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ADWEEK 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Packed into half a monute or half an hour, the idea remains king as advertisers chase the empowered consumer.
The actor appears on screen. The program has just aired, but now he is taking the opportunity to thank a corporate sponsor that helped to underwrite the production. He speaks directly to the camera. More than ever, at 36, he resembles his father, also an actor, who broke into Hollywood in the mid-1960s. But this only feels like 40 years ago. It is last month’s season premiere of 24 on Fox.
The advertiser is Ford. The actor is Kiefer Sutherland, and he could be particularly grateful to the automaker. Its sponsorship enabled his cult thriller to gain momentum right out of the gate. Ford ran short films before and after the first show of the new season to promote the relaunch of its F-150 truck. The films played off the action/drama formula of the program itself; they featured a character who is under siege by an uncertain nemesis—and who is, not coincidentally, an expert driver of an F-150 pickup. (Jack Bauer, Sutherland’s character on 24, drives an Explorer.) The rest of the show aired commercial-free.
For Rich Stoddart, Ford division advertising manager, the sponsorship’s inventive structure and placement benefited all parties. “We asked, ‘What if we could develop content that related to 24’s plots, about Jack Bauer’s trials and tribulations?’ ” he recalls. “It really feels like a seamless hour: content rather than an ad.”
The idea originated with Fox and the Ford Motor Media unit of J. Walter Thompson in Detroit—not at the ad agency proper. “To develop ideas that are bigger than just buying ads, TV spots, banners, you have to build the platform before you know how to create the content,” says Stoddart.
Ford’s deal with Fox is hardly the beginning. With the consolidation of the media industry, rising TV costs, the proliferation of consumer choice and the new digital technologies that empower that choice, the quest for integrated marketing solutions was undertaken years ago. But in the new century, these trends have begun to reach critical mass: Even among the biggest advertisers, the reflex of favoring big, mass-marketing TV campaigns—the unquestioned province of traditional ad agencies—is diminished. No one can know for sure the fate of the 30-second spot, and in a sense it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that as many as one-third of marketers believe it is no longer the only game in town, according to Forrester Research. That itself is enough to change the marketing landscape and the fate of the institutions that inhabit it.
Barely a month goes by without some new challenge to the potency of television’s role in the marketing mix. Its once-unequaled dominance is falling victim to fractured consumer attention and emerging technologies such as the commercial-zapping prowess of TiVo. Even the largest of mass marketers—Procter & Gamble, General Motors and Kraft, to name just a few—are demanding more targeted alternatives.
The Yankee Group recently issued a study, “The Death of the 30-Second Commercial,” that all but buried the hallowed industry touchstone. Yankee calculates that once PVRs reach 20 percent penetration, some $5.5 billion of the $50 billion spent annually on TV advertising will be wasted. Even though such a development might pare down the clutter and make ads that people do want to watch more effective, a purge is still a purge. One can easily see what might happen when the PVR becomes as ubiquitous as the VCR. Take that, John Wanamaker.
The back-to-the-future solution to this dilemma is being sought on the Internet, in sponsorships, product placement and promotions, repackaged under the glitzy banner of “branded entertainment.” More than ever, the medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan said. Most famously, BMW utilized Web films to suggest its technological edge. Other marketers, taking a page from the movie industry, are embracing a new era of convergence of TV content and commerce. Runaway-hit phenomenon American Idol integrates brands including Coca-Cola, AT&T Wireless, Ford and Clairol Herbal Essences into its talent contest format and extensions. Coors, Mitsubishi and American Express signed up for roles in the much-hyped reality show The Restaurant.
The concept of agencies linking sponsors to programs is as old as television itself. It’s questionable whether traditional ad agencies will play the same role this second time around. But ignore this shift in strategy at your own risk: Mediaedge:cia and Leverage Group project spending for “strategic alliances”—including product placement, sponsorships and cause-related marketing and consulting—to ring up nearly $140 billion globally by next year.
“Ultimately, the understanding of these initiatives appears to reside in the minds of senior-level clients and senior- level media executives,” says one insider at a branded-entertainment concern. “Maybe part of that lies in the scale of what we are doing. Look at ad agencies: They do big global, national ad campaigns. Maybe [branded entertainment] is not mainstream enough for them. To that I say, ‘Wake up and smell the coffee.’ ”
Or taste the Coke. Madison Avenue first got that wake-up call in 1991, when Creative Artists Agency encroached on the turf of McCann-Erickson, the ancestral home of Coca-Cola’s advertising. Given CAA’s hold on the entertainment world’s best and brightest, the move sent shudders along Madison Avenue. While CAA’s 30-second commercials for Coke proved underwhelming—creative duties returned to the agency—the talent firm learned from the experience. Three and a half years ago, it hired an in-house marketing group of 15 people who hail from the client and agency sides to make up the gap in marketing savvy. On the other side, ad agencies learned, too—many of them launched entertainment divisions.
“We realized the traditional marketing and media world was changing, creating new opportunities,” explains CAA brand agent Seth Matlins. “We have access and insight into the world’s greatest talent base that can be leveraged to add corporate value. Unlike other people in this space—talent agents—we are brand agents. We are marketers who represent the best interest of brands.”
The Hollywood firm now counts P&G, Motorola, Nextel, Hasbro, eBay and Avon among its corporate clients. Earlier this year, CAA acquired Youth Intelligence, which attracted marketers including Levi’s, Microsoft, Nike, Bank of America and L’Oréal into the fold.
Access to Tom Cruise on speed dial isn’t the point. In the face of rising network costs and lower efficiencies and viewership, the impetus for these marketers is value for money. Coke’s association with American Idol shows the potential of such deals. CAA brought Coke and Fox together with CAA client Simon Fuller, who produces the show in the U.S. with Fremantle Media. The soft-drink marketer got in early during Idol’s first season, in 2002, for less than $10 million. That proved to be a bargain, based on ratings that soared during the program’s 12-week run, peaking at 23 million viewers. In addition to commercial and radio tie-ins, Coke infiltrated the set itself, which featured the Red Room and fountain cups on the judges’ tables. It wasn’t long before CDs, Las Vegas specials, stadium dates and teen- targeting mall tours joined the mix.
“The receptivity to American Idol was far more overwhelming than we expected,” says David Raines, vp of integrated communications at Coca-Cola. “Consumers liked it. It facilitated social connection, access to behind-the-scenes. It was fun, relevant and somewhat organic—it didn’t feel forced. It provided branded experience rather than brand exposure.”
For AT&T Wireless, Idol presented the opportunity to move beyond mere product placement and participate in the show itself. In a country that lags other parts of the world in its embrace of text messaging, more than 7.5 million Americans used their cell phones to text-message their votes and otherwise participate in the frenzy of Idol promotions. Hundreds of thousands of AT&T Wireless customers were introduced to messaging—a development other marketers noticed. Since then, the cellular-service provider has been deluged with inquiries from packaged-goods companies and TV producers eager to use text messages to reach a broader audience.
In crafting such multifaceted deals, ad agencies today are up not only against CAA but also William Morris, Endeavor, Universal, Mandalay Entertainment and others who claim the same expertise in entertainment that agencies do in the realm of the 30-second spot.
But few can boast the breathtaking success of Fuller’s 19 Entertainment Ltd., producer of Idol around the world. 19 partner Charles Garland, who worked as a top account executive at Bartle Bogle Hegarty in London, says: “We consider ourselves a product development company. We think about developing properties rather than just programming. We created multibillion-dollar brands like the Spice Girls and Pop Idol in less than two years, and we never used advertising to do so.”
Garland hints that English footballer David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria, will feature in 19’s next U.S. initiative, within the coming year. The Beckhams recently signed on with 19 in a bid to become a “global brand.”
The Beckhams’ ambitions aside, what’s in it for marketers? Garland points to the results of American Idol, which took three years to persuade a broadcaster to air. “Clients want to turn their heavy media spending into commercial results,” he says. “The key way to maximize that value is to think about media spending as media investment. We take a more holistic approach, looking at the entire entertainment property and how we can maximize that marketer relationship to the greatest benefit of the client.”
