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KUWAIT – February 16, 2019 — Agility, a leading global logistics provider, today reported 2018 net profit of KD 81.1 million, or 56.06 fils per share, an increase of 18.4% from 2017. Revenue for the year reached KD 1,550.2 million, and EBITDA was KD 154.8 million, increases of 10.2% and 14.5%, respectively.
For the fourth quarter 2018, Agility reported a net profit of KD 22.2 million, or 15.35 fils per share, an increase of 15.1% over Q4 2017. EBITDA for Q4 2018 was KD 40.8 million, an increase of 8.4%.
Board of Directors Recommendation
Agility’s Board of Directors has recommended a cash dividend distribution of 15% (15 fils per share), along with 15% bonus shares (15 shares for every 100 shares), subject to approval of the General Assembly.
Agility Consolidated Results
“Agility has improved profitability for shareholders for 10 consecutive quarters. In 2018, Agility posted double-digit EBITDA growth for the third year in a row,” said Agility Vice Chairman and CEO Tarek Sultan.
Sultan said the company continues to invest in its future by building more than 1 million sqm of new warehousing and industrial facilities across the Middle East and Africa; building, through one its subsidiaries, the $1.2 billion Reem Mall mega project in Abu Dhabi; and investing more than $100 million in Shipa, its digital logistics platform. Cash flow from operations has been healthy and growing, while free cash flow has been limited as a result of capital expenditure that led to increased borrowing to fund strategic investments. Agility’s dividend recommendation reflects its desire to reward shareholders without inhibiting future business growth.
Sultan said Agility remains committed to achieving its target of $800 million EBITDA. However, the timeline may be stretched beyond 2020. Agility will be exploring different avenues for unlocking and maximizing value for our shareholders, including investments, acquisitions, and public offerings of certain businesses in its portfolio, he said.
Agility Global Integrated Logistics
Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) revenue grew 8.6% to KD 1,153.1 million in 2018, driven by strong growth across core products. Net revenue also grew by 4.9% year-over-year, with 22.9% net revenue margins, as a result of better air freight yields and stable ocean freight yields. Full year EBIDTA rose 6.3% to KD 35.9 million, attributable to strength in freight forwarding and contract logistics, consistent execution of GIL’s commercial strategy, and management’s focus on efficiency.
On core products: contract logistics grew 8.7% its revenue, and GIL outperformed the market in both air and ocean volumes. GIL air freight tonnage increased 9.2% and ocean freight TEUs grew 6.7% vs. global market air freight volume growth of 4.5% and global ocean freight volume growth of 3.5%.
In air freight, the fastest growing verticals were fashion, industrial and high-tech. In ocean freight, Agility saw strong trans-Pacific trade lane growth, particularly in anticipation of US-China tariff implementation. However, there was an overall decline in demand and pressure on margins on these same ocean lanes for the second half of 2018. Agility GIL made new contract logistics investments in Australia, China, India and the Middle East in 2018, and has an ongoing effort to drive margin improvements in contract logistics.
In Q4, GIL revenue was KD 293.5 million, flat with Q4 2017. Net revenue increased 2.1% and net revenue margins increased to 23.1% vs. 22.7% in Q4 2017. Performance was driven by strength in freight forwarding, where air and ocean volumes increased 6.9% and 1.4%, respectively, for the fourth quarter. Strength in air freight was a result of high growth across multiple trade lanes and sales channels and especially strong demand from GIL’s strategic customers. During Q4, the US-China trade dispute and tariffs slowed overall air freight growth. GIL had stable ocean freight performance across geographies and sales channels with strong net revenue growth from strategic customers.
GIL continues to invest in technological transformation to improve efficiency and better serve customers. Digital leadership in the logistics industry is the key to its future growth, and the company is investing in its global operating platform, digital transformation strategy, and digital logistics platform.
Agility’s Infrastructure Companies
For full year 2018, Infrastructure group EBITDA grew 8.4% and revenue increased 15%. Agility is investing in these companies to drive its future growth.
Agility Logistics Parks (ALP), previously known as Industrial Real Estate, reported 6.6% revenue growth for the year, despite challenging market conditions. In Kuwait, ALP’s focus is driving the efficiency of existing assets. ALP completed construction and development of 85K sqm of warehousing space in 2018. In Riyadh, ALP completed and delivered 80K sqm of warehousing space and began constructing three facilities of 40K sqm each to be delivered in 2019 and 2020. In Africa, ALP began construction of new facilities in Ghana, Mozambique and Ivory Coast, which will deliver additional warehousing space of about 70K sqm in 2019. In addition, ALP added Nigeria as part of its Africa expansion program.
Tristar, a fully integrated liquid logistics company, posted 33.7% revenue growth in 2018, results propelled by full-year impact of certain contracts and new business wins from new and existing customers. Tristar continues to look for opportunities to unlock value for its shareholders.
National Aviation Services (NAS), Agility’s airport services subsidiary, grew revenue 17.3% in 2018. NAS benefitted from strong growth in Afghanistan and India; major turnarounds that yielded positive Q4 results in Morocco and Tanzania; and a full year of operations in Uganda. Performance in Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Rwanda and Abu Dhabi was flat. NAS Kuwait operations were affected by increased costs for operational and airport authority requirements, in addition to the suspension of Wataniya Airlines.
United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC), a leading real estate and facilities management company operating in Kuwait, experienced a good year in 2018. Revenue fell 1.9% in 2018 due to lower volumes in Kuwait car park operations due to the recent movement of passenger traffic to the new terminals, but UPAC improved efficiencies in key operations at Kuwait International Airport, Sheikh Saad Terminal and Discovery Mall. Outside Kuwait, UPAC is developing the $1.2 billion Reem Mall project in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with National Real Estate Company (NREC).
During 2018, UPAC signed a five-year, KD 5.4 million concession contract with the Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) for the development, operations and maintenance of the parking lot at Terminal 4 (T4) at Kuwait International Airport.
GCS, Agility’s customs modernization company, posted growth in revenue and EBITDA in 2018. Revenue increased 12.3% as a result of fresh trade activity, plus a new stevedoring contract win with Kuwait Ports Authority. GCS also launched a new brokerage business. It is implementing initiatives to drive efficiency and improve profitability.
“Agility’s strategy has been consistent over the last several years: drive digital leadership and efficiency improvements in GIL, and invest in expansion and new developments for our logistics parks, fuel logistics, airport services and commercial real estate businesses. As always, we thank our shareholders, customers, employees, and partners for their trust and support in Agility. We look forward to an even better 2019,” Sultan said.
Financial Performance for the full year 2018
- Agility’s net profit reached KD 81.1 million, an 18.4% increase from KD 68.5 million in 2017. EPS was 56.06 fils, compared with 47.31 fils a year earlier.
- EBITDA was KD 154.8 million, a 14.5% increase from 2017.
- Agility’s revenue for 2018 was KD 1,550.2 million, an increase of 10.2% from KD 1,407 million in 2017. Net revenue increased by 5.9%.
- GIL’s revenue was KD 1,153.1 million, an 8.6% increase from 2017.
- Infrastructure group revenue was KD 412 million compared with KD 358.2 million in 2017, a 15% increase.
- Agility enjoys a healthy balance sheet with KD 1,843.2 million in assets. Its net debt position was KD 135.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2018. Operating cash flow was KD 97.7 million for full year 2018.
Agility is a global logistics company with $5.1 billion in annual revenue and 22,000+ employees in more than 100 countries. It is one of the world’s top freight forwarding and contract logistics providers, and a leader and investor in technology to enhance supply chain efficiency. Agility is a pioneer in emerging markets and one of the largest private owners and developers of warehousing and light industrial parks in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Agility’s subsidiary companies offer fuel logistics, airport services, commercial real estate and facilities management, customs digitization, and remote infrastructure services.
For more information about Agility, visit www.agility.com


