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Amid expectations and huge economic gains, a Skincare brand, ‘Naturally Tribal’, has established its footprint in the Nigerian beauty industry.
The brand unveiled a range of specific skin care products made for different skin types.
At the launch, which held at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lagos, stakeholders in the beauty sector including Spa owners, beauty therapists, make- up artistes as well as retail operators, Nollywood artistes, captains of industry and diplomats, all gathered to grace the event and shared their experience with the products that had earlier been on a test run before the launch.
Speaking of the products, founder of the brand , Shallom Lloyd, revealed that all products from the stable of Naturally Tribal, were simply natural as the name of the brand implies.
The pharmacist and scientist also hinted that products from the platform boast local ingredients such as Shea butter, coconut oil, bitter kola, kolanut and millet amongst others, and were sourced locally in Esan kingdom and in Niger State.
“The skin is the largest organ of the body, hence, it’s important we watch what we apply on our skin just like the food we eat.This is why it is advisable to use natural, chemical free skin care products, which is what we are bringing on board. In this clime, we associate beauty with lighter skin, hence, the popularity of bleaching cream that damages the skin, which sometimes, the effects are irreversible. But you can equally brighten your skin with nature,”she explained.
Lloyd stated that the idea to venture into skin care arose from her personal experience when her son was down with severe eczema that eventually cleared away with Shea butter treatment.
“So, I decided we can improve on the substance without tampering with its contents. Our Range is for men,women and children. Women’s range is called Iya, which means women in Yoruba; men’s own is called Agu, men in ibo and the children’s range ,Yara, which means children in Hausa.We took the Wazobia approach to pay homage to Nigeria, the source.”
Representative of Naturally Tribal in Nigeria added that the entrant of the company into the Nigerian beauty space gives the country an edge in the beauty market globally.
She said: “what we do is take natural products from Nigeria, refine them, add value and sell them to the world. This showcases Nigeria as a country where you can get all kinds of products. Since Independence, what we have been doing is to sell primary and agriculture products, now we are taking the primary, processing it and also adding value, therefore, encouraging farmers and creating employment.”
Country partner of the brand and Chief Executive Officer of Compass Global, Tokunbo Chiedu, said the multiple award winning company is exceptional, healthy and scientific.
She added that the products range have been widely tested and received with positive feedback.


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And everything else we can’t stop talking about this week.
This week on Open Tabs—an assortment of links we have on our open tabs for the week—we’re giving you a peek into our own internet habits and the stories and themes we can’t seem to stop talking about, like how there is a new exhibit centered around hoodies, things to know about the abortion pill, a look at a new designer collaboration, and much, much more.
1. There’s a New Exhibition on Your Favorite Loungewear Piece: The Hoodie (via New York Times)
Whether it’s one from our college days or from our favorite artists’ tour merch, we love a good hoodie around here. As much as they keep us feeling nice and cozy during this time of the year, they’re also considered a very loaded article of clothing. The Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is opening up an exhibition titled “The Hoodie” on December 1st. The new exhibit will be the first to discuss how a hoodie is a “politically, socially, and racially charged” piece of clothing.
2. What to Know about the Abortion Pill (via Elle)
Abortion has been an increasingly hot topic over the past year, and with woman’s reproductive rights continuing to be under scrutiny, it’s no wonder that the idea of an abortion pill can seem like a better option. Mostly known as “medication abortion,” the abortion pill is a set of two separate pills that is to be taken within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. It’s often described as a “really heavy, cramp-y period.”
3. What Can Be Done to Help the Koala Bears? (via The Cut)
Have you heard the recent uproar over koala bears? Last weekend it was reported that due to raging bushfires in Australia, a majority of koala bears’ habitat has been destroyed, causing the mammal to be “functionally extinct.” However, some experts say that there are still things that can be done to help koalas, and that saving the species isn’t a lost cause. With roughly 300,000 koalas still left in Australia, they're classified as endangered species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
4. The First Look at the Prada x Adidas Collaboration (via Hypebae)
We love a good designer sneaker collab around here, so when we heard that Prada would be teaming up with adidas to make an exclusive sneaker, we couldn’t wait to see! The Italian fashion house teamed up with the sneaker giant to release two new products, one being an Adidas Original Superstar sneaker with the designer logo at the heel, and a classic white bowling bag set. Set to release on December 4th and with only 700 pieces in stock, this will be a highly sought-after sneaker!
5. LVMH Acquired Tiffany & Co. for $16.2B (via WWD)
On Monday, LVMH purchased Tiffany & Co. for $16.2B, making it the company’s largest purchase yet. With Tiffany’s true American luxury heritage, LVMH has doubled its size of its jewelry division and is preparing to make a major leap within the U.S. market. In a recent statement about the deal, LVMH chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault said, “We have immense respect and admiration for Tiffany and intend to develop this jewel with the same dedication and commitment that we have applied to each and every one of our maisons.”
Want more stories like this?
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Samsung beat expectations from analysts in Q3 2015, but with little help from its mobile business. The Korean firm’s semiconductor and display panel divisions were the stand-out performers that, alongside favorable currency rates, contributed to a $6.4 billion (7.39 trillion KRW) profit on revenue of $45.2 billion (51.68 trillion KRW).
The Samsung phone business, which has struggled to compete with Apple and lower-end players like Xiaomi, accounted for $23.3 billion (26.61 trillion won) of Samsung Electronics’ total revenue.
While revenue from phones rose by 2 percent quarter-on-quarter and 8 percent year-on-year, thanks to increased sales, its $2.1 billion (2.40 trillion KRW) operating profit was down 13 percent on the previous quarter as a result of price cuts made to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge and an increase in sales of cheaper devices.
Samsung estimated that it will maintain the same revenue from smartphones in the next quarter, but it expects things to slow next year in line with the rest of the industry. That’s where its push into wearables and payments — Samsung Pay is now available on all major U.S. carriers, and is adding more bank partners — could come into play. Samsung hopes these businesses will pick up revenue to augment sluggish smartphone sales predictions.


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International Fraud Awareness Week, from November 16 till 20, 2020
For the second year in a row in Croatia, International Fraud Awareness Week is being organized, in the period from November 16 till 20, 2020. The event is organized by Deloitte Croatia, in cooperation with numerous partners, and is held under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović. Lectures and panel discussions during this event will be held in a virtual and hybrid way, so the participants will be able to access it via the internet.
INsig2 Director Goran Oparnica will participate in a panel on topic “New safe – doing business in the world of cyber frauds”, which is held on November 17, 2020, from 10:15 till 11:15. Panel members will provide insight about current business opportunities and key moves that organizations or companies must conduct in order to protect themselves against exterior or interior perpetrators. The panel will be held via a hybrid way, meaning you can watch live stream on Deloitte Croatia YouTube channel, with free registration here https://bit.ly/35pyiWg.
International Fraud Awareness Week was organized for the first time in 2000, by Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and since then, hundreds of organizations have joined this initiative with the goal of raising awareness about the necessity to fight against fraud and corruption. Apart from Croatia, countries in the surrounding Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia participate in these activities as well.
This year, numerous events have been planned, where the best experts from different business field, through their personal examples, best business methods, and quality discussion, will open a dialogue on the exposure of the Croatian economy to corruption, fraud and financial crime.


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First Data recently reported that retail spending increased 6.6% between October 28th and December 18th, compared to the same period of last year. The company also found that e-commerce sales continued to outpace traditional, brick and mortar retail stores, with increases of 11% and 5.4%, respectively.
First Data’s report claimed electronics and appliances as the hottest selling category, which increased 11.8%. Non-electronic entertainment, such as books, music, and other non-electronic hobbies, showed the worst performance, decreasing 0.7%.
The Southwest and West saw the most growth, while the Mid-Atlantic region increased the least.
According to an annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Proper Insights & Analytics, just over half of survey respondents expected to finish their holiday shopping by December 20th, though some would still be shopping on Christmas Eve, and some would miss the Christmas deadline altogether.
As of December 12th, 51% of last-minute shoppers expected to purchase their gifts online, 41% would purchase at department stores, 26% at discount stores, 21% at clothing or accessories stores, 18% at electronics stores, 14% at local/small business stores, and 14% at grocery/supermarket stores.
The survey found that 54% of holiday shoppers bought clothing or clothing accessories; 39% purchased toys; another 39% purchased gift cards; 35% bought books, movies, and other media; 25% bought consumer electronics or computer-related accessories; and 25% purchased food or candy.


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At last week's IFA conference, Toshiba came ready to showcase its latest ultraportable notebook, the Portégé Z830. Toshiba's billing it as the thinnest notebook ever made, and it's ready to compete with the Macbook Air. »9/06/11 2:40pm 9/06/11 2:40pm
Kinja is in read-only mode. We are working to restore service.