Even the most traditional ad agencies, avowed believers in the 30-second TV spot, would find it hard to argue with that proposition. But the problem is, they’re not usually part of such discussions in the first place. Long used to taking the lead in shaping clients’ marketing and reaping the bulk of their budgets, ad agencies now often find themselves in the backseat of integrated vehicles driven by media strategy. The great consolidation and unbundling of media buying and planning that occurred in the late ’90s changed the balance of power in the agency world. Not only did unbundling deal the final blow to the commission system, it meant traditional agencies would no longer control the biggest chunk of their clients’ marketing investment. Those dollars are now in the hands of separate media agencies. “The investment in media is so enormous,” says Irwin Gotlieb, CEO of WPP Group’s Mindshare. “Some of these companies spend more on media than they spend on the materials to make their products.”
Put more bluntly: “Influence comes with money,” says Mark Stewart, evp and chief strategic officer at Universal McCann.
It’s an ironic turnaround for long-suffering media executives accustomed to life at the bottom of the pecking order. While they used to get the last 10 minutes of a new-business pitch, these days the whole advertising process often moves directly from the idea to the media strategy. As the conventional wisdom now has it, media executives are the new creative thinkers.
“The balance shift is one of relevance rather than ‘power’ per se,” says Alec Gerster, CEO of Interpublic Group’s Initiative Media Worldwide. “We are relevant participants in the game of communication in a way that many ad agencies just aren’t. Not that they couldn’t be. But think about it: Where is Comcast going to go first to explain all their new communication utilities in their expanding universe of digital homes? How many agencies feel threatened by highly efficient and flexible digital production techniques, as opposed to being exhilarated by it? How many account guys are paying attention to [FCC chairman Michael] Powell and the FCC as they reshape our television lives? How many commercials are being produced in high def or with [widescreen-format] 16:9 aspect ratios?”
If agencies are ruing the end of the supremacy of the 30-second spot, their holding company parents aren’t necessarily. For the ultimate consequence of the decline of commercials is not less marketing but much, much more: more forms of marketing, more venues. Their corporate portfolios already include promotions agencies, direct response and data firms, and research companies. Some of the newest additions include—what else?—Hollywood assets.
WPP’s Mediaedge:cia just bought a minority stake in New York entertainment consultancy The Leverage Group. Omnicom Group last year purchased entertainment consultancy Davie Brown. IPG acquired PR powerhouses PMK and Bragman, Nyman & Cafarelli in the past several years. (IPG’s Magna Global, which has an ownership position in The Restaurant, brought in Bragman, Nyman & Cafarelli to promote it. Three IPG clients were featured in the content: Coors, Mitsubishi and American Express.)
Holding companies like Omnicom, home to many of the industry’s best creative ad agencies, now receives 56 percent of its revenue from non-media advertising.
Media has consolidated the relationship between marketing communications conglomerates like Omnicom and their equally conglomerated clients. Media agencies are the “marketing partners” that traditional agencies can often no longer claim to be.
Consider the research department. Until the ’80s, it was one of the industry’s great strengths, bestowing an authority on agencies’ work. But newly public agencies sacrificed their costly research departments to bottom-line pressures brought by Wall Street. Without unique intelligence to offer, they lost much of their influence on clients’ businesses. As the familiar lament has it, the ad agency was moved “downstream,” supplanted by outsiders like consultants.
The good news is, the research department is back. The bad news for traditional agencies? It’s been resurrected within the media agency. While account planning departments within agencies are now putting more emphasis on quantitative skills, the media agencies have the resources to spend on number crunching. Says Universal McCann’s Stewart, “We have the cash flow. The amount of assets we invest in proprietary research is enormous. It almost matches the spending on syndicated research.”
Joe Uva, president and CEO of Omnicom’s OMD Worldwide, agrees: “There is no way Omnicom’s agencies would have been able to make the investment [in research] on their own. It would have been too expensive.”
Not surprisingly, this evolution has engendered subterranean tensions. “The rank-and-file troops have by and large accepted it,” says one media executive of the shift in power. “It’s in the management suite that there’s a sense of loss of control. The media is not subject to their control, and there are some who can’t believe it’s happened.”
Believe it. Fragmentation of the media is the root cause of the model-changing shifts in the business. “If I had to put it in terms of carts and horses, the change in the media itself is the most horselike,” observes Renetta McCann, CEO of Publicis Groupe’s Starcom.
Fragmentation has given the consumers more power over how and when they can be reached. “While in the short term the 30-second TV commercial still plays a very important role, clearly there are changes on the horizon, and that change is simple: The consumer is in control,” emphasizes Coke’s Raines. “Over time, we need to respect that and evolve in that environment.”
Ironically, fragmentation also continues to inflate the cost of network ad time, as demand chases a decreasing supply of mass-appeal advertising vehicles. On the heels of a record network upfront market this year comes the selling of the 2004 Super Bowl, where 80 percent of commercial inventory is sold out three months in advance and commanding an 8 percent premium over last year.
But perhaps that is not so counterintuitive. It may hint at a not-so-scary truth: that there remains a great deal of value in a Super Bowl buy, and in TV buys generally, because they still can be the perfect vehicle for all sorts of ideas. The “old” way often still can be the best way. “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” argues Bill Katz, president and CEO of BBDO in New York. “Irrespective of technology, irrespective of the proliferation of media agencies, irrespective of holding company organizations, irrespective of consultant encroachment, irrespective of globalization, from my perspective, the creative idea is still king. At the end of the day, that’s what moves products. That’s what sells brands.”
As it turns out, when agencies were in charge of “whole egg” integration efforts, their track record was mixed. (To be fair, clients bear their share of responsibility for that.) A consequence of media-first strategy is that agencies are finally providing integrated marketing—although no one calls it that. Integration is a buzzword so worn and hollowed out, so overpromised and underdelivered for so long, that no one dares use it any longer. “Integrated marketing can carry a lot of baggage,” says Starcom’s McCann. She prefers to describe today’s media executives as “contact stewards.”
Unilever gets credit as one of the first big clients to champion communication channel planning. As testament to its belief that reliance on TV spots had become archaic, the packaged goods giant launched the media strategy on a global scale four years ago. It developed its own proprietary tools and software, consumer insights, modeling and econometrics teams.
The concept of communication channel planning, fast becoming standard industry practice, ran contrary to the reality of how media was being planned and bought. For one thing, message creation and message negotiation were traditionally done independently, for the most part, with little interaction between them at the strategic planning stage. “There was a kind of silo mentality within the company, and the agencies worked it out from there,” says Brad Simmons, vp of media services at Unilever’s U.S. division. “There was no planning process to force the integration. It relied on a brand manager who got it.”
Critical to making it work, of course, was the institution of a new agency remuneration system. The commission-based systems encouraged a focus on the buying rather than the thinking end of the equation. The new system, largely fee-based, needed to reward outstanding performance as an incentive to pursue broader communications solutions. “We put agencies in a compromising position,” says Simmons. “We asked them to think about the best alternatives, only they were being paid as if they were running traditional media plans. The move to fees has really promoted greater objectivity.”
Clearly, one of the pioneering success stories in the new, media-neutral era is BMW Films, kicked off two years ago. The Internet short films, supported by offline media, generated high-profile buzz, consumer interest and, arguably, sales. “The Hire,” which features British actor Clive Owen as a driver for hire in unrelated stories, boasted big-name directors like John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee and Guy Ritchie.
The shorts, which feature the German company’s cars but carry no overt sales pitch, were created after BMW charged its agency, Fallon, with developing something entirely new. Fallon approached production house Anonymous Content. Anonymous executive producer David Fincher, the director of films such as Fight Club and Se7en, collaborated in developing scripts and choosing directors. Another batch of films followed last year.
Fallon president and executive creative director David Lubars says the way to reach the masses in a fragmented media universe is as easy—and as hard—as “creating work that makes the masses seek you out. It’s no more us versus them. Everyone understands marketing. People like marketing. But they’re saying, ‘Don’t waste my time. Entertain me, don’t patronize me.’ ”
