times, the amount of water a person drinks in 900 days.
India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history and around 600 million people face a severe water shortage. In 2013, the water consumed to grow India’s cotton exports was enough to supply 85 per cent of the country’s 1.5 billion people with 100 litres of water every day for a year.
Agriculture is the largest source of pollution in most countries, and cotton is the world’s most important non-food agricultural commodity.
It covers less than 2.5 per cent of the world’s crop land yet it accounts for a huge 24 percent of insecticide sales and 11 per cent of pesticides. The industry is worth $2 billion of chemical pesticides each year, within which $819 million are considered toxic enough to be classified as hazardous by the World Health Organisation.
The world's top textile exporter China is suffering as experts estimate that 70% of lakes and rivers, and 90% of all groundwater is already polluted. The impacts of fast fashion are clear and catastrophic as 320 million Chinese people do not have access to clean drinking water – more than the entire population of the United States.
In 2013, the world witnessed the worst factor disaster in contemporary manufacturing history. 1,134 people were killed and 2,500 injured in the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh which was used for quick, premium clothing contracts by Bennetton, Bonmarche, El Corte Ingles, Monsoon Accessorize, Mango, Matalan,
Appalling building work, fire and electrical safety conditions were to blame. Colossal but careless American and European apparel brands have been primarily focused on writing unfair contracts which put unbearable time pressure on factories. And if they miss the order? They have to keep all the clothes branded to that company and are forbidden from selling them to anyone else, bearing all costs of the production which could drive them into bankruptcy.
Globalisation means that our new clothes have likely travelled halfway around the world in a container ship fuelled by the dirtiest of fossil fuels. Fifty years ago 95% of clothing was made close to home. Today, now less than 10% of our clothing is manufactured in the UK.
90 per cent of our goods arrive on gigantic liners, but the shipping industry's carbon emissions aren't recognised in the United Nations climate change models.
This means there's no accounting for the massive carbon emissions of the shipping industry in our climate models.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
The global fashion industry is unacceptably exploitative and environmentally damaging. But a growing awareness with pressure from consumers can prevent big brands from secretively making unsustainable clothing contracts for quick mass orders, straining workers in countries where manufacturing is a crucial economy.
As customers, power lies with the pounds we spend, where companies supply our demand with more production and products. We must demand a fairer deal for the millions and millions of enslaved workers.
The growing culture of fast fashion in the last few years has seen billions of garments donated to charity.
However, believe it or not but only 10-30 per cent of donated clothes actually get sold in UK charity shops.
The rest all make their way back to eastern European and African to create new problems, undercutting the work and wages at new fabric factories there.
Find pre-loved, sustainable clothing with a story. One person's waste is another's gold. Enjoy treasure hunting in charity shops to fulfil your needs. If you can't find exactly what you want, maybe you don't need it? When you are looking for something special, it will manifest when it's meant to
Repair your rips, and swap clothes with mates. Upcycle clothes into creations you'll love to prevent new purchases.


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LG to showcase new IPS monitors
Manama, January 3, 2012
LG Electronics is set to unveil its 2012 IPS monitor line-up at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held from January 10-13 in Las Vegas.
The new IPS monitors will provide consumers with the most optimal 3D viewing solution, offering immersive 3D viewing with higher resolutions from wider viewing angles, said a LG statement.
The new IPS monitors have been divided into the DM92, DM82 and DM52 series, in addition to the D43 3D monitor.
“The 2011 IPS monitor line-up shows LG’s commitment to further build upon on this reputation and technological prowess in order to provide consumers with the most immersive home entertainment experience possible,” said Havis Kwon, president and CEO of LG Home Entertainment Company.
The DM92 series showcases a premium design by employing the slim bezel of LG’s technology and design-driven cinema screen whose aesthetic superiority is accompanied by the lustrous chrome stand.
'Through the monitor TV’s attractive 27-inch display, users can access files on their PC, play games or simply kick back and watch their favorite TV shows. The DM92 series is also optimized for enjoying exciting 3D content.'
'By incorporating an IPS panel, the DM92 series enables greater depth, consistent color and brightness at wider viewing angles compared with conventional 3D displays,' Kwon added.