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Good Earth Natural Foods will open its Tam Valley store at 201 Flamingo Road at 11am that day, thrilling a community that has seen its biggest building sit vacant since December 2010, when DeLano’s IGA Market closed the week as part of a series of closures for the grocery chain. Marin County Supervisor Kate Sears will be on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Fairfax-based organic foods market Good Earth confirmed their intent to open a store in Tam Valley in September 2014 and worked with Santa Cruz-based C/D/M Crocker-Fry, which designed and built Good Earth’s 22,000-square-foot Fairfax store, on a “total renovation and aesthetic transformation of Shoreline Shopping Center’s grocery building.”
The company’s decision to open in Tam Valley capped a turbulent run for the former Delano’s space, one that included plans in 2012 by San Jose-based retail chain Orchard Supply Hardware to move in, an effort that was ultimately thwarted by a petition drive against it. One year later, Sprouts Farmer Market had a deal in place to move in but that fell through.
Good Earth’s Madeline Ross says that while the decision to open a second store was based on increasing demand for Good earth’s products and services, it’s also about the larger movement to avoid GMOs, reduce the use of pesticides, and promote sustainable practices by supporting organic farmers and local producers.
“The driving force of this new store is to continue to spread our mission,” she says. “We’re doing this to inspire and encourage more people to eat organic and non-GMO foods, and we’re hoping to spread our influence and push other stores to go all organic. We believe we can affect even more change, and Tam Valley is our perfect market to do so.”
Good Earth first opened in 1969 at 123 Bolinas Avenue in Fairfax, moving in 2000 to 1966 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and then opening its flagship store at 720 Center Blvd. in February 2012 “to meet the needs of our customers who requested a larger store with more selection store-wide, wider aisles, additional check-out stands, and indoor seating.”
Co-owner Mark Squire played a pioneering role in the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), one of the first independent organic certifiers in the country. He helped craft many of the original guidelines still in use today by the USDA National Organic Program. In 2007, along with two other retailers, Squire was instrumental in the creation of the Non-GMO Project, which provides retailers and consumers with third-party verification to enable people to safely select foods that are free from genetically modified organisms.
The new store will have approximately 175 employees, making it one of the largest employers in southern Marin. “Along with meeting the additional market demand for what we do, it brings me great pleasure knowing our staff will continue to grow too – this opportunity represents real leadership growth opportunities for many current Good Earthlings,” says co-owner Al Baylacq says.
Good Earth officials note that the new store was “created with the earth in mind,” with drought tolerant native plants as its landscaping, up-cycled reclaimed wood from the 50-year-old barrel roof for re-use throughout the project, artisan tiles made from 70 percent locally sourced recycled materials, LED lighting in the store governed by an energy management system with motion and light detection, 400 square feet of skylights to maximize natural light within the doors. The building also features solar panels and solar thermal for energy conversion.
Squire says that while Marin County requires a rate of at least 50 percent rate of re-used and recycled materials, the Tam Valley store achieved a rate of 80 percent.
“At Good Earth, respect for the Earth is what we are all about, so we go out of our way to reduce our footprint whenever possible,” says Mark Squire, Partner.


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Survey: Internet users worry about privacy, personal info being exposed online
A new survey out today from the Pew Research Center shows that internet users are concerned about their privacy online, but many feel that anonymity online is just not all that possible anymore.
In a representative survey of 792 internet users, 86% have tried in some form or another to cover their digital footprints, and 55% have tried to avoid observation by specific people, organizations, or the government.
But as technology reporter Brian Fung at the Washington Post points out, “The good news is that there’s a big gap between people’s expectations and what most have already tried.”
Indeed, most are already trying common methods such as clearing and disabling cookies, deleting past posts, and using temporary email addresses and usernames.
Fung offers a helpful set of tips that are more advanced than the basics but are still easy enough for most users to employ without a lot of technical competence. They range from encrypting your email and chats, to employing private browsing and anonymizers like Tor, to using a password manager. I recommend his post – it’s a short and easy read.
There was also another component to the Pew survey however that I also found interesting. It’s a rough obstacle course out there. In fact, many are more concerned with protecting their personal information from the eyes of hackers, advertisers and family members than they are about the government’s observation.
CNET picked up on it:
A fair percentage of people have already run into trouble online. Among those polled, 21 percent have seen their e-mail or social network accounts compromised, 12 percent have been stalked or harrassed online, and 6 percent said their reputation was hurt because of something that happened online.
“Users clearly want the option of being anonymous online and increasingly worry that this is not possible,” Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project and the author of the report on the survey, said in a statement. “Their concerns apply to an entire ecosystem of surveillance. In fact, they are more intent on trying to mask their personal information from hackers, advertisers, friends, and family members than they are trying to avoid observation by the government.”
You can visit Pew Internet to download the full report and check out the survey questions.
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Legal Question: If you are chatting online with a 60 year old man who pretends to be a 13 year old girl – are you breaking any laws? Even if you were sexting with a police officer who pretends to be underage – have you broken any laws? Or, what if it is a male reporter on the other end?
^ c r e e p y ^
My personal experience tells me that this happens when the marketing guys have run out of ideas that actually make money
Take the red pill.
The NSA…. the gov’s hacking enterprise! All those data junkies can’t wait to get all that personal info to study.
In the Neo-technological Age, it pays to be a luddite 🙂
Focusing on the NSA won’t gain you much, and may invite surveillance. Their charter is international comms, so 99.99% of America’s day-to-day isn’t of interest to them.
The biggest threats are criminals who want your info. If you use Facebook or Google, know that they use your info as they see fit, i.e., Obama has access. Simply put, don’t put info out there that you want to keep private. Consider a paid email service (not gmail or hotmail) to be semi-safe, i.e., hackers can’t get them unless they crack the service, which is unlikely. But if your friend has gmail …
If you surf, know that Google and the advertisers track you. That’s why I run “Do Not Track Me” on Firefox to slow them down — much to the Professor’s consternation. Load your hosts file with a list of malicious websites to block access. Run an antivirus, and occasionally run Malwarebytes and/or other scanners to keep spies off your machine.
Another good idea is to run behind a router so your machine isn’t directly exposed to the web. I have mine set not to respond to pings or anything. I’ll change the router mac address occasionally which causes my ISP to give me a new IP address, as this helps to slow down trackers. Also, don’t store tax returns or passwords or other personal info on your machine.
The bottom line is to be conscious of what you are doing, and choose your acceptable risk level.


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While the USC Trojans were bulldozing their Way into a second straight national title, Fleetwood RV was on hand in Miami, wrapping up a successful program that attracted faculty football tailgating fever to dealers and consumers alike.
In partnership with Athlon Sports, a Leading writer of sports annuals, Fleetwood RV coordinated a two-pronged app that place Fleetwood dealers in high traffic areas at tailgates at major school football games and concurrently attracted customers to stop by a dedicated Fleetwood site to enter for a chance to win a mishmash of prizes such as a trip to five into the 2005 college football national championship game, a Yamaha ATV, along with a flat-screen television.
Ten of the Best college football matches on that the 2004 schedule were identified, and also a Fleetwood dealer in every one of those critical markets was invited to take part in the application. Dealers also encouraged consumers to see with the Pace Arrow and GearBox units.
During each event, a Group of Athlon Staffers distributed a glossy”Fleetwood Ultimate Tailgate Party” manual to fans and tailgaters at every function. The manual contained articles and recipes on tailgating RV-style. The manuals also directed consumers to the dedicated site to put in the customer sweepstakes. A total of 100,000 celebration guides were dispersed during the ten events.
The Fleetwood Ultimate Tailgate Party Sweepstakes was encouraged by full-page print advertisements in Sports Illustrated and Athlon’s College Football and Golf annuals, reaching five million customers.
“Partnering with Athlon with this program was a perfect fit for Fleetwood and our perception that RVing is your greatest way to enjoy tailgating at any sporting event,” explained Scott Grafft, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing to Fleetwood RV. “We could offer our dealers an opportunity to promote themselves and the RV lifestyle to tens of thousands of sports and tailgating lovers in their area while at the same time attracting additional consumer interest with precious sweepstakes.”
The program provided high vulnerability for participating cyclists. “I couldn’t have asked for a much better display site at the stadium,” stated one Fleetwood seller. “traders do enjoy it when makers like Fleetwood reach us with precious promotional opportunities such as the Ultimate Tailgate Party program.”
While specific marketing results weren’t Disclosed, Fleetwood realized a notable increase in web traffic to the Fleetwood RV website, powerful RV unit trips at every occasion and a significant influx of consumer entrances during the almost three-month program.
For Rick Keller and his wife Constance of in Miami, the app sold them to the best means to tailgate. “We’re big Penn State lovers and have amazed at how many Individuals have RVs at the games; today we know why,” said Keller, who appreciated a private tailgate party for his group of Five before the match. “It is the ultimate means to enjoy tailgating.”