For agency creatives, there is increasing urgency to heed that demand. “Anyone who claims to be a futurist is a fool,” Lubars says. “But what we do know is that by 2006, 40 percent of television viewing is going to be on demand. Consumers want choice, choice, choice, and for the first time in the history of the medium, they have a choice. They are no longer victims of the medium.”
BMW Films make a dramatic case in maximizing value. When the films rolled out in May 2001, the car maker hoped for 2 million hits to justify its investment. By June, it had recorded more than 3 million, and tens of millions more have logged on since. While the correlation to sales is hard to gauge, the luxury auto marketer reported that sales were up 20 percent that June compared with the previous year and 26 percent in July—at a time when the American economy plunged and BMW was doing little traditional advertising.
“We said, ‘If we do this, can it reach a cost per BMW minute comparable to the cost per BMW minute on advertising on network TV?’ ” recalls Jim McDowell, vp of marketing at BMW North America. Plus, he says, “we were willing to believe there would be a much greater intensity of viewership.”
Lubars admits the client’s one misgiving was whether the agency creatives could make effective longer-form entertainments. (Two of the three original scripts were penned by Fallon staffers.) No doubt every creative with a screenplay tucked in a drawer would love to try. But in fact, the creatives themselves weren’t sure they could. “We’re trained to condense,” Lubars says. “But to make six-minute films, you have to think about subplots, pacing, time-shifting, characterization.” Having pulled it off, he now says to his staffers, “It’s about making the most of talent. Don’t you want to do that? It’s available.”
Tom Cordner, executive creative director at JWT Detroit, says industry creatives need to take a less defensive, broader view of where that talent lies. For Ford’s 24 shorts, he asked four production companies for ideas, giving them complete creative control. He selected director Gary Johns, who happens to be a former Chiat/Day art director.
“Ideas can come from anyone in your agency and from outside,” Cordner says. “I’m making the world my creative department.”
Agency creatives work in a business that for four decades has been organized and conditioned to make 30-second TV commercials and print ads. To change that way of working requires an reorganization that would rival the revolution perpetrated at the old Doyle Dane Bernbach, where copywriters and art directors who worked on different floors were put in the same room for the first time.
Yet if agency creatives are going to continue to play an influential role, they will have to develop new ways of thinking (see page 81). This isn’t lost on media agencies, of course, which are eager to expand their relationships with marketers. Earlier this year, for instance, Starcom MediaVest Group launched Play, a unit focused on finding marketing opportunities in the $10 billion videogame business. No longer just kids’ stuff, the industry rivals the motion picture business in terms of revenue and is a key tool in connecting with 12-34-year-old males.
Rishad Tobaccowala, evp at SMG, says gaming and broadband are the two fastest-growing media and have attained critical mass already. While broadband growth is in 20 percent of U.S. households, it now accounts for 60 percent of Internet usage, he says. “People are firing up videos from the Web, downloading music, going to film-oriented sites,” says Tobaccowala. “Broadband is important because it changes the way people interact with new technology.”
While PVRs are considered by many to be one of the greatest threats to the 30-second commercial, the Internet is currently much more of a threat to the broadcast status quo. While TiVo just reached 1 million subscribers, U.S. Internet penetration passed the 150 million mark in September, according to comScore Media Metrix.
The numbers become even more powerful—or frightening, depending on your point of view—when they are parsed demographically. Consumers age 13-24 now spend more time online per week—16.7 hours, not including e-mail—than they do watching TV, where they log in 13.6 hours, according to a study commissioned in July by Yahoo! and Carat North America. Those surveyed explained their behavior change by saying they like the ability to “personalize and manage the media experience”—a phrase that has to only add to the fears of mass-marketing proponents.
But some advertisers are figuring it out, and their solutions lie not just in copying BMW’s Web films. Consider M&Ms: The Mars brand has repeatedly used the Web as a virtual polling place, keeping consumers engaged for much longer than 30 seconds. Last year the company put the launch of a new M&M color up for vote globally, with the brand’s Web site, created by Grey Interactive, serving as a primary polling place. Word spread through online advertising but also by blog. (Purple won.) Consumers can also order custom-color mixes on the site; pure white M&Ms are a big favorite of wedding planners.
That pooling strategy is also being applied, strangely enough, to commercials themselves. Currently, consumers can vote online on which of five streamable M&Ms spots should go back on air. Pepsi and Doritos have used similar strategies.
Ford’s F-150 may have acquired most of its buzz from 24, but the launch of the redesign also included an Internet roadblock. Ford bought the home pages of AOL, Microsoft’s MSN and Yahoo! for a day, for a reach buy that might not be achievable anymore on network TV. TV viewers would have to tune in at the exact time of the commercial roadblock; on the Web, they needed to log on at any time in the day. While 18 million people tune into CBS’ CSI each week, more than 100 million log onto Yahoo! every month, according to comScore Media Metrix.
Other marketers are reconditioning their retail stores as brand-performance spaces. “Smart marketers realize that everything matters,” says Scott Bedbury, a former marketing executive at Starbucks and Nike who founded and runs consultancy Brandstream. “It’s not that TV is less effective. It’s that every point of contact with consumers must be rethought.” As an example, Bedbury points to Niketown, a multimedia brand showcase store inspired by the technology of theme parks and museums.
But companies need more than a funky store presence to advertise themselves, and even the most enthusiastic Internet proponents admit that online ads have nothing like the power of TV. It’s a running joke in Internet circles: “No CEO is ever going to say to his friends, ‘Hey, did you see my text ad on Google?’ ”
And therein lies a truth. The 30-second TV commercial is the sexy, glamorous face of the marketing world. It’s also an essential part of the American free-viewing broadcast model. It will not die inasmuch as it cannot die. The consequences of its demise for broadcast programmers and marketers would simply be too catastrophic. If ad dollars were really to begin to evaporate, believes Unilever’s Simmons, there would be some kind of intervention—perhaps technological. Big-spending packaged-goods marketers like Unilever and P&G are unlikely to see their brands playing the hero in a must-see Web film. While they are actively pursuing their own Web strategies, the survival of the TV spot is essential.
As fashionable as the branded entertainment concept is, then, it cannot replace commercials. Mindshare’s Gotlieb points to the amount spent on TV advertising and asks, “Do you think we can replace $25 billion in media with product placements? Can you integrate 16 products into each show? Do you know how much time and effort it takes to put together a promotions deal?”
A lot. Mike Malone, development director for music, film and television at Grey Alliance, has been working for a year on a co-promotion linking Pringles to the final installment of The Lord of the Rings. Matters get even more complicated when it comes to making the ads that lie at the heart of many of these promotions. The ad agency is called in last and has to deal not just with the client but with the studio as well. “With the creative, there are a lot of chefs,” says Malone. “You’ve got to manage all the egos. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time.” He emphasizes that Grey Alliance takes on that management role: “We’re the hub.”
Intoxicated by the possibilities of branded entertainment, some in the industry imagine special-purpose ad channels, available on the same PVRs that threaten to eviscerate the 30-second spot. But Fred Sattler, vp and executive media director at Doner, one of the few shops where media still resides within the general agency, dismisses this as a fantasy. “The creation of advertising channels is a losing proposition,” he says. “We need ambush. There are times when context is important and times when timing is important.”
For the latter, commercials are essential. “There is an enormous value in product integration well executed,” says Gotlieb. “And there’s enormous harm in product integration badly executed.”
To that point, one branded entertainment executive mentions Mitsubishi’s role in chef Rocco DiSpirito’s The Restaurant and sniffs in disbelief: “Have you ever seen a New York celebrity chef driving around in a Mitsubishi?”
Well done or not, commercial placement will never pay TV’s bills, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest the golden goose of television—TV commercials—will not disappear. But their role is under constant assault, and their decline—whether greatly exaggerated or not—does not mean less advertising but many alternative forms of it. Ads have jumped from commercial pods to all the touch points of a networked world: the cell phones in women’s handbags, the game players in kids’ backpacks, the PDAs in executives’ pockets, the computers that sit cheek and jowl with the TV set in the living room.
Consumers may have unprecedented control in a fragmented marketing environment, but the communications universe they live in is, ultimately, uncontrollable.
-with Debra Goldman
The State of the Business: The 30 Second Spot Is Dead … Long Live the 30 Second Spot
ADWEEK 25TH ANNIVERSARY


