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Bonnie Clyde had just sent free pairs of beach-ready sunglasses to a who’s who of celebrities and influencers when the pandemic cancelled everyone’s vacation plans.
Suddenly, a campaign meant to cement Bonnie Clyde as the nexus between internet culture and LA cool in the minds of consumers didn’t seem like such a good idea. The brand cut its social media ad spending to close to zero in March, joining countless other fashion companies that saw the marketing budget as an easy way to cut costs.
That turned out to be a mistake, said Jon Yuan, Bonnie Clyde’s founder. Halting Instagram ads was like cutting off the brand’s oxygen supply. Sales dropped to next to nothing.
By late April, Bonnie Clyde had ramped up its marketing again, now with paid social ads rather than a gifting campaign. It focused on its bestselling models, including rectangular “show and tell” acetate frames, inscribed with phrases like “Don’t look at me” and “I’m dancing” on the temples. Sales are on track to double this year, Yuan said, but he regrets missing out on an opportunity to speak to consumers stuck at home in the early days of the pandemic.
Plenty of companies learned the same hard lesson as Bonnie Clyde this year. A slump in social media advertising this spring, seen by some as the start of a long-term shift away from Instagram ads and influencer campaigns, was over by mid-summer. Facebook reported a 22 percent increase in advertising across its platforms in the third quarter, to $21 billion. Snapchat’s overall revenue rose by more than half.
Ad rates have also come roaring back. In early November, cost per one thousand clicks across social media fluctuated between 20 percent and 60 percent higher year-over-year, according to Within, a marketing company.
That’s created a quandary for brands, many of which were already struggling to pay for rising online advertising costs even before the pandemic: with sales down and the economic outlook bleak, they can’t afford to spend big on social marketing like they used to. But they now know they can’t afford to stay off social media, either.
Brands stuck on the customer acquisition hamster wheel have to get creative about cutting expenses. The trick is to keep spending on the ad buys while reducing the cost of producing those ads. Once a brand reaches critical mass, or its customers are loyal enough that reaching new ones is less urgent, it may not need to spend so much, proportionately, on social media ads. But for most brands, that day is still far off.
“When it comes to investing in paid campaigns, it’s not whether people should do it or not, there’s no option, you have to,” said Revecka Jallad, president and co-founder of the digital marketing agency Divisa. “What I like to compare it to is like an aeroplane trying to take off: If you don’t get to a minimum [speed], you can’t cruise and you just crash.”
Spending Money to Make Money
Paid social media ads — those promoted posts that appear in a user’s feed, in Stories or on an explore page — help drive customers to a brand’s website, and hopefully, to make a purchase. But the cost to get from point A (the social media platform) to point B (the brand’s checkout page) is a pain point for small brands, which may find themselves spending more to attract customers than they make off the eventual sale.
For brands without a long-term strategy to break out of that cycle, the problem often snowballs: They pour every dollar they make back into ads to “buy” more customers. Meanwhile, the cost of the ads on social media platforms, set via auction-based pricing, gets higher and higher.
[Brands] think they’re spending a lot but actually, they’re not even spending enough to move the needle.
The auction system favours large orders, meaning brands have to spend big for their marketing to gain traction.
“[Brands] think they’re spending a lot but actually, they’re not even spending enough to move the needle,” Jallad said. “It’s so much easier to spend $10,000 [on paid ads] and make $20,000 than it is to spend $5,000 and make $10,000.”
It’s what companies do next that determines whether brands break free of the cycle. Some see one-to-one returns on their marketing, meaning money spent on ads leads directly to roughly the same amount of sales. But if those new customers fall in love with a product and become repeat purchasers, those ads will have more than paid for themselves in the long run.
Fair Harbor, a men’s swim trunks line, had its first million-dollar sales month in February. But when Covid-19 hit, swimwear became one of the fastest declining retail categories, reducing the brand’s expected Spring busy season to dust.
The brand stuck with its marketing plan, including plenty of Instagram ads, plus spending on Snapchat, Google Search and Sirius XM radio. Fair Harbor handles social ads in-house to keep costs down while using its digital marketing agency only for targeted buys, said Caroline Danehy, co-founder and chief creative officer.
The brand found that its best-performing paid social ads highlight the benefits of the product itself: mesh lining beneath the brand’s signature swim trunks that help wearers avoid chafing. The “thumb-stopping” ads, as Danehy calls them, came about after she tested different formats, all against what drove the highest click-through rates.
“We saw … what was working and then just put the pedal down on the gas and started just really investing deep in those online channels,” said her brother Jake Danehy, the company’s chief executive.
What Does a Winning Post-Covid Marketing Plan Look Like?
How to Work With TikTok Talent
Selling Fashion on Instagram: Expectation vs. Reality


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Most small business owners aren't worried about credit card security
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What, me worry? That's the attitude of most small business owners when it comes to credit card security, according to a survey by Newtek Business Services.
Two-thirds of the 1,400 business owners surveyed by Newtek said they're not concerned about credit card security at their businesses, even after the massive security breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus.
"With data and security breaches increasing in intensity and frequency, it is surprising, but revealing, that independent businesses are not having the concern they should over their own cyber security," said Barry Sloane, chairman, president and CEO of Newtek. "It is the 'It's not a problem until it happens to you' attitude that is concerning to us."
"Business owners need to scan their websites continuously for vulnerabilities, use tokenized gateways and have cyber liability insurance for the protection of the enterprise and business franchise."
Newtek, not coincidentally, happens to offer all of these services.
If you want a more neutral source of advice, the Better Business Bureau also offers guidelines that businesses that accept credit and debit cards should follow.
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Published on June 6th, 2018 | by The GC Team0
Toshiba TVs in Hockey sponsorship deal
Toshiba TVs has become Principal Partner of England & Great Britain Men’s Hockey 2018, and an Official Partner of the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018.
The partnership agreement includes exclusive branding of the England & Great Britain team’s playing shirts and training kit.
As an official partner of the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018, Toshiba will be a key part of Fan Central at the event, a free spectator area on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
“This partnership is incredibly exciting, especially because it is set to run during such an important year for the sport,” commented David Flintoft, Sales & Marketing Director for Toshiba TVs in Northern Europe.
“As an official sponsor, we’ll be supporting the showcase of both men and women’s athletic prowess, inviting fans to live and breathe the action, whether they’re at home, at their local hockey clubs or at Fan Central for the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup.
“For us, this partnership is not just a great opportunity to introduce hockey to more people, but also to help inspire the next generation of athletes.”
Jon Cockcroft, Commercial Director of England Hockey, said: “The association with such an innovative brand provides a great platform to showcase all the qualities of our sport.
“With the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup starting in London in July, and then our men’s team taking part in their own world cup in November, there are great opportunities ahead.
“We’re looking forward to working with team Toshiba to help reach even wider audiences.”


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More than one in 10 people have tried to cut down on processed meat such as bacon as a result of a landmark cancer prevention report published last year, it was disclosed today.
In a YouGov survey of 2,124 people commissioned by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) to mark a year since its report was launched, 11 per cent of people said that as a result of media coverage of it they had tried to cut down on processed meat such as bacon.
This was because of its advice that people should avoid eating processed meat because of convincing evidence that it increased the risk of bowel cancer.
The study found that if someone ate 150g of processed meat a day – roughly the equivalent of two sausages and three rashers of bacon – they were 63 per cent more likely to develop bowel cancer.
According to the survey, older people were more likely to have tried to make changes.
More than a third (37 per cent) of over 55s had tried to cut down on processed meat, compared with just six per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds.
More than a quarter (26 per cent) of people had tried to eat more fruit and vegetables as a result of the coverage, following the findings that eating plenty of fruit and vegetables probably reduces the risk of a number of types of cancer, including cancers of the stomach and oesophagus.
Also, 18 per cent of people said they had made more of an effort to watch their weight as a result of the report.
This is because it found convincing evidence that excess body fat was a cause of six types of cancer.
The sample size was 2,124 adults. The survey was carried out online between November 20 and November 24.