The 23-inch DM82 series exhibits a chic and futuristic design, employing a metallic neck supported by a square, slim base.
Optimized for 3D, LG’s D43 monitor offers a host of new technologies and features. The monitor ensures bright 3D images as well as Super Resolution and vivid colors through the 3D effect mode., said Kwon.
The D43 easily converts 2D content into 3D without any additional software. A 3D hot key enables users to easily adjust and control the depth of 3D images.-TradeArabia News Service


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How bots replace students in higher education funnels
Marketing | May 24, 2021
Customer acquisition – the process of bringing new customers or clients – is at the heart of every business. This includes “the business” of higher education. For higher education marketers, the most important metric is student acquisition cost, that is the cost to acquire an enrolled student. This metric, which is calculated by dividing the cost of marketing by the number of students enrolled, currently stands at $1985 per student (it can be so high because of the payoff for an enrollment can be $65,000 lifetime value, or incremental profit contribution from that student over the projected lifetime of the user).
To hit these all-important enrollment targets, paid marketing is central–with US universities spending $7 billion annually on digital paid spend to fill places. However, as we reveal in this post, often this spend ends up not recruiting students at all. Instead, online student acquisition captures bots. Lots and lots of bots in the form of fake and junk leads that university representatives spend days following up on. Based on analysis of leading US universities, we reveal the reasons behind this growing fake student bot rise in funnels. For thousands of calls made to fake users this represents hours contacting (often real) people whose phone numbers have been faked or stolen.
Overall, this little-talked-about attack is seeing colleges missing out on revenue opportunities and threatens to undermine enrollment.
The golden metric: student acquisition
To understand the rising challenge of students being replaced with bots, it is worth spending some time looking at the mechanics of student acquisition. Naturally, enrollment numbers are the number one priority. Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), for instance, set an ambitious target to enroll 300,000 students by 2023. Paul LeBlanc, the university’s president says: “We put a number out there because when you do strategic planning, you want to give some sense of scale.”
In a 2021 survey, 86 percent of college presidents put the hitting of fall or summer enrollment numbers at the top of their most pressing issues. The battle for students has no doubt been impacted by COVID-19 which shrunk the number of students (who are deferring or finding other options). Consultancy, McKinsey suggests that US universities could see a drop of up to 20% in the fall of 2021, which would deal a $19 billion revenue loss from lost tuition and fee revenues alone.
To reach their student numbers, colleges are investing big on paid marketing through digital channels to hit their numbers.
The rapid rise of digital customer acquisition
The rise of customer acquisition using paid search and paid social is growing fast. In 2019 the college spent $19.6 billion on advertising as a whole in the US. Based on current market share of digital advertising for education, we have found that the US spends $7billion on digital advertising in education. This has only increased due to a need to scoop up students from a smaller pool. Higher education Facebook advertising increased 7% during the pandemic compared to the same 10-week period in the previous year. The average Facebook ad spend was $131,402 per institution, or about $54,000 per month. Brick-and-mortar schools ramping up advertising include Purdue and the University of Florida, which promoted their online programs, and MIT and UC Berkeley, which pushed their online technology course offerings. Typically, institutions spend 5% of their annual revenue on marketing with some outliers, such as SNHU spending 17%. For illustration, in 2018 SNHU spent for instance almost $47 million to Google and over $85 million to their media buying and planning agency (Mediassociates). Their cost per enrolled student is $1134.
The power of PPC marketing in this sphere is also huge – 83% of education marketers say that PPC is a huge driver for their brand.
How big is online customer/student acquisition fraud?
So, looking at these fast-scaling digital college customer acquisition campaigns, how big is the problem of bots and fake users in reality? How are bots and fake users actually infesting campaigns? At CHEQ we see 6% of invalid clicks across paid digital customer acquisition for higher education campaigns, among the highest for any sector. To be clear, this reflects clicks of users on paid media online by clickers who are not human, are definitely not interested in, say, a law degree, and will never enroll. The problem involves sophisticated automated bot attacks.
What are fake student bots clicking on anyway?