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It didn’t take long for fraud to find its way to Apple Pay.
Some banks are seeing a growing incidence of fraud on Apple’s mobile-payment service as criminals exploit vulnerabilities in the verification process of adding a credit card, according to people familiar with the matter.
Banks are tightening the verification process in an attempt to curb the fraud, these people said, declining to be identified citing a confidentiality agreement with Apple AAPL, -3.20% .
The fraud issue was brought to light by Cherian Abraham, a payment expert who works with banks and retailers on mobile-payment strategies, in a blog post in late February. He said fraud “is growing like a weed, and the bank is unable to tell friend from foe.”
Abraham said it’s not “an anomaly” to see fraud accounting for about 6% of Apple Pay transactions, compared to about 0.1% of transactions using a plastic card to swipe. He noted that fraud rates vary by issuing bank.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the fraud rates, but said Apple Pay is “designed to be extremely secure and protect a user’s personal information.” She added that “banks are always reviewing and improving their approval process, which varies by bank.”

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19 January 2018
Baumatic and Triple Split are just two of the new terms that will be entering the watchmaking vocabulary at the SIHH 2018. Here’s our preview of a busy week on WorldTempus.
15 January 2018


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Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday he was not in favour of banning onion exports, and called the current spurt in prices of the politically-sensitive commodity a temporary phenomenon.
Wholesale prices of onion in Lasalgaon, the top trading centre in largest producer Maharashtra, have jumped 73% since June while prices in Delhi have surged nearly 140% during this period, sparking fears of a potential backlash by both consumers as well as the opposition parties. This has prompted the ministries of consumer affairs and commerce to mull a ban on onion exports to boost domestic supplies, especially in view of a 5% drop in onion production to 16.65 million tonne in 2012-13.
It is a temporary situation. Heavy rains in key producing states have affected supplies. Rains have impacted crops as well as transport and logistics, Pawar said. While wholesale onion prices have risen by 140% in Delhi since June, retail prices have jumped 250%, making a dent in the consumer's wallet. Significantly, onion exports hit 5,11,616 tonne in the first quarter through June, marginally lower than 5,17,274 tonne a year before.
It is not fair to ban export of any agricultural commodity... India has established its position as a major supplier of agricultural items in the global market. If we ban exports, this image will be affected. So, we are against an export ban on onion, Pawar said at an event organised by the Confederation Of Indian Industry.
The country's farm exports rose 25.3% to R2,33,000 crore in 2012-13, thanks to unrestricted shipments of several items, including grains, guargum and onion.
Spiralling onion prices were cited as a key reason for the defeat of the BJP in Delhi assembly elections in 1998, and the kitchen bulb has been a politically sensitive item ever since for its wide consumption. India had last banned onion exports in 2011 after prices more than doubled in just one month.
Onion prices are likely to be high until October, when the new crop is expected to hit the market. Although production is expected to be normal in 2013-14, lower harvests in states such as Tamil Nadu has put pressure on supplies from Maharashtra.
Organised sectors share in milk biz needs to rise Pawar said the share of the organised sector in the countrys milk business needs to be raised to 50% by the end of the current Plan period through March 2017 to keep prices at reasonable levels.


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One in three adults racking up €500 a month on credit cards to pay the family bills
FAMILIES are increasingly relying on their credit cards in a desperate bid to balance the household finances.
A new survey shows that households are racking up close to €500 a month on their cards in a bid to run their homes.
The use of high-cost credit cards comes despite a rise in the numbers of people saying their disposable income has gone up.
Research commissioned by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) shows that there has been a fall in the numbers who say they have nothing left each month once they pay essential bills such as groceries, mortgages and utility charges.
But close to one-third of adults are using credit cards to pay bills. The average debt being run up on the plastic cards is now €2,480, up from €2,400 last September, according to the research carried out for the ILCU by iReach among 1,000 adults.
Some 2.62 million people have a credit card. This represents around three out of four adults, the survey, called the What's Left Tracker, found.
Three out of 10 adults admitted falling behind on their credit card bills, but this is fewer than a year ago.
More than half of those surveyed were not aware of the interest rate on their cards.
Interest charged on cards is notoriously high. AIB charges 22.7pc on both its Mastercard and its Visa cards for purchases. Bank of Ireland will scrap the free borrowing period from mid-March, imposing a 26pc annualised rate on cash withdrawals.
Close to 140,000 had their credit card account shut down by their provider last year, the research indicates. Reasons were not given, but are likely to do with people consistently failing to make repayments and include breaking credit limits.
Around one in eight people said they had more disposable income, when they were interviewed in December.
There has also been a rise in the numbers saying they were able to save money every month.
Chief executive of the league Kieron Brennan said the improvement in household finances was either down to the recovery taking hold, or may be due to the fact that more people have adapted to the tough conditions.
Despite the improvements, there are still close to 500,000 people who say they have nothing left once they have paid all their bills each month.
The average income, after tax, is €2,700 a month. An average household has €367 left at the end of a month, after paying all the bills. This is up from €326 last September.
"We can see that disposable income is continuing the creep upwards and more people now find themselves in a position where they are able to put a small bit away in savings every month and this certainly correlates to what we are seeing across the credit union movement and what our credit unions are telling us," Mr Brennan said.
Charlie Weston Personal Finance Editor


