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Serving updates from the likes of Twitter in a search engine’s results may help the user, but by pushing other results down the page, what does it mean for brands’ approach to search marketing?
- Last October Twitter signed deals with Google, Bing and Yahoo to include updates within their search results
- In December Google integrated real-time results from Twitter
- The long-term effect on SEO as unclear, but brands are keen to utilise the opportunity to come high up in Google rankings
- Traditional search agencies are evolving to become social media specialists
- Google Buzz is further evidence of search results being focused towards ’authority’ sources
In December Google integrated real-time search results into its main results page, aggregating updates from a number of social media sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. These are now served within a scrolling box at the top of the page in what Google claims is the most comprehensive real-time search service from any of the major search engines.
Two months earlier the search giant announced an aggregation deal with Twitter. While Microsoft and Yahoo have similar deals, Google’s rollout displayed the results more prominently than its rivals did. Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of search products and user experience, said at the rollout of real-time results, “I’d say real-time search is the natural evolution of universal search.”
It’s no surprise Twitter updates dominate Google’s real-time results, given the exponential growth the platform has seen in the past year. Almost overnight Twitter has become the de facto real-time search service, with all engines clamouring to partner with it.
Currently the integration is ad-free. By clicking an ’updates’ tab within Google’s results options, a user can search for instant Twitter updates on a specific topic, but the returned results have no AdWords ads served against them. As such, the brand impact is purely on natural search results. The real-time results come within the first natural listings on Google and therefore take up valuable space on the most sought after real estate on the web.
The move throws up more questions for search specialists about how to optimise content, as well as for brands about who should be managing their Twitter feed - themselves, PRs or search agencies? But although it’s still early days for comprehensive real-time search, brands have already identified it as a further opportunity for them to gain share of voice.
Paola Lopez, senior digital marketing manager for channel integration at the Central Office of Information (COI), says, “Matching real-time results with sponsored listings is an opportunity to deliver topical messages when they’re most relevant. From a government communications perspective, it’s an interesting way to develop advocacy and response.”
Likewise, Tom Morphy, responsible for European search marketing at Coca-Cola, says, “One opportunity from Twitter’s inclusion in results is the ability to gain visibility of your own point of view very quickly. Before, if a very popular topic trended, it was tricky to gain visibility on the natural search results pages because of the time it takes Google to index and display. The inclusion of Twitter allows a brand to add input into a discussion so more people can respond and be heard.”
The user experience clearly benefits, according to search specialists. Neil Jackson, director of search at digital marketing agency Tamar, says real-time results provide consumers with a far greater content proposition for a brand than before. “Searching on Google is a narrowing and personalisation process, and one of the plus sides of this move is that it opens up access to thought, comment, people and companies you may not have heard of before,” he says.I
t also allows brands to manage the engagement process effectively. “A brand may choose not to respond directly through Twitter but instead to write a blog or an article about the points raised in tweets, which they can then push out through the usual channels,” Jackson says. “That way, brands can respond quickly and create content that’s relevant, which it knows people are searching for.”
Google’s Twitter results aren’t quite as comprehensive as they initially seem. The fun of seeing tweets appear among hotly contested search results could easily be abused by spammers. However, only a selected number of keywords deliver real-time results, based on a combination of trending topics on Twitter and Google’s algorithm. Therefore, it remains too early to see the true effects of the move on search optimisation, according to specialists.
Grant Muckle, head of SEO at agency I-Spy Marketing, says, “At the moment its hard to say what impact it’ll have because it’s only on trending topics or what Google determines as popular. What it does show is that social media is becoming a central part of search.”
Tamar’s Jackson agrees. “Feeds only get triggered when Google deems it a hot topic, so drier topics are unaffected,” he says. “If the feeds aren’t detracting from click-throughs or diverting people’s attention away from the regular results, then there’s little effect.”
But what it does provide, he says, is a crucial platform for building word of mouth ahead of a product launch. Queries for ’Apple tablet’ ahead of the company’s iPad announcement last month, and those for ’Google Buzz’ ahead of its rollout last week, saw Twitter updates frequently served in Google results pages.
“If you’re launching a product, real-time results enable you to see what people are saying and this gives you an opportunity to respond in different ways and gain exposure accordingly,” says Jackson. “You can respond directly to the tweets and that will allow you to manage the situation, whether it’s negative or positive.”
The most pressing concern for search marketers is how to deal with another instance of Google marginalising natural results within its search pages. This has been a situation they’ve had to deal with ever since Google began introducing OneBox results (see box, right) and Universal Search results from early 2007.
Google understandably says the reason for the inclusion of new content that might push down natural results is to help users get to what they want more quickly. After all, this is the company that always stresses you’re only one click away from leaving its site. But with brands scrabbling for the limited, high-value real estate on page one of a results page, real-time results present another hurdle for them to overcome.
Doug Platts, head of natural search at agency iCrossing, says, “The immediate thing we’ve seen is another example of the cannibalisation of the Google results page. If this is happening for a brand’s core terms, if their website results sit below the integrated feed, it could easily affect the click-through rate to that site.”
Beyond that are wider implications for brands, he adds. While search, and especially pay-per-click, has long had proven ROI for brands, social media has still to convince many. Integration of real-time results changes that.
“Its an opportunity for brands to gain exposure by incorporating social media into their overall marketing strategy,” says Platts. “Brands need to more closely monitor where their target audiences are, whether that’s on Twitter, Facebook or wherever, in order to understand the conversation. More than ever, they need a connected online strategy. Whereas people haven’t previously understood the value of social media, doing this is a way of saying that if you don’t engage with social media then you’ll be missing out on the chance to gain that visibility on the front page of search engines.”
The question then becomes who should manage that connected online strategy. Many brands, including Kellogg’s and ASOS, have their Twitter profiles managed by an in-house communications team. But the vast majority will outsource their search.
As the two become more closely entwined, will a brand be happy for a search specialist to be closely involved in its Twitter profile? It’s not surprising that in the past few months countless agencies have launched social media arms, such as Profero’s Yabber, and start-ups have entered the fray, all claiming to closely monitor and manage buzz marketing and SEO.
The traditional search agencies have also evolved. Both iCrossing and Tamar have moved on from being known as search agencies. Even i-Spy Marketing, an agency whose senior team has a very strong paid-search background, is positioning itself as an ’uptimisation’ agency which can work on multiple search and social touchpoints.
“We’ve recognised for the past year and a half that you can’t do good search without understanding or running social media activity as they’re so closely linked,” says I-Spy’s Muckle. “You need to use social media to get links, which then have an impact on natural result rankings.”
Search agencies will have to get better at the social media game, he adds, understanding how it can positively or negatively affect the clients they work with.
“We’re telling our clients they need to be tweeting more often, to have an active Facebook page, to react to topics that might impact on their area of business,” Muckle says. “They should tweet their opinion on the matter so that they have a share of voice on the first page of Google.”
Platts at iCrossing adds, “One of the reasons we became a full service agency, but with social media at the core, is because of the two channels coming together.”
Hearing the Buzz
Already the rules have changed again, with the launch of Google Buzz. It’s a social platform that allows users to post status updates and share content through Gmail. It goes beyond Twitter’s 140-character update premise, with users able to drag images, links and videos into their updates.
Andrew Girdwood, head of search at agency Bigmouthmedia, says if Buzz takes off in the way Google hopes, then it could have a major impact on search listings and especially real-time results. “It’s all too likely that in the future these real-time streams will link to Google Buzz pages,” he says. “This is a content play by Google. Searches take searchers back to Google.”
Girdwood says all moves indicate the shift in how search engines rank content. “If the 1990s was about search engines sorting out relevancy algorithms and the 2000s where about them sorting out trust algorithms, then the 2010s are about authority,” he says.
When faced with two equally relevant sites, both of which it trusts, Google will more likely pick the more authoritative. “Google Buzz helps Google determine which sites are the authority as it gives the engine an insight into what people are talking about, which sites real people recommend to one another, which news events inspire the most interest in people, how people tend to describe things, and so on,” Girdwood says.
What’s clear is that the ever-shifting search landscape has moved again. Real-time search provides a chance for brands and agencies that are social media-savvy, rather than having an immediate negative impact.
Google’s OneBox tries to answer users’ queries directly, with results separated from the rest of the page, usually immediately ahead of the first natural ranking. It was introduced at the start of 2006, covering subjects including news, definitions, film listings and stock prices.
Queries such as ’weather London’, for example, would show the current conditions in the city, as well as over the next few days. Initially these results were based on Google’s own interpretation of sites it spidered, breaking out content for a OneBox result where it felt it was appropriate. However, more recently it has struck deals with third parties to include their content in OneBox results. In October it partnered with music services iLike and Lala to split out music tracks in its results (nma.co.uk 29 October 2009).
The service, only available in North America at present, serves text links and artwork of tracks related to a search query at the top of results. Google says it’s intended to help music fans find legitimate download sources rather than rely on torrents.