Based on analysis of more than 20 colleges we work with, bots are making thousands of clicks per day per institution. We found bots made up between 1.7% to 19% of clicks on the brand university name (the paid brand click) and 1.7% of all clicks on law degree landing pages. Analyzing specific campaigns, most flagship undergraduate intake campaigns saw bot clicks of 5%. Clicks for expensive “Master’s degree” and “academic degrees” kewyords turned out to be mostly data center traffic.
How invalid bot clicks attack higher education customer acquisition campaigns
The graphic below aggregated from the CHEQ for PPC dashboard shows how bots were spotted and the tactics they use to evade detection.
However, wasting money capturing bot-driven fake leads, is not the only (or even main) challenge faced by colleges. The much larger effects include everything from long-term missing out on revenues, to bringing up costs for institutions and students.
1. Losing hours reaching out to fake leads
Teams at colleges we speak with spend hours, or days in some cases, reaching out to fake leads generated by bots. This is because of the importance of “speed of lead” and calling future learners as fast as possible (SNHU representatives typically return 98 percent of new lead calls in under three minutes according to LeBlanc). But increasingly forms filled turn out to be simply bots using stolen or junk details. In the words of one university marketing head, we worked with to eliminate bot clicks: “We were getting a lot of bad email addresses and a lot of bad phone numbers and even the same bad email addresses a lot of times in the same day.”
This is caused through bots run by ad fraudsters, who end up “converting” into a college lead by filling in details on a form (name, email address, phone number). If no email verification is required, the fraudster has no reason to use a real address and can just send random ones. If email verification is required, the fraudster controls the email addresses which he inputs. This can be done in various ways; the fraudster buys bulk addresses which redirect every email to an email address the fraudster controls.
2. Data and CRM chaos
Data is now considered the “oil” of customer acquisition in universities, but bots are seeing this core data flunk most tests. Speaking about the importance of data in education, Rob Zinkan, associate vice president, marketing, at Indiana University says: “Higher education marketing departments should be able to bring data, insight, and an intimate understanding of the consumer to enable their institutions to identify future opportunities and forge new directions.”
Elsewhere, UMUC has a designated “data czar” to help define standards for how information is captured, managed, shared, and stored online.
Ryan Klotz, the Director of Enrollment Analytics and Territory Development for Saint Louis University, says it is more critical than ever to deploy effective data analytics. “Competition has tightened, and enrollment is not guaranteed,” he says.
But what if much of the fundamental data is wrong? One of the biggest problems faced is mountains of bot clicks fogging up this data. To take only one example, we see an average 8.9 bot return rate among bots in education. These eager clicks can be mistaken for interested students and can lead to (poor) decisions based on fake activity.
Bots also send the wider data instruments used by marketers, including higher education marketers, into a frenzy. Analysis of the top-20 spenders in US higher education shows web analytics (75%) and heatmaps (used by 28% of universities) are most commonly used by higher education marketing teams. However, with thousands of visits on education sites as a result of click fraud, bots, or invalid clicks often these findings turn out to be useless.
3. Lost revenue opportunities from fake bot students
Lost revenue opportunities occur when a company makes less from operations than expected due to fake or bot users. Traditionally, of course, revenue loss projections involve long-term thinking about new regulations or drops in demand – instance, decreased enrollment, tuition discounting, declining international student enrollment. However, staying invisible, and unforeseen are the opportunities lost through fake users and bots filling funnels. The net effect is that education companies are leaving money on the table by capturing bot attention instead of real eyeballs. While institutions can expect $65,000 lifetime value from a real student, fake users swept up from these campaigns deliver zero revenue and zero lifetime value. If this spend was invested in real students, the revenue opportunities stand to be in the millions of dollars.
4. Draining budgets in the morning
We also see bots (before CHEQ blocks invalid clicks) putting their foot down and clicking on ads to drain budgets. By draining budgets of an advertiser early in the morning this effectively puts auto brands out of commission for getting real customers that day. Universities saw the highest rate of bot attacks at 9am (4% invalid clicks). Even bots pretending to be students sleep in compared to sectors such as online gambling it seems. In cases of university invalid clicks analyzed, the user agent provided in the bid request had anomalies that were obvious invalid traffic including browsers that do not exist and incorrect system information. For some universities it represented $6000 a week lost to bots.