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Covid-19 is wreaking havoc globally. Malaysia is going through a very challenging and unprecedented period. [...]
The Star Media Group (SMG) has teamed up with Visual Retale to flash daily trending [...]
Visual Retale, a digital out of home company, is excited to announce a new partnership [...]
KLIA TV, official broadcaster for Malaysia Airports Berhad announced a new partnership with Visual Retale [...]
Visual Retale launches supersized LED digital billboard, largest high-resolution screen on the façade of Pinnacle [...]
Visual Retale, the 3D Media out-of- home specialist continues to get conversations going with [...]
A 3D experience beyond the screens (Marketingmagazine.com.my) – In an innovative partnership between Visual Retale, [...]
(Marketingmagazine.com.my) – Visual Retale, a creative media company from the U.K. that produces animated 3D floor [...]
(Marketingmagazine.com.my) -Visual Retale recently launched their animated 3D floor projections that is set to innovate [...]
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Both Gartner and IDC report worldwide PC shipments are growing.
According to Garner, shipments during Q2 of 2011 increased by 2.3 percent from the same period of 2010, while IDC saw slightly higher at 2.6 percent. In terms of units, Gartner says the biggest winner was HP, which had 14.9 million units sold. In terms of growth rate, Lenovo sold 22.5 percent more in 2011 than it did in the same quarter of 2010. Its market share now stands at 12 percent. The company shipped 10.23 million PCs during the quarter. Gartner says Dell sold over 10.6 million PCs, for a market share of 12.5 percent. Acer sold 9.3 million units while Asus sold 4.4 million.
IDC says HP sold 15.2 million units, for a market share of 18.1 percent, while Lenovo sold 10.2 million units (12.2 percent) market share. IDC also said Lenovo posted 22.9 percent growth.
The situation was a little bit different in U.S. Here, Gartner said Apple came in third with 10.7 percent market share and 1.8 million units shipped. In terms of growth, Apple was first with an 8.5 percent increase year over year. IDC's report was similar.
Both sets of results reveal the same thing: Despite the recession, PC shipments are increasing and Lenovo is leading globally while Apple leads in the U.S.
Sources: Gartner, IDC


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Earlier this month we BindiMapped the swanky events area on the top of the AMP Building at The Rocks in Sydney.
CEO Anna Wright was last month invited to speak at a Pacific Women In Business forum in Brisbane. The event was put on by the International Centre for Democratic partnerships and featured women from Pacific Island nationals who were keen to learn from Anna.
Last week saw BindiMaps launch our first location in Melbourne, the Barkly Square Shopping Centre in Brunswick.
The Royal Society for the Blind in Adelaide held its Tech Fest in June and invited BindiMaps to map the venue and be one of the exhibitors. Anna and Tony attended the event, and it was a great chance to showcase BindiMaps to the Adelaide community, including users and potential customers, and we are very […]
BindiMaps starred at the City of Sydney’s National Disability Expo at the Sydney Town Hall on May 22, Exhibiting at the event and BindiMapping the expo show floor for visitors. [URIS id=998] There were 54 exhibitors displaying a range of products and services for those with disabilities and their supporters, and each exhibitor featured in […]


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LOS ANGELES - Last week, one very lucky person became a new billionaire after hitting the $1 billion Powerball jackpot.
The winner purchased the single-winning ticket at Las Palmitas Mini Market in downtown Los Angeles.
The morning following the huge announcement, news crews including FOX 11 descended upon the store where the ticket was sold to speak with the market's owner, Navor Herrera, who received a $1 million bonus check for selling the ticket. Some even hoped to maybe get a glimpse of the lucky winner.
So everyone got quite the shock when a woman came forward claiming to be the lottery winner - and it was all caught on camera.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was seen in tears and screaming for joy. In disbelief at the news, the woman rushes out of the store and gets into her car before driving away from the market.
Now the question remains - was that woman the true winner or an impostor?
FOX 11 reached out to the California Lottery to see if they could comment on the incident and explain the verification process all winners must go through before receiving any prize money.
It turns out, the process isn't as quick and simple as you might think.
- 2 SuperLotto Plus tickets worth $28K each sold in California
- Mega Millions jackpot jumps to $820 million
- Winner not yet ID'ed in $1 billion Powerball jackpot
"The California Lottery will NOT know who the winner is until someone completes and turns in a claim form, which also requires producing the winning ticket," said Carolyn Becker, deputy director of Public Affairs and Communications for the California Lottery.
The claim form can be filled out at any of 9 California Lottery customer service counters across the state. It can also be mailed.
Then, once that claim form is received at the lottery's headquarters in Sacramento, the claimant (which is what the lottery calls the person claiming to be the winner) is contacted by California Lottery law enforcement officers to be interviewed.
That's right - California Lottery has its own law enforcement team that handles the security aspects of the claims process. According to Becker, winners of large jackpots like this are asked specific questions that only the true winner would be able to corroborate. General information like where the ticket was bought is public knowledge, but maybe the date of when the winning ticket was purchased is not.
It's all designed to protect the "legitimacy of the progress and the integrity of the win."
- $1B Powerball jackpot: Downtown Los Angeles store owner reacts to selling winning ticket
- DTLA mini market presented with $1M check after selling willing Powerball ticket
- Someone in California won $1 billion Powerball jackpot
Around 10,000 claims a month are received by headquarters, according to Becker.
Officials said they do not confirm when a claim has been received because the claim still needs to be verified for legitimacy.
"Our claims for large prices all go through a thorough vetting process," Becker said.
It's a process that can take "weeks or months depending on the circumstances."
All parts of the paperwork must be complete and accurate to move forward.
Once that step is complete, then the winner will be announced to the public.
That person has a year from the date of the draw to come forward and file a claim before the ticket expires.
The winner can choose to receive the money over 30 annual payments or a lump sum.
- Store owner reacts to selling $1B Powerball jackpot
- Powerball winners: Seven tickets worth over $400,000 each sold in California
- $1 billion Powerball ticket sold in LA
Officials further reiterated that they do not publicly confirm or acknowledge when someone comes forward to claim they won the jackpot because "with jackpots this high, there's a chance we may get false claims."
In California, it is a felony to file a false claim with the lottery.
Remember Edwin Castro? He's the lucky person who won the $2 billion Powerball jackpot last year. The jackpot was the largest ever for Powerball and the largest in U.S. lottery history.
That drawing took place Nov. 7. Castro was not publicly identified by lottery officials until February 13.