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Forget a keychain: Two Ohio State alumni brought back more than a souvenir after traveling the globe.
Lifestyle Cafe, a 100-percent plant-based eatery, opened its doors Jan. 18 in Columbus, Ohio’s Olde Towne East. Alumnae Shanna Dean, who graduated in 2001, and Dawn Dickson, who graduated in 2000, are two of the restaurant’s investors who noticed a lack of vegan options in the area compared to other regions, Dickson said.
“We would travel around the world, and the vegan food would be so good, and then we would come home and feel the food just wasn’t up to par,” Dickson said.
Dean, the restaurant’s executive chef, and Dickson are joined by remaining investors Mo Wright, Derrick Clay and Daniel Kennedy.
Dean said the group wants people who are curious about a plant-based lifestyle to understand that taste does not have to be compromised.
“With the growing popularity of vegan and vegetarian eating, we wanted to meet the need of people who are plant-based and do not want their food prepared alongside meat or dairy,” Dickson said in a news release.
Dean said her goal was for anyone with any dietary preference to come in and be satisfied.
“I love cooking for other people, but I wanted to be healthy. So I went to school to learn how to make healthy food taste good,” Dean said.
Dean, a personal chef and caterer who graduated from the culinary arts program at Columbus’ Bradford School, said she was hesitant at first to open her own restaurant, but Dickson encouraged her.
“I listened to my heart and said let’s do it,” Dean said.
The menu items are locally sourced and include foods such as sliders, smoothies, salads, soup, pastries, toast and Chef Bae specials — signature dishes crafted by Dean — according to the restaurant’s Facebook page.
The location was previously home to vegetarian restaurant The Angry Baker for nine years before it closed in July 2019. The group decided to take it over six months later.
“People already knew to come into this neighborhood for good vegetarian food, so it was a good opportunity to bring it back,” Dickson said.
Lifestyle Cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant is located at 891 Oak St.


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Employee Mo Soto arranges a shelf at a Birkenstock store on October 10, 2023 in Venice, California.
Ethan Swope | Getty Images
Birkenstock on Thursday beat holiday quarter revenue expectations, reporting a 22% year-on-year jump, as the German sandal company benefited from higher pricing and rising U.S. demand.
As a newly public company, Birkenstock is still getting into a public reporting rhythm and only just released its fiscal 2023 results and 2024 guidance a little over a month ago. On Thursday, it said it stands by guidance issued then and still expects sales to be between 1.74 billion euros and 1.76 billion euros ($1.89 billion and $1.91 billion), representing growth of 17% to 18%.
The shoemaker, which started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “BIRK” in October, saw a muted debut when it first hit the public markets, with shares sliding more than 12% on its first day as a public company. The stock has since rebounded and is up more than 5% this year, as of the Wednesday close.
Birkenstock’s shares closed more than 2% lower Thursday.
Here’s how the shoemaker did in its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: 9 euro cents adjusted vs. 9 euro cents expected
- Revenue: 302.9 million euros vs. 288.7 million euros expected.
The company reported a net loss of 7.15 million euros for the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, or a loss of 4 euro cents per share. A year earlier, it reported a loss of 9.19 million euros, or a loss of 5 euro cents per share. Excluding one-time items, Birkenstock reported a profit of 17 million euros, or 9 euro cents per share.
Sales rose to 302.9 million euros, up 22% from 248.5 million euros a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 12% year on year to 81 million euros, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.9%, down from 29.1% a year earlier.
The retailer has been making strides to grow its direct-to-consumer business, which comes with better profits and more customer insights than relying on wholesale partners.
CEO Oliver Reichert has said the company deliberately engineers its distribution strategy so demand is higher than supply but it’s working to double its production capabilities over the next three years to narrow that gap. The chief executive said those investments, along with other efforts the company is undertaking to drive growth, is having a “planned” but “temporary” impact to profitability.
The company’s gross profit margin inched down to 61% from 61.7% during the same period last year, with Birkenstock citing “unfavorable currency translation and the planned, temporary under-absorption from our ongoing capacity expansion.” The company said it continues to carefully track input costs and is mitigating inflationary pressures with “executed, selective price increases.”
In Europe, the company said it had “two consecutive price adjustments” with “no signs of rejection.”
Consumers flock to closed-toe styles
For the first time, closed-toe shoes, including everything from sneakers to clogs, accounted for a larger percentage of sales than sandals, executives said. Strong sales outside of Birkenstock’s traditional sandal have given the company a boost during the fall and winter months when people aren’t buying opened-toed shoes as often and opens up an additional growth area for the retailer.
“It’s a broadly based closed-toe business right now, and I think that’s quite significant to say that this was the first time that non-sandals were the larger percentage of our business,” said David Kahan, Birkenstock’s president of the Americas.
During the quarter, Birkenstock saw more gains in its direct channels and said DTC sales accounted for 53% of overall revenue. While DTC is strong and a focus for the business, Birkenstock is still seeing robust demand across its wholesale channels, even as other retailers contend with a slowdown in orders as department stores and other big-box stores look to keep inventory levels in check and grapple with uncertain demand.
Executives noted that wholesalers are not only increasing their orders for Birkenstock’s products, they’re also increasingly opting for early delivery days to keep up with demand.
As other retailers like Nike, Under Armour and Timberland-owner VF Corp. contend with soft demand in North America, Birkenstock reported outsized strength in the region with sales up 21% during fiscal 2023. That momentum continued during its fiscal first quarter with sales up 14% in the region. In Europe, where demand in some parts has been softer than in North America, sales grew 32%, and in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, revenue jumped 47%.
The recent growth comes several years after private equity powerhouse L Catterton acquired a majority stake in Birkenstock in 2021, ending nearly 250 years of family ownership that began when German cobbler Johann Adam Birkenstock founded the company in 1774.
Birkenstock’s new owners set off on an aggressive growth strategy that focused on growing DTC sales, exiting certain wholesale partnerships and focusing on driving sales of items with higher price points. Within a few years, its sales nearly doubled and its market cap is now around $9.7 billion, double its 2021 valuation of $4.85 billion.
Since going public, Birkenstock has used some of its proceeds to pay down debt. In the fall, it made a number of debt payments that reduced its net leverage. As of the end of December, Birkenstock was levered at 2.6 times EBITDA.
Correction: Birkenstock reported a loss per share of 4 euro cents. Adjusting for one-time items, it reported a profit of 9 euro cents per share, matching Wall Street estimates according to LSEG. An earlier version of this story misstated those figures.
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When I first saw the HTML title of the tech blog Pando – Speaking truth to the new power – it grabbed me by the throat.
Recently Oxfam have announced that by 2016 the combined wealth of the richest one percent will be greater than that of the other 99 percent unless serious action is taken. To be part of the 1% you need to have $2.7 million in assets or hidden in your mattress.
This is some pretty serious coin.
In Australia, according to the ABS, the wealthiest 20% of households have an average net worth of $2.2 million. Again, this is some serious coin. The poorest 20% of households have a net worth of $31,000.
The recent experience in Australia mirrors the global trend where disparity in wealth has been increasing. Since the 1980’s the Gini coefficient, a common measure of wealth inequality, has been growing, meaning as a nation we’re becoming more unequal, and wealth is unevenly distributed.
So what can be done?
Pando have it right; we need to speak
a our truth(s) to the new power.
Part of the answer lies in digital technology and social media which can amplify the voice of the 99%.
For example Oxfam use digital technologies to help empower Cambodian women by giving them mobile phones. In East Africa mobile phones are used to monitor drought conditions, and in Bangladesh mobile phones are used to monitor storms and rising sea levels. In northern Australia, GPS technology is used by indigenous Australians to develop innovative burn-control strategies.
In urban Australia, I believe there is a correlation between the rise of smaller parties and a fragmentation of the traditional 2 party system which has given rise to the Palmer United Party and gridlocked upper houses of parliament, and the fragmentation of traditional sources of media. The more people abandon traditional media, the more likely they will abandon the traditional political parties.
This isn’t to discount the influence of Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd which owns 65% of all metropolitan newspapers. Rather it is a recognition that there are 14 million Australians using Facebook and 2.8 million twitter users who are accessing news and information in more convenient ways.
According to a poll last year, more Australians are choosing to source their news from independent media, blogs, social media and online. This trend is likely to continue as traditional media models continue to look for new business models to stay relevant.
Speaking a truth to the new power could be as simple as having a blog, promoting it via social media, and having something to say. It doesn’t mean there will be a revolution, but it does mean the difference between being a disempowered subject of power, and an engaged participant in the structures of power, using technology to protest, to learn, to share.
Get on board, get a blog, and say something.
It matters – you could change the world.
Photo (average) taken in Russell Street. An old hardware store which proudly proclaimed that they imported stuff is now a grocery store catering to the new urban dwellers. In one building we can see how a city, and the world has changed.


text: BBA has responded to FSA's consultation on FSCS limits. It notes the key to maintaining consumer confidence is to deflect the impact to consumers of a bank failure by ensuring continuity of banking services. If this happens, depositors should not need to claim on FSCS. BBA is concerned that, if a bank is allowed to become insolvent or to fail operationally, it would be impractical to try to arrange a seven-day payout and there would be bound to be unintended consequences of such a rushed procedure. The response also notes that consumer awareness of compensation schemes is critical to avoid mass withdrawal of deposits. Finally, it wants the UK regulators to make sure they do not take any action that is likely to be inconsistent with planned EU initiatives.