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Tencent, Alibaba lead China's top brands as tech dominates
[BEIJING] China's tech giants Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd beat state firms for the first time to become the country's most valuable brands in 2015, a report published on Tuesday shows.
China's three biggest Internet companies, which also includes Baidu Inc, all appeared in the country's top 5 rankings, said advertising company WPP Plc and its research affiliate Millward Brown.
"For the first time the tech industry surpasses the banking industry in terms of brand value," said Doreen Wang, global head of BrandZ at Millward Brown, citing the rise of Internet finance and the decline of profits at big banks.
The annual rankings, based on analysis of a brand's revenue and consumer responses to it, only cover the country's publicly-traded companies.
Top brand Tencent is valued at US$66 billion, up 95 per cent from last year, according to the report.
The Chinese social media giant's brand value has surpassed Facebook Inc and it is now the world's fifth most valuable tech brand, following Apple Inc, Google Inc, International Business Machines Corp and Microsoft Corp, according to Wang.
Alibaba, the e-commerce powerhouse that raised US$25 billion in the world's biggest initial public offering last September, has a brand value of nearly US$60 billion and ranked No 2 in China, the report said.
Private enterprise brand value has increased 97 per cent since 2013, while government-owned firms have lost 9 per cent over the same period, the report said.
China Mobile Ltd and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd , both government-backed, topped the ranking last year.
Each saw a decline of about 10 per cent in brand value, hit by increased market competition and the government's anti-corruption drive that targets strategic state firms.
The total value of China's top 100 brands grew at a record 59 per cent from last year, to US$464.2 billion, outpacing the 41 per cent growth of the world's top 100 brands, the report said.
"The big question now is what brands must do to be accepted in international markets," Mr Wang of Millward Brown said.
Although Chinese brands are strengthening their presence overseas, only personal computer and smartphone maker Lenovo Group Ltd and cell phone maker ZTE Corp, generated more than half of their revenue outside China.


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To rent or not to rent? That is ultimately the question. With high-end editing software now available through affordable subscription services, it has many editors debating their software choices and licensing options. We'll examine the advantages and disadvantages of renting versus buying in the digital software production arena.
HitFilm 3 Pro is the latest iteration of the combination editing & effects software from England-based tech company FXHOME. Emerging in 2011, HitFilm has seen swift upgrades with each release and now appears in its newest incarnation as a solid competitor of other film editing giants such as Adobe’s Premier Pro and Apple’s Final Cut.
Blackmagic Design today released DaVinci Resolve 11.2 software update, which vastly improves CinemaDNG RAW image processing, round trip workflows with Avid Media Composer 8.3, and support for DNxHR formats.
Avid this week announced the latest version of their editing flagship, Avid Media Composer. The latest version is designed to easily acquire, manage, edit and deliver native 4K media more quickly and efficiently than ever.
Altermedia’s Studio Suite has been a standard in studio management software for the better part of two decades, and the experience shows in their latest release, Studio Suite Xi. Designed to be the go-to platform to simplify workflows in pretty much any production environment, how does the current generation compete in an increasingly competitive space?


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Tyson submits bid to buy Hillshire for $8.55B
Tyson Foods Inc. today announced it has submitted a unilaterally binding offer to acquire all outstanding shares of The Hillshire Brands Company for a price of $63 per share in cash. The offer is subject to Hillshire Brands being released from its existing agreement to acquire Pinnacle Foods Inc., and follows a bidding process conducted by Hillshire that concluded Sunday.
The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $8.55 billion, including Hillshire Brands' outstanding net debt.
"The Hillshire Brands acquisition would represent a defining moment for Tyson Foods," Tyson CEO Donnie Smith said in a news release. "Our strategy has been to grow our prepared foods business, and it has been our aspiration to be a leader in retail prepared foods just as we are in chicken. Now we will have those iconic No. 1 and No. 2 brands in numerous categories."
The company said the brands’ combination would reposition Tyson as a “clear leader” in the retail sale of prepared food, and in particular, the strength of Hillshire’s products in the breakfast category would “allow Tyson to capture opportunities in this attractive and fast-growing daypart.”


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Smart Grid innovations from the Berlin distribution grid at the belektro trade fair
From 15 to 17 October, Stromnetz Berlin GmbH, the capital's distribution system operator, will welcome all interested guests to its stand at the belektro trade fair for electrotechnology, electronics and light.
From 15 to 17 October, Stromnetz Berlin GmbH, the capital's distribution system operator, will welcome all interested guests to its stand at the belektro trade fair for electrotechnology, electronics and light. The theme taking centre stage at this year's trade show is the Smart Grid. With the help of lively exhibits, visitors to the trade fair can get to grips with and gain a better understanding of smart grid technologies, which are often inaccessible and complex. Anyone interested in finding out more can find Stromnetz Berlin's stand at
in Halle 3.2,
As Germany's leading distribution system operator, Stromnetz Berlin is using paging network technology within a grid control context. With a device known as StromPager, the company is using pager technology – a tried and tested system which has long been used by authorities and emergency services – for (remotely) controlling customer plants from the grid control centre. This technology made its premiere in September this year, when the new Berlin-Britz substation was inaugurated. The service will be rolled out to the entire city region in 2015. In future, StromPager is expected to control some 30,000 load systems such as heat pumps or electric storage heaters as well as generation assets, e.g. photovoltaic systems, in Berlin.
By using wireless ripple control technology, Stromnetz Berlin has found an alternative to the audio frequency ripple control technology that has been used up to this point. The new system has several advantages, namely its reliability, comprehensive grid coverage and low maintenance and operation costs. The roll-out of the system will not require any financial expenditure from domestic customers. The system was developed by Stromnetz Berlin GmbH in collaboration with two other Berlin-based companies, Bosch Software Innovations and e*Message.
Another key subject being addressed at Stromnetz Berlin's stand is the remote control of medium-voltage stations. This new technology significantly shortens the length of power failures. To this end, Stromnetz Berlin is gradually installing smart remote-control technology in approximately 3,000 of the township's customer stations and grid stations, of which there are over 11,000 in total, and will have invested around €30 million by 2023, by which point Stromnetz Berlin expects to have executed the remote-control concept area-wide.
Almost 1,000 stations are already equipped with remote-control technology. When power failures occur in the medium-voltage grid, this technology will allow about half of the affected customers to regain their supply within just a few minutes. This will cut the average length of power failures by half and lead to an increase in supply reliability.


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Thanks to the buzz around beverages that are coming up rosés, America’s overall alcoholic cider category continues to rebound this spring. After declining for more than two years in a row, sales of cider grew over the first quarter of this year, Nielsen reported.
“While regional brands have been experiencing phenomenal growth of late, this was the first positive quarter national brands have experienced in a while. You can point to rosé cider as a big reason for their recent growth ," says Michelle McGrath, executive director of the United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM).
National brands like Angry Orchard, Virtue Cider, MillerCoors and Strongbow have all introduced rosé ciders recently, playing off the ongoing popularity of rosé wine, spirits and, well, pretty much anything else that’s tickled with pink. Angry Orchard, owned by Boston Beer Co. and the best-selling hard cider on the market, reversed its declining fortunes at the beginning of this year by releasing Angry Orchard Rosé.
Boston Beer founder and chairman Jim Koch said that despite keeping his optimism in check, growing Angry Orchard is the company’s number two priority this year.
“We saw significant improvement in Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard trends, led by our key innovations that include Sam ’76, Samuel Adams New England IPA and Angry Orchard Rosé, all of which are generating excitement during the early stages of their introductions,” he said during an investors phone call earlier this year.
According to Nielsen, the cider category was up 7% for off-premise sales in quarter one compared with the year prior. Regional/local brands–defined as anything not owned by a national or international corporation–were up 26% and national brands were up 2%. The 7% figure actually shows accelerating growth over the course of the quarter, as growth was up just 5% in January.
It’s worth watching on-premise, however, as most cider consumption happens at bars, and cider drinkers spend more than the average beer drinker and average consumer. Last quarter, on-premise sales dropped 3%, furthering a decline of 5% last year.
Craft cider continues to clobber its own sales records. Texas’ Austin Eastcider, for instance, was up 99% over the 13 weeks leading up to last month.
“We’re fortunate to be in a high-consumption market filled with open-minded early adopters and evangelists eager to share their love of Texas brands,” says Dave Rule, vice president of marketing.
"Cider is wine, just fermented apples instead of grapes,” explains McGrath. “Cider is heavily regulated what you can and can't add to it. Some modern cider makers produce a rosé cider with the addition of non-apple fruits, such as blueberries, strawberries, or hibiscus, while others 100% use red-fleshed apples."
The association has released the first style guidelines for cider. Of the four standard styles and six specialty styles, none specifically covers rosé, though presumably a rosé cider would fit into the fruit category.


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April 2, 2012 3:00 AM | John Polson
Tommy Refenes and Edmund McMillen took to their Super Meat Boy blog to share more details about their upcoming mobile version of Super Meat Boy. The team admits on its blog there's no good way to port Super Meat Boy as it exists as a twitchy platformer to mobile devices "without the game becoming a pile of garbage." So, they decided to remake the whole game from the ground up.
The blog states this will be a "touch-controlled platformer specifically designed for Touch devices," while avoiding cluttering the screen with virtual controls. On Refenes' Twitter account, he states the team is considering iOS and Android builds for touch phones and pads.
Sure, all this news posted on April 1. But this is not the first time the team shared news on this hallowed day. On April Fools' Day in 2010, Team Meat legitimately announced including Ogmo from Matt Thornson's Jumper series in Super Meat Boy.