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Xbox Qualification Race Baku
May 8, 2018
Unfortunately last night’s Xbox Qualification Race 2 was postponed due to technical issues beyond our control.
The race has been rescheduled for Thursday 10th May at 8pm (BST) and all of the players have been informed. We apologise for the inconvenience and are investigating the cause of the issue.
Meanwhile the PC and PS4 races from Baku will go ahead as scheduled; the PC players race tonight (8th May) before the PS4 qualifiers on Wednesday night. You can watch all of the action live here.
PC – Tuesday 8th May, 8pm (BST)
PS4 – Wednesday 9th May, 8pm (BST)
Xbox – Thursday 10th May, 8pm (BST)


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Jet2's owner says prices must remain 'enticing' to attract holidaymakers as more countries are added to UK's coronavirus quarantine list
Prices must remain 'enticing' to attract cautious holidaymakers as more countries are added to the UK's coronavirus quarantine list, Jet2's owner said.
Dart Group said winter 2020-21 bookings have yet to match capacity cuts, although bookings for summer 2021 are 'encouraging'.
Suffering: Travel firms have been affected by the number of countries being placed on Britain's quarantine list
Travel firms have been affected by the number of countries being placed on Britain's quarantine list, with confirmation expected imminently that Portugal will be added again.
Wales and Scotland have imposed measures for arrivals from Greece.
Despite these 'setbacks', Dart has been satisfied with how well it is filling its places since resuming flights on July 15.
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Stocks rise as investors cheered strong quarterly numbers from companies like Coca-Cola and United Technologies.US Marketsread more
The IMF trims its economic growth forecast again as the U.S.-China trade war continues, Brexit worries linger and inflation remains muted.Economyread more
Citigroup thinks Tesla investors hoping for a post-earnings rally later this week should scrutinize a pair of related financial metrics.Investingread more
Olive branches were extended from both China and the U.S. as the two nations are set to restart face-to-face trade negotiations after a month-long truce.Marketsread more
In advance of Amazon's earnings report on Thursday, Craig Johnson says the stock chart is pointing to big gains. Mark Tepper also likes the stock.Trading Nationread more
Coca-Cola topped Wall Street's expectations for earnings and revenue.Food & Beverageread more
New disclosures show Facebook and Amazon each spent more than $4 million on lobbying activity in the second quarter of 2019.Technologyread more
Boris Johnson, one of the biggest voices in the Brexit movement, wins the Conservative Party leadership race by a 2-1 margin.Europe Politicsread more
Disney can nearly double its earnings by 2024, Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients on Tuesday.Investingread more
Amazon is expected to report its second-quarter earnings on Thursday.Investingread more
The largest residential brokerage company in the U.S. is partnering with the largest online retailer in a strategy to boost sales for both.Real Estateread more
Scoring the best credit card for travel perks could help make or break your summer getaway.
A new report from WalletHub found which credit cards offer the best benefits for travelers. Among their top picks: the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard. This card has an annual fee of $89, which is waived in the first year, and no foreign transaction fees.
To get the best deal on a travel card, look at the signing bonuses offered, annual fees, and foreign transaction fees. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card features a 50,000 point rewards bonus — if you spend at least $4,000 within the first 3 months of opening your account.
That 50,000 point bonus translates to about $625 towards your hotel if you book through Chase or a statement credit of $500, according to WalletHub. The Chase Sapphire card also has no foreign transaction fees and no annual fee for the first year. Each year after that is $95.
"The biggest motivator is the signing bonus. You can earn the same amount of points in a bonus that could take you months to accumulate otherwise just for signing up," said Zach Honig, editor-in-chief of travel website The Points Guy.
"The issue that pushes me towards plastic is safety. If you are traveling and your credit card is stolen, then it can usually be replaced," said Pauline Frommer, editorial director of Frommer's.
"I cannot tell you how many letters we get from readers who have lost everything to pickpockets, so it really is a mistake to carry around a lot of cash," she said.
Of course, using a credit card makes it easier to overspend with the resulting debt hangover, since travelers spend an average of $1,900 on their family's summer vacation. According to the ADI Travel Trends Report for 2017, total travel spending for the summer is expected to hit $98.02 billion. To avoid taking on debt, choose a credit card with a low APR and make sure to look at your options periodically in case better deals pop up.
Honig also said travel rewards cards work best for those who already travel a fair amount, largely due to the annual fee the cards can carry.
"You need to make sure the value of the points far outmatches the annual fee," Honig said.
In its survey, WalletHub also singled out the Lufthansa credit card as the best for airline rewards, due to its signing bonus of 35,000 miles if you spend at least $1,000 in the first three months — a value of about $780 in airfare, according to WalletHub's calculations — as well as the lack of foreign transaction fees. The annual fee for the card is $89.
The Starwood Preferred Guest credit card was also cited for its hotel rewards. This card, which carries an $95 annual fee after the first year, also doesn't assess foreign transaction fees and offers 25,000 points if you spend at least $3,000 within three months of opening the account.
When traveling, always be sure to notify your bank ahead of time


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The E3 2018 is imminent, on June 12, open the doors to the public. Now Activision has announced that the “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” multiplayer will be playable at the show.
Activision is currently sending e-mails to point out the E3 presence of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4“. The normal multiplayer mode will be playable at the Los Angeles Games Fair. Which areas or modes will be playable was not mentioned. The whole world is watching the announced Battle Royale mode, with many hoping there will be a preview of Blackout at E3. Will Activision and Treyarch succeed in building on the success of the competition? What feature will be in blackout?
We hope that there will be new information about the Blackout mode! In any case, it remains exciting, as soon as Activision releases news or gameplay videos on “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” we will report on it as soon as possible!
The game will be released October 12, 2018 for Xbox One, PC and PS4. All news and revelations about COD BO4 can be found on our Black Ops 4 overview about the game.


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"unconfirmed rumors from unreliable sources"
a spec bump doesn't warrant a retail employee meeting. it's most likely a new service.
dream big and call it training in cloud-based or NFC sales hardware, or be realistic and think that it's just some simple, basic new service the employees will be required to perform, like being able to actually find a BAG to put your purchase into.
MacBooks are coming Thursday or next Tuesday or in 22 minutes, but don't expect a new MacBook, IMac, IPhone and iPad all rolled out at once.
how many more rumors from confirmed reliable sources about delays will be met by rumors from confirmed reliable sources about there being no delays? Apple is doing a GREAT job of plugging the leaks and i'm happy about it.


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Google this week said it would stop accepting display ads built in Adobe Flash starting on Jun. 30, 2016, with plans to completely remove them from its platforms by Jan. 2, 2017.
As of Jun. 30, advertisers will no longer be able to upload display ads built in Flash on Google’s AdWords and DoubleClick Digital Marketing platforms, and the Internet giant says it will stop display such ads at the beginning of next year. To ensure that their ads can still run on these platforms, advertisers are advised to update them to HTML5.
Google’s announcement comes almost half a year after Amazon stopped accepting Flash ads on its online shopping website. At the time, Amazon said that the move, which went into effect on Sept. 1, 2015, was prompted by browser setting in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, which were meant to limit Flash content displayed on web pages.
The Flash plugin has been long considered a security menace, and experts have often advised both users and developers to move away from the insecure software. Adobe, on the other hand, is working hard on patching vulnerabilities in the popular plugin, and has partnered with researchers and organizations to find and resolve bugs in it.
The large number of security flaws in Flash, however, represents an attractive attack surface for cybercriminals, especially for those behind exploit kits, which often include newly patched vulnerabilities in their malicious programs. In fact, a November report from Recorded Future revealed that eight of the top ten vulnerabilities used by exploit kits in 2015 leveraged flaws in Flash Player.
While Adobe does not seem ready to let the plugin go just yet, other companies are not as keen on keeping insecure software alive. In January, Oracle announced plans to kill the Java browser plugin, a decision triggered by browsers such as Chrome , Firefox, and Edge phasing out support for NPAPI (Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface).
Google did not cite security concerns as the main trigger for shutting down support for ads built in Flash, but instead says that it is going all in with HTML5, and that the move would help advertisers reach the widest possible audience across screens. In a post on Google+, the company also notes that the transition should result in an enhanced browsing experience for more people on more devices.
In August 2014, Google suggested that AdWords advertisers should adopt HTML5 for their ads at a larger scale, saying that there were “more consumers using the web in HTML5-compatible environments than in Flash-compatible environments” at the time. Advertisers were able to convert ads built in Flash to identical HTML5 ads, and that hasn’t changed until now.
In fact, the Internet giant provides AdWords advertisers with a guide on how they can update their Flash ads to HTML5 to ensure their “creative can continue to show on the Google Display Network” after Jan. 2, 2017. The company also notes that only display ads will be affected by the change, and that video ads built in Flash will not be impacted at this time.