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The latest digital media news, industry analysis and original research from AccuraCast along with corporate press releases by the company. For more information about press releases, news and any events please email us via the contact form or call us on +44 800 019 6813.
Some of Facebook’s rules are often perplexing and it is evident that they have never heard of the mantra “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But it is nice that you can rely on their consistency and they have once again introduced an odd and seemingly unnecessary rule, which means that promoted posts will be disapproved if the image contains too much text. When recently attempting to promote a post with an image on the AccuraCast Facebook page, we received the message below.
Creating effective social media strategies is often a difficult task and there are many factors to be considered, including the identity of the brand, the preferences of the target audience and the idiosyncrasies of each social networking site. This is why we’ve compiled this list of 10 great tips for social media success, from experts who work with social campaigns day in day out.
Google have recently added a new feature to their Drive product, in order to improve the level of communication available for users of this product. The ability to converse with others is certainly one of the key features that Drive has been lacking, so the introduction of Drive Chat is welcome news to those who collaborate on files. Drive Chat enables those using the same files and documents on drive to communicate with each other, in a format that is largely reminiscent of Facebook chat.
It has been announced that the Google Affiliate Network will cease operations in the coming months, with the search engine giant putting a stop to all publisher relationships with advertisers on the final day of July. The announcement made by J.J Hirschle, Head of the program, (which can be found here) appears to indicate that a lack of impact is the reason for this.
The number of tablets sold each year has risen rapidly in recent years and a number of milestones have been met and broken, such as a record number of devices being activated on Christmas Day last year. In 2012 the total number of tablets sold rose by a staggering 78.4% and total sales are expected to reach 190 million units by the end of the year, so it’s safe to say that the popularity of tablets will continue to grow at breakneck speeds.
Considering the credibility that the BBC holds when it comes to news stories and current affair, it is no surprise that thousands of websites link to their articles and attempt to gain a small piece of this credibility. However it would appear that Google are surprised by this, with their algorithm failing to take these factors into account.
As we have mentioned numerous times, the power of smartphones is growing and with it the potential for mobile advertising is also increasing. A recent report revealed that 47% of Western European residents use their mobile for entertainment services and a staggering 65% of smartphone owners now browse internet content on their device.
A recent study has revealed that social networks fail to enrich our lives, with the majority of posts being general updates on daily life and used in the promotion of products and services.
Social media usage has grown rapidly in recent years and now accounts for 18% of the time that we spend online. On average we use social networks for 6.9 hours each month and this is more than we have ever done in the past, so this begs the question of how much do social networks actually enrich our lives?
If you have yet to make any PPC plans for this Valentines Day then fear not, as there are millions of men, and even women, out there who are equally as unprepared. Although this may seem like a lot of effort at this late stage, Google have predicted that Valentine’s Day sales will reach a whopping $18.6 billion and a fair amount of this will be spent over the next few days. Therefore it is time to act and develop your last minute PPC campaign!
When Lady Gaga first hit the headlines in 2008 she was a welcome breath of fresh air, describing herself as both a “retrosexual” and “exhibitionist singer-songwriter” in one of her early interviews. Her allure came from her unique style, which included bright make up, daring outfits and crazy accessories and her brand of catchy electro-influenced, synthesised songs.
However it would seem that Lady Gaga’s popularity has been falling recently, as her latest album has sold 4 million less copies than her début and internet search trends support this.
Our ever growing reliance on smartphones and the rising capabilities of the most recently released handsets have enabled marketers to offer more sophisticated mobile ads, apps and websites. Having the appropriate mobile ads and fully optimised mobile site or app in place is key, as consumers now have the ability to purchase any time, anywhere and expect businesses to cater to this.
If your initial PPC efforts have failed to lead to a conversion, then remarketing gives you the opportunity for redemption and you should certainly use this chance wisely. If you choose to simply offer a standard remarketing ad to all those who have visited your site within the past 30 days, then you are making a huge mistake.
At the turn of each new year, one of the key predictions for the coming year is that it will finally be the year that mobile ads take off. Unsurprisingly it is once again predicted to be one of this years huge trends, but 2013 could be the last year that we write these predictions off. Below are some reasons why it may finally be time to create a killer mobile ad strategy!
We’ve all been there, it’s Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and we’ve forgot to get a present for a friend or family member. The shops are closed and at this point we are forced to go online, searching for a Christmas gift that won’t have to be shipped. This Christmas is my first in digital marketing and this time around I have a different perspective on last minute shopping
For their December report on the State Of The Web, Opera have undertaken research into which sites are most popular on mobile in nations across Europe. Using their findings, they have compiled a list of the top 10 local domains visited from mobiles in each country and the results are quite interesting. Unsurprisingly, news sites are the most popular and make an appearance in the top 10 of every country in the study.
Infographics have been a bone of contention for some time and many SEO’s will tell you that using images in the place of text is not the best link building practice, with the common cause for this being scepticism regarding the ability of infographics to garner valuable links. However infographics can be of real benefit to your SEO efforts and you should certainly consider incorporating them into your campaign, where appropriate. Presenting key data in a visually stimulating and easy to interpret format can convey your message for quicker and lead to greater sharing, compared to lengthy text articles containing the same statistics. So the real question is how you can create a successful infographic, akin to the one pictured below.

domain: news


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We're pleased to announce an update is coming to the community boards.
Sunday, September 25th: We are migrating the boards to a new platform. The site is currently in read-only mode and we will bring it back online as soon as the migration is complete.
Also it is one thing to say the US is dependant on the Arab nations for oilUhhh !! - I didn't say that !! What I said was that the US depended on 30% of its oil supplies from overseas. Regardless of where it gets its energy it will have to pay in hard currency for it - it's a drain on it's economy that will get worse over time.As far as the credit question well I'm miles away from you In agreeing the USA has had strong debt growth since 1987 & that has increased yearly as this Gov link showsNot sure I'm with you on this one. Regardless of how big the debt becomes eventually the piper calls the tune and the debt will have to be repaid. If the economy continues to boom then it can carry the debt but when the economy falters then the debt becomes a real worry because it has to be repaid. Look at Argentina, for example, it has just defaulted on a 95 billion dollar debt and as a result inevitable inflation will ensue. You can't put off paying back debt for ever. In its simplest terms providing the average householder has a job and can continue to pay off his credit card all will be well - the problem comes when he's laid off at work and can't pay the debt - in comes the debt collector, repo man and bank enforced mortage sales. This is the worry that the US man in the street has at the moment. It, to me, seems crazy to suggest that any rate increase delivered now is not going to effect the market until six monthsIt may seem crazy but that is how long a rate cut takes to wash through the economy. It may affect the market temporarily but additional liquidity will take time to work its way through. People have to decide to spend the additional money available, then buy the product which in turn generates a demand that companys take time to react to by increasing inventories. Six months is what it takes all right.Lets take it a step further. The only thing that pumps the market when a rate cut is announced is peoples expectation that prices will rise. It has nothing to do with a companys balance sheet, increased sales, additional eps etc. If the economy is faltering, as it is in the US, then any rate cut as I've said will take months to work its way through. If the rate cuts had an instant effect then why is the US economy still going downhill ???CheersHarmy
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Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" Recreated in Bacon
Bacon, America's meat candy, is already pretty amazing on its own. So a contest that challenges folks to make something from what some say is the most versatile meat on the planet truly raises the (bacon) bar.
Instructables member and bacon-enthusiast, CopperTwist decided to take a porcine point of view on post-impressionism by recreating Vincent Van Gogh's, "The Starry Night" completely in bacon.
Now let's fry some of that artwork up -- it's breakfast time somewhere.
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The week's top local food news and events, plus interviews with chefs and restaurant owners, dining tips, and a peek at our print review.
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- Hidden Track Bottle Shop: Boutique Wine Store to Open This Summer in Downtown
- The Taco and Dilla Parlor: Luncha Libre Food Truck Goes Brick-and-Mortar
- Westward Brewing Co. in Central Phoenix Will Open Later This Summer — Here's a Peek Inside
- 100 Favorite Dishes 2015: Pork Chop at Mrs. White's Golden Rule Cafe


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Thailand is the next step on Alipay's global journey
Following significant growth across Europe and Japan, the next stop on Alipay’s world tour appears to be Thailand – and this latest relationship is set to be mutually beneficial, too.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has signed a letter of intent with the Chinese payment platform in the hopes that its integration in Thailand will boost Chinese tourism to the country.
Around 10.5mn Chinese tourists visited Thailand last year, and many will have used Alipay which is already available in the country.
The TAT will now work a lot more closely with Alipay to help customers more easily access tourism-related services such as restaurants, spas, hospitals, department stores and theme parks, according to the Bangkok Post.
Alipay will encourage tourists to spend more in Thailand through rewards schemes, while the TAT will encourage more operators across the entire country to integrate Alipay.
Alipay has been inking several international deals of late, all with the aim to take advantage of the surge in tourism from China that has taken place over the past few years. As a result of decreased airfares and relaxed travel restrictions, as well as a growing middle class with more disposable income, countries in Asia Pacific such as Thailand and Australia, as well as further afield such as the UK, exhibit growing revenue from Chinese tourism.
Popular luxury retailer Karen Millen, which operates from a total of 73 locations across Europe, recently integrated Alipay with the help of Wirecard, and Alipay has also inked a deal with Barclaycard so it will be accepted by more UK merchants.
Meanwhile, in Japan, Alipay has now connected with 300,000 retailers, which marked a 500% increase on last year. The provider’s parent company, Ant Financial, cited that more than 8.3mn people travelled from China to Japan in 2018, accounting for 27% of total arrivals in the country.
- Microsoft and Stripe partner for Teams Payments launchDigital Payments
- Vodeno's Head of Payments talks BaaS & new fintech trendsFinancial Services (FinServ)
- VizyPay's Frank Pagano on launching a successful startupDigital Payments
- Transact365's Sophie Flynn on going from football to fintechDigital Payments