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The delegation members, who included Colombian businessmen and investors, were accompanied by the Executive Representative of the Commercial Office at the Embassy of Colombia in the UAE, Juanita Bell.
During the meeting, the delegation was briefed on the UAE s trade structure and trade and investment opportunities that are available for companies wishing to establish offices in or out of the country s specialized free zones.
Addressing the visiting delegation, Al Kait pointed out that the UAE is considered one of the world s leading countries in trade facilitation and investor protection, adding that the country is also a global meeting hub for investors from East and West.
He also pointed out that the healthcare sector constitutes one of the most important components of the UAE Vision 2021 , a factor that opens the door for more investments – particularly technical investments in the healthcare sector – especially in light of the rapid developments the UAE is currently witnessing.
Al Kait also answered a number of questions the Colombian delegation had about business setup requirements in the UAE and about the country s investment legislations.
For their part, the members of the Colombian delegation expressed their great interest in the UAE market and in the country s various opportunities and investment conducive climate – especially in the healthcare sector. They also expressed their interest in taking advantage of the country s geographic location and logistical prowess, which they said they could use as a launching pad to expand their business activities into other countries in the region.
Trade between the UAE and Colombia reached around AED 184 million in 2011, while the H1 2012 trade stood at AED 107 million.


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By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Smart glasses and augmented realities company Vuzix Corp (NASDAQ:VUZI) said Tuesday that it has received and delivered a follow-on smart glasses order valued at over $400,000.
Vuzix shares fell 7%.
The Rochester, N.Y.-based company said the order was for a large global retailer. They will support the full deployment at the customer’s first facility to help its warehousing and logistics needs.
“Vuzix has spent a fair amount of time and resources honing this technology and we are now seeing growing market adoption of our products that are allowing companies to operate with greater productivity,” said Paul Travers, president and CEO at Vuzix.
“We are pleased to be working with this client, which represents just one of multiple major retailers either implementing or testing our technology for logistics and warehouse usage,” Travers added.
On Monday, Vuzix told investors it has reached an agreement with Verizon (NYSE:VZ) to deliver augmented reality with 5G and mobile edge computing. The announcement saw Vuzix shares spike before closing the session up just 0.43%.
Vuzix Gets Follow-On Smart Glasses Order
S&P 500 Eases From Record as Tech Stumble Offsets Rebound in Travel Stocks
European stocks close at five-week high as Wall Street shares trade mixed