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Co-operative Group appoints Magliano as new brand director
15 March 2012
The Co-operative Group
In his new role, Magliano will have responsibility for all developmental aspects of the brand and its communication across the Group’s family of businesses, which includes food, banking, insurance, funerals, legal services and pharmacy. His remit will also include digital media, social media and sponsorship.
With an early background in advertising, Magliano has worked as Director of Sales and Marketing for two airlines, easyJet and Go and was also Director of Commercial and Marketing for England’s 2018 World Cup bid. His achievements were recognised when he was awarded an MBE in 2006.
Gill Barr explained: “David is a high calibre, proven marketeer and his appointment underlines the importance we are attaching to the further development of our brand within the UK. These are exciting times for The Co-operative in terms of maintaining the momentum we’ve seen in recent years and delivering plans which are anchored around meeting customers’ needs. David will play a key role in this and we are delighted that he is joining us.”
David Magliano commented: “I’ve been presented with a fantastic opportunity to shape and communicate the Co-operative brand across a range of businesses to a multitude of audiences, each with their own needs and expectations. I look forward to ensuring that this distinctive brand realises its full potential across all communication channels.”
The Co-operative Group is the UK’s largest mutual business, owned not by private shareholders but by over six million consumers. It is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer, the leading convenience store operator and a major financial services provider, operating The Co-operative Bank, Britannia and The Co-operative Insurance. Among its other businesses are the number one funeral services provider and one of Britain’s largest farming operations. As well as having clear financial and operational objectives, the Group has also set out its social and sustainability goals in its groundbreaking Ethical Plan, which specifies over 50 commitments in these areas.
The Group operates 4,800 retail trading outlets, employs more than 100,000 people and has an annual turnover of more than £13bn. Further information is available at www.co-operative.coop.
The Co-operative Group Press Office
T: 0161 827 5289
M: 07770 925 957

domain: news


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New York-based online marijuana wholesale management/commerce platform LeafLink just secured a $10 million bag in venture funding to expand operations in California as the state prepares for increased laxness around recreational marijuana. Capital raised will also be used to pursue new markets – already in six states, LeafLink has plans to supply product to about ten states in the very near future.
The LeafLink platform which was first launched in Colorado in March 2016 is designed for business-to-business (B2B) supply chain transactions. The platform provides the ability for dispensaries to compare and contrast prices from a wide variety of suppliers and then pick the best fit in a more educated manner. Dispensary owners are, through the LeafLink platform, able to legally (and hassle-freely) place, manage, pay for and track orders in a seamless way through a user-friendly interface. LeafLink currently works with about 400 brands and 1,700 retailers. Since 2016, the company has handled about $186 million in transactions and is poised to handle about $500 million in transactions in 2018.
Ryan Smith, the 26 year old CEO of LeafLink wants to define an industry which is still quite young by providing a way for suppliers and dispensaries to institutionalize processes and keep standards high (no pun intended). There is no doubt that this young CEO is bringing best practices from other industries and incorporating them into the cannabis landscape. The approach of attacking the back-end is brilliant because you are not married to any one brand or tied to whoever is the flavor of the month – you are just the facilitator that makes the ecosystem work smoothly. Judging by the very respectable venture players (Nosara Capital led the round with participation from other investors that included Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Casa Verde Capital, Wisdom VC, Phyto Partners, TIA Ventures and Brand New Matter) that showed up for the oversubscribed Series A $10 million funding round, it is clear that Ryan Smith’s model is resonating.
See Similar Features here …
The New Marijuana Movement: Investment Clubs, High Tea, Yoni, High-End Vapes.
Hey, ‘Budtender’: Los Angeles’s Power Brokers of Pot Crank Up the Kook Jake Michaels for The New York Times LOS ANGELES – Carli Jo Bidlingmaier was talking to a group of 20-somethings in a living room in the Bel-Air neighborhood here, weeks before the wildfires.


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Google apps from mall (Google Play Store), Google is going to build a hardware Store, where customers can buy like lego custom Project Ara smartphone hardware module.
Project Ara is Google’s forthcoming let you build your own smartphone’s plan, according to the plan allows the user to own demand mix and match all kinds of mobile phone hardware modules. The smartphone has sold for $50 a basic framework, users can add or remove the module components, according to their own needs to add or remove some function.
, for example, users will be able to separate replacement screen, camera, antenna and CPU, replacement of parts is much cheaper than buy a new smartphone. Google is introduced biological recognition module, at the same time, the independent hardware manufacturers have think carefully created temperature, input, games, antenna and medical sensors. These modules need to be issued in accordance with the Google development tool design specification (MDK).
“anyone can create a conforms to the developer toolkit specification modules, and can put it in the Ara module market (similar to Google’s app store) and direct sales to consumers,” Google advanced technology project department Ara project director Paul Eremenko, purdue university talks earlier this month said a question-and-answer session.
ranking and score
buyers can see according to user feedback and rating of the selected one of the most popular modules, like Google application of mall, Eremenko said.
Project Ara test markets will begin in 2015, in this between, Google will make every effort to try to understand the usage of the user and solve the problem. Google has developed three different kinds of screen size and Ara smartphone prototype, Eremenko hinted that the real modular mobile global release also need a period of time.
“we have a lot of things to do in this project in response to the technology risk of degradation. We might do more than two or more prototypes. And we’re going to do a lot in the process of market pilot to understand how people with this equipment is interactive.” Eremenko said.
modular cell phone is not a new concept. 2010 Israeli company launched Modu Brewphone, keyboard, speaker and camera module can be attached. Zte is developing a customizable smartphone called Eco – Mobius, at present has not yet been released.
Project feasibility has been much discussion of Ara, but Eremenko believe consumers will appreciate its flexibility.
“if we can cross the price points, from a feature phone cross price points to a dream of very high-end equipment, and may be able to serve as the price of the portable medical diagnostic equipment, to do that might help us to give the rest of the 5 billion mobile phone network promotion to use smart phone users.” Eremenko said.
success is the result of giving users absolutely free
the success of the Project Ara may mainly depends on its function, because its function is defined by replaceable modules. Eremenko want to module development easier and his team are developing new design toolkit for hardware designers to easily like write mobile application code.
“nowadays would cost 12, 18, 24 months to develop a new smartphone and promote it to the market, and we hope to take this time to single digits.” Eremenko said.
Google encourage developers to put forward some new ideas, module, of course, this is a part of Google’s own work. The company pursue the idea of “commercial adaptive model”, the idea includes health sensors can track human biological signals.
“the levels of these signals including galvanic skin response, sweat, pupils scaling, the line of sight direction, and all sorts of things we can receive the your response when using the electronic commerce system. If you are stressed, impatient or feel this kind of experience is boring, we can provide a different planning experience.” Eremenko said.
in conversation, Eremenko also puts forward an idea about private information module, the module can be replaced depending on who is using this new smart phone.
Google and Linaro are Project Ara develop a customized version of the Android system. Ongoing work mainly revolves around the insert can be identified, this module can be identified immediately and do not need to restart the smartphone. Like the USB plug-in, to drive the module is identified according to the different types, such as storage, input, network, imaging, etc. Some modules can’t identify, such as high-end camera, it can be placed in an isolated area, so as not to affect the normal operation of the smart phone.
module is conductive, permanent magnet in the opening and closing of two kinds of state without electricity. Inductively coupled to replace cables for data transmission module.
in order to make the module development more cheap, Google’s advanced technology projects department also cooperate and Flextronics and two, that developers can cheaply to transfar for the actual hardware design ideas.


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Gurbir Grewal sent letters of cease and desist to four Garden State-based vendors, telling them that they are being investigated for violating the Consumer Fraud Act.
"In legalizing adult-use cannabis in New Jersey, the Legislature made it clear they were creating a regulated market with restrictions on how that market operates," said Grewal. "Instead of waiting for those regulations to be established, some vendors have decided to move forward on their own, in ways that the law does not allow. Today we’re making it clear that we will not permit these entities to undermine the regulated cannabis marketplace the Legislature created or to compete unfairly with properly licensed cannabis businesses."
The warning letters note that despite how the companies — Sky High Munchies, Slumped Kitchen LLC, NJGreenDirect.com LLC and West Winds Wellness — claim to offer free marijuana with the purchase of snacks, baked goods and more, the "gift" is a main part of the transaction and doesn't qualify as a gift. The actual items for sale on the sites are often sold at far higher prices, acting as a misrepresentation.


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|In what appears to be a conflict of interest, eBay and its subsidiary PayPal seem to be taking opposing stances in relation to the pending congressional restrictions on Internet gambling in the US.|
As recently as February, PayPal Europe has been resurfacing relations within online gambling through its partnership with Betfair, whilst its owner eBay has put itself firmly on the side of those looking to ban online gambling in the US.
eBay's backing of the proposed bill would appear to make it very difficult for its subsidiary to continue its business relationships with online gambling entities based in Europe. This would seem to point to the online auctioning company’s long-term desire for a global ban on Internet gambling, which when considering the unison between PayPal and Betfair, seems a strange move.
In a statement issued earlier this year Betfair Chief Executive Mark Davies commented on the partnership as a “significant step for Betfair to be the first online gambling company approved by PayPal Europe.” However at present, there appears to be no PayPal deposit methods on the Betfair site.
Fox News reported on speculation that eBay is attempting to win favour with online gambling ban champion Bob Goodlatte, due to his seat on the Congressional Internet Caucus, whilst other reports have thrown protectionism into the equation.


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Honda, Toyota express skepticism about EVs amid industry downturn
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda shared that the industry should not solely rely on EVs to achieve environmental sustainability
Video: Coachella road rage victim confronts aggressive drivers
A video of a road rage incident during a traffic jam on the way to Coachella captured the moment a victim confronted an aggressive driver an...
Honda Releases Limited-Edition Scooter Inspired by Anime Film ‘Weathering with You’
Honda is releasing a scooter inspired by Natsumi’s wheels in the hit anime movie “Tenki ni Ko,” or “Weathering with You.”