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India moving a step closer to accepting digital assets
After all the red flags shown by the government in acceptance of the world trend of crypto and digital assets. Now, we can see a glimmer of hope when the Finance Minister on 1st February 2022 announced the introduction of the Digital Rupee governed by the RBI. RBI looking forward to launching Digital Rupee by 2022 and 2023.
Prime Minister Modi also shared his views stating that digital currency will boost the digital economy in the upcoming years, on top of that he also mentioned that RBI-backed CBDC will be looked after by the central bank and will be India’s fiat currency.
WHAT IS CBDC?
CBDC is the legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. It is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency. Only its form is different.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CBDC AND CRYPTOCURRENCY?
Central Bank Digital or Virtual Currency is simply a digital currency but nothing like private virtual currencies namely Bitcoin or Ethereum which have created this cliché called cryptocurrencies.
As per the RBI, private virtual currencies are at substantial odds with the historical concept of money because they are not commodities or have no intrinsic value.
The major and the most comprehensible difference is that the CBDC is centralized, whereas the cryptos are decentralized that represent nothing and have no issuer.
Also, digital assets such as cryptos and NFTs will be charged 30% of tax on transactions. That is simply a clever move that any transfer of this will attract 30% of tax.
Technology usage and Need of CBDC
CBDC will be powered by Blockchain technology on which most of the buzzing cryptos are built and managed.
With the diminishing usage of paper currency, there comes a need to publicize the electronic form of currency. By doing this it increases the efficiency in countries like India, Spain, and many more with heavy physical cash usage. Also, it will create a proxy option in place of private digital currencies.


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From the NY Post:
An Army reservist used a government purchasing program to buy $100,000 in electronics and supplies that went AWOL as he sold them in eBay online auctions, officials said.
Sgt. Joseph Copeland, 30, stationed at Fort Totten in Queens, was arrested at his Bronx home after a suspicious buyer in Colorado tipped off the feds.
Copeland was released on $30,000 bond following his arraignment on charges of theft of government property. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
The investigators found that Copeland used a government purchasing program to buy $207,766 worth of merchandise dating back to October 2006, all of which was delivered to him at Fort Totten, said prosecutors, adding that half of those purchases may have been for legitimate use.


text: The amount of global smartphone shipments in 2022 is 1.21 billion, it is the lowest annual shipments since 2013, due to a sharp drop in consumer demand and economic uncertainty. In terms of annual performance, Samsung still maintained the first place in shipments, with a total market share of 21.6%; Apple ranked second, with a share of 18.8%; Xiaomi was third, with a market share of 12.7%. OPPO is fourth with a market share of 8.6%; Vivo is fifth with a share of 8.2%.Samsung surpassed Apple in shipments for all of last year, reaching 260.9 million units compared to Apple's 226.4 million. In percentage terms,these both two manufacturers saw annual shipment declines that were greater than the industry average, falling 4.1 percent and 4 percent, respectively.With shipments of 153.1 million units, Xiaomi once again won the third place in the world, with a global market share of 12.7%. Unlike the top two, Xiaomi’s shipments and market share both fell significantly: shipments fell from 191 million units to 153.1 million units, and market share fell from 14% to 12.7%, a year-on-year decline of 19.8%.In fourth place is OPPO mobile phones, with annual shipments of 103.3 million units and a market share that fell from 9.8% to 8.6%. Although the ranking remained unchanged, shipments also fell from 133.6 million units to 103.3 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 22.7%.In fifth place is vivo, which shipped 99 million units a year and saw its market share drop from 9.4% to 8.2%. Compared with the shipment of 128.3 million units in 2021, vivo fell by as much as 22.8% year-on-year.It is understood that Samsung's shipment target in 2023 is about 270 million units, Apple's shipment target is about 240 million units, Xiaomi's shipment target is about 140 million units, OPPO's shipment target is about 150 million units, and Vivo's shipment target is about 9,000 million units. About OriwhizORIWHIZ is a mobile phone LCD/OLED screen and other phone spare parts' manufacturer（factory）,we offer OEM and ODM service to customers all over the world.Our products have ISO9001,CE,FCC,ROSH certificate.All of our products are manufactured by brand new materials and 100% quality test before shipping.We promise our best quality products will be delivered to our clients on time.We have professional customer service and welcome inquiry any time. Our main products include:iPhone LCD,iPhone Charging Port,iPhone Front Camera,iPhone Back Camera,iPhone ear speaker,iPhone Battery.etc.Not only iPhone related products,we also have Samsung,Oppo,Vivo,etc.


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In February alone, prices in the South American country rose by 6.6 percent, as the statistics authority (INDEC) announced on Tuesday. The annual inflation rate has risen to 102.5 percent. Above all, the prices for food and beverages as well as Internet and telephone charges rose sharply. The inflation rate in Argentina is one of the highest in the world. To fund the budget deficit, the central bank is constantly printing fresh money. The second largest economy in South America suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow economy that deprives the state of a lot of tax revenue.
The national currency, the peso, continues to depreciate against the US dollar, and the mountain of debt is constantly growing. Inflation in Argentina was now additionally fueled by the global situation such as the war in Ukraine and the disruptions in the supply chains.
more from economy


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TESDA HOLDS COLD CHAIN TECHNOLOGY EXHIBIT
THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority, together with its partner stakeholders in the private and public sectors, held a week-long exhibit to showcase the latest cold chain technology.
The Cold Chain Technology Exhibition, which ran until October 7, aimed to promote the use of updated cold chain technologies by industry practitioners, employers, the academe and other stakeholders.
A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain that operates from farm to table and ensures that the proper low temperature is maintained the entire time.
TESDA Director General Danilo Cruz and United Nations Industrial Development Organization Country Representative Teddy Monroy, who represented UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller, led the opening of the exhibit at the TESDA-UNIDO Cold Chain Innovation Hub in Taguig City last September 29.
The TESDA chief thanked their partners, particularly UNIDO and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the project.
“Building the capacities of our skilled workers and technicians for the industry, we must ensure that they are qualified to safely handle climate-friendly refrigerants and efficiently maintain new cold chain refrigeration technologies. They must also be fully aware of their responsibility to help this nation attain its goals for a greener economy,” he said.
“We look forward to more collaborations that will guide the cold chain industry toward a more climate-friendly, energy-efficient, and sustainable future,” he added.
Monroy, delivering Muller’s message, said the exhibit offers a great opportunity for the country to understand better and learn more about the operation of energy-efficient refrigeration technologies that do not employ the use of ozone-depleting substances.
“Through the collaboration between the Philippine government and UNIDO and all partners, we look forward to harnessing the full potential of its various industries and economic engines toward inclusive and lasting health, peace, and prosperity for all Filipinos,” he said.
He added that the cold chain innovation hub would allow TESDA to develop an appropriate curriculum and certification and conduct regular training programs.


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Supermodel to host an art and creative workshop
Supermodel and director of Em Models, Mmina Gaebonwe, will host an Arts and Creative Workshop on the 27th May in Gaborone- to share ideas on how young creatives in Botswana can generate wealth and value from ideas and talents.
Under the theme, “The creative economy, turning art into wealth” visual artists will be given a chance to showcase and sell their art in a silent auction where attendants can purchase the art pieces.
“This year we see different visual artists given the platform to exhibit and given the chance to turn their ideas into products and services that can generate wealth. The artists were required to bring their previous work for consideration and chosen by a team put together by EmIvy Model and Talent Management. There are 13 to 15 selected creatives that are selected to exhibit,” she said
Gaebonwe who is currently globetrotting says the main aim of this year’s exhibition is to take artists and their work to available and thriving markets in the world that is, Paris, London, Milan, New York. She says they want to make the rest of the world aware of the talent and world class standard creatives in Botswana and that there are speakers invited, they will be revealed soon.
“It will allow the creatives in Botswana a chance to compete in a global market. To develop and grow the Creative Economy in Botswana. Young creatives in Botswana will receive a platform to showcase their talents and learn and interact with other creatives in the country. This event will promote Botswana as a successful exporter of cultural goods and services in the world,” she revealed.
Gaebonwe added that the event would increase long-term investment opportunities for the creative industry in Botswana and create a supportive climate for the incubation and development of young talent by internationally recognized talent identification schemes that showcase and promote new designer businesses.
“Arts and Creatives Workshop promotes cultural exchange, job creation. Each attendee is encouraged to make a donation of P50 and above at this year’s workshop. The donations will finance the logistical fees of transporting and packaging art works to be showcased at international stages made by our local artists,” she concluded.