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Another major shake-up is in the works in the world of global department stores: After 21 years, Sarah Rutson, fashion director of Lane Crawford, Asia’s most recognizable luxury emporium, is leaving to “pursue new personal opportunities,” according to an announcement from the store.
Given the importance of the Asian market to European and American brands, and Lane Crawford’s role as a gateway to those consumers, her departure is a pretty big deal, especially because it also comes at a time of great upheaval in the international retail world, and renewed competition for brands, exclusives and footfall. Read more…
Let no one say male politicians do not experience sartorial scrutiny and criticism just as their female colleagues do.
President Obama’s appearance on Thursday at a news conference about Ukraine and Russia, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the current threat in the Middle East in his now-famous tan suit attracted so much attention that the suit did not even become the story — the reaction to the suit became the story. (Samples: “President Obama rocked a tan suit, so Twitter went nuts”; Mashable. “Social media explodes over President Obama’s tan suit”; ABC News). And that, it seems to me, is the story.
In the September issue of Glamour magazine, there is an interview with Hillary Clinton in which she tells the editor in chief, Cindi Leive: “Clearly people should meet an acceptable threshold of appropriateness! [Laughs.] But I think that for many women in the public eye, it just seems that the burden is so heavy. We’re doing a job that is not a celebrity job or an entertainment or fashion job. … In a professional setting, treat us as professionals. … [And] it takes a lot of time. I’ve often laughed with my male colleagues, like, ‘What did you do? You took a shower, you combed your hair, you put your clothes on. I couldn’t do that.’ ”
Well, apparently, now neither can they. Read more…
The surprise story of the silly season, a.k.a. August, has been the “Ice Bucket Challenge” and the many fabulous people allowing themselves to be doused in freezing water for a good cause — and for the amusement of their many online followers and the public. I won’t list them all because, at this stage, you probably know who most of them are.
But suffice it to say Tom Ford’s ice bucket moment (administered by his husband, Richard Buckley) distracted many of us momentarily from the joys of the red carpet at the Emmys.
It has become, in other words, a major trend. You are no one if you have not taken the challenge. Getting sopping wet and squealing on (iPhone) camera has become a signifier of pop culture prominence — from
But Thursday morning, as I watched Donatella Versace be doused by two shirtless guys in Versace belts holding what looked like porcelain Versace ice buckets — a video that already has 305,020 views since being posted not quite a day ago — I started to wonder about how the trend is developing.
And clearly, one of the ways you get people to participate in your game is by creating a situation that also benefits their game. This is why charity galas, which also contain something of a conceptual contradiction (wouldn’t it be better just to take the money spent on a party and give it to the charity?), are still a crucial part of a nongovernmental organization’s arsenal. (In the end, the party raises more.)
In that context, it has been a great boon to fashion: Designers like to shape the space around them privately as well as publicly, so it would make sense that they would curate their moment of embarrassment. Looking silly is also a very useful way to humanize a world that is often portrayed as elitist and forbidding. Just read the comments under the videos, which can be summed up as “how cool!” and “I love her.” (I’m paraphrasing and simplifying.)
I am not suggesting any of this is a bad thing. But I wonder if we have reached a kind of tipping point, and if the challenge is taking on a life of its own that is more about being in a club, and inviting others in, than it is about what it represents (and that doesn’t even get into the water waste issue, which is a topic of its own). Maybe that’s just the way it goes. And maybe the right response is “who cares?” because the good done far outweighs anything else.
I don’t know the answer. But I do think we are getting to the stage where it is time to ask the question. Especially because you can bet that, as I write this, there are people in nongovernmental organizations everywhere trying to figure out what their version of the challenge can be.
(Full disclosure: I have not done the challenge, but my two daughters have.)
Finally, our post-World Cup prayers have been answered: A designer has linked up with a soccer team to make the players’ game jerseys. Yohji Yamamoto has designed 2014-15 uniforms for the European champion Real Madrid under the auspices of his Y-3 Adidas line. I have to say, they are pretty cool.
This may not seem like a big deal, but as far as soccer and fashion are concerned, uniforms have been, up to now, the final frontier. (The Yamamoto jerseys will be the team’s third, the ones players wear if both the home and away uniforms are too similar to the opponents’.)
While European soccer teams have had longstanding relationships with fashion houses — Giorgio Armani has worked with the English national team and Chelsea, and recently signed on to make the formal wear for the Bayern Munich club, while Dolce & Gabbana works with Milan and the Italian national team; Paul Smith has worked with Manchester United, and Lanvin recently signed on with Arsenal — the collaborations have generally stopped at the locker-room door.
I’m not sure why, other than perhaps, as I posted earlier this summer when thinking about Wimbledon, there’s a kind of taint to having serious athletes seem TOO fashion-y when they get down to the gladiatorial business of their sport.
Pointedly, an exception to this no-fashion-in-the-arena rule has been Stella McCartney, whose longstanding collaboration with Adidas has given her a performance stamp of approval. She did, after all, do all the gear for the British team at the London 2012 Olympics. And she told me at the time the athletes quite liked the confidence an edge of fashion provided.
So it makes sense that, given the long-term Adidas-Yamamoto relationship, the Adidas sportswear brand, which sponsors Real Madrid, may move his work from the leisure wear side of things to the performance side.
Besides, Mr. Yamamoto himself has always had sort of a thing for soccer: Zinedine Zidane has modeled the Y-3 line, and showed up at the Y-3 spring/summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection in New York to have a little kick on the runway with the designer.
The thing that struck me most about the fashion show Monday night — sorry, the Emmy Awards — was not any particular gown or sartorial faux pas or even the triumph of a single brand. (If you want a recap, I highly recommend my colleague Alexandra Jacobs’s review.) Instead, it was a single men’s wear moment: the lightning-fast switcheroo by Seth Meyers, who swapped a black-lapeled navy Valentino tuxedo, worn on the red carpet, for a single-buttoned midnight blue Ralph Lauren tux for his onstage duties as host. It seemed to herald the true arrival of the men’s wear red carpet.
Equal opportunity for dress up! Equal interest from brands! Equal opportunity to complain about the pressures of the red carpet! It’s about time. Read more…
There’s a certain cosmic justice in the scheduling of the MTV Video Music Awards and the Emmys on back-to-back evenings (Sunday and Monday). For anyone who wants to understand the business that the red carpet has become, it doesn’t get any clearer than the difference between the two.
The MTV awards, to put it bluntly, are the vestige of what the red carpet used to be, at least if Sunday night was anything to go by: a sartorial mélange of joy and disaster. The Emmys, by contrast, are bound to be catwalk-bland.
It’s the modern way. But it does raise the question of whether or not we, the people who watch, are the poorer for it. After all, we know they — the celebrity participants — are the richer. Financially, if not spiritually.
Just think about the event on Sunday, full of questionable choices (what was that Taylor Swift onesie/leotard? O.K., it was Mary Katrantzou, but still … what was it?) and look-at-me-desperation (Amber Rose’s … necklace dress?). And, above all, what still seems like genuine self-expression, even if it comes in designer form: Nicki Minaj’s sequin-paved leopard-print Saint Laurent mini-dress; Katy Perry’s studded and sparkly custom denim Versace gown; and Lorde’s gothic Chanel jumpsuit (gothic Chanel. Who knew?).
For once, I couldn’t predict what someone was going to wear. Even Jennifer Lopez was not in ye-olde-standby Versace, but the Lebanese designer Charbel Zoe, whom she also wore at the World Cup. My jaw dropped. I laughed. I spent some time wondering how Iggy Azalea got into that sparkly cut-out jumpsuit for her performance.
It was fun.
By contrast, as I think about what may happen Monday night at the Emmys, I feel tempted to yawn. And it’s not because I stayed up late on Sunday waiting for Beyoncé to appear in her stained-glass leotard, or I am over fashion after being away in the Canadian woods for two weeks. It’s because the standard red carpet has now become so drained of personality, and so contractually driven, that it has lost much of its personality.
In fashion, the words “ice bucket” tend to be closely followed by “chilled Champagne.” But this week, buckets have been more often emptied than filled.
The ALS ice bucket challenge, for which participants douse themselves with ice-cold water and dare others either to do the same within 24 hours or to donate to an ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) charity, has dominated social media over the past few weeks, offering a rare bright spot amid otherwise unstintingly grim news. According to a report by The New York Times on Sunday, there have were more than 1.2 million videos shared on Facebook between June 1 and Aug. 13, and the ALS Association had received $13.3 million in donations since July 29, a nearly eightfold increase over the comparable period last year. (Many participants both make videos and donate.)
After six years as the dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons the New School for Design, Simon Collins will be stepping down at the end of 2014. An official announcement is expected Tuesday.
“I’ve had the great good fortune of spending six years reflecting on design,” the British-born Mr. Collins said in a phone interview Monday. “I’ve had an amazing time here, but I think you can’t stay anywhere forever.”
Over the course of his tenure, Mr. Collins has unified the school’s formerly disparate fashion programs for undergraduates and introduced its first master’s degree in fashion, redesigned its curriculum, stewarded a move downtown and, in what he views as his signal contribution, pushed for increased collaboration between the school and corporations, emphasizing fashion as a business as much as an art. The fruits of a sponsored collaboration between Parsons, Condé Nast and the Ford Motor Company will be unveiled during New York Fashion Week in September.
“I make no bones of the fact that if no one is going to buy what you’re making, you’d better get another job as well,” he said. “Whether you’re designing for the Met or designing for Target, we have equal respect, but we also acknowledge that you have to make a living.”
The educational system Mr. Collins leaves behind is markedly different from the one he inherited, as is the fashion world around it. Asked to reflect on the greatest changes he has witnessed, Mr. Collins cited the rise of technology and sustainability as primary concerns and considerations.
“We now have students that are much more comfortable drawing on a tablet than drawing with a pen,” he said. “One of the challenges to us and to all design schools is keeping pace with technology and with millennials, with their skills and desires. You can never relax your vigilance for one minute because it’ll get away from you and you’ll be stuck in the past. I’m sad to say that many schools are stuck in the past.”
New Yorkers are sure putting the “stock” in Birkenstock.
Long beloved by the granola-munching Bay Area set, the practical German sandal brand has enjoyed a steadily building surge in popularity on the Hudson ever since Céline showed a fur-lined version at its spring 2013 show.
Absent a song like last year’s “Blurred Lines,” Jennifer Mankins, the owner of Bird, the popular cluster of boutiques in Brooklyn, went so far as to declare the Arizona slide model, with its twin straps, the shoe of the summer.
“I was having dinner at Marlow & Sons, and five women were wearing the white-white version, including myself,” she wrote in an email from a vacation in the Swedish countryside. “Perfect for zipping around on your bike.”
Net-a-Porter is almost sold out of a somewhat incongruously camouflage-printed version ($140), and Michael Kors had a model clomping in bejeweled Birk-a-likes at his most recent resort presentation. (“Norm-Kors,” he called them.) In the lobby of the Bowery hotel last week, a hairy-toed dad ran after his young children in the T-strapped Gizeh. And that’s not counting all the mothers-in-law galumphing and gardening in the Hamptons.
“It’s been an incredible summer, and for sure New York is leading the way,” Matt Hundley, Birkenstock’s public relations and events manager, said from the company’s American headquarters in Novato, Calif. Read more…
Regret missing the much-lauded Charles James show at the Met, the satiny dark cool of which was predictably thronged with tourists through its last weekend?
For you, there remains the “catalog,” museum argot for what most of us would call a coffee-table book, since it is hardcover with a shiny dust jacket, sells for $50 at the gift shop and could be bench-pressed in a pinch.
“It weighs five pounds,” said Mr. James’s last assistant, Homer Layne, whose many contributions to the show included fact-checking and proofreading this monograph.
Forewords by Ralph Rucci, a designer whose work transcends seasonal whims in the Jamesian mold, and Harold Koda, the curator in charge of what is now firmly called the Anna Wintour Costume Center, and plenty of close-ups of intricately draped dresses, suits and coats make leafing through the book like getting an armchair tour from a couple of very attentive docents.
One thing it is missing, though, are reproductions of the often-lively correspondence among the 187 boxes of archival materials that Mr. Layne donated to the museum. A sample, snapped with an iPhone as a tourist justifiably tsked: “WHAT COULD BE SIMPLE, if done in an organized series of manoeuvres becomes complicated and inveitably causes the works in hand … (no matter how important) to come to a dead standstill.” Read more…
Following in the footsteps of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s Young Fashion Designer Prize, and Chanel’s involvement with the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography and its Première Vision Grand Jury Prize, comes Swarovski. To celebrate its 15 years of supplying up-and-coming designers with crystals, the Austrian company has created the Swarovski Collective Prize for Innovation.
It will award 25,000 euros, or about $33,000, to one of this year’s Swarovski Collective members, a.k.a. the 15 designers in New York, Paris and London being given “financial and crystal support” by the company for a full year (or, two fashion seasons).
Who are these lucky folks who get to compete against each other? Because, you know, fashion is not dog-eat-dog enough as it is …
Here’s the full list: Prabal Gurung, Rodarte, Creatures of the Wind, Wes Gordon, Nonoo, Marques’Almeida, Huishan Zhang, Peter Pilotto, Ashley Williams, Mary Katrantzou, Iris van Herpen, Damir Doma, Jay Ahr, Masha Ma and Christian Wijnants.
Swarovski has been working with a lot of these names for a few years and, indeed, has long been one of fashion’s little-known but important corporate sources of extra income (and product help) for many designers, first teaming up with Alexander McQueen 15 years ago.
The prize, however, brings the company out of the (sparkly) woodwork and into the very hot awards spotlight.
The candidates will be judged over the next two seasons by Nadja Swarovski and a panel of executives. They will look at the candidates’ use of the crystals, from decorative (which most people know about) to technological (which most people don’t know about — such as inside circuit boards and in wearable tech, from 3D printers to LED lights.)
It also reaffirms the growing importance of the awards circuit for businesses trying to make the very complicated leap from young designer startup to midsize company — businesses at that dangerous point when fame and buzz eclipses the balance sheet. Increasingly, it seems like these kinds of competitions are becoming part of the job.
There’s a new regime in British fashion, and it could have far-reaching implications for the future — because it involves the people who will shape it.
Yesterday’s announcement by Central Saint Martins that Fabio Piras would take Louise Wilson’s place as the fashion school’s course director following Ms. Wilson’s unexpected death comes just weeks after the Royal College of Art announced that Zowie Broach would become its head of fashion following Wendy Dagworthy’s retirement.
Why, you say, should anyone who does not live in the U.K. or want to go to a fashion college care?
Together, the two appointments will shape the curricula of what are arguably two of the most important fashion schools in the world (possibly the two most important; certainly the two most famous), which is to say: They will shape the next wave of designers.
After all, simply consider the last wave of designers fostered by either Ms. Wilson (who became course head of CSM in 1992, though she spent a two-year sabbatical at Donna Karan in the late ‘90s) or Ms. Dagworthy (who joined the RCA in 1998): Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Phoebe Philo, Stella McCartney, Riccardo Tisci, Christopher Bailey, Christopher Kane. In others words, many of the most influential names of the turn of the millennium.
Meanwhile, the amount of buzz currently surrounding Y.B.D.s, a.k.a. young British designers, makes this an especially key moment for the change in leadership as the big groups such as Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (which recently bought majority stakes in Y.B.D.s Jonathan Anderson and Nicholas Kirkwood), and Kering (which bought a majority stake in Christopher Kane) circle the runways.
What to expect?
Mr. Piras, a former designer who showed his own label at London Fashion Week from 1994 to 2000, where he was known for his architectural approach to clothing, is an insider choice: He is both a graduate of CSM and worked closely with Ms. Wilson after closing his own brand; he had been acting course director since her death earlier this year. A seemingly less flamboyant and charismatic figure, he represents continuity.
The message has gotten through and high fashion brands are finally trying to up their digital game. Conventional wisdom says they waited so long because they wanted to make sure the result had the same gorgeous values as their products, but was that the right decision?
Having seen and tried two new products, Temperley London’s ballyhooed “shoppable video” and Hermès’s new tie app, I’d say the jury is still out. One is great, one has some issues. To be specific:
The Temperley film, titled “White Magic,” runs 1 minute and 49 seconds, and was made in conjunction with Net-a-Porter, where you buy the stuff, and Cinematique, which has made something of a specialty out of creating shoppable video. It has worked with Maiyet, Petit Bateau and Alexander Wang in the past, and have a Gap Kids video about to release.
With the Temperley film, you press the play button and a kind of music/video/narrative unfolds. When you like a garment or want to find out more about, say, the library, you hover over the item and click on it, adding it to your “click list.” At the end of the video (or in the middle, if you are tired of watching), you click the list icon and are taken to a new screen, which is like a dressing room with all your chosen items. Click one and you get a closer look and a description. Click the “Buy Now” button, and you are moved into Net-a-Porter’s buying process. (Put it in bag, check out, etc.)
So, all in all, at least six clicks from first sight until you actually purchase the item (and then you have to go back and check out the rest), which to my mind is a bit less than ideal. When I was imagining the process, I was imagining a situation where you watch the video, click the item, the video pauses, you get to see/put that number in your basket in one go, and then buy. So, half the clicks. Makes more sense to me, from a user perspective.
This month, Mr. Bosh, a.k.a. the Miami Heat star and now top earner, is introducing his own tie line: Mr. Nice Tie.
Yup, ties. It may seem an odd entry accessory for someone from a sport where players are known perhaps more for their, uh, statement-making style sense than their love of classic, or even office-associated, men’s wear, but Mr. Bosh has pretty big ambitions.
“We dress up a lot in the N.B.A., but it’s not always so serious,” he said during a phone call, “and I wanted to reflect that” while also being aware of “not just doing something I like,” but something that could attract a wide customer base.
Composed of five regular styles and five bow ties, some in what he called “very subtle” prints and some that are a little “louder,” the line is being produced in conjunction with the Philadelphia-based tie maker Armstrong & Wilson, and will retail for $105 to $130.
As to why he decided to expand his franchise into ties, Mr. Bosh mentioned childhood memories — watching his father getting dressed in the morning, complete with tie; his own taste (“men don’t have that many accessory options and I wanted something that was both cool and classic”); and the rise of the N.B.A. as a fashion force.
“The N.B.A. is really, really heavy with fashion right now, and guys really want to see what we are all wearing,” Mr. Bosh said.
Mr. Bosh said he wears ties two or three times a week, and his teammates tease him about it. He is not deterred, however, and plans to hand some Mr. Nice Ties out to his Miami colleagues to spread the word. He will also be modeling his work via selfies, where his 1.85 million Twitter followers and 969,546 Instagram followers should come in handy.
After all, this is apparently not a one-off thing: Mr. Bosh said he was committed to the line, and that it was a “huge goal of mine” to keep growing his brand season by season (though he does not have plans to go beyond neckwear). He said he was involved in every aspect of the design of the ties, from choosing the inner fabric — “the … what is it called? the tipping fabric!” — to the stitching.
As to whether his new venture might encourage any of his fellow players to follow him into fashion as a second career, “athletes are always inspired to do something new if another player is doing it,” Mr. Bosh said.
The questions of whether traditional fashion shows have any validity anymore, and whether they are actually entertainment and we should just embrace the change, are about to enter the conversation again.
Gareth Pugh, the upstart English designer championed by Rick Owens, has shown his regal-’n’-rough, razor-tailored/alien romance creations (this sounds weird, but they are actually often both smart and beautiful) during Paris Fashion Week for the last six years. Now he is switching sides and cities, and this season he will hold what he describes as an “immersive live performance” to open the New York shows.
“There’s a point at which old archetypes need to change,” Mr. Pugh, 32, said in a phone call. “Fashion is very stuck in its ways, and I wanted to present something that would make people think, and maybe move the needle a bit.”
What Mr. Pugh is planning to do to “make people think” involves both video and live dancers, though not his entire spring 2015 collection.
“I know this is a business, and we need to sell clothes, but it is also about image and inspiration, and sometimes a live show can miss the mark a bit,” Mr. Pugh said. “The lights go up, the model walks out, and you lose control of it. It’s really important to not only communicate, ‘This is a nice dress’ or ‘This is a cool trouser,’ but to sell the dream.”
Even if, as he admits, it may be “hard to appreciate the way the clothes are made” in a performance, where the viewer can’t see them as clearly as during a show.
The decision to do this during New York Fashion Week came because the event is being underwritten by Lexus, which approached Mr. Pugh last year about doing a project with the company. However, the performance is bound to have more impact in the first of the fashion week cities than it might in, say, Paris, which traditionally hosts numerous more “creative” and conceptual shows.