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HOMEMADE hats celebrating the fruits of harvest were paraded by pupils at Great Heath Primary School.
The Mildenhall school’s pupils were asked to get creative and make hats to coincide with their harvest celebration last Friday.
Teacher Lynsey Ramsell said the hats’ decoration ranged from fruit to grass, leaves and even a tractor.
She said: “There were some really creative ones.
“It’s lovely that they all joined in and took part.”
The harvest celebration coincided with a non-school uniform day raising money for children living in poverty in South Africa.
The students paraded their creations during a special assembly.


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Riccardo Tisci’s much-anticipated debut collection for Burberry was the highlight of the penultimate day of London Fashion Week (LFW), and saw him sweep away any trace of its beloved ex-creative director, Christopher Bailey.
It might have been the week’s hottest ticket, but the usual excitement and romantic frisson of recent Burberry shows under Bailey’s leadership was missing. Maybe it was the rows of boxy leather armchairs and the backdrop of sliding screens which helped create a slick, no-nonsense atmosphere for a collection that was the sum of many parts – from coolly luxe and elegant, to street-inspired looks which carried the hard-edged signature of Tisci’s days at Givenchy.
An opening sequence of muted café-au-lait tones set the scene for beautifully tailored classics, with multiple variations on the trench, swingy knee-length pleat skirts or tapered pants, feminine blouses and ladylike knits. The looks ticked several of this week’s emerging trend boxes – from the flashes of eau de nil and vermillion, to spots and skin prints, while the iconic house check appeared as a ribbon tweed, or redefined as striped blouse weights.
That quietly refined sense of luxe dressing gave way to something altogether more hardcore and emblematic of Tisci’s signature goth-meets-punk take on badass girls. Here, the silhouette embraced bodycon and casual with a battery of zips and buckled straps, coupled with thigh-high hemlines and leather, slick PVC, pony skin, and a throwback ‘Who Killed Bambi’ logo. And while the opening passage was accessorised with low-key belt bags and grown-up ankle-strap shoes, the more youthful looks were teamed with chunky, childlike patent sandals.
The collection was designed to be all-inclusive, supposedly to draw every age group into the Burberry family. But with 134 looks, the message got slightly lost.
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Consumers can't smell perfumes online. But an AI-powered fragrance finder, created by beauty giant Coty for UK retailer Boots, is finding a way around the problem – and reporting very promising results.
Multinational Coty has unveiled initial feedback on its artificially intelligent Fragrance Finder, launched on Boots.com in early 2018. Coty's e-commerce director Jamie Parker recently spoke at Tech., the new retail technology show staged in London (September 12-13).
Coty began with a question, said Parker: "How do we connect people with the fragrances they love?" Interviews with 5,000 people provided the core data for the tool, improved through machine learning.
By asking a series of questions of the online shopper, the company has created an effective solution. Intriguingly, as Parker highlights, the most predictive questions are not about preferred olfactive families (consumers often don't know what they want) – but about colour, architecture or lifestyle.
The Fragrance Finder represents a new take on the Scent Finder pioneered by San Francisco start-up Pinrose in 2014. This was based on a special algorithm developed as a result of a collaboration between Christine Luby, who studied the psychology of scent at college, and US olfactory expert Alan Hirsch from the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.
Since a low-key launch with no media support, the Boots.com finder has logged 200,000 sessions, with consumers guided through a seven-stage process. Seventy-five per cent of all sessions have been completed, with 94% undertaken for self-purchase. Details of the uptick in sales were not revealed, but Coty believes it has developed a tool that has potential right across the fragrance category.
Also developed by Coty is an AI CoverGirl 'shop the look' feature for Walmart in the US which, unlike most other similar tools, does not require the consumer to download an app – it's offered in-browser. Coty says traffic has doubled, with sales enjoying a very significant spike. Next up for early 2019: a virtual make-up artist.
For more on personalised beauty, see our report Future Beauty: Perfecting Bespoke.
A machine-learning algorithm has been developed to estimate obesity levels in US cities without directly assessing the medical data of inhabitants. The researchers hope their findings can help future cities improve the health and wellbeing of their residents.
Researchers from the University of Washington studied satellite and Google Maps Street View imagery of city infrastructure and building placement, correlating it with obesity rates in individual cities. They also included 'points of interest' such as food and pet shops, which encourage activity within a district. For example, in areas with shops, people are more likely to walk around and socialise compared to less-frequented industrial districts.
Their initial research has found, unsurprisingly, that green urban areas with widely spaced buildings correlated with lower obesity rates, as these features facilitate physical activity. Despite wealthy areas typically including these elements, validation tests demonstrated that income was only one contributing factor to inhabitants' health; a city's infrastructure also affected its obesity rates.
The algorithm has only been applied to US cities so far, but could be rolled out further afield if adapted to account for differences in city planning and lifestyle across other cultures.
Obesity affects almost 40% of US adults (CDC, 2018). Dynamic approaches to health management in cities is a wise move, as less than 20% of the US population live in rural areas (Census Bureau, 2016). The University of Washington's research will be helpful in planning future urban infrastructure and offers a novel solution to concerns over healthcare.
Our recent blog on Norwegian town Lyseparken illustrates how cities of the future can be built with the wellbeing of inhabitants in mind. For more on the future of urban spaces, see our Smart Cities Spotlight Trend.
A typical 6kg washing machine cycle of synthetics releases hundreds of thousands of microfibres into the water stream, according to Slovenian start-up Planet Care. To tackle the problem, the company has developed a filtration solution that aims to provide cleaner water.
Microfibre fleece, polyester blends and acrylic yarn shed fibres into the water stream when washed, which can end up in our drinking water, oceans, lakes and rivers, impacting the health of our ecosystem. When ingested, microfibres can cause problems including infertility, poisoning and genetic disruption, the start-up explains.
Planet Care’s filter works by attracting stray fibres ranging from 0.2-1,000 microns in length into a cartridge, using the electrostatic charge that naturally builds up in synthetics. Once full, the cartridges can be sent back to the manufacturer for recycling.
The company is working with appliance manufacturers to build the solution into washing machines, while add-on filters allow keen consumers to retrofit the solution into their existing appliances. An industrial version is also in development, which can be incorporated into the plumbing of commercial cleaners, hotels, hospitals and other high-volume washing facilities.
And to read about products made from harvested plastic waste, see Evolving Plastics.
After eight days of mundane shows in New York, Matty Bovan’s outlandish S/S 19 collection blew in like a breath of fresh air on the opening day of London Fashion Week (LFW), neatly summing up the eccentric creativity the city is famous for.
The designer’s signature ragbag layering is all in place – but this season sees it coupled with an almost polished elegance. Bovan’s experiments with multiple textures and haphazard print and pattern are less creative club kids, more crazy couture.
Extravagant, pastel-coloured tulle crinolines were swathed in luxe tweeds, or trimmed with a cornucopia of handcrafted crochet flowers and trailing scrolls of plastic wire. These were topped with strict corsets and towering headpieces by British milliner Stephen Jones, concocted from household objects.
A patterned boiler suit, slim-knitted tube dresses, Lycra tops and panne sheaths offer a directional change of silhouette. Worked in a palette of eye-searing neons with graffiti-style prints or intarsia motifs and flashes of Lurex sparkle, all hint at a new sense of luxurious wearability for Bovan.
This also comes through in the printed bags developed in collaboration with Stuart Vevers, creative director of Coach – a sure sign that this designer is on the brink of taking the next step off the London runway and onto the global stage.
The feeling for the artisanal and creative mash-up ran throughout the collection, coupled with playful fantasy and a punk sensibility. All melded into a wonderfully irreverent look that marks Bovan out as one of LFW’s most creative talents.
NEED TO KNOW:
Apple has launched the Apple Watch Series 4 at its annual showcase event in Cupertino, Silicon Valley. The latest iteration of its wearable device focuses on health-tracking and wellbeing, with particular relevance for senior and boomer demographics.
The new Apple Watch is the first device from the company to include an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor. ECGs can detect disordered heart rhythms, which can indicate vulnerability to heart attacks and strokes. All data recorded by the ECG is stored in the Apple Health app, a feature that will appeal to the 90% of health tech users happy to share device data with their doctor (Accenture, 2018).
The Apple Watch Series 4 can also detect when its wearer has fallen, using an algorithm to analyse movement and impact. The wearer is sent an alert with the option to dismiss the notification or call the emergency services; if the wearer stays inactive for over a minute, the watch automatically notifies emergency services.
The new Apple Watch's health technology will specifically benefit the senior and boomer demographics. "The key breakthrough here is the ability to notify the support network around elderly people when someone wearing an Apple Watch has fallen over," Lloyd Price, co-founder of digital health company Zesty, tells Stylus. "I think the biggest buyers of Apple Watch will not actually be elderly people, but their carers who want peace of mind."
We're living in an ageing society: the proportion of the world's population over 60 years old is estimated to rise to 22% by 2050 (WHO, 2018). Brands would be wise to follow Apple's example and develop technologies that help to care for older generations.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, connected devices, smart assistants and algorithms, is this the beauty industry’s moment to fully embrace the power of personalisation?
London’s annual two-day In-Cosmetics Formulation Summit invites brands, cosmetic scientists and formulators to explore issues and opportunities surrounding one particular trending theme. Last year’s was Bio-Transforming Beauty, while this year (October 24-25), the spotlight will shine on personalisation and bespoke beauty with the theme Up Close & Personalised.
“The digital revolution has really made personalisation possible,” said summit programme director Dr Barbara Brockway, director of personal care at US counterfeit prevention firm Applied DNA Sciences. “It’s a big trend that affects everybody, and not just one aspect. It’s going to be hair, skin colour – every aspect of the beauty industry is going to be affected by this digital revolution.”