5. Bogus retargeting of fake students
Student acquisition faces a lengthy “sales” cycles. Naturally, students take several months, and potentially lots of clicks, before deciding on this major life decision. This is where retargeting is very popular in education PPC –enabling you to show your ads to your visitors after they leave and keep your institution top of mind. However, as we see in many campaigns, with click fraud challenges, money ends up retargeting bots, rather than real students, and further money is lost on wasted clicks.
6. Fixing traffic signals delivered to Facebook and Google
Finally, Facebook and Google are motivated to get advertisers the best results for their campaigns (so that more and more money is spent on these channels). To reach new customers, brands are reliant on these channels to work effectively (Facebook and Google have a combined market share of 57% of US advertising so can capture a lot of students). The way it works is that pixels, such as on university sites, tell these advertising giants which users engage the most. This prompts a call for “lookalikes” to ask for more of these “good” visitors to the site. However, with millions of invalid clicks, brands are inadvertently transmitting the wrong information about good leads, hampering paid platforms’ ability to parcel out the best audiences. This hurts organic and paid marketing results long term.
What is customer acquisition fraud in higher education digital marketing?
To counter this rising problem of bots and fake users in higher education, customer acquisition security is the means used by marketing and revenue leaders, to eliminate the fast-growing problem of fake users and bots from customers’ funnels, campaigns, analytics, and CRM. For instance, teams use CAS to legitimize the clicks on their advertisements across all platforms by identifying and filtering out fraudulent clicks. This adds millions of dollars in new revenue and ensures more predictable data. The use of customer acquisition security is transforming marketing, analytics, operations, and revenue decision making.
In the words of a media agency director working with a top US university the problem is clear-cut. “Our whole purpose is to drive leads to the college of prospective students to their undergraduate or graduate level education. What we have found across a couple of programs is we are driving leads on the front end but when we try to qualify them on the back end, some of them were just not the high quality leads we were looking for. So that is where CHEQ emerged as a solution to improve the quality of traffic we are driving to our campaigns.”
With enrollment challenges, campuses have to make sure they are spending their vital marketing dollars on the right initiatives to usher students through the doors. Bots make poor leads and worse students.
CHEQ for PPC is a security suite for the CMO, digital teams and demand generation leader to track bots and fraudulent activity from all major search engines and social media platforms. CHEQ for PPC is the first solution to block invalid clicks across multiple platforms including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Baidu, Bing, LinkedIn, Snap, Twitter, Pinterest, Yahoo, Yandex and more. Get your free demo here.


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Nike Inc. said Thursday its third-quarter net income rose 55 percent as the athletic gear maker's resurgence in North America and easing material costs helped offset continued weakness in China.
Nike Inc. said Thursday its third-quarter net income rose 55 percent as the athletic gear maker’s resurgence in North America and easing material costs helped offset continued weakness in China.
The world’s largest athletic shoe and clothing company’s results beat expectations and its shares jumped 8 percent in aftermarket trading.
Like most global companies, Nike Inc. has been dealing with Europe’s fluctuating economy and a slowdown in growth in China. Nike has been working to reduce its inventory in China and reworking its offerings there to adapt to the changing tastes of Chinese consumers. It also has been focusing on growth in North America, selling off less profitable brands like Umbro to focus on core brands like Nike.
The company’s quarterly results show Nike’s strategy is paying off in North America, but it’s still facing weakness in China. North American revenue, which accounts for 40 percent of revenue, rose 18 percent to $2.55 billion. Revenue in China, which accounts for 10 percent of revenue, was down 9 percent to $635 million.
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“The U.S. business continues to be just phenomenal,” said Morningstar analyst Paul Swinand. But he added that “for real long-term growth to be solid, it has got to come from China and emerging markets.”
In a call with analysts, CEO Mark Parker said the company was seeing progress in China, but “we still have more to do before we can capture its long-term growth potential.”