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A place to ask questions, connect with others, and stay in the know
Key Trends week of 07 February 2017
Call Centers - Training from AIs
MIT Technology Review’s senior AI editor, Will Knight, ran a story on the importance of call center employees receiving training from AI software to better detect problem conversations. Knight points out that this news gives consumers a fascinating glimpse into ways AI and humans might increasingly work together in the future.
Artificial Intelligence and Customer Service
Forbes recently ran a contributed article by the President of LoyaltyOne, Bryan Pearson, on ways AI is being integrated into customer service. Overall, Pearson points out that more companies are using or testing the supercomputer’s cognitive computing capabilities to more acutely predict (and serve) customer wishes.
Fear of AI
Fortune journalist Jonathan Vanian discussed the issues many Americans fear when assessing the integration of AI into more customer service centered roles. Vanian points out that businesses that adopt artificial intelligence technology to help with jobs, like automating call center activity, must also consider giving employees education and training so that those who are displaced by innovation can still work.
Tom Alexander, founder and CEO of PK4 Media, contributed an article to MarketingTech on varying ways omnichannel initiatives are helping marketers. Alexander points out that an omnichannel approach would allow someone to start an application via a smartphone, ask questions to a live representative, and complete the process in-person. Overall, this creates a seamless experience that guides the customer through the purchase funnel.
Retail Customer Experience writer Judy Motti examines Lululemon’s recent growth (the company revenue increased more in the past five years than it had in the last two decades), indicating this change was a direct result of the company utilizing machine learning for a more personalized one-on-one experience.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article from contributor Christopher Mims. In the feature, Mims points out that the middle class has been deeply affected by the introduction of AI into the workforce. For context, the piece references retail utility company Blue Prism replacing 600 of their employees with 300 robots.
Omnichannel and AI
Dan O’Shea, contributing editor of Retail Dive, recently covered Sears’ announcing that the company would integrate IBM Watson into their auto center website. O’Shea points out that by using IBM Watson's Natural Language Classifier service, the company can help customers looking to buy tires, as well as provide recommendations that take into account personal needs and driving habits.
Wow! Lots of AI and machine learning stuff in the news lately!
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THE UK’S BIGGEST MOTORHOME & CARAVAN SHOW!
A HUGE thank you to all who visited the show!
We would like to thank everyone who attended the Motorhome & Caravan Show this year. We hope you had a great day out browsing and buying the latest 2014 models from the main manufacturers and dealers hot off the production line.
The Motorhome & Caravan Show 2013, the national show case for the motorhome and caravan industry, delivered a record breaking audience of 100,179 visitors and record sales, signalling a potential upturn for the industry. Click here for the full press release.
SAVE THE DATE: Next year's Motorhome & Caravan Show will take place from 14-19 October 2014.
If you can't wait until next October, join us at the Caravan & Camping Show, taking place from 18-23 February 2014 at Birmingham NEC. Tickets now on sale!


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A startup smart apparel company, Lumenus, uses embedded LEDs in apparel that can be customized to act as notifications or safety indicators. Designed for cyclists and pedestrians, the lights can help better protect users.
High-tech clothing? The Postal Service? You bet. After years of losses, the USPS is now looking to 'smart' clothing to help sort out its struggling business, with a new fashion range set to hit stores next year.