By talking to key figures in beauty development in the months leading up to the event, the summit team identify the area in most need of exploration. “With more apps on our phones, and Alexa, we can ask algorithms what we should be using for this particular hair problem or skin type or colour of make-up,” said Brockway. “We know people would like to know more. Can we find them the expert who can answer the questions?”
Day one will focus on understanding the consumer, with talks centring on biology and genomics, the algorithm-beauty-interface (ABI), and the cognitive behaviour that drives our desires and aspirations. Day two – dedicated to formulating for the consumer – will explore bespoke and mass customisation, personalised fragrances, and challenges in personalisation for haircare.
Full event coverage is set to drop on Stylus on November 2 2018. The early booking rate for the in-cosmetics Formulation Summit will end on 16 September 2018. To book your place, visit summit.in-cosmetics.com/book-your-place.
We highlight a slew of fresh retail concepts that merge physical and digital commerce in highly personalised ways, offering consumers speedy product try-on and tailored recommendations.
To read more about how retailers are redefining personalisation for the modern cross-channel consumer and combining the best of the e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar worlds, see Service-Only Stores in Brand Spaces, 2018/19, Tech Flex and Omni-Interactive.
Livio uses directional microphones and binaural audio signal processing to amplify important sounds, such as a friend talking in a noisy room. A key innovation is its use of machine learning algorithms to optimise hearing in different environments, rather than relying on manual tuning.
It is estimated that 466 million people suffer from disabling hearing loss worldwide (WHO, 2018). However, only 40% of people who need hearing aids actually wear them (Action on Hearing Loss, 2017). One reason for this is hearing aids' negative associations with age and illness.
Starkey hopes that Livio's multifunctionality will help to alleviate some of the social stigma still surrounding medical devices. Beyond its hearing capabilities, Livio acts as a fitness tracker, recording the number of steps and time spent physically active, displaying the data in a linked app called Thrive. The wearable additionally logs the duration of social engagement and active listening, presenting the data as a mental health 'score' on Thrive.
Livio also incorporates real-time translation of 27 languages. The wearer's speech is translated on the screen of their linked mobile device, while the responses they receive are heard through the hearing aid.
As disabling hearing loss is projected to affect 900 million people by 2050, health tech companies would be wise to further develop designs that facilitate optimal living for the hard of hearing (WHO, 2018). As noted above, 60% of those in need of hearing aids do not wear them, demonstrating the effect social stigma can have on the adoption of health treatments. In our Tackling Taboos report, we highlight how businesses and platforms can integrate products with stigma-busting rhetoric to entice reticent demographics.
For its latest Brand Relevance Index, global marketing agency Prophet surveyed more than 12,000 consumers to discover the best-loved brands in the US, UK, China and Germany. The report highlights how marketers must shift away from a 'customer' mindset, to a 'user' mindset.
Apple is the number one brand in the West (Alipay rules in China), with the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Lego and Spotify all featuring in the top 10. For Prophet, the core strategy that links the most successful brands is a mindset shift away from treating people as buyers, and instead thinking about how to use marketing to curate communities for users.
"In the Lego Ideas online forum, for instance, users can voice ideas for new, innovative products, while PlayStation has opened up a digital community for gamers to connect with dedicated channels and a virtually unlimited capability and scale in user-generated content," the report states.
By focusing on creating user communities rather than driving customers down traditional sales funnels, marketers can build stronger relationships. This strategy is particularly crucial in attracting new consumers to your brand. "Initially, users might not even yet be customers," the report explains. "But the more data that is collected from these user bases, the more scope brands have to improve and develop other potential revenue opportunities, enticing engaged users to purchase."
Community-centric commerce is something we explore in more detail in Branding Change: Lessons From New Disruptors and SXSW 2018: Take Back Control of Your Brand. We'll be taking a closer look at community-building in our upcoming Macro Trend, The Kinship Economy.
Luxury food and beverage brands at this year's Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London pushed the boat out in terms of flavour, format and health credentials. Carefully considered left-field thinking delivered creative and fully-rounded products – from tea-whisky to CBD-infused honey.
Water pollution affects rivers, lakes and oceans all over the world, posing a threat to human health as well as the environment. Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a sponge-like material that could help address the harmful effects of industrial dye pollution, by quickly removing colour from contaminated water.
The new porous and reusable material, which is made from cellulose and palladium metal, works with reducing agents to help remove colour almost instantly. The large pores allow water to flow through easily, while the metal particles act as a catalyst. Existing reducing agents for chemical dyes can turn coloured dyes clear, but are slow-working and often inefficient.
Dyes are widely used in industries such as textiles, cosmetics, paper and plastics. After manufacturing, a large amount of effluent can bypass wastewater treatments, contaminating water for aquatic plants and animals. Even a small amount of colour dye can block out sunlight, preventing photosynthesis and damaging the aquatic ecosystem.
The team’s method of turning a coloured dye clear would allow plants to grow normally again. "This method could work well when you have low concentrations of dye in water that you need to take care of really quickly,” said one of the team members. For another dye-degrading technique, see Scientific Dye Developments in Considered Colour.
Last year, a lab in the US developed a material called Oleo Sponge that soaks up oil from water. The team have since conducted a successful experiment in real-world conditions that mimicked an oil spill. Read more about the material in our blog.
British shoppable video specialist Smartzer is to launch a self-service brand tool in Q1 2019 described as a digital dashboard powered by machine learning. It will consolidate all social media metrics regarding how a user’s content is performing – views, deeper engagement, full transactions – allowing quick assessment as to which channels are best.
The streamlining will likely dispense with the often-lengthy process of communicating individually with multiple media platforms. “The end goal is that brands will be able to apportion budget immediately, seeding their content out to whichever platform that’s working right then,” says founder Karoline Gross. “With so much more content, there’s never been a greater need for control."
Smartzer, which predominantly works with fashion and lifestyle brands, is also taking shoppable content into physical locations via large touchscreens. The move will beef up the kind of brand films that have been playing in-store for years, but were bereft of interaction or follow-through regarding product information or actual shopping.
To coincide with London Fashion Week this September, the company is working with a leading London department store (to be announced soon), creating shoppable films for display on all floors. It’s hoped this will deliver the kind of sales hikes Smartzer’s experienced by placing shoppable videos on brands’ websites. On average, it reports a 20% uplift in comparison to using videos with featured products sat in a static row below.
Visitors will be able to stop the films instantly to see more details or buy from them on-screen. They will also be able to use a scanner code, tapping their smartphones onto NFC-enabled hot spots on-screen to buy or save items to a wish list.
Brands are finding innovative ways to offer consumers realistic temporary tattoo products with long-lasting results, as the art of inking continues to grow in popularity among young people. Tapping into Gen Z’s fluid, short-term mindsets, Canadian start-up Inkbox has created realistic stick-on offerings in over 50 distinctive patterns.
The brand’s temporary tattoos, made with natural ink from Genipa americana (a plant sourced in South America), naturally fade between 12 and 15 days. Each design is applied to the desired area by soaking the application sticker with a damp cloth for 10 minutes – it then fully develops into a deep navy-blue hue the next day.
Users are also given the option to either upload their own designs via the brand’s online ‘Create Your Own’ function or draw directly onto the skin with a freehand bottle. These DIY options allow this pivotal generation to express their creativity and individuality, with approximately 87% of US-based Gen Zers considering themselves artistic (JWT, 2017).
With a tagline of ‘ink with confidence’, the painless application method offers a new mode of experimentation without feelings of regret – an appealing prospect for the 23% of Americans who are not content with their permanent ink (Harris Poll, 2016). To read more about the tattoo market, see New Ink: Millennials & Tattoos and The Future of Temporary Tattoos.
For deeper insights into short-term offerings for non-committal consumers, see Get Real: Beta Brandscapes. To read more about targeting Gen Z, see Teen Beauty 2018, 10 Youth Trends to Watch and Destination Teen: Targeting Youth.
10 Corso Como’s 28,000 sq ft store anchors the Seaport District and entices visitors with a mix of designer fashion, homeware and a gallery. There’s also a restaurant, hand-painted fixtures from US artist Kris Ruhs, and branded collaborations with companies such as Birkenstock.
American real estate developer Howard Hughes Corporation is leading the Seaport District’s regeneration, which complements the other mall-style zones popping up in the city. One such project, led by commercial real estate company Brookfield Properties, aims to unify Bleecker Street’s retail with a series of seven co-ordinated storefronts. There’s also Hudson Yards, which will include an indoor/outdoor shopping complex with the first New York location of department store Neiman Marcus, scheduled for March 2019.
Similar to London’s upcoming Coal Drops Yard (see blog), these areas are updating mall-style shopping with unique environments. To differentiate itself, the Seaport District emphasises its historic cobblestone setting, which 10 Corso Como founder Carla Sozzani says reminds her of Italy. Outdoor concerts and fine dining highlight the area’s relative tranquillity.
Other potentially destination-making features include the recently opened luxury hotel Mr. C Seaport, an upcoming food hall from French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and the first permanent location for American actress Sarah Jessica Parker’s shoe store SJP, opening in mid-September.
As discussed in our blog Modernising the Mall, shopping complexes are transforming as consumers shun impersonal retail experiences. High-profile stores, such as 10 Corso Como, are important for luring shoppers to new destinations. While its addition will likely attract visitors, we’re curious to see if it provides a sufficient linchpin to kickstart the area’s regeneration.