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S&P 500 sales growth is rising but tech especially big tech AKA FAANGs still dominates.
Research has shown that over the long-term most of the returns from the S&P 500 have been generated by a small number of companies, and recently the trend has only become more clear as tech giants come to dominate index returns. During the first quarter of 2016, Apple and Facebook accounted for more than 20% of the S&P 500’s gains and 50% of the 4.7% total gain in the year to April 18 came from just ten stocks, including Amazon and Alphabet.
- As Asset Management Industry Grows A Search For New Revenue Streams
- Low Volatility Could Last Another 18 Months: Goldman
- Jason Karp’s Tourbillon Capital: FAANGs Are Not Investments; Bubbles Everywhere
The impact these tech giants are having on the wider index should not be underestimated. Excluding the returns from the so-called FAANG complex, the S&P 500 returns over the past two or three years would be nowhere near as impressive as they are today. In fact, it’s likely the returns would be negative (for 2015 the S&P 500 ended down less than 1% but the FANG stocks produced an average return of 83%).
Chilton Capital's REIT Composite was up 6.1% last month, compared to the MSCI U.S. REIT Index, which gained 4.4%. Year to date, Chilton is up 6.3% net and 6.5% gross, compared to the index's 8.8% return. The firm met virtually with almost 40 real estate investment trusts last month and released the highlights of those Read More
FAANG Will Grow 16 percent this year ahead of S&P 500 Sales Growth
Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect the FAAMG (FB, AAPL, AMZN, MSFT, and GOOGL) complex to continue to have a disproportionate impact on S&P 500 returns over the next two years. A recent report from the bank claims that over the next two years this complex will grow sales by 16% per annum with Amazon leading the charge with expected growth of 22%. Although Facebook has the highest expected year/year sales growth rate of the five companies at 39%, it represents only 5% of FAAMG sales and just 0.3% of S&P 500 index-level sales.
Even though Goldman argues that FAAMG sales growth will have little impact on the S&P 500 overall sales growth as the complex only represents 6% of aggregate sales, excluding these tech giants from S&P 500 growth forecasts has a significant impact. Each 100 basis point of FAAMG margin expansion represents $0.70 in incremental S&P 500 earnings per share and every 500 basis point change in sales growth for the group represents about $0.60 in earnings per share according to Goldman’s analysis.
However, according to the bank’s forecasts for overall year-on-year sales growth during the next two years, excluding the FAAMG complex gives a 20% reduction in overall growth. Excluding these tech giants, S&P 500 sales growth is expected to be 4% for 2017 and 4% for 2018. Including the FAAMG group, growth is expected to come in at 5% for each year. The impact the tech complex has had on sales for the past two years is even more pronounced. During 2016 and 2015 excluding the FAAMG contribution S&P 500 sales growth was 0% and -6% respectively. Including FAAMG, the figures improved to 2% and -4%. Year-to-date this group of companies has rallied 25%, contributing 28% of the S&P 500’s total year-to-date return of 10%.


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- Several shows that have had a huge impact on the fashion world, such as Love Island and Gossip Girl, recently premiered a new season and reboot.
- Shoppable TVs, where viewers can buy costumes worn by characters and contestants, are becoming more and more popular.
- Brands are struggling to get the most out of the proliferation of streaming content, and product placement, not advertising, is the primary way to reach consumers.
The fashion event is back. But if you’re lucky enough not to be invited to a Balenciaga haute couture show, or if you’re wary of connecting your elbows with designers and influencers at the rooftop bar, there’s always a night house in front of the TV. Networking and streaming services offer a lot of fashion content, which is 2021, and what you see on your screen is almost certainly for sale.In the UK, another season of Love Island is underway, and the bold choice of athletes in swimwear and body-fitting evening dresses has already begun a new trend (and perhaps killing the market alone). Masu White jeans). ITV, which broadcasts reality programs, Introduced A “shoppable TV” service that alerts viewers when they can buy a matching floral shirt and shorts set, or an unphysical swimsuit on the spot.Fast fashion brand Make a fortune Whether it is, leave the show Official sponsor I Saw It First or Boohoo Group, whose brand dominates many advertising breaks. Reality enthusiasts can also take a look at Amazon’s Making the Cut, a fashion design competition starring Project Runway graduates Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. The contest will premiere the second season on July 16th. The road to the finale.
A big script fashion moment this summer is the resurrection of Gossip Girl. The original series, which aired between 2007 and 2012, was probably second only to Sex and the City in that it created countless trends and gave mainstream television viewers a gorgeous fashion look. The original series costume designer Eric Daman is back for a reboot. Still, creating lightning bolts twice in a bottle is not an easy task, and other shows have made bold fashion choices over the last decade (even if the industry doesn’t). Fully accepted chance).The Gossip Girl brand is strong enough in the fashion world and the label Fishing for placement Virtually on reboot since it was announced.
Conclusion: The pandemic has made couch potatoes for all of us and has already strengthened the television’s considerable ability to drive fashion trends. In addition to this, last year’s e-commerce boom creates new incentives for brands to participate in the show at the moment.
Return to school special
- Parents and their school children usually start hoarding clothes and supplies during this time.
- Consumer surveys predict that spending will increase significantly compared to 2019, as the majority of students are expected to return to the classroom this fall.
- Teens are more likely to buy from second-hand and online fast fashion retailers than in 2019.
Retailers are predicting the new semester shopping season for banners.Many parents send their children back to campus For the first time In almost two years, research has shown that we are preparing to stock up on everything from stick glue and notepads to tablets and headphones. The big picture of fashion is a little more complicated.According to a Deloitte survey Parents expect to use What they did with apparel and accessories last year, even though overall new semester spending is projected to increase by 42%. However, others 11 percent increase Apparel spending forecast by Mastercard survey in June. Regular brands, from American Eagle to Nike, definitely expect sales growth. However, traditional retailers will intensify competition for the dollar in the new semester. Resale sites have grown significantly over the last two years. Both Poshmark and Thredup have been released, and Depop has been acquired by Etsy. Online fast fashion also continues to gain market share.Shein has surpassed Amazon as the most recently downloaded shopping app Still relatively unknown In 2019.
Conclusion: Retailers who want to take advantage of the new semester spending surge need to plan ahead. Due to the limited shipping capacity and the backlog of the factory, the arrival of some products is delayed.


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Learn all about the 2018 Honda Ridgeline pricing, specifications and other release details that were recently made available by Honda in anticipation of the model release later this year.
Nissan and Honda both recently announced their efforts to improve road safety with new auto technologies. Learn more about what these Japanese auto makers have planned for future model years.
2018 Honda Accord: Six Of One, But Not Six Of The Other – Manual Stays, V6 Goes Long known for its sporty appeal, a rare-seen trait in the mid-sized sedan class, the Honda Accord has been a favorite of car owners looking for a responsible way to feed their need for speed. News from Car […]
2018 Honda Odyssey will soon be released – get the specifications, pricing and latest information on anticipated changes, upgrades and new features.
Find out what our editors liked — and didn’t like — about the all-new 2017 Honda Civic and what they hope to see on next year’s model.


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I could hardly contain my glee this morning when our pals over at Property shared news that MOM’s Organic Market, which we gave a Best of Be Well Philly award last year, is opening a second location in our area—this time right in Center City (!!!!). (Can you tell I’m excited?)
Our pal HughE Dillon has sleuthed out some pretty interesting news about an organic grocery store coming to the Stapler Building at 12th and Walnut. He snapped a photo of a sign in the window, which tells us that the store will be called Everything Fresh. HughE describes it as “Whole Foods but smaller.”
Well, now ShopRite wants to help.
Not long ago we told you that Mom’s Organic was going to open in Bryn Mawr’s Rosemont Square Shopping Center in a former Borders (from books to bok choy). Yesterday, Be Well Philly spoke with the Maryland-based chain’s owner, Scott Nash, and asked why he chose Bryn Mawr for his new store — the chain’s largest store to date:
“Our other stores in Maryland and Baltimore are in the big retail areas,” he said. “So I asked a lot of people in Philly, ‘Where is your retail equivalent?’ They all said the Main Line.”
Be Wellers on the Main Line, listen up: You’re getting a big, new organic market come February. Maryland-based MOM’s Organic Market is expanding to our area with a new 17,000-square-foot store in the Rosemont Square Shopping Center at 1149 East Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr.
It’s the market’s biggest store to date, founder Scott Nash told me, and if all goes well, he hopes to open more MOM’s stores in our area down the pike. “Our other stores in Maryland and Baltimore are in the big retail areas,” he said. “So I asked a lot of people in Philly, ‘Where is your retail equivalent?’ They all said the Main Line.”


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BR Malls, Cemex SAB, Mills, Cementos Argos: Latin America Equity Preview
The following companies may have unusual price changes in Latin American trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices reflect the previous close.
The MSCI Latin America Index fell 1.1 percent to 4,586.54, the biggest drop since Jan. 6.
BR Malls Participacoes SA (BRML3 BS): Brazil’s biggest owner of shopping malls said its board approved the sale of $85 million of perpetual bonds in the reopening of its notes sold on Oct. 7. The money from the sale will be used in acquisitions and for business development, according to regulatory filing. The shares were unchanged at 16.80 reais.
Mills Estruturas e Servicos de Engenharia SA (MILS3 BS): The provider of scaffolding and concrete forms for Brazil’s oil, shipbuilding and construction industries entered into an accord to buy 25 percent of the social capital of Rohr SA Estrutura Tubulares for 90 million reais ($53.9 million), according to a regulatory filing. Mills stock added 0.1 percent to 19.80 reais.
Industrials: Colombia’s statistics agency will announce November industrial production today. Economists forecast the gauge rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the median of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Cementos Argos SA (CEMARGOS CB), Colombia’s biggest cement maker, fell 1.2 percent to 11,560 pesos. Grupo Odinsa SA (ODINSA CB), the Bogota-based engineering and construction company, slipped 0.6 percent to 8,640 pesos. Inversiones Argos SA (INVARGOS CB), the owner of Colombia’s biggest cement company, retreated 1.6 percent to 19,880 pesos.
U.S.-related companies: Sales of U.S. previously owned houses probably rose in December for a second month, economists said before a report today. Separately, the Labor Department is scheduled to release figures that may show initial applications for jobless benefits fell 25,000 last week to 420,000, according to a Bloomberg survey. Mexico ships about 80 percent of its exports to the U.S.
Alfa SAB (ALFAA MM), the world’s largest producer of aluminum engine heads, gained 0.1 percent to 132.51 pesos. Cemex SAB (CEMEXCPO MM), the largest cement maker in the Americas, dropped 1.1 percent to 12.21 pesos. Industrias CH SAB (ICHB MM), the largest Mexican steelmaker, declined 0.8 percent to 47.35 pesos.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan J. Levin in Mexico City at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at firstname.lastname@example.org


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The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing alleged violations of forex laws by retail giant Walmart in its investment in two Indian firms, has asked the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to clarify rules governing FDI in the multi-brand retail sector.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its communication to th DIPP has sought clarifications on rules and regulations that monitor foreign direct investment (FDI) before and during 2010, official sources said.
The agency is probing alleged "contravention" of forex rules in this case under provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on directions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The ED has decided to approach the DIPP after it studied replies sent by the American retail giant and its Indian partners.
Sources said that any penal action under FEMA laws could be taken or dropped based on the "statutory policy" framed by the government.
"If required the agency and DIPP officials would sit across the table to take the probe forward," they said.
The Rs 455.8 crore investment by Wal-Mart in Cedar Support Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Bharti Ventures, came under attack from CPI Rajya Sabha member M P Achuthan, who wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier saying it was "illegal" and flouted FDI rules.
The ED, a central investigative agency mandated to probe violations under the FEMA and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was asked by the RBI to check the alleged violations made by the US-based retail giant.
The probe would also go into the receipt of FDI as to whether the same was in conformity with the provisions of Secion 6(3)(6) of FEMA read with the Foreign Exchange Management (transfer or Issue of security by a person resident outside India) Regulations, 2000.