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A Wider Bandgap
A recent analyst report from France-based Yole Développement takes a look at the wide bandgap materials currently available for power electronics applications.
As expected SiC, and GaN feature heavily, but report author and compound semiconductor market and technology analyst, Hong Lin, also scrutinises larger bandgap materials that promise even higher power device performance.
"In the beginning, [industry players] said silicon carbide would never ever happen, and today we have commercial devices," she tells Compound Semiconductor.
"Materials such as gallium oxide and aluminium nitride are at very early stages of development but given time there could be new opportunities for new materials," she adds.Besides GaN and SiC, other materials have even larger band gaps and can potentially increase the performance of power devices even more.
Thanks to its high bandgap and doping possibilities at room temperature, development of gallium oxide for power electronics applications is under way.
Japan-based public research and development body, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation, is driving progress, part-funding a next generation power electronics project called 'Research and development of Fundamental Technologies of Gallium Oxide Power Devices'.
Key partners include a cohort of Tokyo-based firms including power conversion business, Tamura, analog IC design and manufacturer, New Japan Radio, and optoelectronics developer, Koha, alongside the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology and the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.
Crucially, as part of the project, researchers have developed and demonstrated the first ever Ga2O3 MOSFETs on single crystal Ga2O3 substrates, claiming excellent device characteristics.
High on-stage drain current, large off-state breakdown voltage, extremely low leakage current and high on/off drain current ratios have been demonstrated, opening the door to power devices with lower losses during switching operations. Indeed, researchers are confident performance will surpass that of Si, SiC and GaN-based devices.
As Lin highlights, cheap, large single crystal Ga2O3 wafers can be mass manufactured via melt-growth in the same way as sapphire substrates are produced, also holding promise for low cost, high volume power device manufacture.
"In terms of materials development, this technology is quite impressive," she says. "Two inch commercial single crystal wafers are commercially available while six inch wafers have also been grown."
But while cheap, native single crystal substrates are a massive draw for future power device manufacture, Ga2O3 has a relatively low thermal conductivity, raising challenges for heat extraction in power devices.
"Device designers will be working on this and there are many ways to extract heat, such as thinning wafers to reduce the thermal resistance," she highlights. "This problem can be resolved but it still needs more research and development."
"We have proof-of-concept devices but development is at a very early stage; we need many years yet to get to a final product," she adds.
Power electronics progress
At the same time, suppliers of AlN-based UV LEDs are now diversifying activities and targeting power electronics markets, following weak demand. According to Lin, key players here include Crystal IS and HexaTech, both from the US, as well as Germany-based CrystAL-N.
"Aluminium nitride has been traditionally used in UVc LEDs but market growth has not been so fast, so companies have been thinking of ways to use [the technology] for power electronics," she says. "It has a very very high bandgap, so high performance devices [are possible]."
Indeed, just last year, researchers from HexaTech and North Carolina State University, US, alongside Japan-based colleagues at Tokuyama, Fuji Electric and the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology unveiled the first vertical Schottky barrier diodes, on AlN substrates.
Unlike gallium oxide, AlN has a high thermal conductivity, alleviating heat dissipation problems at high power densities, but device challenges still exist. In recent years, work has been ongoing at HexaTech to develop novel doping schemes for high voltage power devices. However, as Lin asserts: "Doping this material is going to be the main challenge."
What's more, AlN wafers aren't cheap. Production is still at low volumes and with no real applications yet driving demand, costs are likely to remain relatively high.
"Like gallium oxide, devices are only at a proof of concept stage right now and researchers are in the process of improving device performance," says the Yole analyst.
"We saw the first SiC diodes in the year 2000 and it has taken fifteen years to establish commercial devices," she says. "Researchers must be able to prove they can make good performance devices and then, if industry players find commercially-available devices don't quite work for an application, we will see many opportunities for these new materials."


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August 2, 2019 – President Trump announces an additional intention to proceed with 10% duties on remaining Chinese imported goods valued at $300 billion. These duties will go into effect on September 1, 2019.
In his tweet, he stated:
“Our representatives have just returned from China where they had constructive talks having to do with a future Trade Deal. We thought we had a deal with China three months ago, but sadly, China decided to re-negotiate the deal prior to signing. More recently, China agreed to buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so. Additionally, my friend President Xi said that he would stop the sale of Fentanyl to the United States – this never happened, and many Americans continue to die! Trade talks are continuing, and during the talks the U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country. This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25% We look forward to continuing our positive dialogue with China on a comprehensive Trade Deal, and feel that the future between our two countries will be a very bright one!”
Currently, the Trump Administration has not released any official details on this recent communication. However, as past decisions by President Trump have been true to word, and previously planned to target duties on the proposed List 4, there is the likelihood these 10% duties will be applied to most, if not all, items on that list. Furthermore, there has been no mention yet whether an exclusion process will be available for the products on this latest round of 10% duties.


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Since opening its doors in 2007, producing only 100 barrels in its first year, Two Beers Brewing has increase by 28 times its floor space and nearly 100 times its capacity, on track to produce more than 7,000 barrels by the end of 2012. To mark the occasion and its successful growth throughout the Pacific Northwest market, Two Beers Brewing will release a special limited edition Anniversary Double IPA. Brewed with 10 Pacific Northwest hops, this unique beer as been aged on 320-pounds of organic peaches and plums, then dry-hopped with Simcoe and Columbus hops.
“Never in a million years would I have guessed we’d grow so fast,” said Joel VandenBrink, founder and head brewer at Two Beers Brewing Co. “When I started Two Beers Brewing five years ago, it was just me in a 170-square-foot ActivSpace in Fremont. Now, we’re bursting at the seams of our 4,800-square-foot brewery and tasting room in SoDo. I can’t thank our fans, friends and the craft beer industry enough for all the support they’ve given us over the years. We’ve brewed this beer for them. It has been, and will continue to be, an awesome journey.”
Two Beers Brewing’s Anniversary Double IPA features 105 IBUs and a 8.8 percent ABV. With a plum-citrus nose and a hoppy mid-palette (thanks to the 105 IBUs), this delicious beer offers hints of peach and grass that linger on the tongue. With only 50 cases available, bottles will be available for purchase only at the Two Beers Brewing tasting room, The Woods, beginning November 3 at the Two Beers Brewing Fifth Anniversary Party. For this day only, the Anniversary Double IPA will also be available on draft, served in 12-ounce glassware, with $1 of every pint or bottle sold donated to non-profit organization The Mountaineers.
In addition to Two Beers Brewing’s Anniversary Double IPA, attendees of the growing brewery’s Fifth Anniversary Party — taking place from 2-7pm on Saturday, November 3 — will enjoy $4-$5 pints of Two Beers Brewing’s year-round offerings, plus seasonal brews including award-winning Jive Espresso Stout, Heart of Darkness Imperial CDA, Pumpkin Spice 2012 and the final kegs of Fresh Hop 2012. Food will be available for purchase from popular food truck Where Ya at Matt, accompanied by live music from local band Hot Bodies in Motion. Each attendee will receive a free limited edition Two Beers Brewing bottle opener/keychain, with anniversary tulip glasses and Two Beers Brewing apparel also available for purchase.
For more information about the upcoming anniversary party, be sure to follow Two Beers Brewing on Facebook, Twitter (@twobeersbrewing). For more information about Two Beers Brewing, visit www.twobeersbrewery.com.
Media interested in additional information, photos or tasting notes are encouraged to contact Caitlin Braam at email@example.com. Retailers interested in learning more about Two Beers Brewing’s line of cans and bottles should send inquires and requests to firstname.lastname@example.org.
About Two Beers Brewing Co.
Two Beers Brewing Co. — makers of Evolutionary IPA and a host of Northwest-inspired beers — began operations in a small Seattle basement in 2007. Today, Two Beers Brewing produces twelve unique beers including five year-round, seven seasonals and a host of intricate infusions in its 4,800-square-foot SoDo brewery. Two Beers Brewing can be found in Seattle-area bars and restaurants, with tastings kegs and growler fill-ups available at their tasting room located at 4700 Ohio Ave. S. (Unit A) in SoDo, open weekly Tuesday — Friday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 — 6 p.m. Select brews can also be found in 22-ounce bottles and 12-ounce cans through the tasting room, as well as local retailers in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho. With a strong belief in supporting the local economy, Two Beers Brewing takes pride in using Washington ingredients to create all of its handcrafted beers. For more information, visit www.twobeersbrewery.com.


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To Automate Branding and Content Production, STORI, a Georgian Startup, Has Raised $500,000
With the help of a group of angel investors, STORI, a Georgian martech firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate branding and content development, announced today that it has raised $500,000 in a Pre-Seed fundraising round sponsored by technology accelerator fund 500 Global.
This will allow STORI to keep expanding its ecosystem of tools for brand and content development, which let marketing teams and agencies easily build distinctive social media posts and comprehensive brand identities.
Quality content alone won’t be enough to reach social media’s large audiences; you also need to know when to post, which platforms to use, and what hashtags to employ. Not surprisingly, 24% of marketers claim to have difficulty producing content that generates leads.
STORI’s algorithms, on the other hand, analyze every post and tailor content creation for every user, which resolves this issue. With the support of the funds, STORI will be able to expand its own marketing initiatives and better inform teams about the advantages of its cutting-edge technologies.
According to 35% of marketers, the biggest obstacle in the industry is ineffective team communication. For this reason, STORI intends to enhance its research and development budget. As a result, new collaboration capabilities will be developed that allow agencies and teams as a whole to collaborate inside a common ecosystem.
The firm, which has maintained a 20 percent month-over-month user increase since its launch in 2023, has seen a period of tremendous expansion culminating in this fundraising round.
Since its launch, the STORI platform has helped create over 3,000 brands and 65,000 social media posts, drawing users from over 110 countries, the majority of whom are in important markets like the US and Europe. This indicates the overwhelming demand for automation tools in the marketing industry.