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One of the most successful companies in American history is Apple. Apple, which is the popular producer of iPhones, iPads, computers, and a variety of other products and accessories, has continued to impress consumers and investors. Over the past few years they have broken a lot of records for American companies, including having the most profitable quarter ever.
At the time of the Presidential election, Apple had a per share price of around $109 per share. At that time the company also had a market capitalization and value of around $573 billion. Once the company had crossed the $500 billion value, many financial experts started predicting how and when Apple could cross the $1 trillion value, which is something no American company had ever done before. While it used to believe that it would take a long time to reach that milestone, a recent news article (https://fortune.com/2017/03/31/apple-trillion-dollar-company/) has pointed out that the milestone could be reached quicker than ever before.
Over the past few months, Apple has benefited from the Trump Bump that has led to value increases for many American companies. Today, the company has a per share price of around $144 and has a market cap of around $750 billion. While the new increase in stock value has been significant, many are predicting when Apple could increase to $1 trillion in value.
Apple is currently trading around a price to earnings ratio of 17 to 1. While this is a high mark, it is by no means out of line with other companies. In fact, companies that trade at this level often have a 6.5% increase in its share value. At this rate, the company could hit the $1 trillion mark early in 2021.
Unlike other companies, Apple can see big increases in their value based on the popularity of their products. In the coming year Apple will unveil a new phone, iPad, and is reportedly going to be revealing new virtual reality products that should sell well with consumers. Depending on the success of these product launches, the company could end up hitting the milestone even sooner.


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News & Opinion
Posts tagged: James Glendennan
AA/WARC’s Adspend Forecasts – A Downgraded 2020 with Signs of Recovery in 2021
The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report states that the UK ad market is now not expected to recover fully until 2022. James Glendennan shares his views on budget allocation in 2020 and signs of recovery in 2021.30 October 2020
More Ads on TV – Is It Really the Change Advertisers Want to See?
Max Youngman and James Glendennan look at heavy cost inflation in the TV advertising market.03 December 2019
2004 – 2018 The UK TV Market in Flux
From mass reach to streaming, MediaSense's James Glendennan looks into how the UK TV market has evolved.27 March 2019
Time for Out of Home to play by a new set of rules
The Out of Home sector is more buoyant than ever before, but with significant challenges on the horizon. James Glendennan shares his point of view on the challenges and steps needed to ensure it remains a key media channel.17 October 2018
Premium inventory – The emperor’s new clothes?
Brands are being encouraged to spend in 'premium' media environments - but are they really worth the investment? MediaSense's James Glendennan explores the boom of price premium media.11 December 2017
Out-of-home – from pasting panels to delivering audiences
The out-of-home industry can capitalise on the fragmented digital environment with its own digital proposition, writes Media Analyst James Glendennan.18 September 2017
TV advertising in 2017 – A house of cards
'Audiences & revenues have passed their ‘peak oil’ moment, where growing agency investment & stable audiences delivered increasing profit margins for media owners.' Analyst James Glendennan gives his opinion on what 2017 holds for TV.08 June 2017
Project Rio – Media baron’s folly or industry saviour?
The print advertising industry in the UK has endured consistent revenue declines for over a decade. In the halcyon days of 2007, national press revenues sat at around £1.7bn - over the last ten years this figure has dropped by over 50%. The question being asked today is whether the fabled Project Rio can survive, and if so whether it can succeed in turning around the industry’s fortunes?31 January 2017
TV Advertising – Still resilient or existentially challenged?
2016 “The Year of Mobile” will be remembered as the year the digital behemoths turned their guns on TV. Another week, another piece of research or PR is published which beats the brow of TV advertising as an ‘old fashioned and out-dated’ media. While TV often faces new and significant challenges from digital competitors these threats can be over-stated.31 October 2016


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Further, Flipkart Plus members can get extra Rs 2,000 off by redeeming 50 coins. With the PLus offer, the iPhone X’s price is further reduced to Rs 62,999. However, the offer is valid through Flipkart Big Shopping Days sale only. So, users may need to hurry to avail the ‘lowest-ever’ price. To recall, iPhone X was launched with an original price tag starting at Rs 91,900.
Flipkart Big Shopping Days sale kick started on the e-tailer’s platform on May 15 and will continue till May 19. In the four-day long sale, buyers can avail 10% instant discount on purchases made using HDFC Bank credit and debit cards.
Another iPhone which is available with discount during the sale is the Apple iPhone XR. The smartphone’s 64GB RAM variant is listed at Rs 59,990 on the e-tailer’s website currently. iPhone XR was launched in October last year with a price tag of Rs 76,900. In April this year, Apple announced a limited period price drop of iPhone XR after which it can be purchased at Rs 53,400 post all discounts and benefits.
With the current offer, the price gap between iPhone X and iPhone XR has dropped from Rs 15,000 to Rs 9,599 (considering iPhone X’s price at Rs 62,999).


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For Golf properties, bittersweet split with Time
David DeNunzio, the new editor-in-chief for Golf magazine and Golf.com, calls Time Inc.’s efforts to sell the titles, despite a recent run of audience growth, a “great breakup story.”
“It’s really kind of a bittersweet thing. I wish I had a breakup story like this with some of the girls I dated before,” he said.
Golf magazine and its digital counterpart now stand at the forefront of Time Inc.’s effort to sell several of its portfolio titles such as Coastal Living and Sunset following a halted effort by the Sports Illustrated parent to sell itself in full.
That sales effort is ongoing with the aid of investment bank Houlihan Lokey, which assisted with Topgolf’s purchase last year of online game World Golf Tour. But it also arrives as the magazine and Golf.com are qualitatively and quantitatively at a high point. Recent internal and comScore metrics had Golf.com at more than 3.3 million monthly unique visitors, up by 76 percent year over year, with mobile traffic, video consumption and social reach all similarly up by high double-digit percentages.
So why has Time Inc. decided to shed Golf, despite the recent success and Time Inc. CEO Rich Battista publicly praising the title on several occasions? After choosing to not sell itself, Time Inc. is now focusing primarily on developing its core assets such as People and Time magazine.
“[Golf] needs some better brand focus,” said Chris Stone, editor-in-chief for the SI Group, which oversees Golf. “It’s still one of the smaller entities under the Time Inc. umbrella.”
Golf competes primarily with the Condé Nast-owned Golf Digest, with circulation and total audience reach up for both titles this year compared to 2016, according to the Association of Magazine Media. Both Condé Nast and SportsBusiness Journal parent American City Business Journals are subsidiaries of Advance Publications.
Both Time Inc. and Houlihan Lokey declined to detail the state of the Golf bidding process or targeted price. But industry sources said initial bids for Golf were due at the end of last month, and the title is being marketed to potential buyers including traditional publishers, private equity firms and other endemic golf entities. A resolution could arrive by late November.
Meanwhile, DeNunzio in June was promoted to editor in chief from managing editor for instruction, knowing that it would come with no guarantees on what might happen to him or his colleagues under new ownership.
“This was all part of the plan. I went in eyes wide open. But I remain a huge believer in the brand, wherever we end up going,” he said.


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Digital Hub, Ireland’s cluster of technology, digital media and internet companies, based in Dublin is planning a windmill farm on its campus to support energy needs of growing number of companies in the hub. A year earlier eight new companies bought new office space and nine companies expanded their space in the hub.
The windmill site covering 2.6 acres roughly will include the famous St Patrick’s tower, and two office spaces of the digital hub, Digital Depot and the Grainstore. The site will be located in north of Thomas street in Dublin sector 8. The windmill plan will be executed in phased manner and initial phase will include feasibility and cost-benefit analysis. The plan is to be completed before 2019 end.
Digital hub currently hosts 70 businesses with 750 employees. With 70,000 Sq. feet office space and 85% occupancy rate spread across nine buildings, the hub is still experiencing growing demand from existing companies. The hub currently hosts companies from diverse sectors from creative digital to health-tech sector. Notable companies include CB Media, Gingerbread Animation, Neuromod and PatientMpower. Health-tech companies occupy ten percent of the entire space, this cluster of companies from the same sector keeps everyone informed and up-to-date with new industry developments.
Full Health Medical, a health-tech company which moved to The Digital Hub in 2018, believes the specialized ecosystem of health-tech companies along with the proximity to St James Hospital has added value to their business. Black Shamrock, a game company specializing in the development of role-playing games for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC recently moved to the hub along with PunchOut2Go, an American e-procurement company and Eclipse Pictures which is the country’s largest film distribution company.
Digital Hub’s CEO Fiach Mac Conghail feels very excited of the future of tech companies coming to the hub, the diverse ecosystem of tech companies will have long term positive and tangible impact on the socio-economic scenario of the Liberties area of Dublin which has great historical significance.
Other noteworthy initiatives taken by the hub include artist-in-residence program where it plans to provide a platform for interaction between innovation, art and technology. Residents of the Liberties community will hugely benefit from such initiatives says the hub’s CEO Mr. Conghail. The Hub has also started focusing on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) projects with its Future Cadets Program.
In December 2018, The Digital Hub announced the appointment of architecture firm Scott Tallon Walker Architects and KSN Project Management to design the development of The Digital Hub.