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The social network continued to conquer on mobile with $1.25 billion in revenue from ads running on smartphones.
For the fourth quarter, analysts were anticipating earnings of 27 cents per share on revenue of $2.34 billion.
With members spending more of their time social networking on smartphones, mobile continues to be Facebook's most-watched metric. In the fourth quarter, the company managed to make 53 percent -- or $1.25 billion -- of its total advertising revenue ($2.34 billion) from mobile. Facebook said it now has 945 million monthly active users on mobile, which is a 39 increase over the year-ago quarter.
For some perspective, Facebook accounted for more than 18 percent share of worldwide mobile ad spending in 2013, which is up from a 5.35 percent share in 2012, according to eMarketer's estimates.
Facebook closed the year with 1.23 billion monthly active users (MAUs) and 757 million daily active users (DAUs). The company's engagement rate, or the ratio of DAUs to MAUs, is staying strong at 61.5 percent. Investors look to this number on a quarterly basis to determine whether Facebook's audience continues to be just as active with the social network. The metric suggests, despite reports of teens fleeing for other networks, that, overall, people are returning to Facebook on a daily basis at record rates.
Payments, the not-quite-as-stellar side of Facebook's business where the company profits primarily from games running on its Web site, contributed $241 million to sales in the fourth quarter.
Facebook's stock is trading up more than 9 percent following the report. The company, which is less than a week away from celebrating its 10-year anniversary, closed down about 3 percent Wednesday at $53.53 per share.


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Bigfork businesses react to mask directive
Bigfork Eagle | July 29, 2020 1:00 AM
Laura Hodge dons a colorful cloth face mask as she makes her way through the sparsely-occupied gallery at the Bigfork Art and Cultural Center.
“I don’t like it, but I’m doing it,” she said, of wearing a mask, which became mandatory at indoor spaces and at outdoor gatherings of 50 or more as of July 15.
“I’ve been doing it a long time because I think it’s for the greater good. There are plenty of things that the government decides is for the greater good,” like wearing seat belts or not smoking in restaurants, she noted. “I would rather wear a mask than have anybody get sick.”
But not everyone is on board with Gov. Steve Bullock’s directive. Responses from Bigfork business owners and their customers have spanned a spectrum, ranging from a man who punched a plexiglass wall in anger to proprietors who required masks long before the mask mandate went into effect.
Montana is still in Phase 2 of reopening with most businesses permitted to operate, albeit with limited capacity and sanitation measures in place. Bigfork Schools is on track to hold in-person classes this fall and while many events have been called off, some summer events are proceeding with caution. The state has taken several steps toward normalcy, but in the past month, cases of the coronavirus have skyrocketed nationwide and in Montana, which now has 3,381 COVID-19 cases. In June, there were fewer than 60 active cases in the state, and as of July 28 there were more than 1,200.
In Flathead County, there have been 190 confirmed cases to date, 121 recoveries, two deaths. In response to rising numbers, Gov. Bullock issued the mask mandate for all counties with four or more active cases — Flathead County has 67, so the directive applies here. The mandate put the onus on businesses and organizations to ensure that those who enter indoor facilities are wearing face coverings. Many Bigfork business owners said that the use of masks is important to protect their staff and visitors even if they don’t particularly enjoy wearing them. However, one local store owner, who refused to speak on the record, said they doubted the effectiveness of wearing masks and did not support the directive.
Ben Storest of Fieldheads Coffee said his employees have been wearing masks for months before the directive took effect simply to create a safe environment for their customers.
“We don’t like it. It’s not fun, but we’re doing it because that way if someone is concerned, they walk in and see us being safe, they don’t have to worry as much,” Storest said.
Since the mandate, he’s put up a sign stating that masks are required inside the shop and has cloth face coverings available for sale, which he said are “selling like crazy.” Customers who decline to wear a mask can call in takeout orders.
Storest was grateful the mandate was put in place because it set a clear guideline.
“We appreciated it really because there were a few different times when different customers would come in and be either trying to respect social distancing and masks while others were not and they were getting mad at each other,” he said. “I’d hate to see it go back to where it did where they shut down dining because that hurt everybody.”
Buffalo Lodge owner Mike Kiel said his establishment is also following the directive and said he’s lucky that his restaurant has a large outdoor area that makes social distancing easy.
“We haven’t had any confrontations ...people seem to be understanding,” Kiel said. “Our bar is where people want to come to relax.”
Harvest Foods co-owner Marcus Balgos said he believes there is conflicting information about the effectiveness of cloth face coverings and is “doing the best we can.”
Balgos initially handed out masks to his employees and instructed them to wear the face coverings when in close contact with customers, but has shifted that policy after getting clarification from the Flathead City-County Health Department that masks are required for everyone inside the store. However, he is not “policing the customers.”
“We’re not officers of the law,” he said. “If somebody comes out, yelling at me, I can take some yelling, but if somebody swings at me ...over a mask, that’s a bit much.”
The mask versus no mask debate has heated up locally between the shoppers themselves. Two people - one of whom was not wearing a mask - got into an altercation outside of Super 1 Foods in Whitefish after one person coughed on the other. Multiple altercations between people who refuse to wear masks and those who are in favor of masks have been reported to local law enforcement.
Sara Highmore, owner of Sugar and Spice, said her employees witnessed one display of mask-related aggravation first-hand. Highmore installed a plexiglass window before reopening in April and provided her staff with reusable face coverings once the directive was established. In the weeks to follow, she received text messages from two of her employees explaining that a man had punched the plexiglass barrier after having trouble hearing them through the window and their masks.
“These are very confusing and hard times for everyone,” Highmore wrote. “But these incidents show you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. The lack of human consideration and decency being displayed in some cases isn’t in the spirit of Bigfork.”
Laura Hodge at the BACC said most guests have been compliant with the directive and has only witnessed one person without a mask enter the center. The sole maskless woman told Hodge on her way out, “I’m not wearing your stupid mask.”
On the whole, Hodge said, the directive has been a positive thing and has taken the pressure off of businesses.
“I think it makes it easier for business owners as it is a polarizing issue,” Hodge said. “Why would anybody give a person who’s just working and doing their job a hard time?”
For Dave Vale, owner of the Pocketstone Cafe, masking makes sense.
“To me, the issue of masks is not political. There are two competing facts of nature: Masks slow the spread of the coronavirus and masks are uncomfortable to wear,” he wrote. “As the number of cases has surged in both Montana and the U.S., I believe slowing the spread has become more important than the discomfort.”
As with other restaurants and cafes, customers are required to don masks upon entering and must wear them until they are seated. Once at their table, they can remove their masks, but have to wear them if they leave their table, like when using the restroom or exiting the restaurant.
“I understand the difficulty in imposing a mask mandate as I encountered some hostility when I first imposed the staff mask requirement. But I thank the governor for the directive as most of that hostility has now been shifted to him,” Vale wrote. “I am aware that some local businesses have been less compliant with the directive. I suppose it can be viewed as a classic confrontation between the public good and individual freedom. But, bottom line, the more we can do to minimize the spread, the better off we are. Our efforts won’t eliminate the spread, but at least they’ll slow it down.”
Bigfork Area of Commerce Executive Director Rebekah King said she’s observed different responses from businesses across the valley and has received multiple calls and emails about specific businesses in Bigfork who are allegedly not complying with the directive.
“I would hope that all the businesses in Bigfork would play by the same rules,” King said. “I would hate to see any division among our business community.”
Countywide, 60 mask directive violations have been reported, according to Malia Freeman with the Flathead City-County Health Department.
“We can neither confirm nor deny the names of any businesses that have been reported,” Freeman said. “Our Environmental Health Department has a process in place to follow up with businesses that may be in violation.”
The health department is tasked with following up on complaints and the process often starts and ends with education, such as clarifying specific points on the directive for an individual business. If an establishment still refuses to comply, it’s up to the county attorney to determine whether charges are necessary.
Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said officers may respond to a business only if it reports people not wearing masks, asks them to leave and they refuse.
“A person would be warned and asked to leave,” Heino said. “If someone returns to a business, doesn’t wear a mask, refuses a request by the owner or manager to leave and an officer responds, a ticket could be written.”
The charge would be a misdemeanor.
“There is definitely a feeling amongst some businesses that it’s not legally enforceable and businesses are making decisions based on what they feel their responsibility is,” King noted. The chamber does have signs available that provide instructions on masks in dining establishments, common dos and don’ts and one sign that simply states that masks are required.
“It’s just reminding consumers that this wasn’t anybody’s personal choice,” she said, “including employees and business owners.”