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Grass fed beef is in trouble. The Agriculture Department has proposed a standard for grass-fed meat that doesn't say animals need pasture and that broadly defines grass to include things like leftovers from harvested crops. This proposal is so loose that it would let more conventional ranchers slap a grass-fed label their beef, too. This is exacty what they are shooting for of course, so that grass fed beef will be a term that means nothing anymore. Big agricorp doesn't want to let their cows … [Read more...]
Healthy Grass-fed Beef
Beef from a cow raised on pasture is a safer choice than feedlot beef, offers richer flavor and more nutrition, and is even healthier for you than a chicken breast. Here are five benefits of eating pasture-raised cattle: Grass-fed beef is one-third to three times leaner than conventional grain-fed beef, and as a consequence has fewer calories, too. Grass-fed beef has two to four times more essential omega-3 fatty acids than feedlot beef. It also contains more beta carotene, vitamin E and … [Read more...]
Stop Factory Farm Dairy Feedlots from Labeling Their Products as "USDA Organic"
Several online petitions are making the rounds today as the news hits that the USDA is deliberately refusing to take action against factory farms who are unethically selling their products as "organic." No doubt they are being pressured big time by the conventional agriculture business to weaken the organic foods laws and make it easier for them to profit from the organic market while making no real changes to the way they farm. As a consumer I am outraged! Unscrupulous "organic" dairy farms … [Read more...]


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Trucaller has doubled its user base to 200 million users in less than 10 months. The company’s milestone comes at as it introduces number Tagging.
The new option lets users tag a contact based on a broad range of categories such as Transportation, Banking / Finance, or Drinks and Nightlife, making it even easier to ID your cab driver or your bank.
Truecaller now sees over 3 billion searches per month, showing a 50% growth from last quarter. With over 200 million spam numbers in their database, the Truecaller products are making communication safer, smarter, relevant and more social.
The latest feature launch represents a significant step in Truecaller’s commitment to enhance their technology, and use data in a smarter way, by curating information into their database, and helping it to become truly intelligent, and able to learn organically.
“Over time, we envision using this information to improve our users ability to identify who is contacting them, why they are contacting them, what they are contacting them about, and be able to make an informed decision as to whether to take the call, or not.” said Alan Mamedi, CEO and Co-Founder of Truecaller
True caller currently stands as a leading search technology company with intelligent services changing the phonebook.


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Setting The Record Straight: Antitrust Expert Herbert Hovenkamp Breaks Down Warren’s Proposal
While a handful of policymakers have made similar comments to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Massachusetts) proposal to “break up” big tech, University of Pennsylvania law professor and antitrust expert Herbert Hovenkamp makes a strong argument for why these proposals could backfire, harming consumers and labor. Hovenkamp warns, “Although the proposals sound simple, they mask complex issues and are likely to produce unintended results.”
Warren’s proposal to keep platforms from selling their own products disregards the benefits of vertical integration (in any industry) for consumers.
—Neither consumers nor labor benefit from the inability of companies to sell their own products. “Who gains from Senator Warren’s first proposal to keep large platform companies from selling their own merchandise? Not consumers or labor, both of whom benefit from high output and low prices. Indeed, the text of the Warren proposal is largely indifferent to output or pricing—and may even lead to lower output and higher prices. The statement outlining the proposal justifies its prohibition by citing Progressive Era rules that required structural separation of public utilities from ordinary businesses. But utilities at that time, including railroads, were subject to price regulation. A price-regulated utility’s expansion into unregulated markets—for instance, when railroads acquired coal mines or hotels— created opportunities for manipulating the costs of its regulated business. By contrast, if it is not subject to price regulation, a company’s “vertical” integration of inputs and outputs can be good for competition. For example, oil refiners also sell gasoline in order to prevent price fixing by independent gasoline stations.”
—Vertical integrations allow companies to eliminate price premiums, but Warren faults generics that make items more affordable for consumers and supports the status quo of entrenched brands’ price premiums. “The proposal faults house brands for copying the goods of others. To be sure, intellectual property laws are not always effective at preventing copying. Nevertheless, making a cheaper generic copy of another firm’s trademarked brand is not any kind of theft at all. Rather, it serves consumers by giving them the opportunity to avoid paying for a trademark or name that they do not want. The result is less monopoly, not more.”
Warren’s proposal to undo mergers masks complex issues and protects potentially ineffective rivals.
—Mergers place pressure on rivals to innovate, and protecting rivals should not be the purpose of antitrust laws. “For example, Walmart is now expanding its offerings to include delivery and other services. Any time a merger or other practice reduces a firm’s costs or improves its products or services, it boosts competition by putting pressure on obsolete or less efficient rivals. But protecting these rivals should not be the purpose of the antitrust laws. Rather, the focus of antitrust laws should be on maximizing output, which benefits both consumers and workers.”
—Protecting rivals from competition comes at the cost of consumers. “One stark deficiency [in Warren’s proposal] is the lack of concern about high consumer prices, even though Senator Warren made her career promoting the protection of consumers. Nevertheless, her proposal ignores them and is more concerned about protecting inefficient, higher cost competitors.”
Warren’s proposals oversimplify a nuanced conversation.
—Talking concentration without looking at increased margins across industries means an unwarranted focus is being placed on the technology industry. “Why would a Warren Administration focus on large tech platforms? Although monopoly is a serious problem and margins have grown rapidly since the 1980s, the increases have mainly occurred in markets for manufactured products (such as cars), breakfast cereal, steel, airlines, household goods (such as batteries), and beer. By contrast, most of Google’s products are sold at a price of zero to consumers, although businesses pay for advertising.”
—”First, the Warren proposals largely ignore the mainstream understanding of the problem. Second, although the proposals sound simple, they mask complex issues and are likely to produce unintended results.”


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BEIJING: Pakistan’s exports to China in the period January to December 2010 increased by nearly $500 million and their overall growth rate was 37.4 percent. According to the figures released by China Customs, the total Pakistani exports to China in 2010 were $1.7 billion compared to $1.2 billion in 2009. In 2010 the total volume of Pakistan-China trade rose by $2 billion to $8.7 billion approximately. Last year, textiles, ores and mineral products, leather, fish and sea food, garments and medical and surgical instruments trended faster growth rates. Last year, Pakistan’s imports from China also increased by $1.4 billion and the total volume imports from China stood at $6.9 billion.
The trade deficit right now for Pakistan is $5.2 billion. The two governments have agreed on a series of measures to reduce the trade deficit. In this regard, China would be sending purchase missions to Pakistan to identify suitable Pakistani products for Chinese markets. Pakistani traders and businessmen will be attending major trade exhibitions in Kunming, Guangzhou, Urumqi, Kashghar, Dalian, and Beijing. Trade/business seminars would also be held to create greater space for Pakistani products in China. Pakistan has requested assistance from China in vocational and technical training in the areas of value added textiles, gems and jewelry, ceramics, surgical instruments, leather and light engineering. At the last meeting of the Free Trade Commission (FTC), China agreed to consider the proposal and invite Pakistan to identify specific training needs in these areas – Dailytimes


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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - H.J. Heinz Co knows that every penny counts in this economy.
The world's biggest ketchup maker's second-quarter profit fell yet narrowly beat expectations on an adjusted basis Friday as it focused on fast-growing emerging markets. But in struggling developed markets such as the U.S. and Europe, the company is shrinking product sizes and selling lower-priced products such as ketchup for 99 cents and beans for around a dollar to appeal to budget-stretched shoppers.
Heinz also announced plans to close three more plants - not identified yet - as it tries to keep its own costs under tighter control.
Consumers are struggling with continued pressure from high unemployment and food costs. As a result, many people are living paycheck to paycheck buying only what they can afford rather than bigger bottles or cans of food that might be more cost-effective.
Heinz said to meet consumer's needs, it is selling pouches instead of bottles of some of its condiments, reintroducing bean products to the U.S.
and selling a bag of french fries for family dinners at $1.99.
In Europe, it will soon sell baby food around 1 euro and give free packs of its popular beans and soup to customers who buy four other cans of its products in the U.K., one of the areas hardest hit by the global economic woes.
Compelling price points seem to be best way to connect with today's concerned consumer, Heinz Chairman, President and CEO William R. Johnson said Friday.
"Consumer confidence declined in virtually every market we operate in in the developed world last quarter. It went up in the developing world, where we are really focusing a lot of our efforts," he said.
Heinz's fiscal second-quarter net income fell almost 6 percent as strength in emerging markets and higher prices offset a volume decline.
The company raised prices more than 4 percent to offset higher costs for ingredients and other commodities, which the entire industry is facing. However, as many companies beginning to see, those price hikes can scare away some of the most cost-conscious shoppers and hurt sales volume.
The company also struggled with softer sales in Australia where intense discounting, competition and other issues remain a challenge for the company
Heinz's sales volume fell nearly 3 percent in the quarter. While its sold roughly 2 percent fewer products in the U.S. and Europe and nearly 5 percent less in the Asia-Pacific region due to troubles in Australia, the company saw sales volume jump nearly 6 percent in the rest of the world.


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This would be a great idea for grocery store owners to incorporate here in the Philippines on there grocers.A grocery cart-mounted tablet that detects nearby items while strolling along the aisles and offers recipes in real time.
Hellmann’s a brand who develop this tablet returned to provide another unique way to experience the supermarket. Trialled in Brazil, the initiative saw shopping carts fitted with NFC-enabled tablets. When users placed a Hellmann’s product in their trolley, the display showed potential meal ideas they could make with the other items on the shelves next to them. According to the company, sales rose by 70 percent. This is a marketing campaign with serous potential as a future option for in-store advertising in our country.