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Epictus Solutions, parent operator of road transport business and individual commercial vehicle owners’ marketplace Vahak, on Thursday said it has raised $5 million in a bridge round of funding dubbed pre-Series A.
The funding round was led by RTP Global with participation from Luxor Capital and Leo Capital, a statement said.
Other angel investors included Kunal Shah, founder and CEO, Cred; Jitendra Gupta, founder and CEO, Jupiter; Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, co-founders, Meesho; Mohd Farid, co-founder, Sharechat; Amrish Rau, CEO, Pine Labs; Harsimarbir Singh, co-founder, Pristyn Care; Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl, co-founders, Snapdeal; and Ravish Naresh, co-founder and CEO, Khatabook.
The funding will be used to strengthen Vahak’s team and technological capabilities, and expand its customer and network base, the statement added.
The startup aims to close the gap that exists between India’s enormous need for freight and special goods transportation for different types of cargos, and operational inefficiencies caused by lack of technology.
Vahak’s online network aggregates transport service operators from all over India and connects to over 500,000 trucks across the country. It uses an auction marketplace app which allows customers to directly connect with trusted transporters and truck owners across India and book trucks, trailers, and loads on shared vehicles, among others.
The platform manages over 10,000 daily active loads and the network covers major transport and logistics hubs across India and is aiming at reaching $1 billion annual GTV in the next 12 months.
Founded by IIT graduates Karan Shaha and Vikas Chandrawat in February 2019, Vahak’s growth has captured the interest of investors, growing 10X in the past year to over $100M annualized GTV run-rate on only $800,000 raised.
It now aims to create a stronger nationwide presence by bringing over 3 million truckers to the platform.
Codedamn, an online coding school, on Thursday said it has raised pre-seed funding from Antler India. Financial terms of the deal was not disclosed. Founded in 2020 by 22-year old hacker Mehul Mohan, Codedamn claims to be solving interactivity at scale for the 100 million people around the world learning to code better.
BITS Pilani graduate Mohan is a self-taught developer, and has been coding since he was 12-years-old. He has also authored technical books and is an internet influencer with over 20 million views and over 150,000 subscribers on his Youtube channel.
Codedamn, which is in beta, already has tens of thousands of registered users, and paying users from over 60 countries across the world, as per a statement.
“Our highly interactive coursework and live projects close the gap between theory and practice. Imagine learning about blockchain and deploying your first smart contract right as your course progresses,” Mohan said.
Codedamn will use the infused capital to scale its technology infrastructure and collaborate with top instructors to develop new learning verticals. Antler, in early 2021, announced a full-fledged launch in India. It plans to deploy $100 million in over 100 Indian startups over the next 3 years.
CanPe, a digital-first debt collections startup, on Thursday said it has raised a seed round of funding led by Axilor.
The round also saw participation from Yatra Angel Network, Manipal Technologies and BetaPlus Capital Partners, and angel investor Natarajan Ranganathan, as per a statement.
The startup claims to implement a rigorous science-based approach that enhances collections while bringing transparency and efficiency to the lender's processes in its ICanPe platform.
Founder and CEO Arindam Choudhury is an IIT Kharagpur alumnus with a Ph.D. in machine learning and computational sciences.
Before starting CanPe, he has spent over 18 years in the analytics and data science industry in various leadership roles in products and innovations, analytics R&D, solutions, and account management.
The CanPe leadership team brings over 50 years of real-world experience in prototyping, building, and industrializing data-driven products and solutions for clients across the globe.
The company currently works with marquee NBFC and fintech lenders. It said it has commercialised its first deployment within 15 days of initiating the first proof-of-concept. Since then, collections under management have grown over eight-fold in less than six months, the statement said.
The fresh funds will be used to accelerate product innovation, strengthen the SaaS platform and expand the sales and marketing footprint, the statement added.
Clear, a software provider for goods and services tax (GST) compliance, income tax compliance and investment-related products, on Thursday said it has acquired Y-Combinator-backed B2B payments start-up yBANQ in a cash and equity deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed.
yBANQ helps businesses with payments collection, reconciliation, and automated bookkeeping. With this acquisition, Clear said aims to accelerate its journey into B2B payments and credit.
Formerly dubbed Cleartax, with its 10 year long journey, Clear said it now sees a material portion of India’s economic graph on its platform- processing 10% of India’s business invoices worth more than $300 billion.
yBANQ was founded in 2019 by Abhishek Ayyagari, Ganesh Mallya, and Ahamed Shah Wahidullah, who were previously associated with fintech startups like PayPal, Citrus Payments and PayU. yBANQ has a 10-member team across product and engineering who will join Clear post the deal.
Cleat itself is also a Y Combinator backed startup. Its products are used by over 5 million taxpayers, more than 100,000 tax practitioners, 600,000 small businesses and 2,000 large businesses and brands.
Clear has raised $65 million in equity capital investment so far, from the likes of Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Composite Capital, Sequoia Capital, and SAIF Partners.


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Will plugging in your electric vehicle cause a blackout?
A question I am asked surprisingly often is if electric vehicles (EVs) will cause blackouts. The short answer is no, there’s no reason to think the electric grid won’t be able to adapt to the changing makeup of what’s on the road. But the question reflects what I think is an understandable reaction to the often dizzying pace of change, including the promises made about transforming automobile travel in the coming decade.
The Biden administration has announced a goal of having EVs make up half of all new car sales by 2030. The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced proposed new standards for vehicle emissions that it believes would lead EVs to constitute two-thirds of new car sales by 2032. And California plans to prohibit all sales of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
Charging all those cars would take a lot of energy. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that the average EV would consume around 3.8 megawatt hours of electricity a year. Multiply that by the 278 million vehicles on the road, and you get just over a billion megawatt hours, roughly one-quarter of current annual U.S. electricity consumption.
But before anyone starts stocking up on candles, we need to put these numbers into context. First, all of the goals listed above are for new car sales. Even if that is achieved, most of the cars on the road in 2030 or 2035 will still be gasoline-powered, just as most of the cars on the road today were not purchased this year. It would be decades before gasoline-powered cars cycled out of the market. A recent report by the Edison Electric Institute estimates that in 2030, only one out of 10 vehicles on the road will be electric.
Second, just because the government sets something as a goal does not mean that it will actually happen. Politicians are great at making promises about what will happen by a future date that conveniently comes after they have left office. In 2022, EVs made up 5.8 percent of new car sales. That percentage will increase substantially, but there’s no guarantee it will jump to 50 percent in the next seven years. Accommodating all those vehicles would also require a massive buildout of transportation, charging and transmission infrastructure, something that likely can’t happen on that time scale without major regulatory reform.
In addition, there is a lot of slack in the electric grid, which will help absorb demand growth from EVs. In many regions of the country, the reserve margin (the amount of electric supply in excess of anticipated electric demand) is above 20 percent. The ability of spare capacity is particularly relevant, given that most EV charging is likely to occur at night when power demand has traditionally been low.
That said, there likely will need to be some adjustments made to the grid to accommodate rising numbers of people charging EVs. The fact that EVs charge in relatively quick bursts, rather than over the course of hours, could require more grid flexibility. And the overall increase in EVs will tend to push up electricity demand. But the nature of a market is that it can adapt to changes in demand. Whether it’s gourmet coffee or smartphones, businesses are more than capable of quickly growing capacity to meet increasing demand, and there’s no reason to think that electric markets aren’t capable of adjusting to whatever increase in EVs occurs over the next decade.