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Google Pay, in a bid for open payments, takes transit fare out of the station
Mass transportation is experiencing an innovation wave similar to retail, as transactions migrate from fixed points of sale inside transit networks to an open system that encourages a more fluid, flexible rider experience.
Technology companies see revenue in this model, with NXP on Monday announcing a collaboration with Google to integrate NXP's cloud-based fare service, called MIFARE 2GO, with Google Pay. The companies envision people using smartphones and web-connected wearables to manage commuting.
Because Google Pay is already accepted at numerous mainstream merchants and is the default mobile wallet for many Android smartphone owners, it stands a strong chance of easing the friction of enrollment in a contactless fare system.
Riders can purchase transit tickets on their phone, and place their phone or wearable near a terminal to ride a bus or rail system. The Google Pay app will include a map of transit stations related to the ticket purchase and a digital receipt of travel history.
Google and NXP are positioning the collaboration as a way to meet consumer expectations in the age of Uber. While not mentioning Uber by name, Google and NXP mentioned the expectation of convenience in an age in which people can hail a ride with "the push of a button." Apps like Uber and Lyft have made a minor dent in transit usage, with a greater impact on above-ground systems such as bus routes and light rail.
NXP's Google Pay integration's first deployment is in the Las Vegas monorail system, which runs between casinos.
"It will interact with the passengers and provide information before, during and after the journey," said Christian Lackner, Director of MIFARE products at NXP. "It will make the whole ride more interactive."
NXP would not comment on other potential integrations. The San Jose, Calif.-based company has more than 750 cities among its transit clients.
Other transit systems are also moving away from closed-loop fare cards toward open digital payment options. New York plans to phase out the plastic MetroCard by the early 2020s, hoping the growth of apps such as Apple Pay and Google Pay will enable open-loop digital payments to stick. Boston also hopes to phase out paper-based payments on MBTA routes by the end of the decade.
The MTA's project will include a contactless transit card, which will be “account-based,” meaning riders possess an MTA account and use it to add card value and check account balances, said C. Sue Brown, director of the Prepaid Advisory Service from the Mercator Advisory Group.
"Customers will use a variety of self-service options to manage their account, including a new agency-wide mobile app. At this point, riders can purchase MTA transit cards at out-of-system retailers like Duane Reade and CVS," Brown said.
Developers in North American cities can look to the success of cities such as London and Singapore, which have been migrating riders to open-loop mobile wallet ticketing and payments for mass transit for years.
"There is a trend towards more 'open' transit systems," said Zil Bareisis, a senior analyst at Celent. Hong Kong Octopus and London Oyster started as closed-loop systems, but now enable riders to pay with regular bank contactless card on London underground, trains and buses, he noted.
"However, the need to buy and load such cards is inconvenient for customers, especially those from abroad. It is also expensive for the providers, such as Transport for London, because they have to produce the cards and support the reload network," Bareisis said. "Open-loop contactless payments open up the networks for EMV contactless cards and compatible mobile wallets."


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Is Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) about to lose its stock exchange ticker symbol and become a private company?
Traders on Monday boosted the company's stock by as much as 17 percent in premarket on an early morning report it's moving toward a shareholder buyout. The stock ended the day with a 30-cent gain, to $18.06 a share, a 1.7 percent rise.
If Best Buy were to go private, anyone owning stock would have to be bought out at the share's market value. The money would come from a group of investors. It's these investors that the company's founder is reported to be searching for.
The volatility of the company's share price has a lot to do with recent developments, not just the general big problems the company is facing as more people shop online and shun big-box electronics retailers, or the issues with former CEO Brian Dunn's alleged personal misconduct.
This question of whether Best Buy will bow out of the New York Stock Exchange has been bouncing around ever since a Minneapolis StarTribune exclusive last month reported that Richard Schulze, founder and 20.1 percent shareholder, might be considering the move to privatize the company. The move would give him more control over steering the beleaguered company out of its straits, such as being free to pick key executive positions.
"There's no question in my mind that Schulze would like to take Best Buy private," BB&T Capital Markets analyst Anthony C. Chukumba told MarketWatch.
For their part, the players in this story are keeping mum, including Shultze, Best Buy and Credit Suisse Group, who has been cited as the bank Shultz is working with in his search for capital.
Schulze's challenge would be to find buyout partners to chip in the buyout costs, estimated to be as much as $11 billion, according to analysts that spoke to The Wall Street Journal.
Schulze stepped down in May following reports he was aware of a romance Dunn was having with a female employee but didn't report the relationship to the company's audit committee. Last week, Don Delves, the company's compensation consultant, quit after the board approved 100 bonus packages without linking them to performance.
The report by Bloomberg Businessweek on Monday morning claimed that Schulze is shopping for an executive team to run the privatized company. Their work would be cut out for them. The company recently shut 50 of its big stores and laid off thousands of employees. It's opening hundreds of smaller Best Buy Mobile outlets and seeking to return to China after a previous failure.
Last week, Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn announced that his hedge fund dumped 7.7 million shares in Best Buy stock after the cash-strapped company experienced "unexpected problems," including declining profits from the company's international business and the dismissal of Brian Dunn as CEO in April over personal misconduct.
"We worried that this could lead to additional business disruption so we exited with a loss," Einhorn said in his statement.


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In just one year, the average monthly mobile data usage in Belgium soared by 59 per cent. The monthly data bundles from Orange respond to this trend.
Mobile data is popular with consumers, and Belgian companies love it as well. It’s becoming increasingly important in every business. Just ask Belgian telecom regulator BIPT. They’ve published important figures in their latest annual report: in 2019, the average subscriber used 3 GB data a month, 59% more than the previous year.
Trends that influence data consumption
Home working and the pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has increased the use of mobile data. Anyone working from home usually used their wifi network. But it’s still useful – and sometimes recommended – to have access to a stable 4G connection. That way, teleworkers can keep working even when their wifi network is overloaded. The international agency Tefficient saw the use of mobile data increase in every country last year.
Unlimited subscriptions and zero rating
The BIPT has found that consumers are using more data following the introduction of unlimited subscriptions and the availability of the so-called zero rating. With zero rating customers are offered a kind of zero rate on data traffic for a specific (or self-chosen) app or mobile app category.
4G drives up consumption
The research by Tefficient shows that in Belgium, the consumption of 4G (and 5G) mobile users is 1.8 times greater than that of users with an average SIM card. In short, data consumption is higher when people use a fast(er) mobile network.
Finland is the front runner
It looks like Belgium is on the map for data usage. Still, a recent survey by the agency Tefficient showed that data usage in our country remains much lower than, for example, Finland, the country with the highest mobile data use. Usage there is just shy of 26 GB per month per user.
Orange increased Shape data allowances at no additional cost
To cater to this growing demand Orange significantly increased data allowances in the Shape formulas from 16 February 2020. In doing so, Orange creates a host of new opportunities at no additional cost for companies.
Take a look at all the new extras for each Shape plan:
You can closely monitor your monthly data consumption in your Customer Zone.
Activation of 4G in Shape Light formula
As a result of the data increase from 50 MB to 500 MB (or 1 GB for Shape & Fix customers), Orange activated 4G in this formula. That means, as a Shape Light customer, you’ll enjoy a faster data connection and access to Voice over WiFi and Voice over LTE services.