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Cotton farmers to benefit as foreign firms eye value addition
17 days ago, 16:55
Cotton farmers are headed for improved earnings as a number of foreign textile firms prepare to set up value addition hubs in the country. The Agriculture ministry says firms from China, Turkey and Brazil are at various stages of discussion with the government to roll out investments in the cotton industry. Members of the Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce are, for instance, expected to set up textile factories to boost value addition. Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce vice chairman William Zhuo ...
Category: business news corporate lifestyle economy opinion markets
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 19 – National Bank of Kenya has confirmed that fraudsters have gotten away with Sh29 million in what is suspected to be a hacking incid Kenya breaking news | Kenya news today | ...Category: business


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It was reported Amazon Kindle book sales had passed up Amazon's hardcover sales recently. A story in Publishers Weekly reports e-book sales the past two months have equaled that of trade paperbacks. The comments posted seem to indicate these numbers may only reflect sales from publishing houses and not include sales from indie authors or self-published authors. Still it is a trend those of us who self-publish must pay attention to.
To see the specific numbers click on the link and you will go directly to article in question.


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3d to launch 5-star spa at Grade II listed Horwood House
Over the last few months, the 3d team have been working with ZIZ Hospitality to develop the brand new spa facilities at Grade II listed Horwood House in Buckinghamshire, an impressive and luxury countryside property currently undergoing a £5.5million refurbishment. We are excited to be launching the 5-star spa, working closely with the owner and onsite management team to ensure the highest standard is achieved. The facilities have a newly created “H Spa” brand and will showcase a brand new gym, a studio, five treatment rooms (including two double rooms), a pool, a thermal suite and a dedicated relaxation area. Paul Dickinson, Operations Director South, commented ‘It was an honour to be chosen for the planning stages of this unique spa project at Horwood House. We are enjoying collaborating with the ZIZ Hospitality team and look forward to opening the fantastic facilities during October 2021′.


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PONTOTOC, Miss. (WTVA) -- The Pontotoc annual farmers market was run by and made for the kids.
The farmers market held a childrens' day on Saturday with live music and kids selling their own products.
Kids sold fruit and homemade knick-knacks.
They were able to get a taste of what real entrepeneurship is like.
"They're our future," Chamber of Commerce Director Ellen Russell said. "We have to bring that out. We have to bring out that young entrepreneurship in all of them."


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Image via Unsplash
The price of pineapples are dramatically on the rise in South Africa as locals feed their own alcohol cravings by making homemade beers.
Image via Unsplash
Pineapple prices have dramatically increased over the last few weeks. This as many have taken their alcohol needs into their own hands by making homemade beers. And pineapple is seemingly at the centre of it all.
South Africans have wasted no time finding a way to get tipsy since the sale of alcohol was brought to a standstill. Unfortunately, their hankering for a good alcoholic drink means needing to fork out big bucks.
According to IOL, the price of pineapples, which is used to brew homemade beer, has gone up by 75%. This means South Africans are now paying a whopping R7.32 per kilogram, week-on-week.
COO of Grow Fresh Produce, Deon van Zyl, the price of pineapples is unlikely to reduce. He also sadly shared that the prices may even go higher than what they are now.
This means that even when the alcohol ban is lifted, people will still pay the price for wanting to feel a buzz this lockdown.
IOL explained that pineapples have been in high demand for homemade beers because yeast, a key ingredient in brewing, grows on the skin of the exotic fruit.
And while many can argue that they’re only buying pineapples because they’ve decided to add more yellow fruit to their diet, Google reported that many locals were searching how they can make alcohol at home.
For this reason, last year the prices of many products known to be used when brewing alcohol such as ginger, yeast and sorghum skyrocketed. According to Google, many people’s desperation for the bottle even led to them asking how they could extract alcohol from sanitiser.
Many locals have however not denied the fact that as of late, their desire for a glass of something strong has been overwhelming. This explains why pineapple prices are up and homemade brews are increasing.
Twitter user @LondyVandel wrote:
“Imagine facing all this havoc happening in SA while sober, we going through a lot Mr President #Alcoholban #lockdownextension #FamilyMeeting”
READ ALSO: Lockdown: Make Your Own Homemade Pineapple Beer Using Three Ingredients


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If you’re looking to stay on top of industry news related to SEO or inbound marketing initiatives Digital Marketing and Advertising, MV3 News & Announcements, we have the latest news.
Whether it’s an analysis of an announcement from Google about a recent algorithm MV3 Marketing will provide you with the latest updated news. We also have hundreds of blogs that will keep you inform on the latest guideline and methods in Digital Marketing.
Browse the best digital marketing articles on the latest strategies, trends, various tools and ideas … Read our articles on best practices to stay up to date on digital … news and blog content to get published on the MV3 Marketing website.
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In 2016, Restaurant Brands International, the company that owns Burger King, posted a profit of $ 345.6 million , which was 233 percent more than in 2015. Perhaps as a co-brading marketing strategy, Burger King launched a fun? Video where an employee uses the Google Home tool , where to activate it you need to say “OK Google”. In the video, the Burger Uganda Mobile Number List King employee asks Google’s voice assistant, what is the Whopper burger? The same thing that was already launched online this week, however, the curious thing is that the commercial will also function as a pre-roll ad on YouTube, a Google company, with which Burger King sought to attract the attention of its consumers using Google and YouTube , since it is unknown if it was a joint strategy.
However, it turned out that the company itself had edited its Wikipedia page, which are the main searches for the “Ok Google” command , and that the command described what a Whopper was, which is a concept invented by Burger King. However, upon realizing the error , users once again changed the Wikipedia definition to call it “The Whopper is the Brother Cell Phone List worst hamburger product ..” , that is, it is unknown who edited the content of the page. The error happened a week after it began to circulate on Adult Swim, Spike, Comedy Central, MTV, E! And Jimmy Fallon , so it is not known if the company will cancel its broadcast or if it will make any modifications, since it managed to activate millions of devices throughout the United States.