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With a strong and well-known tradition of hospitality, the people of Atlantic Canada are sometimes regarded as the friendliest folks in the world. That has always been a key element in the success of a thriving tourism industry in the Maritimes. Collectively, Tourism in Atlantic Canada generated more than $7.3 billion in tourism revenues in 2019.
Not only have these provinces worked together to build amazing experiences to showcase their destinations, they have also been one of the most successful regions in Canada in terms of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
So it’s not surprising that some of the best examples of how tourism businesses have maintained protective strategies against the pandemic, and also adapted their business models, have come from the Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island).
The province of Nova Scotia is a prime example. “Tourism businesses in Nova Scotia have been extremely supportive of measures to protect and ensure the safety of visitors,” says Darlene Grant Fiander, President of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia. “They were early adopters of new national and international standards to enhance cleaning protocols and instill consumer confidence,” she said, citing the Clean it Right program. “Tourism operators are resilient and have focused on improving quality and services as they ready for a broader travel re-opening.”
Preparations are also underway in Prince Edward Island in anticipation of tourism returning to the island province. “Our operators are keenly awaiting word on when border restrictions will be lifted, when we will be able to welcome visitors back to Prince Edward Island,” said Corryn Clemence, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island. “These operators have spent considerable time in preparing for our traditional season to kickoff and to welcome not just Atlantic Canada, but the rest of Canada as well.”
New Brunswick is also keen to welcome tourists back to the picturesque province. “We are hoping to open the Atlantic Bubble in July to get the season started,” said Carol Alderdice, the President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick. “Our operators have been exceptional at implementing protective measures against the spread of COVID-19 for over a year and we are ready to greet our guests.”
Newfoundland and Labrador is hopeful that a turnaround in tourism fortunes is not far in the future. “This has been the most challenging time for our tourism industry, and even with an easing of restrictions, we are looking at a long road to recovery,” said Craig Foley, the CEO of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador. “But the public is eager to travel, and tourism operators here are prepared to start welcoming visitors, while following the required precautions.”
Tourism operators throughout Atlantic Canada have been busy preparing and ensuring when restrictions are lifted, visitors will feel welcome and take comfort in knowing health and safety protocols are in place.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Although the pandemic emerged at the mid-point of the project, Fredericton International Airport (YFC), located in New Brunswick’s capital, has completed construction on its much-anticipated terminal expansion project, and has done so under budget and four months ahead of schedule. The new YFC features improved amenities and security, plus additional space for public health precautions like physical distancing, ensuring the terminal building is ready for the future.
Kings Landing, in Prince William near Fredericton, is an open-air historic village museum that has been optimized for safe visits during the pandemic. Sanitizing stations have been placed in the historic buildings and barriers between visitors and staff have been installed. These measures have actually allowed Kings Landing to display more of its artifacts collection, says Alderdice of the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick. It reopens on June 9.
Thoroughly comprehensive sanitation and guest protection policies have been rolled out at many resort properties in Nova Scotia, including Fox Harb’r Resort in Wallace, Nova Scotia. The property has introduced an extensive menu of sanitation and protective measures, including a mandatory screening protocol for all staff, and mandatory screening at the front entry gates of the resort for staff, guests, members and suppliers.
Trout Point Lodge in East Kemptville, NS has expanded its outdoor and recreational offerings in response to demand from the regional market, says Grant Fiander of Nova Scotia’s Tourism Industry Association. It has done so while increasing its focus on sanitation, enhancing its housekeeping hygiene protocols with standards based on Health Canada, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
In PEI, many tourism businesses have innovated and adapted their product offerings to continue to operate throughout the pandemic. For example, businesses like the Prince Edward Island Brewing Company pivoted to new opportunities, and in this case, converted their event space into an online grocery/pick up location.
In addition, Experience PEI has introduced a new product called “PEI in a Box,” which offers a tempting selection of local products for shipping across the region or across the country. Four boxes have been designed and packaged, including a Lobster Edition, a Chowder Edition, a Cheese Edition and a Snack Edition, with prices ranging from $25 to $85.
Meanwhile, two competitors have found a way to work together in Newfoundland and Labrador to help preserve jobs and earn revenues. The two boat tour companies – Gatherall’s and O’Briens – combined resources in 2020, and will again team up to provide top rated tours in the summer of 2021. This has been instrumental in helping to keep employees on the payroll.
And those aren’t well-dressed customers seated at the tables in the space-restricted Exile Restaurant at the JAG Boutique Hotel in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Those are stylish mannequins, given a full fashion makeover by local designers to help preserve a welcome ambience in the popular dining room. Clearly, necessity leads to innovation.
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD
Darlene Grant Fiander from Nova Scotia says the pandemic has been instructive in demonstrating the role of tourism in the Canadian economy, and says it offers an opportunity to educate Canadians on the value of tourism.
“As the hardest hit sector, people are seeing that tourism is a Main Street industry,” said the association President. “Tourism has the highest multiplier effect in the economy, and when it is affected, it affects communities.
“Tourism also enhances the social, cultural and environmental health of communities,” she said. “I believe the pandemic has highlighted the role tourism plays in the Canadian economy and our way of life.”
For Corryn Clemence of Prince Edward Island, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the cause of the most devastating time ever for the tourism industry in Canada.
“While I feel that many Canadians have a general understanding of the effects on our industry, the true impacts are still not fully understood. It is our hope that Canadians will take the opportunity to explore our country and discover new and exciting destinations within Canada. In doing so, they will help kick start the rebuild of our tourism industry across the country.”
While acknowledging the bleak situation facing his tourism industry constituents, Craig Foley of Newfoundland and Labrador is also looking ahead to better days. “Almost everyone knows someone in the travel industry, and tourism employees make up the fabric of our communities. People love to travel, and to see how people live in other places. There is a confidence issue with travel now, but operators are ready to start offering travel products once confidence has been restored, and the restrictions are lifted.”
And Carol Alderdice in New Brunswick has faith in the empathy of Canadians, saying she believes that Canadians are aware of the devastating impact of the epidemic on the tourism industry, because without visitors there are no revenues.
“We believe they will want to support our industry and travel within Canada first,” she said. “Our New Brunswick citizens came through for us last summer by travelling throughout the province, supporting our operators and discovering the beauty in their own back yard. We believe they will do the same this year and stay in New Brunswick and Canada.”
Director of Government Affairs, TIAC


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By contrast, retail sales were up 1.2 per cent and directory sales rose 4.6 per cent. Overall sales (including directory) rose 2.2 per cent. The retailer said: 'The present retail like-for-like performance represents a significant improvement on the -7.2 per cent experienced last year and reflects some of the changes made to our product ranges and marketing.'
However, the retailer said that it remains cautious about trade for the rest of the year and intends to make further improvements to its ranges, marketing and shopfit in the coming months. It expects like-for-like sales in the second half to be better than those in the first.
Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner said: 'Like-for-like sales [are] disappointing, given how well some of its competitors fared.'
The retailer operates from 336 stores, but is aiming to increase its retail space by 400,000 sq ft during the year.
Separately, non-executive director Derek Netherton has announced that he is to retire from the group next year, after 10 years. Whitehead Mann chief executive officer Steve Barber has been appointed non-executive director and will also sit on the audit committee, with effect from June 1.


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Ancient8 is a Blockchain Gaming Guild backed by the largest and most reputable organizations in the industry. Ancient8 has been giving away valuable gaming scholarships to our members.
After having a partnership with CyBall, Ancient8 would like to announce a strategic partnership with Elpis Battle - an RGP P2E game about a millennial war between races.
With the growth of the P2E game industry and sharing a common vision, Ancient8 and Elpis Battle want to create a quality GameFi playground for gamers. Not only providing scholarships, the goal of Ancient and Elpis Battle will also bring more value to the community.
Elpis Battle - More than a war between Mithycal Races
For those who have played games like Warcraft III, there is no stranger to races like Naga, Orc, Elf, etc. Elpis Battle will reappear the war between these races in an interesting way and especially players will earn money from playing the game.
Elpis Battle has created an in-game economy where players can earn money in many ways: fighting, mining, staking, renting, training, and many more. Besides the PvE and PvP modes, Elpis Battle players can also interact and coordinate with each other to conquer new lands.
The first Elpis Battle NFTs went on sale on 11/12 for 0.16 BNB/NFT. Now, heroes can be bought and sold on the official Elpis Battle marketplace: https://elpis.game/marketplace
Ancient8's First Elpis Battle Scholarships
With so many P2E games at the moment, Ancient8 wants to bring to the community quality and attractive games. Elpis Battle has appeared and become the 3rd P2E game that Ancient8 offers as a scholarship.
As one of the first Gaming Guilds to have Private Beta accounts from Elpis Battle, Ancient8 has 25 scholarships available for Ancient8 members to experience.
Details about 25 Elpis Battle gaming scholarships will be announced soon on Ancient8's official channels. Do not miss it!
About Elpis Battle
Elpis Battle is a Turn-based RPG NFT Game implemented on Binance Smart Chain network, which is developed by 2 top games studios in Southeast Asia.
By combining Cryptocurrency, NFT Gaming, and Defi, Elpis’ developing team wants to create a new experience for new Elpis Battle players. Elpis is a world where players not only can explore stories about an imaginary kingdom but also can directly create value and exchange, buy and sell, and become a part of the economy in Elpis.
Ancient8 is Vietnam’s biggest blockchain gaming guild incubated by Coin98 Labs, Kyros Ventures and Coin68 Media. Ancient8 aims to create a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) that develops a platform to enable everyone to play and build the metaverse while earning rewards. Besides, we offer scholarships, educational content for equal economic opportunities in the metaverse.