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ISM November manufacturing report is up nearly 2 points, manufacturing growth remains intact
With its primary index—the PMI—showing signs of leveling out in recent months, the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Report on Business increased nearly two full percentage points in November to extend the growth streak for economic activity in the manufacturing sector to 28 straight months and the overall economy showed growth for the 30th consecutive month.
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With its primary index—the PMI—showing signs of leveling out in recent months, the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing (ISM) Report on Business increased nearly two full percentage points in November to extend the growth streak for economic activity in the manufacturing sector to 28 straight months and the overall economy showed growth for the 30th consecutive month.
The PMI rose 1.9 percent in November to 52.7 percent, topping October, September, and August, which hit 50.8, 51.6, and 50.6, respectively. While the October gain is positive, this PMI reading—and those in previous months—pale when compared to the first four months of 2011, when the PMI was routinely north of 60. The ISM says that any reading 50 or higher is a sign of economic growth.
For the report’s main indicators, New Orders were up 4.3 percent at 56.7, and Production climbed 6.5 percent at 56.6. Employment dipped 1.7 percent to 51.8.
“Being up nearly two points is a nice place to be,” said Bradley J. Holcomb, CPSM, CPSD, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, in an interview. “It shows the continuing resilience of this category and the promise of more to come. New Orders were particularly strong, as were other key indicators.”
He added that Inventories up 1.6 percent at 48.3 were in a good place, as were Prices, which were up 4.0 percent at 45.0 but still below 50, indicating that lower prices are in manufacturers’ favor for the second straight month and decreasing at a slower rate than October, which fell 15 percent from September. Lower prices help manufacturers improve their margins, which provide welcome relief, as they will share this pricing advantage to a degree with their customers to generate more new orders.
These positive signs, said Holcomb provide good relief, which flows all the way through the supply chain and promises to continue to spawn new orders. Export growth was up 2.0 percent at 52.0 was cited by Holcomb as another good sign.
In comments within the report from ISM member companies, there was a fairly high level of optimism regarding economic growth and fewer comments about what is happening in Washington, D.C. regarding things like economic policy and the potential for a double-dip recession, which was higher in recent months.
“Cautious optimism…is the right term to describe what is happening, and it bodes well for the next few months, I think,” said Holcomb.
Looking at other key metrics in the report, Supplier Deliveries dipped 1.4 percent to 49.9. Holcomb said Supplier Deliveries coming in above 50 indicates slower deliveries are occurring, which is viewed as a positive, because it suggests suppliers are labored and burdened and have a lot of orders—which is why they are slower in delivery. In November, it was below 50, which means supplier deliveries have caught up.
With various signs of positivity in manufacturing, there are things to keep an eye on going forward. One, said Holcomb, is prices, which he said are likely to decrease or moderately increase over the next few months and be a positive for manufacturing.
But New Orders are even more important as they are filling up at a steady pace and provides a sense of continued growth and direction based on what is happening on an anecdotal level, too, he said.
Even though manufacturing is not growing at the swift rate it did during the first four months of the year, things appear to be better than they were just a few months ago.
“The early growth was not sustainable and subsequent notions of a slowdown seem to have lessened,” said Holcomb. “There is continued resilience here in the face of what is going on in Europe, China, as well on a domestic and political basis. We are bombarded daily by headlines about what is going in Europe, but then something happens to correct it or put it on the defensive. Manufacturing believes in itself and believing things are going to get corrected and the industry is staying the course.”
About the AuthorJeff Berman, Group News Editor Jeff Berman is Group News Editor for Logistics Management, Modern Materials Handling, and Supply Chain Management Review. Jeff works and lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where he covers all aspects of the supply chain, logistics, freight transportation, and materials handling sectors on a daily basis. Contact Jeff Berman
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No end in sight for cyber threats, Crain's Detroit Business
While more organizations are prioritizing strengthening their cybersecurity defenses, cyber threats continue to rise in 2022. This year alone, there was a 13 percent rise in ransomware attacks, which is more than the last five years combined.
So why do these threats continue to increase?
Just as organizations have been working to bolster their defenses (whether rolling out multi-factor authentication and endpoint detection and response or carving out time for employee cyber awareness training), cyber criminals are finding new ways to exploit human and system vulnerabilities, get into networks and walk away with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
Cyber threats today are more complex and aggressive, and there does not appear to be an end in sight. The hot threats today include ransomware and wire fraud, and regulatory investigations and class action lawsuits have also increased dramatically.
Ransomware attacks are the most damaging and expensive cyber threat hitting organizations. Between the ransom demand and the cost to recover, it costs an average of $1.4 million to remediate an attack. Last year, the average ransom payment was $812,368 — nearly five times the average demand in 2020. Ransomware is a triple threat for businesses that encompasses the cost of the ransom demand, loss of revenue and the inability to operate.
Whereas ransomware tests an organization’s technological cyber defenses, wire fraud schemes test the often-ignored human component of a well-rounded cyber defense — employee cyber awareness training. Nearly all wire fraud schemes stem from illegitimate emails containing fraudulent wire instructions that go overlooked by employees. A bad actor becomes the man in the middle of an email thread or spoofs a user’s email and re-works an invoice to include illegitimate wire instructions. Then, a payment intended for a customer is directed to the fraudster’s bank. The best defense a company can have in this case is employees who know how to spot the signs of wire fraud attempts, question a sudden wire instruction change and stop the threat before any payment is made.
Regulatory investigations and class action lawsuits
With the rise of data breaches comes the rise of regulatory investigations and class actions. Government regulators who are notified of data breaches have been increasingly investigating organizations that are the victim of these criminal acts. As part of their investigation, the regulators will often issue extensive data requests to ensure organizations are complying with state data privacy laws and properly notifying impacted individuals. This highlights how critical it is for every organization to take steps before a breach to ensure they are prepared to respond appropriately and comply with the law.
Class action lawsuits related to data breaches have now become commonplace. Historically, these lawsuits targeted headline breaches, which was the case for Equifax, Home Depot, Sony and Citrix. Today, these class actions are going after organizations of all sizes. These lawsuits are fueled by statutes, including the Biometric Information Privacy Act and the California Consumer Privacy Act, which allow for statutory damages. CCPA, for example, grants victims the right to file lawsuits against businesses that allow unauthorized access to personal information because of failure to implement appropriate security measures.
With laws rapidly changing and cyber threats quickly evolving, organizations need to be on the offensive, having a plan in place and doing all they can to fortify their defenses for the inevitable cyber threat that will land on their doorstep.


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Less than two weeks ago, Fulfillment by Amazon announced a freeze until April 5 on receiving “non-essential” inventory. FBA is accepting only these categories: Baby, Health & Household, Beauty & Personal Care, Grocery, Industrial & Scientific, and Pet Supplies.
FBA has turned away inbound deliveries of non-essential goods, leaving sellers to fend for themselves.
Moreover, many sellers with non-essential FBA inventory have seen customer deliveries pushed up to a month. Amazon is struggling to fulfill the spike of orders, even hiring 100,000 workers. But Amazon could extend delays and restrictions; the virus has hit workers in at least 13 of its U.S. warehouses as of Saturday, March 29.
Having no access to the FBA program, some sellers could lose an entire month of revenue.
What Sellers Can Do Now
- Convert FBA listings to Fulfillment by Merchant. This will ensure your items can remain in stock until you can replenish at FBA when it lifts restrictions — likely in mid-to-late April, if not longer.
- Diversify fulfillment. The situation around Covid-19 is unpredictable. Relying solely on one entity for all fulfillment could put your business at risk. To minimize disruptions, diversifying your FBA operations with a combination of internal warehousing and outsourced providers.
- Diversify sales channels. Shipping delays are potentially disastrous if your business relies exclusively on Amazon. The Covid-19 pandemic is an opportunity to consider other sales channels such as your own ecommerce site, eBay, and the Walmart marketplace. The added benefit is that these channels have less competition.
- Improve liquidity through assistance programs. It’s unrealistic to expect non-essential sales to return to normal levels as soon as the restrictions are lifted. Make sure your business has the cash to cover expenses as you weather the storm. We’ve addressed available grants and loans for U.S. merchants, at “Covid-19 Grants, Loans Could Help Ecommerce Companies.”
- Maintain advertising campaigns. Many sellers are cutting back on advertising and promotion. But now is the time to expand your business as consumers cannot shop in-store. And fewer competitive ads likely translate to bigger returns for your own campaigns. If you’ve set up your non-essential fulfillment internally or via a third-party provider, it’s time to expand your customer base and boost sales.
- Increase your essential goods catalog. If you can’t fight them, join them. With FBA restricting non-essential goods, consider adding essential items if possible.
- Take advantage of wholesale discounts. The shutdown of brick-and-mortar retailers could lead to excess inventory at wholesalers — and deeper discounts. Try to hold extra cash to benefit from this opportunity.
The Profitable Seller: Mastering Amazon FBA in 2023
The Covid-19 pandemic calls for sellers to rethink their fulfillment strategy — to incorporate flexibility, resilience, and scalability.
“Flexibility” is the ability to shift fulfillment locations rapidly (often using outsourced services). “Resilience” in fulfillment means operations can continue during disruptions by reducing dependence. And “scalability” is having multiple fulfillment options and the technology that ties them together.


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Prada and UNESCO postpone start of the Sea Beyond Project
As a precautionary measure against Covid-19, Prada and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission have decided to postpone the launch of the Sea Beyond project.
The project, which was designed for students all around the world to help them understand the importance of ocean sustainability, will be postponed to September 2020.
“With the closing of educational establishments across the world, particularly in the 10 countries participating in the Sea Beyond project, Prada and UNESCO’s IOC are currently unable to effectively deliver the main educational elements of the initiative, particularly with regards to fostering group work among students in participating schools,” Prada and IOC explained in a joint statement.
UNESCO currently estimates that the outbreak is now impacting over 1.2 billion learners worldwide, from the pre-primary to tertiary level, and including the higher education one. Meanwhile, 72.9 percent of total enrolled learners worldwide are staying away from school due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The partnership was first announced in February and was supposed to be a four-month project, running from February to May 2020. The program was set to launch with a network of secondary schools around the world to promote sustainable consumption practices.
The news follows Prada’s announcement to use its factory in Montone, Perugia, to produce some 80,000 medical overalls and 110,000 masks for healthcare personnel in Italy.
Moreover, the Milan-based fashion brand said on Monday that it has donated six Intensive Care Units or ICUs in the fight against Covid-19 to three Milanese hospitals: San Raffaele, Sacco, and Vittore Buzzi, which is a children’s hospital.
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Toyota is finally adding Android Auto support to its dashboards, with sources claiming a deal has been struck between Google and the Japanese automaker. The car company has been one of the more resistant firms to the idea of allowing smartphone-makers to colonize their infotainment touchscreen, only agreeing to Apple CarPlay support back in January of this year.
All along, Toyota’s stated objection to systems like CarPlay and Android Auto had been safety and security. On the one hand, Toyota maintained, it wasn’t necessarily convinced that the smartphone-based systems did enough to avoid distracting drivers. At the same time, it also had lingering concerns about issues like driver data privacy.
That thawed, for Apple CarPlay at least, at the start of the year. Toyota announced that it would be supporting Apple’s system first in the 2019 Avalon, its luxury sedan, before CarPlay spread to other models in the range. However, though the Avalon offers Qi wireless charging, it does not offer wireless CarPlay support, still a relative rarity in the industry.
Toyota’s resistance to Android Auto, though, has proved to be more stubborn. Earlier this year, company execs confirmed that the car-maker had been in negotiations with Google about adding Android Auto support, but said that lingering security worries had scuppered any immediate announcement. However, nobody would detail exactly what those concerns might be.
Unlike Apple with CarPlay, Google takes a more open-minded approach to what Android Auto can do. Third-party apps, for instance, are more broadly permitted, though Google does have interface requirements which limit how much potentially distracting content can be shown on-screen in the car. In contrast, Apple maintains a much tighter grip on CarPlay apps, only allowing third-party navigation titles – like Google Maps – for instance with the arrival of iOS 12 earlier this month.
According to Bloomberg‘s sources, Toyota and Google’s agreement could lead to an official announcement as soon as October. A spokesperson for the automaker declined to comment on that, though said that Toyota did recognize that drivers wanted Android Auto support.
Toyota has been the biggest hold-out in Android Auto so far, though the company hasn’t been completely averse to smartphone integration. Earlier in 2018 it announced it would enable Amazon Alexa support in its infotainment system, for example, using the retailer’s voice-controlled AI for streaming music, controlling smart home devices, and answering general knowledge questions. Toyota is also using SmartDeviceLink, a rival platform developed by Ford for hooking up a phone to the dashboard.
What’s unclear is whether – should the Google deal announcement indeed be forthcoming – recent Toyota models will be able to add Android Auto in a firmware update. Apple CarPlay support requires the newest version of the automaker’s infotainment system, Entune 3.0, leaving earlier vehicles out of luck. There’s no telling whether even that will be compatible, or if drivers will have to wait until they buy a new Toyota to get support for Android Auto.