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Traditionally, spring is one of the busiest times of the year for real estate. However, the coronavirus outbreak—and subsequent stay-at-home orders—led many buyers and sellers to put
Today’s Expert Insight on the Housing Market
Latest Blog Posts
The last few weeks and months have caused a major health crisis throughout the world, leading to a pause in the U.S. economy as businesses and consumers work to slow the spread of the coronavirus.


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- First developer diary up for Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
- Time to hit the streets, River City: Tokyo Rumble out for 3DS
- Yakuza 0 goes legit with Business Edition, trailer up, PC denied
- Zen unleashes the ladies with Marvel Pinball: Women of Power
- BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Hori controller bundle due November
Fancy A Date?
Daily Archives: September 30, 2013
Activision has released the official box art for Bungie’s upcoming single- and multiplayer hybrid shooter Destiny. A new trailer is scheduled to launch tomorrow, so check back to see more in-game action.
“… a welcome addition to the series as well as yet another great role-playing game for the 3DS.”


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The anime series ‘Yo-Kai Watch’ has taken Japan by storm. Now the brand is looking west, with plans to launch across Europe, the Americas and Australia/New Zealand.
Entertainment One Family's BAFTA and Emmy award-winning series "Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom" will make its U.S. debut on Nick Jr. today.
Penguin has taken the all-language, global publishing rights for the upcoming new CBeebies series "Go Jetters," which is set to air this fall.
Men’s accessories company Cufflinks has collaborated with Lucasfilm and DC Comics to create a boys' neckwear collection.
Activision and Tag Games have released the new hidden object mobile game “Downton Abbey: Mysteries of the Manor,” based on the British TV series.
BBC Three has commissioned "Class," a new 8x45 "Doctor Who" spin-off geared at young adults.
Studio 100 has concluded a co-production and distribution agreement with EuropaCorp Television for the new CGI animation "Arthur and the Minimoys."
Disney Junior has acquired UYoung and Little Airplane Productions’ new preschool comedy series "P. King Duckling" (52 x 11) for several of its global territories.
NBCUniversal International Formats has sold its hit unscripted format "Top Chef" to Discovery Italia’s free-to-air channel Deejay.
Planeta Junior is presenting three of its top series this year at MIPJunior.
HTC Productions will unveil its animated series, “Hank the Cowdog,” based on the successful book franchise of the same name, at MIPJunior.
Toei Animation will unveil its new reboot of the Sailor Moon franchise, "Sailor Moon Crystal" this week at Brand Licensing Europe.
Splash Entertainment and Outlook Company have teamed up to produce three new specials based on a trilogy of books created by former NFL player Trevor Pryce.
DHX Media and Sony Pictures Animation have partnered to adapt the film franchise Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for television.
America Greetings Properties’ Care Bears and Sanrio’s Little Twin Stars have opened a co-branded café in Hiroshima Parco, one of Japan’s largest shopping centers.
Nickeloden’s top shows continue to score licensing deals throughout the world.
Cartoon Network Enterprises, Steve Jackson Games and USAopoly have launched Munchkin Adventure Time card game.
Fit For Sport has joined forces with Saban’s Power Rangers emPOWER program in the U.K. to launch a fitness guide to help children "power up."
Biscuiteers has signed a delicious deal with Warner Bros. Consumer Products U.K. and Ireland for a range of iced biscuits, cupcakes and cakes.
Splash has finalized an agreement with Canal+’s pre-school channel Piwi+ in France to air Seasons 1 and 2 of hit international animated series “Chloe’s Closet.”
Two video games for SEGA's new Sonic the Hedgehog brand, Sonic Boom, have launched at retailers across the U.S.
©2015 ADVANSTAR COMMUNICATIONS INC. All rights reserved.


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Americans’ Daily Caffeine Habit Not Hindered By Inflation — Coffee Shops and Cafes Saw Spending Increase 1.9%
In stark contrast to continued declines in restaurant spending and grocery store visits this year, it seems that Americans are slaves to the coffee shop grind.
Learn: Despite Inflation, Americans Are Spending At Least $314 Per Month on Impulse Purchases
Find: This Credit Score Mistake Could Be Costing Millions of Americans
According to a recent study commissioned by Rabobank and conducted by Earnest Research, steady high inflation and escalating consumer prices couldn’t keep people away from spending money at coffee shops and cafes over the past year. While total restaurant spending plummeted 3.1% in June year-over-year, purchases at coffee shops and cafes rose 1.9%, per Rabobank’s analysis.
According to Statista, the U.S. is the world’s biggest coffee market by a wide margin, with revenues exceeding $80 billion, per Urban Bean Coffee. As The Wall Street Journal reported, about 66% of Americans are daily coffee drinkers, according to the National Coffee Association. This modest spending surge at coffee shops flies in the face of increased consumer prices of coffee, both away from home and brewed in-house. Per the WSJ, for the first half of 2022, the average price of a cup of a coffee in a quick-service shop was $4.90, which is a 7.6% increase from the same period in 2021, according to NPD Group data.
Brewing at home is always a cheaper option, but the cost of coffee has surged over the past year, like most consumer products. The price of coffee swelled 15.8% in June from 2021 and rose to 20.3% year-over-year in July, per Labor Department statistics.
Both the WSJ article and Rabobank study point to the rekindled routines of those Americans returning to work this year as a major factor behind the stats. Speaking to the WSJ, David Tinsley, senior economist at Bank of America Institute, said, “The basic hypothesis is that when you commute, you will buy more in coffee shops.” He elaborated from there: “You’re quite likely to buy one going into work. You’re quite likely to buy your lunch or another cup of coffee in the afternoon.”
The way consumers spend has changed, too. Not only are people skipping bigger discretionary expenditures like televisions and vacations, but they are scrimping when they do go out and spend, such as forgoing drinks or appetizers when dining out or opting for cheaper destinations like dollar stores or wholesalers when out shopping.
When it comes to coffee, however, all bets are off. Starbucks — admittedly more expensive than most other coffee shops — has seen no drop off in sales this year. It’s been quite the contrary, in fact. During its August earnings call, the company reported an increase of 9% in same store sales in the three months ending July 3 from a year earlier, despite a 5% rise in prices during that same period, according to the WSJ.
Starbucks’ Chief Executive Howard Schultz noted, “We are not currently seeing any measurable reduction in customer spending or any evidence of customers trading down.”
See: Secret Food Stamps Loophole to Get Your Starbucks Fix with EBT
Explore: Americans Each Have About $175 in Unused Gift Cards, High Inflation Makes it a Good Time to Spend Them
Going out and spending a couple of bucks on coffee isn’t treated as a burden, but as a daily indulgence or self-care allowance. Speaking to the WSJ, Marshall Escamilla, a 42-year-old podcaster and former teacher, sums up the thinking of many fellow coffee lovers.
“Think about those little expenses, and are they really things that would give you $120 worth of joy per month,” he said. “For me, personally, going into a coffee shop and getting out of the house and seeing people and being in a different environment is well worth $120 a month.”
More From GOBankingRates
- The 15 Biggest Bank Failures in US History
- Financial Insight in Your Inbox: Sign Up for GBR's Daily Newsletter
- Maximize your savings with these 3 expert tips
- Take Our Poll: How Do You File Your Taxes?


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Every February on Safer Internet Day, people and organizations around the world join forces to help make the online world a
safer place for young people.
For Safer Internet Day 2019, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (Canadian Centre) is helping families start the
conversation about internet safety by highlighting Zoe & Molly Online, an
interactive website where eight- to 10-year-olds can explore what it means to be safe while playing games online, as well as
the risks associated with sharing their personal information and sending pictures online.