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Indonesia and Malaysia lead rise in shelling out for matchmaking platforms
SINGAPORE — App designers are benefiting from a rise in desire for mobile relationship across Southeast Asia where investing in a few national nations has surged by as much as 260per cent over the past 36 months.
Relating to mobile information and analytics business App Annie, would-be fans in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have actually led the change to handheld devices.
Indonesians invested $5.8 million on mobile relationship apps this past year, when compared with $1.6 million in 2017, a 260% enhance. Malaysians also spent around $5.8 million on dating apps this past year, up from $1.8 million in 2017.
” The triple-digit development in Malaysia and Indonesia illustrates there is a stronger interest in such services in your community, ” Cindy Deng, App https://mail-order-brides.org/asian-brides/ Annie managing director for Asia Pacific, told the Nikkei Asian Review. ” the dimensions of the people, use of smart phones plus the rate of mobile internet continues to play a role that is key the development among these apps. “
As more individuals have success finding lovers through their electronics, Deng included, mobile relationship platforms have actually further entrenched by themselves in to the present day culture that is matchmaking.
Singapore singles taken into account the biggest invest of any Southeast Asian nation, ponying up $7.1 million this past year, up from $3.9 million in 2017, which App Annie related to the united states’s greater per capita earnings.
“Spend on online dating sites services in just about any marketplace is straight reliant of two primary facets — market affluence and the absolute measurements associated with the audience that is smartphone” stated Kabeer Chaudhary, handling partner for Asia-Pacific at electronic news agency M&C Saatchi Performance.
“While Singapore has an infinitely more audience that is affluent Indonesia and Malaysia, their development in smartphone audiences is bound, ” Chaudhary noted, incorporating that the sheer variety of users within the two bigger nations will drive future increases within their app investing.
Southeast Asia’s potential is not lost on software manufacturers, with a few designers increasing their efforts to recapture growth over the area as more singles lean on technology in order to connect with one another.
Match Group, which has the popular Tinder relationship software, has said it offers made dating items in Asia a concern, appointing a basic supervisor for Southern Korea and Southeast Asia this psincet year as well as establishing workplaces Japan and Indonesia.
Social app that is dating has partnered aided by the Singapore Tourism Board to provide a site targeted at helping professionals network while making connections, although the Dating.com Group has stated it is searching for dating business acquistions in Asia to fuel its development.
Globally, App Annie stated customers invested over $2.2 billion on dating apps this past year — twice the quantity spenbt in 2017. Even though Tinder led the pack, other newcomers are needs to get caught up.
In Southeast Asia, where penetration that is digital exploding much more folks manage to get thier arms on the newest smart phones,
App Annie stated platforms such as for example Coffee Meets Bagel and Asia’s Tantan ranked among the list of top ten mobile apps that are dating.
General, mobile users in Southeast Asia downloaded 13.2 billion apps of all of the types year that is last a 20% enhance from 2017, with Indonesian consumers alone downloading 6 billion apps this past year — a 40% enhance since 2017.
Indonesia rated 5th just last year with regards to the number that is highest of apps downloaded by country — behind Asia, Asia, the U.S. And Brazil.
With regards to came to customer paying for apps in Southeast Asia, Thailand took the top spot, creating $648 million in yearly mobile profits just last year, up 60% since 2017.
Singapore was at 2nd spot with $466 million year that is last accompanied by Indonesia at $386 million, Malaysia at $379 million, the Philippines at $225 million and Vietnam at $208 million.
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A 300-baht tourism fee which was set to be introduced from April 1 now looks likely to be postponed. The Bangkok Post reports that officials have not yet decided how best to collect the levy. Implementation is expected to be pushed out by around 2 months, although tourism operators have said they’d like to see the idea ditched completely, at least while the sector is fighting to survive the pandemic.
However, Thailand’s tourism minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, says the National Tourism Policy Committee supports the creation of a tourism fund, paid for by the new fee, and the next step would be proposing it to cabinet. Once it receives cabinet approval, details of how it will be collected will be published in the Royal Gazette within 90 days. He adds that implementation of the fee is being delayed as airlines are likely to be charged with collecting it and they’ve asked for more time to prepare. Collection methods for arrivals at land borders have also not been finalised.
According to the Bangkok Post report, around 20% of the fee will be allocated as insurance coverage for international visitors, while 50% will be used to develop tourism offerings in the kingdom. Yuthasak Supasorn from the Tourism Authority of Thailand says the country’s tourism products and services still need a lot of investment, in particular local products and festivals.
Tourism officials and other related agencies have agreed to support Thailand’s creative industries, with Yuthasak saying support of the creative arts and other cultural attractions, such as food, festivals, film, fashion, Muay Thai, music, and museums, could increase tourism revenue by 20%.
Apisit Laistrooglai from the Creative Economy Agency says the value of Thailand’s creative industries is expected to reach 1.5 trillion baht, up 3.57% from 2021. He points to festivals such as Bangkok’s Design Week, which takes place this month and is expected to generate 750 million baht.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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|By Esmeralda Swartz||
|July 17, 2015 05:00 PM EDT||
In last month's #IoTuesday Twitter chat, we explored findings from Cloud Expo 2015 and @ThingsExpo 2015 as the industry came together to explore the impact of Cloud and Internet of Things (IoT). Sensors, processors, software, and connectivity in things, otherwise known as computers inside products, coupled with the cloud to store massive amounts of data and analytics that turn data into information are transforming entire industries and radically impacting the performance and function of not just things but of entire value chains.
Ericsson, whose networks control 40% of the world's mobile traffic, predicts that by 2020 there will be 26 billion connected devices, including smartphones, cars, appliances, tablets, monitoring sensors on industrial machinery and other things, connected to the Internet. The scale of a globally connected society means more GSM cell towers and more networking equipment, but the evolution from machine to machine (M2M) to IoT is also driving a new focus-to software and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). While hardware remains important it matters differently than it did before and is at the edge of IoT while software is at its core. Enabling technologies like cloud and Big Data share a stage with Web APIs, or more specifically developer-friendly REST APIs along with API management. APIs are not just important for connecting devices, but also the part they play to connect applications serving a single purpose or as part of an aggregate role in a horizontal ecosystem.
Productized APIs Creates API Economy and Marketplaces
Manufacturers of things are increasingly driving innovation through an IoT developer stack that attracts an ecosystem of partners that leverage APIs for building applications for a marketplace. With IoT, manufacturers can't just make things; they need to enhance the role of those things through software across the value chain. APIs are the glue that integrate massive amounts of data and through a wide variety of applications, enable companies to transform into digital enterprises. Things become repositories for data that enable manufacturers to make informed decisions, but business leaders are just beginning to appreciate the extent of the opportunity, which includes connected device applications in sectors ranging from manufacturing to mining, agriculture to energy, and transportation to healthcare. The Internet of Things will rearrange entire supply chains from production through consumption. The role of open standards that help establish new partner ecosystems will be crucial for adoption across different verticals.
Devices have little value unless they have applications. Apple was one of the first companies to demonstrate an alternative and lucrative way to build a walled garden. In the mobile world, users of iPhones are pretty much limited to the apps chosen by Apple and offered in the Apple App store. Apple created the first smartphone developer network around iOS. Developers are attracted to develop applications for Apple devices before Android devices because Android implementations vary based on device manufacturer; Apple's iOS provides a larger common device installed base. By and large, those Apple-selected apps, which often dominate the users' experience, define the providers that the iPhone can access. Most people live quite happily within the walled garden of apps approved by Apple. Apple led the way in circumscribing user behavior in this way, but the fashion quickly caught on. Android users have the Google (Play) store, and Windows Mobile users have the Windows Phone Store.
Interestingly, Linux users were the first to experience the app-store approach. Some Linux distributions have long provided their users with an easy route to install approved applications from on-line repositories; although non-approved apps are still available, it's just harder work to get them. With the releases of Apple OS/X (Snow Leopard onward), the default way of buying software is via the Apple store; buying direct from a third party vendor is starting to feel like a rather exceptional thing to do, as users are challenged when they try to bypass the store and have to tweak some security settings to make it possible to install a non-official app. From Windows 8.1 onward, Microsoft Windows users also had their own App store too.
Companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and the open source community aim to make life simpler and easier for users, and at the same time create a user environment that is more structured, and controlled. These companies and communities are not forcing users into their walled gardens. They are enticing users to come inside and be safe and comfortable. For most ordinary users, this is seen as a fair trade: a win-win situation. Users can always take a walk in the wild woods outside if they want to, it's just that increasingly they don't want to. How will IoT ecosystems evolve? Do we need to reinvent the wheel or do we already have a formula to emulate? Follow us on Twitter and join the discussion as we explore this topic in our next #IoTuesday Twitter chat being held on July 14 at 1:00pm EDT.
“We're a global managed hosting provider. Our core customer set is a U.S.-based customer that is looking to go global,” explained Adam Rogers, Managing Director at ANEXIA, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 18th Cloud Expo, held June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Feb. 24, 2017 07:30 AM EST Reads: 1,833
Data is the fuel that drives the machine learning algorithmic engines and ultimately provides the business value. In his session at Cloud Expo, Ed Featherston, a director and senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting, discussed the key considerations around quality, volume, timeliness, and pedigree that must be dealt with in order to properly fuel that engine.
Feb. 24, 2017 06:15 AM EST Reads: 5,454
Data is the fuel that drives the machine learning algorithmic engines and ultimately provides the business value. In his session at 20th Cloud Expo, Ed Featherston, director/senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting, will discuss the key considerations around quality, volume, timeliness, and pedigree that must be dealt with in order to properly fuel that engine.
Feb. 24, 2017 04:00 AM EST Reads: 3,800
SYS-CON Events announced today that DatacenterDynamics has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7–9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. DatacenterDynamics is a brand of DCD Group, a global B2B media and publishing company that develops products to help senior professionals in the world's most ICT dependent organizations make risk-based infrastructure and capacity decisions.
Feb. 24, 2017 03:00 AM EST Reads: 1,826
"Matrix is an ambitious open standard and implementation that's set up to break down the fragmentation problems that exist in IP messaging and VoIP communication," explained John Woolf, Technical Evangelist at Matrix, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Feb. 24, 2017 02:15 AM EST Reads: 13,204
Growth hacking is common for startups to make unheard-of progress in building their business. Career Hacks can help Geek Girls and those who support them (yes, that's you too, Dad!) to excel in this typically male-dominated world. Get ready to learn the facts: Is there a bias against women in the tech / developer communities? Why are women 50% of the workforce, but hold only 24% of the STEM or IT positions? Some beginnings of what to do about it! In her Day 2 Keynote at 17th Cloud Expo, Sandy Ca...
Feb. 24, 2017 01:45 AM EST Reads: 9,542
IoT is at the core or many Digital Transformation initiatives with the goal of re-inventing a company's business model. We all agree that collecting relevant IoT data will result in massive amounts of data needing to be stored. However, with the rapid development of IoT devices and ongoing business model transformation, we are not able to predict the volume and growth of IoT data. And with the lack of IoT history, traditional methods of IT and infrastructure planning based on the past do not app...
Feb. 24, 2017 01:00 AM EST Reads: 1,902
WebRTC services have already permeated corporate communications in the form of videoconferencing solutions. However, WebRTC has the potential of going beyond and catalyzing a new class of services providing more than calls with capabilities such as mass-scale real-time media broadcasting, enriched and augmented video, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communications. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Luis Lopez, CEO of Kurento, introduced the technologies required for implementing these idea...
Feb. 23, 2017 11:30 PM EST Reads: 6,310
Why do your mobile transformations need to happen today? Mobile is the strategy that enterprise transformation centers on to drive customer engagement. In his general session at @ThingsExpo, Roger Woods, Director, Mobile Product & Strategy – Adobe Marketing Cloud, covered key IoT and mobile trends that are forcing mobile transformation, key components of a solid mobile strategy and explored how brands are effectively driving mobile change throughout the enterprise.
Feb. 23, 2017 11:00 PM EST Reads: 7,025
Apache Hadoop is emerging as a distributed platform for handling large and fast incoming streams of data. Predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, and Internet-of-Things analysis are examples where Hadoop provides the scalable storage, processing, and analytics platform to gain meaningful insights from granular data that is typically only valuable from a large-scale, aggregate view. One architecture useful for capturing and analyzing streaming data is the Lambda Architecture, represent...
Feb. 23, 2017 10:00 PM EST Reads: 4,620
SYS-CON Events announced today that delaPlex will exhibit at SYS-CON's @CloudExpo, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. delaPlex pioneered Software Development as a Service (SDaaS), which provides scalable resources to build, test, and deploy software. It’s a fast and more reliable way to develop a new product or expand your in-house team.
Feb. 23, 2017 09:15 PM EST Reads: 1,539
The explosion of new web/cloud/IoT-based applications and the data they generate are transforming our world right before our eyes. In this rush to adopt these new technologies, organizations are often ignoring fundamental questions concerning who owns the data and failing to ask for permission to conduct invasive surveillance of their customers. Organizations that are not transparent about how their systems gather data telemetry without offering shared data ownership risk product rejection, regu...
Feb. 23, 2017 08:45 PM EST Reads: 1,310
With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing IoT strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @ThingsExpo 2016 in New York. Learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is as "IoT-Ready" as it can be! Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York, is co-located with 20th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry p...
Feb. 23, 2017 08:30 PM EST Reads: 1,466
The Internet of Things will challenge the status quo of how IT and development organizations operate. Or will it? Certainly the fog layer of IoT requires special insights about data ontology, security and transactional integrity. But the developmental challenges are the same: People, Process and Platform and how we integrate our thinking to solve complicated problems. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Craig Sproule, CEO of Metavine, demonstrated how to move beyond today's coding paradigm and sh...
Feb. 23, 2017 07:45 PM EST Reads: 3,410
SYS-CON Events announced today that IoT Now has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6–8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. IoT Now explores the evolving opportunities and challenges facing CSPs, and it passes on some lessons learned from those who have taken the first steps in next-gen IoT services.
Feb. 23, 2017 06:45 PM EST Reads: 1,466
As organizations realize the scope of the Internet of Things, gaining key insights from Big Data, through the use of advanced analytics, becomes crucial. However, IoT also creates the need for petabyte scale storage of data from millions of devices. A new type of Storage is required which seamlessly integrates robust data analytics with massive scale. These storage systems will act as “smart systems” provide in-place analytics that speed discovery and enable businesses to quickly derive meaningf...
Feb. 23, 2017 06:30 PM EST Reads: 6,302
SYS-CON Events announced today that WineSOFT will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Based in Seoul and Irvine, WineSOFT is an innovative software house focusing on internet infrastructure solutions. The venture started as a bootstrap start-up in 2010 by focusing on making the internet faster and more powerful. WineSOFT’s knowledge is based on the expertise of TCP/IP, VPN, SSL, peer-to-peer, mob...
Feb. 23, 2017 06:30 PM EST Reads: 1,732
SYS-CON Media announced today that @WebRTCSummit Blog, the largest WebRTC resource in the world, has been launched. @WebRTCSummit Blog offers top articles, news stories, and blog posts from the world's well-known experts and guarantees better exposure for its authors than any other publication. @WebRTCSummit Blog can be bookmarked ▸ Here @WebRTCSummit conference site can be bookmarked ▸ Here
Feb. 23, 2017 06:00 PM EST Reads: 13,074
The Internet of Things can drive efficiency for airlines and airports. In their session at @ThingsExpo, Shyam Varan Nath, Principal Architect with GE, and Sudip Majumder, senior director of development at Oracle, discussed the technical details of the connected airline baggage and related social media solutions. These IoT applications will enhance travelers' journey experience and drive efficiency for the airlines and the airports.
Feb. 23, 2017 06:00 PM EST Reads: 1,526
In his keynote at @ThingsExpo, Chris Matthieu, Director of IoT Engineering at Citrix and co-founder and CTO of Octoblu, focused on building an IoT platform and company. He provided a behind-the-scenes look at Octoblu’s platform, business, and pivots along the way (including the Citrix acquisition of Octoblu).
Feb. 23, 2017 05:45 PM EST Reads: 1,240