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Female-Led Emmeline Ventures Launches, Backs Crypto Wallet Startup
Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Emmeline Ventures—a new all-female, minority-led venture capital firm—has set up shop in Los Angeles, with its first check going to a local early-stage crypto startup.
The new venture firm, based in L.A. and Phoenix, is still in the process of securing its initial fund, with a goal of raising $5 million to $8 million. The fund’s first close is expected at the end of April and will bring in as much as $1.6 million, a spokesperson for the company told dot.LA.
While Emmeline is new to the scene, its partners are not. The firm’s three co-founders—Sahara Reporters chairwoman La Keisha Landrum Pierre, Digital Oxygen founder Naseem Sayani and investor Azin Radsan van Alebeek—say they had collectively invested in 13 pre-seed and seed-stage startups before teaming up.
Along with the new fund, Emmeline announced its first deal—contributing $30,000 toward a seed round for Clutch Wallet, a Los Angeles-based startup that offers a digital wallet for the Ethereum blockchain. “Having female investors fund our product that will generate more wealth for women is a strategic full circle of women helping women,” Clutch Wallet founder and CEO Bec Jones said in a statement.
Emmeline plans to back as many as 20 female founders via its initial fund, targeting startups that “help women, in particular, manage their health, build their wealth, and live in a safer, cleaner world.” But what, exactly, does that mean?
“For us, a cleaner, safer world includes everything from what we wear and eat, to what
we watch, read, and listen to,” a spokesperson for Emmeline told dot.LA in an email. “We believe everything from supply chains to software to content systems can be safer, more bias-free, and more inclusive of the humans who engage with them—and this is where we invest.”
Speaking of inclusivity, it’s not very common in the world of venture capital. The VC industry is instead known for its homogeneity, as it’s largely led by men who primarily invest in male founders. Last year, only 2% of the funds deployed by venture capitalists in the U.S. went to solely female-led startups, according to a recent PitchBook report.
“Our goal is to have an active role in changing the venture investing landscape,” Emmeline partner Landrum Pierre said in a statement. “How? By funding companies that have a meaningful, positive impact on how women lead their lives in the future.”


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by Herman Manson (@marklives) Less than a year since Old Friends Young Talent and Bletchley Park announced their merger under the OFyt brand, the new combined agency is emerging from a process of integration, ready to take on new business, according to group strategy director, Jonty Fisher. Along with a physical relocation, it is shifting away from its abbreviated OFyt branding to be known by its full name, Old Friends Young Talent.
The agency has moved from Muizenberg to Gardens in the Cape Town city bowl in a bid to increase its visibility, retain talent and be closer to clients. It is centralising its creative hub there, relocating its Joburg ECD, Greg Burke (a former creative partner for O&M London’s Ford business), and there will now be two creative teams in Cape Town, one under Burke, and the other under current Cape Town ECD, Kelly Putter.
A lot of time strategising
Fisher says the team has spent a lot of time strategising what it wanted the Johannesburg business to look like. The client-service team will be expanded in Johannesburg, and the core offering of the former Bletchley Park, namely BTL, digtal, PR and events, will be rolled out in that market.
Old Friends Young Talent has launched several new partnerships in the last few months, including teaming up with Tanya Oakes-Bertram to launch a new consumer engagement agency, CHOM, which offers a range of services ranging from advocacy programmes and social CRM to online research panels and loyalty programmes. With Brandt Botes, it launched +B, a specialist agency that’s added communication design, experience design, packaging design and brand-identity design to Old Friends Young Talent’s client offering.
OFyt was launched in 2012 by industry veterans Jono Shubitz, a former ECD of Ogilvy Cape Town and chairman of OgilvyOne and Ogilvy Interactive SA; Gary Leih, a former group MD of Ogilvy South Africa and chairman and CEO of Ogilvy Group UK; and Paul Newman, a former marketing director at Nationwide. The merger put in place a a succession plan and new middle-management layer at Old Friends Young Talent.
Getting the culture right
Before the merger, both management teams spent time together to develop a clear view of the ethos of the new agency they wanted to build. Getting the culture right was key, and the partners had to ensure that neither former agency dominated the other culturally in the merged entity. While the new combined management team had a good headline view of what they wanted to do, challenges have come in the form of unexpected curve balls or people management issues, which have required the teams to jettison two ways of doing things and finding common ground.
The ad agency offering has become commoditised, says Fisher, and he is placing Old Friends Young Talent on a course that will move it upstream in the value chain through strategic partnerships. “We have always been an agency that swims a bit further upstream than most, in terms of strategic creative and creative strategy — touching on business strategy in some cases — and we have been exploring opportunities to forge alliances with one of the Big Four [audit firms – ed.] in this space,” he continues.
“There’s both a pass-off opportunity to truly own projects and a creative integration back into their consulting work which offers value to both parties. It’s early days, but it’s going to be a very interesting part of our 2016–2017 story.”
Since the merger, Old Friends Young Talent has won Regent Insurance, Monkey Shoulder (RGBC), Bidvest Car Rental, Lenthéric (Masculine, Hoity Toity, Solo) and the African School for Excellence. Current clients include the above and KIA Motors SA, RGBC (Jack Daniel’s, Hennessy, Monkey Shoulder), Afrocentric Health (Medscheme, etc), Henry, Taylor & Ries (Old Buck Gin, Commando Brandy), Lindt & Sprüngli, Famous Brands (Fishaways), Nampak, The Crazy Store, Mozilla, Eset SA, and MAD Leadership Foundation. It employs a team of 45 in Cape Town and 12 in Johannesburg.
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the inaugural Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year in 2011 and has, over his 20-year-plus career, contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including AdVantage magazine, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications.
— MarkLives’ round-up of top ad and media industry news and opinion in your mailbox every Monday and Thursday days. Sign up here!


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It's hardly a surprise that TechStyle Fashion Group, which has four online shoe and clothing brands, is a big believer in ecommerce for women's fashion.
In fact, Adam Goldenberg, TechStyle's co-CEO, told the Shop.org Conference in Los Angeles that it operates with a "fundamental belief that, today, brands should be built online."
Yet, in the last two years, TechStyle has opened 22 brick-and-mortar stores for its most successful brand – namely, Fabletics, a women's activewear line it co-founded with actress/fitness guru Kate Hudson.
Goldenberg explained the apparent contradiction by referencing the marketing role that TechStyle sees for retail in its ecommerce-focused business. "We chose to use retail not as a way to acquire new customers," he said, "but to increase the lifetime value of the customers we already had."


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Container shipping lines’ GRI attempt fails
The Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) has lost 6% over the past month, wiping out April’s gains for container lines.
Hopes for a recovery in freight levels continued to wane as mainline carriers failed to implement a general rate increase (GRI) on June 1, marking their third straight unsuccessful attempt following two flops this month.
The Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) has lost 6% over the past month, wiping out April’s gains.
Mainline shipping lines have continued to add capacity to the Asia-Europe service as they vie for market share, thwarting any chance of stopping the slide. Meanwhile, capacity on the transpacific service has diminished as new entrants to the service have withdrawn or reduced their deployments.
Linerlytica’s latest report, released May 22, notes that the 12 largest ocean carriers have added 5% more capacity since January 2022, when freight rates peaked.
On May 19, SCFI averaged US$869/TEU for the Asia-Europe service; US$1,329/FEU for the Asia-US West Coast service and US$2,365/FEU for the Asia-US East Coast service, down from US$883/TEU, US$1,633/FEU and US$2,510/FEU in April.
Some shipping lines want to push rates above $1,800/FEU for the Asia-US West Coast service, up from the current level of $1,400/FEU, but are having difficulty filling vessels due to oversupply.
ZIM Line increased capacity the most, at 34.5%, a move that resulted in a sharp drop in its Q1 2023 profit, with a net loss of $58 million due to its Asia-West Coast and Asia-Pacific services. Asia-Australia fell into a loss.
Linerlytica estimates current capacity at 5.56 million TEU for the Asia-Europe (including Mediterranean) service and 4.98 million TEU for the trans-Pacific service. This compares with 5.39 million TEU and 5.67 million TEU a year ago.
The capacity of the Asia-Europe service continues to grow as more new-build vessels enter the service, with the 2M alliance appointing nine vessels from June. Despite the slowdown, capacity will still increase due to the elimination of blanked sailings.