Net income for the three months ended Feb. 28 rose to $866 million, or 73 cents per share. That compares with $560 million, or 61 cents per share, last year. Analysts expected 67 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Higher labor costs were more than offset by raising prices and easing material costs, the company said.
Revenue rose 9 percent to $6.19 billion, from $5.66 billion last year, nearly matching analysts’ expectations of revenue of $6.2 billion.
Nike brand revenue rose 10 percent excluding currency fluctuations, growing everywhere but China and Japan. Growth from other brands including Converse, Nike Gold and Hurley rose 9 percent.
Looking forward, orders for Nike shoes and apparel to be delivered between May and July rose 6 percent to $9.9 billion. That includes an 11 percent increase in North America, a 5 percent decline in Western Europe and a 4 percent increase in China.
Parker said e-commerce is a focus for the future. Online revenue rose 33 percent in the quarter, but Parker said he would like to grow that business more and the company will improve the online shopping experience.
“It’s a pretty big gap between where e-commerce is today and where we can take it,” he said.
Shares rose $4.30, or 8 percent, to $57.90 in aftermarket trading, after ending the day down $1.23, or 2.2 percent at $53.60.


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ITHACA, NY – The inaugural Northeastern Dairy Product Innovation Competition has its 10 finalists.
Cornell University's Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) and the Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center (NDFRC) announced the food entrepreneurs and products that are still being considered for the contest, which supports food innovators in launching products that are made using dairy ingredients from the Northeast.
The finalists and their products are:
• Bell & Goose Cheese Co. (New Hampshire), marinated feta cheese.
• lu•lu ice cream (Vermont), goat's milk gelato.
• Maia Yogurt (Connecticut), grassfed yogurt for kids.
• Maple Valley Farm (Vermont), saffron maple yogurt.
• North Country Creamery (New York), semi-hard, pasteurized cheese.
• Oakfield Corners Cheese LLC (New York), Mexican style cheese.
• Spekld (Connecticut), pre-made brown butter product.
• Terra Firma Farm (Connecticut), ready-to-use, premium ice cream base.
• Naturally Golden Family Farms Co-op (Pennsylvania), all-natural, dairy-based coffee creamer.
• Very Good Yogurt (New York), sugar-free, savory yogurt.
The Northeastern Dairy Product Innovation Competition is supported by a $1 million grant from the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center. A total of $365,000 in awards will go to finalists and winners, who will receive funding and technical support to bring their products to market. Finalists receive $20,000 and up to three winners gain another $55,000, plus a presence at the Dairy Innovation Showcase at the 2023 Grow-NY Summit in November.
The competition’s organizers said more than 50 food entrepreneurs from throughout the United States applied. The finalists were selected by a committee of dairy experts, based on product concept, innovation or improvement, viability, prominence of dairy ingredients and consumer value.
Dr. Samuel Alcaine, director of the NDFRC and associate professor at Cornell CALS, said the people behind the competition were thrilled with the response they have received thus far.
“This competition positions the Northeast to create more product lines and business opportunities for our region's dairy farmers," Alcaine said.
Jenn Smith, the director of food and ag startup programs for CREA, said the competition “builds a pipeline of entrepreneurs equipped to create and scale value-added products that address today's consumer preferences.”
Smith added: “Growing these businesses is key to increasing the utilization of dairy ingredients produced in the Northeast and strengthening our rural economy.”
Finalists will be evaluated on dairy product concept, execution, innovation and improvement, as well as commercialization viability, business model, the use of dairy ingredients and consumer value.
The 10 finalists will pitch their products to judges on Aug. 8, at Cornell University's Stocking Hall, in Ithaca, NY.


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Heavy-vehicle maker Scania sees pre-tax income shrink
Stockholm - Swedish heavy-vehicle maker Scania saw almost all its pre-tax profits vanish in the first-quarter 2009, the group said Monday, citing lower deliveries and shrinking demand. Pre-tax income was 164 million kronor (20 million dollars), down 95 per cent compared to 2.5 billion kronor in the corresponding business period 2008.
Year-on-year sales in the quarter declined 28 per cent to 15.8 billion kronor, while operating income fell 86 per cent to 506 million kronor.