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The turmoil surrounding Ryanair’s management structure has continued with the airline set to lose another key executive, chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs.
The chief architect of the airline’s ‘Always Getting Better’ campaign — which undertook an overhaul of its customer service and digital sales operations — Mr Jacobs will leave the company in April, after six years.
He follows the recent departure of chief operating officer, Peter Bellew.
Ryanair group boss, Michael O’Leary, said Ryanair’s website and digital presence has been “transformed” since Mr Jacobs joined the company.
Mr O’Leary said Mr Jacobs championed many of Ryanair’s customer service improvements, “which has underpinned our successful growth and evolution.”
Over the period, Ryanair has boosted the proportion of its revenue earned from optional extras, such as assigned seating and additional baggage, from just over 20% to just over 30%.
Ryanair is shifting to a group structure, appointing chief executives to lead several smaller subsidiaries, with each reporting to Mr O’Leary as group chief executive.
Mr Jacobs’ departure comes just over a month after the High Court rejected an attempt by Ryanair to stop Mr Bellew from joining its chief rival, EasyJet, until 2021, ruling that a 12-month non-compete clause was unenforceable.
Mr Jacobs said he will enjoy a break before looking for his next challenge, adding that he will continue to be a customer and “a big supporter of Ryanair.”
Ryanair shares fell by over 2%. However, the stock has gained nearly 40% in the past 12 months.
Ryanair, last week, said strong third-quarter revenues were boosted by ancillary items, like priority boarding and assigned seating.
The company said bookings for the current quarter are up by around 1% year-on-year, leading it to expect its total profit for the 12 months to the end of March would be in and around the midway point of its €950m-€1.05bn guidance range.
The airline also warned that reaching its target of 200m passengers per year could take up to two years longer than anticipated — and may not happen until 2026 — due to delays in receiving its first tranche of Boeing 737-Max aircraft deliveries.
- Additional reporting, Reuters


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MTN, Africa’s foremost telecommunications company, has announced its upcoming SME hybrid event aimed at fostering growth and providing essential resources to the continent’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The two-day event, featuring a combination of physical and online components, will bring together industry experts, inspirational thought leaders, and innovative solutions to support the success of African businesses. The event will serve as a platform for SMEs to connect, learn, and showcase their products and services to a broader audience.
The event will feature a live exhibition of SMEs and partner solutions, engaging activities such as the highly anticipated JumpStarter funding competition and insightful keynote speeches from influential industry figures. MTN is committed to empowering SMEs by providing them with the necessary tools, resources, and support to thrive in a competitive business landscape. With this event, MTN aims to position itself as the leading brand dedicated to supporting the growth and success of over 40 million African SMEs through targeted development programs and a comprehensive range of services.
One of the event’s highlights will be the live exhibition, where selected SMEs will have the opportunity to showcase their innovative products and services to potential customers, investors, and partners. This platform will enable them to increase their visibility, expand their networks, and attract new business opportunities. MTN’s commitment to supporting SMEs extends beyond the event itself. The company’s suite of services, including MoMo (Mobile Money), Digi- tal, Ayoba, and Chenosis, will be showcased during the event, demonstrating how these platforms can empower SMEs with convenient and secure financial transactions, digital marketing solutions, communication tools, and access to a broader customer base.


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Is Biological Warfare to Blame For Our Citrus Blight – Circa 2013
Is Biological Warfare to Blame For Our Citrus Blight – We’re told that the Asian Citrus Psyllid has been destroying citrus groves in Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. While scientists work on ways to combat this pest, orange juice and other citrus products are now coming from Brazil and China!
I have been following this story for years. We’ve watched as members of the citrus industry and the University of Florida have pushed forward their plans to genetically modify oranges.
The billion dollar citrus industry in the United States is in trouble. Your citrus trees affected by citrus greening are being wiped out. In addition, crop production is at record lows. You and I will be paying the price at the grocery store.
From the Food & Travel Nation Interview Archives: I spoke with Professor Don Huber about the sources of the Citrus Blight problem. The obvious answer is that pesky Asian Citrus Psyllid. A USDA report, co-authored by Professor Huber is shocking. But it turns out that the psyllid has a co-conspirator. As professor Huber describes, the pest may have been intentionally introduced into the United States. This is a a biological warfare and economic sabotage story that you MUST hear to believe.


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Retailers’ struggle for consumers intensifiesPUBLISHED: 07 Mar 2012 00:06:30 | UPDATED: 07 Mar 2012 07:34:11PUBLISHED: 07 Mar 2012 PRINT EDITION: 07 Mar 2012
Struggling Australian retailers battling structural challenges are unlikely to cheer the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to maintain the cash rate.
Companies such as Harvey Norman, Myer, David Jones and JB Hi-Fi reported weaker earnings during the February reporting season amid softer consumer spending, a higher Australian dollar and the growing popularity of online retailers.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has predicted the trend towards online retail consumption will grow rapidly over the next five years, reaching 9.1 per cent of total retail sales by 2018.
Credit Suisse retail analyst Grant Saligari warned that retailers who failed to embrace the changes were likely to “fall by the wayside” in years to come.
He suggested retailers needed to consider taking drastic action by lowering their prices – despite higher labour and rent costs – to remain competitive.
“It is a very fine balancing act they need to make. They may actually need to make less profit for a little while and build services ahead of benefits from increasing sales volumes,” Mr Saligari said.
Despite efforts by major retailers to establish their online offerings, most have been unable to gain any meaningful traction with consumers.
However, their online sites are still generally in their infancy.
“I don’t think there is one obvious candidate or any particular company that could be used as a poster child for success at this point in time,” Deutsche Bank managing director of equity sales Scott Mailer said.
Analysts say that had the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate yesterday rather than keeping it at 4.25 per cent, it would have helped retailers by boosting consumer confidence.
The retail sector still faces a number of other core challenges, including a higher Australian dollar, which is helping to drive price discovery offshore.
A lack of competition in the retail space and a smaller population relative to other developed nations are also causing Australian retailers to lag behind their international rivals.
Compared with the United States, Australian retailers are also viewed as being behind the curve in adopting online technology, with American companies such as Amazon and Saks Fifth Avenue having great success at penetrating the local market.
“The US has a far greater pool of consumers and, arguably, a higher pool of consumers,” Mr Mailer said.
“This has led to the embracing of new technologies.”
While it is still early days, local retailers are grappling to balance the establishment of adjacent online businesses which complement their traditional bricks and mortar business models without cannibalising in-store sales.
“If you are the lowest-cost provider in the sector, then I still think you can be successful over the long term by offering an adjacent online offering to your traditional bricks and mortar offering and JB Hi-Fi is doing exactly that,” Mr Mailer said.
He added that companies such as Harvey Norman, which were keen to experiment, could be likely winners in the long run if they persisted with their online changes.
Outside of the push towards online, retailers have also been hurt by the trend of consumers reducing their debt and a general shift from retail spending in favour of eating out, travel and other forms of entertainment.
Australian retail businesses “are not in terminal decline”, Mr Mailer said.
“But clearly the softness in retail spending, combined with the increased penetration from offshore online retailers, have contributed to their lower earnings.”
The Australian Financial Review


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Tabuena said the Adelaide’s Boutique locations—14870 Space Center Blvd., Houston, and 6011 W. Main St., League City—are meant to serve as customers’ destinations for clothes, shoes, accessories, gifts and other boutique items, many of which are locally sourced.
“We try to be a 'first-stop' place,” she said. “We try to cover all the bases.”
Adelaide’s Clear Lake location was the original—it opened in 2008—and the League City location celebrated five years of business in late October. The boutiques are known for their array of skin care products, candles and jewelry. Popular brands include the Capri Blue fragrance line, Gorjana jewelry, and Kendra Scott home decor and beauty items.
Tabuena said she keeps up with fashion trends via social media to curate the selection in stores. The goal is to provide shoppers with an experience similar to what they might find at an Anthropologie, she said.
Many items come from trips to the Dallas Market Center and the World Market Center in Las Vegas, but brands have not been offering their full lines at these market centers due to COVID-19, Tabuena said. She and Bull have shifted their ordering focus accordingly given the knowledge that they had to buy items earlier to ensure orders were fulfilled.
“We’ve ordered earlier [and] brought stuff in earlier to make sure we get it,” she said, adding that much of the stores' holiday merchandise will be winter-themed as opposed to Christmas-themed for this reason.
Another signature Adelaide’s find is footwear from Danish designer Ilse Jacobsen. The two Adelaide’s Boutiques are some of the only places in the area to carry the brand, since some fashion companies employ ZIP code protection to ensure selectivity, she said. People of all ages come in for the slip-on shoes, sold in a variety of colors.
“Most people get two, three, four pairs at a time,” Tabuena said.
A popular pandemic purchase for shoppers has been the “Send Some Happy” bundles, in which Tabuena and Bull package several small gift items together. These bundles will continue to be offered through the holidays, Tabuena said, and any items at either store can be shipped anywhere in the continental United States for free. They will also deliver items locally at no extra charge, Tabuena said.
The business will host holiday events this year, including one Dec. 3 during which shoppers create a wish list of items they want from the store. Those who do so will get a gift, and family and friends can return to buy gifts based on their submitted lists. Santa Claus will also make an appearance at the League City location Dec. 13, the owners said.


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In a further twist to the Blackberry controversy raging across the Middle East, where demands were made for RIM Blackberry to offer a surveillance backdoor to the encryptions of its customers’ communications in the UAE, Etisalat has been singled out as a possible weak link that can pose a threat to consumers privacy.
Peter Eckersley, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil liberties group told the New York Times that up to 100,000 handsets were found have spyware installed in them by Etisalat.
Many consumers have worried abut data getting into the wrong hands and it is especially of concern given Blackberry’s user base which are large scale corporate entities.
It is as yet unclear if the said security threat will pose a risk to Etisalat users in other parts of the world like Sri Lanka. Attempts to contact Etisalat’s senior management in Sri Lanka were not fruitful. The local arm of the telco giant has just racked up a serious 3 million users and is posing a serious threat to established market leaders like Dialog and Mobitel.