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Nintendo Switch “Could Possibly Eclipse The Wii” Says GameStop
The Nintendo Switch initially has seen some of the highest demand for any modern console. GameStop’s senior director of merchandising, Eric Bright, claims the Nintendo Switch platform could outshine the Wii. While actual sales aren’t being released, recent reports claim 1.5 million Switch units have sold to date. Since the original shipment stores have been sold out but GameStop will get a small shipment tomorrow, Wednesday, March 22nd, but other retail locations haven’t announced any new shipments.
Of course, it’s too early to predict future demand, but according to Bright, the Switch could outsell the Wii in the long run. The Wii is Nintendo’s greatest success, and they tried to replicate the success with WiiU. The WiiU didn’t succeed in becoming a hit, but it set Nintendo up to launch the Switch.
GameStop will introduce new Switch console bundles
Bright said During a recent interview with Game Rant, Bright spoke highly of the Switch’s initial start. Without going into specific numbers, he described the initial sales as ‘phenomenal’ and that attach rates for accessories and software to a device is one of the highest they’ve seen in a while.
What we get from strong demand is Switch bundles with accessories, games, and other gear for your Switch. GameStop has seen some of the highest demand for Joy-Con controllers, which the company claims are the highest rate of sale of any other console. The popularity of Zelda also means we’ll get more Zelda bundles with the Zelda game and Zelda branded accessories.
GameStop claiming Nintendo will sell more Switch units than the 100 million units the Wii sold sine the 2006 launch. The success of the Wii was attributed to the low cost of the console when other consoles cost nearly $400 or $500. The Switch cost $299, slightly more the Wii launch price. The Switch also doesn’t have a game bundled in further increasing the price.
Tell us what you think about GameStop thinking the Nintendo Switch will outpace the Wii over the next couple of years.


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Sprinkles Cupcakes, a Beverly Hills-based bakery said to be popular with Hollywood stars, has opened its first Gulf outlet in Kuwait.
The brand, which was founded in 2005 and has 11 bakeries across the US, has been brought to the region via a franchise agreement with MH Alshaya Co.
Sprinkles claims it was the original cupcake bakery and is the inspiration for many other similar chains. The company’s Kuwait outlet is located in Avenues Mall.
“We are very excited about opening our very first bakery outside the US here in Kuwait. I am delighted to begin our global expansion from the Middle East through our partnership with Alshaya, a company which has a remarkable legacy of retail leadership,” said Sprinkles co-founder Charles Nelson.
“I am sure that our hand-crafted cupcakes will delight our new customers in Kuwait," he added.
There are several cupcake bakery brands already present in the Gulf, including Sugardaddy’s, Hey Sugar, Hummingbird and Magnolia.
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Lucky, the Condé Nast publication about "shopping and style," released an iPhone application that lets shoppers locate a particular brand, color, and size of shoe in nearby stores.
The Lucky at Your Service app taps into inventories of stores carrying the 70+ types of shoes listed in the magazine's March shoe guide, then narrows the search down to those with the model in stock. It then uses iPhone's GPS capability — or an entered ZIP code — to zero in on stores closest to the user, Retailer Daily reports.
Lucky equipped a free call center with representatives that are able confirm whether the shoe is available, then have a salesperson set it aside, texting shoppers the final details.
Lucky at Your Service can only be used for shoes showcased in the March issue, but the magazine plans to update it to correspond with products in future issues.
Since its launch in 2000, Lucky has positioned itself as more of a fashion almanac for shoppers than a consumer publication. Condé Nast, which recently announced plans to shut down Domino — a sister pub that covers shopping and home décor — may be pushing the iPhone app as an added value for advertisers, writes the New York Times.
"From an advertising perspective, the advantage is clear," said Lucky publisher Gina Sanders. "With this kind of service, it's that much more insurance that the consumer will get into [stores that carry merchandise advertised in the magazine]."
Ad pages at the publication fell 11% in 2008, and future advertisers may be wary that consumers in a poor economy are losing interest in a magazine whose laser focus is shopping.


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Apple Retail Chief Angela Ahrendts Is Leaving The Company
Some big news coming this afternoon from Apple, as their retail chief Angela Ahrendts has announced she is leaving the company in April.
Ahrendts joined Apple in the spring of 2014, coming from the CEO position at Burberry. Around the same time Apple was working on the Apple Watch, and through its first generation was marketed as a fashion accessory. That marketing push eventually made way for a more activity themed device.
Ahrendts also oversaw significant changes to the way Apple stores around the world functioned and looked. Ushering in a whole new design language for the Apple stores, replacing stark stainless steel with wood, and even trees, creating beautiful places to sit and relax with friends, also starting new activities like the "Today at Apple" events to bring new people into the store, not just to buy products, but to experience the store as a sort of community location.
Angela Ahrendts will be replaced by Apples current HR leader Deirdre O'Brien who has been with the company for over three decades and will also keep her position as the HR leader.
Ahrendts is leaving Apple for new "personal and professional pursuits.


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After months of regulatory woes and sluggish sales, St. Jude Medical has spent the past year cutting costs, trimming payroll and digging deep for some high-profile M&A. Now, after stringing together a few positive quarters, the company has won over many analysts and investors, setting the table for a big 2014.
St. Jude Medical is looking to get electrophysiological, buying Switzerland's Endosense in a deal worth up to $331 million.
Fresh off raising $40.3 million in venture cash, Endosense has treated its first American patient in a study of its cardiac catheter ablation device, and the company is amassing data to support an FDA application.
Endosense attracted $40.3 million in new Series C financing that demonstrates the increasing interest in catheter ablation to treat cardiac arrhythmias. The Swiss devicemaker already has several products in the space that are on sale or under development, and the new cash infusion will help move along U.S. regulatory efforts and grow its European sales force.
Switzerland's Endosense has named Jan Keltjens as president and CEO. He replaces Eric Le Royer, who is retiring from Endosense after leading the firm from its first venture capital financing 7 years


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Advertisers using news brands over the past decade saw a significant uplift in ad effectiveness and profit growth, according to a report.
The report, entitled “Trust: More Than a Feeling” by Newsworks, found increased trust in news brands by consumers translated into increased sales and market share, particularly during periods of political turmoil such as Brexit, Donald Trump's term as president and the era of fake news.
The report contains findings from two complementary research studies evaluating a link between trust in news brands and advertiser profit growth.
To accompany the report, Newsworks also released a new complementary trust calculator tool to help agencies and advertisers measure overall trust in brands.
The first half of the report, authored by ad effectiveness expert Peter Field, features an analysis of the IPA Databank’s award submissions based on campaigns running from 2012 to 2022.
Results of the analysis revealed that over the last 10 years, ad effectiveness in news brands across six key business effects – sales, market share, penetration, loyalty, pricing power and profit – have increased significantly.
This is because ads that appear in news brands are regarded as more trustworthy and of higher quality – two key metrics that, according to Field, have led to increased profit margins in the ad industry, especially after trust in social media and other non-news outlets waned in light of political controversies that occurred within that timeline.
Campaigns leveraging news brands between 2012 and 2016 were 32% more effective compared to campaigns that did not, while those using news brands between 2018 and 2022 were 52% more effective.
Advertisers using news brands also saw a profit growth of 24% in the 2012-16 period compared to non-users. This figure increased to 88% in the 2018-22 period.
“While the uplifts were still strong in the earlier period of this study, they are much stronger post 2016,” Field said. “This is arguably around the time that trust issues began to explode – think Trump, Brexit and Cambridge Analytica – and the emergence of the fake news era.”
Additionally, advertisers using a multi-platform approach (with print and digital combined) have seen the most positive results, with a 61% uplift versus those not advertising in news brands.
The second half of the report contains results from a year-long study on how advertisers can develop a more accurate measurement of brand trust.
Carried out in conjunction with research firms Map the Territory and Tapestry, the study includes data taken from interviews with both ad industry experts and consumers, as well as from nationwide surveys evaluating over 10,000 respondents’ trust in more than 150 different brands.
Findings showed that headlines from news brands were 55% more likely to be believed than those from non-news brand websites, indicating that stronger believability stems from greater trust in a national news source.
Trust in popular brands was also found to be 1.5x higher when they advertised on news brand websites as opposed to non-news brand websites. This means that consumers perceive news brand websites to be safer and more competent than non-news brand websites.
“We are in the middle of a trust crisis – be it Partygate, the Met Police or unregulated online content – so knowing we can rely on trusted environments like news brands is vital for individuals and for advertisers, especially in a world where fake news and misinformation continue to pervade our society,” Jo Allan, chief executive of Newsworks, said.
She added: “Reassuringly, these two different studies revealed remarkably parallel findings, and the results will be important for brands looking to boost their trust by advertising in trusted environments.”
This story first appeared on campaignlive.co.uk.


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The owner of a cannabis shop was arrested over the course of the weekend, barely a week after he first opened for business in Sedgefield near Knysna in the Garden Route.
The 31-year-old owner advertised his business as a health and coffee shop, as well as a nursery, and was located in Sedgefield’s main road. Here he sold cannabis oil as well as edibles in the form of cakes and rusks.
The arrest was made just two hours after the owner opened the shop for the day on Saturday, and goods estimated to be valued at nearly R80 000 were confiscated, including various forms of packaged cannabis.
Speaking to IOL, Southern Cape police spokesperson Malcom Pojie said that the sale of marijuana products remains illegal despite the legalisation of its private use and cultivation.