"Falling vehicle deliveries and substantially lower capacity utilisation pulled down earnings," Scania chief executive Leif Ostling said in a comment.
Ostling added that "practically all markets where Scania has operations are characterised by low economicactivity due to the turbulence in the financial markets and its impact on the real economy."
The company did not see any major change in demand for the coming quarters, Ostling said.
Scania has trimmed its production workforceto about 10,000 employees, and most work daytime shifts. The group was also to continue its training programmes for staff.
The group had some 33,600 employees at the end of the quarter.
During the quarter, Scania truck deliveries fell 43 per cent year-on-year to 9,937 units while order bookings shrank 74 per cent to 4,783 trucks. For central and eastern Europe, order bookings dropped 94 per cent.
Bookings for buses fell 39 per cent to 1,278 units and the group delivered 1,367 units in the quarter, down 9 per cent year-on-year.
Scania estimated it had about 13.9 per cent of the truck market in Europe, almost the same as in first-quarter 2008. (dpa)


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Why Should You Invest In DI Insurance?
8/6/2012 2:28 PM
Just over one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before reaching age 67, according to a July 2012 fact sheet from the Social Security Administration. In addition, The Disability Divide, a 2010 consumer research study conducted by the Council for Disability Awareness, revealed that 83 percent of people taking part believed that anyone can become disabled at any time. However, the study also revealed that consumers often were in denial about the chances of a disabling illness or injury happening to them personally.
To learn more about the CDA’s study, you can consult a press release on the organization’s website by clicking here. The CDA also has created an online Disability Counter, available here, that shows the increasing number of working Americans who experience a disability lasting 30 days or longer and provides related tools that allow visitors to estimate their own individual risk of becoming disabled.
Illinois Mutual offers comprehensive Disability Income Insurance for individuals at competitive prices. More details about our product offerings can be found here on our company website. You can see what’s available in your state, ask to have an agent contact you, and even get a quote! To hear what some of our current policyowners are saying about Illinois Mutual, visit www.IllinoisMutualNow.com.


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The woman who has been the face of Shorewood's Business Improvement District for the last six years is out as the district's marketing director.
Barb Caprile has headed downtown marketing efforts since 2005 and has played a key role in promoting events such as the Holiday Shopwalk, the Shorewood Showcase and the "Butterflies in Flight" public art project.
But the BID decided to not to renew her contract and will instead go with another Shorewood marketing company, P.K. Wheeler Communications, said Trustee Dawn Anderson, who is the village's representative on the BID board.
“The BID board (15 members) were unanimous in their decision to move in this direction regarding the marketing program and Caprile Marketing not being selected as the professional service provider,” BID Executive Director Jim Plaisted said in an e-mail to board members.
The board began looking at other companies in the fall and in December received 10 proposals from firms who wanted to spearhead the BID's marketing efforts.
P.K. Wheeler is expected to be awarded the marketing contract at the BID board's Jan. 26 meeting.
Plaisted declined to say why the board didn't renew Caprile's contract, however, Anderson noted it will be nice to have a marketing team working for the village rather than one person.
Tim Ryan, president of the BID board and owner of Harleys: The Store for Men, could not be reached for comment.
“The Shorewood Business Improvement District Board of Directors would like to take this opportunity to thank Barb Caprile of Caprile Marketing/Design for her dedication, passion and service...as the BID’s marketing director,” Plaisted said in the e-mail.
Caprile will remain the editor of the Shorewood Today magazine, a quarterly publication distributed to all households in the village.
“I love my village and am grateful to be able to serve my community. I take great pride in the many accomplishments the Shorewood Business Improvement District achieved over the past six years,” Caprile said in an e-mail.
She declined to comment further on the board's decision. The BID contract for marketing requires renewal annually.
Shorewood Patch attempted to contact numerous downtown businesses to determine why the change was made and to get reaction to the decision.
Most of the business owners contacted either declined to comment or said they didn't have much interaction with Caprile.
"She was more big picture than helping the individual business," said Stone Creek Coffee Manager Jared Schmitt, one of the few who spoke on the record about Caprile.