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Hero Within is a brand new line of men’s “geek chic” clothing, inspired by your favourite DC Comics characters such as Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and more. I spoke to designer Tony Kim about his experiences creating the line, and what Hero Within means to him.
Hero Within is described by Kim as “born out of a frustration for the lack of anything for sophisticated geeks to wear”, and the line boasts a unique, “empowering” style which is “perfect for the office, out on a date, or attending an event.”
When asked about his inspirations, Kim told me that he is a “lifelong DC Comics fan”, explaining that “the Justice League embodies everything wonderful about heroism” and that he “wanted something that celebrated that.”Kim’s fashion inspirations came from many sources, including “Anne Wintour of Vogue and Ralph Lauren of Polo”, explaining that “they didn’t follow culture, but they created it”.After what Kim describes as “blood, sweat and tears”, the hard work seems to have paid off as DC fan reactions have been “very positive” about what they’ve seen from Hero Within, with Kim telling me that fans have stated that Hero Within is something they’ve “always wanted.”
So far Hero Within is a men’s only line, but Kim told me about the large amount of women who have been interested in a women’s line of geek chic Hero Within clothing, so who knows what the future holds? Of course, there’s nothing to stop women purchasing from the current line, though the fit might not be perfect, depending on your individual body shape!
Positive fan reactions have been one of the keys to Hero Within’s success, and Kim also told me the vital role that comic cons such as the San Diego Comic Con have played in the launch of the line: “It’s been critical to our launch. The real-time interaction and feedback has helped shape our future. Also, our sales tripled after Comic Con, which shows you how important cons are! We also picked up some partners and investors…which is also critical to our future. We intentionally launched during SDCC and it was a huge help.”
When asked about the future of Hero Within, Kim said: “We have a lot of exciting plans in the works that will be a game-changer for the geek fashion world. We just finished our first pre-order period in July, and we are currently sending product into production. We will re-open soon for a second round of pre-orders. Fans won’t want to miss it!”
Thank you to Tony Kim and the Hero Within team for their help with this interview.
You can find out more about Hero Within at: https://herowithinstore.com/


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No Man's Sky's latest trailer shows how far the game has come since its reveal
A sneak peek at new features being introduced in next week's Beyond update.
An all-new No Man's Sky trailer has been released ahead of next week's big Beyond update, and it harks back to our very first glimpses of Hello Games' ambitious galactic adventure and shows just how much the game has evolved.
Of course, those trailers weren't without their controversy, and at launch were often referred back to by those who felt disappointed by the initial offering. The new trailer, though, shows how No Man's Sky has been worked on over the past three years to add in so many features that it looks like a completely different game.
Some of those features are alluded to in the trailer, with more diverse biomes, what looks like a multiplayer hub and mountable creatures. We know already that Beyond - which launches on 14th August - will bring VR and an enhanced multiplayer experience, as well as a mysterious third pillar that has yet to be fully revealed. We'll hopefully have more details on that for you in the very near future.


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Grant to Expand Area Food Businesses, Access
The MSU Center for Regional Food Systems has received a $450,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to expand the Michigan Food Hub Network, a statewide learning community that helps food hubs become profitable while supplying healthy food to low-income communities in Michigan.
Food hubs are an answer to challenges that can make it difficult for small producers and value-added food businesses to succeed. Michigan is the first state with a state-level food hub network.
“With this renewed award, MSU CRFS will build on Michigan Food Hub Network’s collaboration infrastructure, which gathers food hub managers and business partners throughout Michigan to develop strategies for developing business viability, reaching new markets and increasing food security in Michigan,” said Rich Pirog, MSU CRFS senior associate director.
Pirog said CRFS also will collaborate with neighboring states to help them learn from Michigan’s Food Hub Network model.
Over the next three years, the project will increase buyer-seller relationships and specialized business and technical assistance, emphasizing business collaborations between food hubs and food service directors of institutions – including schools and hospitals.
Small and mid-sized Michigan food entrepreneurs are finding that food hubs are a boon to business viability, and Michigan food hub managers use the Michigan Food Hub Network as a key resource for connecting with producers, processors, financiers, funders and other food hub managers.
Meetings throughout Michigan gather representatives three times per year to build peer relationships and share lessons learned. The network also collaborates to address regional food value chain challenges.
– Andrea Sexton via MSU Today


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I am very pleased with today’s transaction, another milestone achieved, and a token of Enviro’s ability to attract several high-quality institutional investors supporting our investment case. We now have the financial flexibility allowing us to accelerate the pan-European expansion of tire recycling plants, together with our joint venture partners, while focusing on our core competencies, and continue our journey towards making the tire industry circular.
This is truly a game changer in the industry. I think this will be paving the way for pyrolysis and the possibilities for sustainable materials and the circular economy – both for the carbon black materials and the tire pyrolysis oil. The three different parties [Enviro, Antin Infrastructure Partners, Michelin] all contribute with significant and critical experience.
The breakthrough with Antin was not accidental but the result of a deliberate strategy where we identified and implemented step by step the actions needed to succeed.
I am very proud and pleased with today’s announcement which represents a significant recognition of Enviro’s technological and market leadership in recycling of tires. With Antin’s successful track record in scaling infrastructure platforms and its strong industrial understanding, and Michelin’s world-leading position in sustainable tires, we have found excellent partners to jointly accelerate our pan-European plant expansion and contribute to making the tire industry circular. We will now be able to focus on our core business and competencies such as technology and material development, optimization and quality control.
How the impact of the sanctions affect Enviros business cannot be assessed at this time, but many companies are reviewing their long-term risks related to the supply of materials from different countries. It is important that the market is informed that we are monitoring developments now that companies in the EU are potentially experiencing a limited supply of carbon black.
This order is yet another example of the growing interest in the oil we can recover and deliver to the market. Increasing volume requirements among our customers also confirm the need for expanded recycling capacity that we have identified and based our expansion plans on.
The industry is beginning to realize that increased circularity is a must, and that the technology Enviro has developed will be crucial for the transition. Michelin’s and Bridgestone’s assessment of future needs for recovered carbon black is clear evidence of this.
This order is very important for us since it is yet more confirmation of the commercial potential of our oil and our recycling technology. A large player in the oil industry in our own home market taking this step provides important support for our expansion in both Sweden and internationally.
Owing to our unique recycling technology, we can help the tyre industry meet the demands from both vehicle manufacturers and customers as regards reducing carbon emissions and achieving more circular management of valuable raw materials. Our ISCC-certified carbon black and oil will facilitate this transition in several industries, and we are now implementing our expansion plan to meet the drastic increase in demand that we expect.
This is a particularly strategic recruitment since we have found in Fredrik Alpner someone who has exactly the experience and expertise that are critical to this very phase that Enviro is now experiencing. Fredrik Alpner will play a key role in our continued development and the recruitment marks a new and important step in our important work to industrialise our technology and carry out our expansion plan.
Incredibly exciting developments have taken place in the company in the past few years, and many decisive steps towards increased commercialisation and industrialisation have been taken. Enviro was early to realise the opportunities of more efficient recycling technology and more circular methods. It is, of course, very gratifying that the world is finally beginning to catch up with the company in this regard
Converting the loan to a grant is clearly financially beneficial, but most importantly, it provides further tangible evidence of how we are gradually executing and realising our commercialisation and expansion
The past autumn served as a clear reminder to the world of the acute need to reduce climate impact and increase the circular use of valuable raw materials. This really motivates us, our suppliers and our customers.
Our oil can thus strongly improve the producers’ ability to meet the reduction demands that are based on taxation in relation to the proportion of fossil raw material.
We are incredibly happy that our work is once again receiving international attention. The industry and the tyre industry are making great strides towards a more sustainable future and Enviro's technology is an important component to achieve circular flows.
Thanks to our technology, several players in the tyre and rubber industry have already increased their sustainability. As we expand our industrial footprint, we’ll be able to contribute even more to this transition that we’re seeing all industries striving for.
The certification is a milestone in the company’s development as it means that it will be easier for our customers to achieve their sustainability targets using our oil and carbon black. As a result, the customer benefit and commercial value of our technology and products will become even clearer.
There are few tyre manufacturers in the UK, so the local demand for carbon black is small. However, it is easy to export recovered carbon black and since the global demand is strong, we see no problem whatsoever in also selling the carbon black. In conclusion, this means that we also foresee favourable fundamental conditions for establishing plants based on our recycling technology in the UK.
Once again, Michelin has shown that there is no contradiction between increased sustainability and high performance in the tyre industry. This confirms the potential for recovered carbon black and also gives significant credibility to Michelin’s long-term ambition that all tyres will eventually be completely made from sustainable material.
Naturally, the exact number will depend on the size of the plant and the volumes that we recover, but there is no doubt that this type of facility generates new jobs.
Naturally, it is fantastic that only a few months after we entered our strategic partnership, Michelin has already introduced a racing tyre that is not only more sustainable due to our technology, but has also proved to increase performance. It is just further confirmation that there is no contradiction between increased sustainability and high quality, which bodes very well for the continued development of products based on our recovered materials.
Innovation is the core of the circular economy and a necessity for a sustainable future, which is the very foundation of Enviro's operations. Attention like this is an important part of spreading global knowledge of developments in our industry and of Enviro. It also reinforces our position as the leading actor, which strengthens the foundation of our expansion. We are honoured by the award.
Through the partnership with Michelin, we will achieve our first full-scale recycling plant, which is decisive for our ability to scale up and commercialise our technology. The partnership with a leading tyre manufacturer also gives us unsurpassed opportunities to improve our recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil, which will naturally further strengthen our position on the market.
There are many pieces that must fall into place before everything is ready, and it has unfortunately taken more time to complete our negotiations than we previously estimated. However, both parties remain equally convinced of the major advantages of our planned strategic partnership and are thus equally as determined to get the agreements into place.
Despite the pandemic and the ensuing delays, we have now been able to finalize our agreement regarding a strategic partnership with Michelin. This is obviously a very important milestone for Scandinavian Enviro Systems and also a very significant validation of our technology given Michelins position in the global tyre market. The protracted negotiations were never part of the plan but on the up-side both Michelin and other international manufacturers were given more time to test our recovered carbon black with great results. This and the now reached agreement bode well for the future.
A transition to recovered carbon black gives the rubber mixture the same or better performance than when virgin carbon black is used, this is in line with Trelleborg's established goals of reducing emissions of CO2 (GWP) from both the company's processes and products.
Based on the market response and our own calculations, we judge that the oil recovered from end-of-life tyres could contribute to a strong increase of revenues from recycling plants that use our technology.
Our negotiations are continuing with undiminished strength, but factors including the ongoing pandemic, with the accompanying travel restrictions, have meant that we have been unable to proceed as quickly as we had hoped. Therefore, we have jointly decided to prolong our letter of intent until the end of October this year and our joint assessment is that we will be able to provide new information at the end of October this year at the latest.
My role will be to ensure smooth collaboration between customers and partners, ensure that we follow budget, live up to set conditions and ensure quality assurance of Enviro's deliveries. I believe my experience in the energy and industry sectors will contribute to a favourable development.
Michelin is one of the world’s leading tyre manufacturers and this collaboration means that we can become established globally in a way that we would never have managed alone.
Enviro’s technology is becoming increasingly relevant as more industries are becoming environmentally aware. Five years ago, few companies were interested in CO2 negative production, but today there’s widespread talk of CO2 reduction.
Interest in recycling in general and recycled carbon black in particular has increased sharply this year, which has strengthened the market position of Enviro and our technology.
Enviro’s patented technology follows European legislation regarding waste combustion and is very competitive in India. One of the driving forces for our technology in India is connected to producer responsibility, something that was confirmed during meetings with tyre manufactures, among others. We have already had a meeting with an Indian tyre manufacturer back home.
Our production has been running in accordance with both certifications for a long time, being certified formally is important in our customer dialogues, as it’s often required.
EnviroCB C550 has the capacity to replace virgin carbon black in a new infrastructure application area by up to 100 per cent. It’s highly significant that an international rubber producer is stepping forward in this way to approve the material and is conducting production tests. This also benefits our future plant customers.
In recent years, the general materials recycling market has quite clearly shifted. More than ever, political and fundamental market forces are pushing the world to focus more clearly on reducing resource consumption and demand that incineration be replaced with materials recycling.
The main driver for Enviro is that most of the major players in the tyre industry sets goals to increase the proportion of recycled materials in newly manufactured tyres.
Supplying materials to Volvo Cars for two years is a real quality anniversary and a weighty argument for players who are looking to invest in our plants.
This proves the strong position of our technology in the international tyre-recycling market. Vanlead is one of China’s largest, and one of the world’s most progressive tyre producers, and has chosen Enviro’s technology to integrate tyre recycling with their own tyre production
We definitely have the capacity for new customers, and considering that the annual global market for carbon black is anticipated to exceed USD 25 billion by 2020, we see great potential for our material. Every time a new customer sees the quality and environmental benefits, we get one step closer to closed cycle rubber production.
The tyre and automotive markets are primary segments for Enviro, but it is important to show that the recycled materials meet quality requirements in for example the construction industry and in general merchandise, where large amounts of standard rubber products are used.
China is the world’s biggest tyre market and new solutions for processing end-of-service tyres more circularly are necessary from both environmental and resource-related perspectives. Vanlead wants to take the initiative in the industry.
The fact that a world-leading vehicle manufacturing company such as Volvo Cars has chosen to use Enviro's recycled materials is very important in negotiations with all our interested parties. Interest is increasing in both the carbon black product and the recycling technology.
Both Enviro and Vanlead see the great potential for Enviro's environmental technology with respect to materials recovery from end-of-service tyres in China. A joint venture with one of China’s biggest tyre manufacturers enables both parties to capitalise more rapidly and successfully on the world's biggest carbon black market.
Lately, we’ve received positive feedback from several international tyre producers that have performed tests on our reclaimed carbon black material. China is the world's largest market for tyres, rubber, and carbon black; there is great awareness that raw materials are limited; and state-owned Vanlead is the first to exhibit this high level of ambition. These are all positive indicators.
Each new application that is approved by the industry opens up new opportunities for customers of both facilities and Enviro’s reclaimed materials worldwide.
We have gone through a detailed recruitment process in order to find the right profile, experience and motivation, and I am confident that we have achieved just that. With a new Sales Manager, we will double our sales efforts and focus on both existing and potential clients. Enviro is in an ideal position to strengthen its market focus.
The deal with AnVa Polytech, which delivers components containing recycled carbon black to Volvo Cars, has been an important step on the path to future deals. Each application approved by the industry means increased opportunities for Enviro’s plant sales.
The EU trademark increases market awareness of the product and will be a good tool selling our recycled carbon black on larger scale and on new markets. It also makes it easier to see how valuable it can be to invest in tire waste.
A modern web also allows for more ways to market the business online, a segment where we will invest more in the future. Visitors will also be able to take part of detailed information regarding the materials Enviro’s patent makes it possible to recover for commercial use.