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Eagle Eye for a profit
Nigel Whittaker, former director of Kingfisher and serial company launcher, is expected to see his latest business turn a profit only months after buying it.
Whittaker bought Eagle Eye Telematics last November with his AIM-listed cash shell. Eagle's technology allows businesses to track their fleets of cars and lorries.
After results in line with expectations for the first month under Whittaker, house broker Beeson Gregory forecast Eagle Eye to make pre-tax profits of £430,000 this year, rising to £3m in 2002.
By end-January, the group had 700 orders for its products, which detect and monitor speeds, temperatures and intruders. It is working on systems to transmit digital images from vehicle interiors.
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Booker wants more scrutiny of Amazon-Whole Foods merger
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says he plans to join other members of the Congressional Black Caucus in calling for more scrutiny of the Amazon-Whole Foods merger.
Booker told Recode that he and other lawmakers will finalize and send a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) highlighting their concerns with the $14 billion acquisition.
“This consolidation that’s happening all over the country is not a positive trend,” Booker said.
Booker expressed concern that the DOJ under Attorney General Jeff Sessions would not sufficiently examine potentially negative ramifications of the merger.
Many antitrust experts see the deal as Amazon simply purchasing a business that engages in a different stage of production than itself — a vertical merger. Such deals are generally approved by the DOJ. But Booker warned of issues beyond the scope of antitrust law.
“We’re having a hard enough time getting supermarkets to move into urban communities, to give people choice, to give people price competitiveness, so that actually they’re paying for affordable groceries,” Booker told Recode.
“I worry about grocery consolidation, I worry about the jobs that many of these grocery stores create, and so I am skeptical of this particular merger, highly skeptical of it, and I believe this consolidation as well as other consolidations, we should be holding a far higher bar than we are when we approve these.”
The New Jersey senator joins Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) in calling for a closer examination of the merger. Last week, Cicilline sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) asking for a hearing to scrutinize the possible negative effects of the deal.
Booker also took shots at Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and acting chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Maureen Ohlhausen, who helm regulatory agencies that make sure U.S. businesses take advantage of consumers.
“I think these are extremely dangerous people in positions right now that are going to do nothing but inflame the economic injustices we’re already seeing in our country, giving more power to corporate consolidation, to corporations as a whole, and less power to Americans,” Booker said of the two.
Both have championed deregulation on the grounds that freer markets are more beneficial to consumers.
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