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Chinese contract manufacturer and injection molder Guangzhou Echom Science & Technology Co. Ltd. thinks it has found a way to combat plummeting sales and mass layoffs hitting Chinese factories these days focus on industrial design.
Echom, which employs 5,000 and runs about 100 presses, believes that emphasizing industrial design improves quality and gives it an advantage in the brutally competitive world of making components for consumer electronics products. Chairman Xian Ran, who began his career as an industrial designer, describes design as the engine of the firm.
That approach, using design as a business strategy, took center stage at a conference in Guangzhou on industrial design capabilities of small and midsized Chinese manufacturers. The conference was held during Guangzhou Design Week, Dec. 1-5, and included talks by Echom and other companies, along with presentations from professors who have studied the industrial design capabilities of local firms.
Design is not a cure-all for every company or an easy strategy to implement, however, and experts said too many Chinese firms mistakenly think it means focusing on superficial elements such as making a product look better.
Instead, conference speakers said, design should mean attempting to understand consumer needs as a way to improve product development, leading to more profits.
Tong Huiming, head of the College of Design at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, said the global financial crisis and China's rising costs are posing challenges for that country's economic model for the past 30 years: exporting and serving as world's low-cost manufacturing workshop.
Competing on price has been the traditional strategy of manufacturers in South China around Guangzhou, Tong said. Instead, Chinese firms should look to their own innovation and design for future growth, he said.
Tong and an industrial design professor from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, John Heskett, expect to complete a study in mid-2009 looking at how 25 South China small and midsized manufacturers use industrial design, and will offer recommendations to interested local firms.
Moving into design is crucial to making profit, Tong said.
Only a very small portion of the value of a product is in manufacturing, where China has thus far focused, he said. Using the Apple iPhone as an example, Tong said most of its value from design, marketing and branding remains in the hands of firms in developed countries.
Industrial design capabilities are improving in China as part of a government policy in Guangzhou and Guangdong province to upgrade local manufacturers, he said.
South China's toy and furniture industries have been particularly hard hit, and companies need to change strategies, he said.
Xian said Echom has seen competition starting to develop from lower-cost locations like Vietnam, and that also is pushing the firm to do more with design.
Echom wants to develop its own branded products, but believes it will take several years to do that, Xian said. The firm will develop niche products that do not compete with its existing customer base, he added.
Xian worked as an industrial designer at Chinese television and cell phone maker Konka Electronics Group in Shenzhen before taking various executive posts at Echom, beginning in 1996. He said developed economies like Germany, Japan and the U.S. have long focused on industrial design.
He claims design has allowed his firm to weather the global financial crisis better than most Chinese competitors, with only a handful of layoffs and a very small decrease in sales. We provide unique design, so those products are better, he said.
An official with a Chinese firm that recently established a design department said made-in-China design faces hurdles, however. Li Xiao Yan, manager of the Creative Center at Guangzhou Shiyuan Electronic Co. Ltd., said Chinese designers may have less knowledge of broad topics than foreign designers, with more of a focus on one specialty, and they tend to have traveled less, limiting exposure to other ideas.
Chinese designers also do not have as much intellectual property protection for their work as foreign designers, she said.
Shiyuan has begun employing European designers, and Li said it has made her aware that Chinese designers need to work harder to bridge the gaps in capabilities.
Chen Wen-Long, president of Taiwanese design firm Nova Design, said the intense price competition in China's domestic market hurts design development, because consumers don't often shop for quality.
Hong Kong Polytechnic's Heskett said his study of design capabilities of small and midsized local enterprises has convinced him that many Chinese firms are investing time and money in using design to move up the value chain.
What has surprised me is there are some [original equipment manufacturing] companies that are really making strong efforts to break out of that dependence on overseas clients and they are trying to use their experience to develop their own products, their own brands, and essentially to gain control of what they do, said Heskett.
Still, he said many Chinese firms in the study are not well-positioned to use design. Top management too often regards it as a cost, used only to make products look better, and designers may not be capable of doing more.
The biggest problem is changing management attitudes to design, he said. Most [Chinese small and midsized enterprises] are not well-equipped because of this management deficit, and because designers are not equipped to take on the responsibilities and decision-making that comes with a managerial role.