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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
This story originally appeared on Under30CEO.com
The generative AI boom is in full swing, and practically everyone, except a few notable naysayers, believes a revolution is upon us. Even national governments, usually slow to react, are coming around to the idea that AI will have a transformative effect on society.
Nowhere are these changes clearer than in the creator economy. Individuals can now increase their output tenfold (if not more) with the help of generative AI tools.
Speeding up work
Artificial intelligence is dramatically speeding up work and changing the creative process. Brands still need agency (they can’t put Tweets on autopilot just yet). However, they can use generative AI tools for ideation and even full-blown content writing with the correct prompts.
Given the remarkable abilities of this technology, an entire industry is growing around it. Self-styled professionals are offering creators courses and instructions on how to do more with less time using AI and generative intelligence, enabling them to expand their creativity and reach more people in a profound sea-change from just a few years ago.
ProPhotos, the makers of an AI headshot generator, say the biggest change will be convenience. “Our customers want to say goodbye to the hassle and expense of traditional photoshoots,” the brand says, according to Under30CEO. “Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, it is now possible to capture photorealistic, high-quality headshots without expensive camera equipment or studio lighting. Software can do everything independently, without the need for external assistance.”
These breakthroughs are remarkable and represent what might come down the pike. Presenting a polished and professional personal profile picture is essential for anyone who makes a living online, but challenging to achieve with yesterday’s technology. Only the most committed creators had the motivation to choose the professional path. Now, though, it is considerably more accessible, and practically anyone can do it using simple prompts.
Drafting and outline
Generative AI also plays a significant role in drafting and outlining content. These tools are exceptionally good at providing creators with logical sequences of concepts to discuss, showing them what to write or say next to maximize audience comprehension.
Of course, creators aren’t willing to hand over the full creative process to AI just yet. Machine intelligence often lacks flair or the ability to mimic their brand voice.
However, it is adept at providing a general structure and providing ideas. Language models, such as ChatGPT, can ideate endlessly, sparking human creativity in the process.
Automating routine tasks
We are also seeing generative AI play an increasingly valuable role in automating routine tasks. Creators are using the technology to reply quickly to comments or automatically like and respond to interactions on their profile pages.
Again, this might seem a bit like cheating, but it is yet another example of how effective the tools can be. Most creators spend hours engaging with users online, taking them away from their core work and preventing them from progressing to other projects as rapidly as they would like.
Automation of routine tasks is also reducing the risk of burnout. Instead of creators waking up every morning and spending an hour spamming comments as fast as they can, bots can now provide simple responses for them, which they can approve or deny. Creators have more energy to dedicate to other, more valuable tasks.
Interestingly, generative AI is also leading to a boom in creators going across languages. Instead of creating content in English alone, many are now able to automatically bridge the cultural barrier and reach new audiences with ease. Generative models can now translate more text with exceptional accuracy, representing its true meaning in a different language.
We are also seeing generative AI leading to more efficient research. Instead of trawling through reams of scientific articles to find a specific reference, chatbots can now search their databases for relevant studies based on rough user inputs.
For example, a creator wanting to research the effects of egg consumption on cholesterol levels can ask one of the new AI-powered chatbots to do it. A simple prompt is all it takes.
Most leading chatbot models include scientific research papers in their training data. This lets them identify specific studies of interest that creators can use to make their points or get their messages across.
Research is also becoming more efficient because of the ability of chatbots to probe the truthfulness of scientific statements. Creators can ask these tools if their statements are correct in the context of the existing scientific literature. Bots can then respond, telling them which studies corroborate or refute their statements.
Learning new skills
Finally, generative AI is teaching creators new skills. Tools have become like personal assistants or guides, helping social media personalities navigate tricky concepts and push their brands forward. Solo brands can ask these pieces of software for training on virtually any question and receive it in a tailored, convenient format. As with all training, creators still need to put in some effort (i.e. telling the tools what they want to learn) but the ability of these machines to generate course-like content is accelerating dramatically.
As the technology continues to improve, AI systems will be better able to include multi-model support. On-demand video generation will let software provide instructions in a more tutor-like, rather than textbook-like format. Users will be able to interact with these systems as if they are people through online portals.