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QualityWorX Vision from Sciemetric Instruments Inc. is a new flexible data management and analytics platform that helps manage machine vision images and data, which enables manufacturers to improve and optimize their machine vision inspectionprocesses.
The platform collects and archives images and image data in a centralized database, from either a single station or an entire production line. This includes image overlay information, along with their scalar data and digital process signatures. Images and data can be recalled with search criteria, enabling users to filter and scroll through thumbnail images, and the data can be analyzed with the other datasets that pertain to a specific part of assembly, and the result is real-time insights that “empower smart decision making,” according to Sciemetric.
With the platform, suggests the company, silos can be eliminated by collecting data from a single machine vision station, multiple vision stations, or all stations on the plant floor into one consolidated part history record. Currently, the same collects data from companies such as Cognex and Keyence into one system, with more on the way.
"Forward-thinking manufacturers understand that data is the key to unlocking a truly smart factory that is more efficient and more profitable," said Mathew Daniel, Sciemetric’s Vice President of Operations. "But this requires user-friendly tools capable of collecting all relevant production data by serial number so it can be retrieved and analyzed as needed to trace and address root cause when problems arise. By adding Vision capability to our QualityWorX platform, we are helping manufacturers optimize their existing machine vision investments and make that data do more."
View more information on QualityWorX Vision.
Learn more: search the Vision Systems Design Buyer's Guide for companies, new products, press releases, and videos


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Matrix Bharat is targeting an 8-10% year-on-year growth in bunker sales in 2017 by expanding its operations in India and Singapore, CEO Ashok Sharma said Friday.
The company currently handles 1 million mt/year in cargo trading and bunker sales, he said.
MXB is a 50:50 joint venture between Matrix Marine Fuels, a subsidiary of German oil trading company Mabanaft, and India’s state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. It is the international bunkering agent for BPCL in Singapore and India, and sources most of its fuel from the Indian refiner.
Sharma declined to comment on the company’s specific plans for the bunkering hub of Singapore.
Bunker fuel sales in Singapore rose 6.5% year on year to a record 45.2 million mt in 2015, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed.
India’s marine fuel sales to foreign-flagged shipping vessels was estimated to grow 10-12% annually to reach 1.7 million mt by 2017 following the government’s efforts to develop port infrastructure and reduce taxes to make bunkering more price competitive, Sharma said.
MXB supplies various grades of bunker fuel and marine gasoil via barge and pipelines. It has a total of 12 barges in Mumbai and Kochi, which have been deployed on a contractual basis, Sharma said.
The company planned to focus on expanding its operations in India by increasing its customer base as well as speed of bunker fuel delivery to vessels as more infrastructure is developed, he added.
Crude and petroleum throughput off the coast of Mumbai is handled at Jawahar Dweep Island where one of the existing four jetties was being converted to load barges and this was likely to be operational by March 2017, Sharma said.
“Once the barge is operational, bunkering of around 2,000 mt of marine fuel, which usually takes about 2-3 days, will take only 2-3 hours,” he added.
The government’s Maritime Agenda 2010-2020 was aimed at enhancing delivery and efficiency at ports, Sharma said.
The Maritime Agenda includes a proposed investment of around Rupees 2.96 trillion ($44.16 billion) for various measures such as developing two major and two hub ports on the eastern and western coasts by 2020.
To boost bunkering activities, VAT had been cut for shipping vessels in some states such as Kerala and Karnataka and more recently in Andhra Pradesh, Sharma said. Andhra Pradesh cut VAT for coastal and foreign vessels at all ports to 0.5% from 14.5% from February 1.
Source: PlattsPrevious Next
We Have Increased & Enhanced Our Global Presence: Mr. Suresh Sinha, MD, IRClass
India Tanker Shipping Trade Summit 2018


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Every year the automotive industry sees significant advancements in technology, which results in exciting developments for automobile enthusiasts. There are always improvements in performance, comfort, and convenience; all things that can make driving an even better experience for everyone. To better help consumers sort through all the technology breakthroughs scattered throughout new car development, every year Autotrader writes up a list of the Best New Automotive Technology. We here at Westbury Toyota are happy to announce that for their 2021 list, Toyota takes some of the top honors in regard to eco-friendly developments. We are going to shine a light on just why Toyota took one of the top spots, as well as why these premium eco-friendly automobiles deserve to stand above the rest of the automotive crowd.
Brian Moody, the executive editor at Autotrader, explains it best: "Technology is really what's driving new cars today. From the seemingly simple Apple CarPlay to the sophisticated augmented reality and adaptive cruise systems, technology is no longer an option. Today, it's a real and tangible way automakers can set themselves apart in a crowded field. If you pay close attention, you can start to see the personal automobile of the future take shape. This year's top advancements in auto tech encapsulate the unique needs we have seen consumers express this year, including a higher standard for entertainment, safety, and environmentalism."
Over the years, Toyota has proven a multitude of times that technological advancements are at the forefront of both their research and their drive. They have made serious effort in these areas not only with environmental pollution and conservation in mind, but also in working toward solutions for those who suffer from mobility issues. Their commitment to furthering technology is helping to build a roadmap of vehicles that, in the future, will become far more adaptable and outfitted to our individual needs and preferences while at the same time leaving considerably less impact on the environment.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars have been a point of discussion for a long while, with the actual concept dating back nearly a century. We have reached a turning point in automobile history, however, as there are now hydrogen powered vehicles out on the road, and the market for these cars is growing steadily. The Toyota Mirai, which receives a large update for 2021, made Autotrader’s list due not only to its fuel efficiency, but its appearance.
Its sleek, streamlined exterior is something you would more expect to see on a performance vehicle. The simple elegance it boasts belies just how efficient this car can be – it has three hydrogen tanks that are carbon-fiber reinforced, which send gas into the fuel cells under the hood. There, the fuel is mixed with oxygen, and the product is enough electricity to power the synchronous electric motor and the 1.24 kilowatt hour (kW-h) lithium-ion battery. The end result? A considerable maximum output of 182 horsepower (hp) and 221 pound-feet (lb-ft) of torque.
Toyota’s role in shining a light on hybrid vehicles and making them popular for the masses is what earned them this top honor with Autotader. Hybrid vehicles have become so popular that now, some vehicles are only available in hybrid form and of particular note in that regard are that both the 2021 Toyota Venza and the 2021 Toyota Sienna are hybrid only. Both of these vehicles offer the impressive fuel efficiency you would expect to find in a Toyota hybrid, as well as all the bells, whistles, and comfort that the automaker is known for.
Autotrader’s list of Best New Automotive Technology is a guide to help drivers find the vehicles best suited to their needs and preferences. The fact that Toyota has made the list is indicative that the automaker is able to intuit what consumers seek most in vehicles, as well as what will be most sought after in the years to come. We are firm believers that their passion for pushing the boundaries of technology will earn them another spot on Autotrader’s list in the future.


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SEARCHED FOR:ONLINE EVENTS
A day after announcing nominations, Television Academy says Emmys will be held online
The Emmys will take place on Sep 20.
End of sales season? Retailers see washout as consumers stay away from malls, online shopping
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UnitedHealth to Replace Kraft in DJIA
09/14/2012| 05:09pm US/Eastern
--UnitedHealth to replace Kraft Foods in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Sept. 24
--UnitedHealth will be the fourth health-care name in the Average, but the first health insurer
--Change comes as Kraft spins off its North American grocery business
(Updates with closing share prices and quote from Timothy Ghriskey in the 16th paragraph.)
By Kaitlyn Kiernan
NEW YORK--The Dow Jones Industrial Average will become a little more health-sector-heavy on Sept. 24, when insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. (>> UnitedHealth Group Inc.) will replace Kraft Foods Inc. (>> Kraft Foods Inc) in the 30-component average.
The shift comes as Kraft Foods, the global-snacks company, plans to spin off its North American grocery business and begin trading as Mondelez International Inc. The Dow Jones Averages Index Committee, which determines the blue-chip average's makeup, said Kraft's reduced size makes it unfit for the blue chips.
The change will make UnitedHealth the second insurer in the average, joining Travelers Companies Inc. (>> The Travelers Companies, Inc.), which was added to the Dow during its last shake-up in June 2009. But Travelers doesn't offer health insurance.
"The shift reflects the growing importance of health-care expenses," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments. "The change makes sense in terms of what the Dow is trying to do as a 30-component representation of the U.S economy."
S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a release Friday that UnitedHealth, the biggest managed-care company by revenue and membership, will diversify the Dow's health-care wing, currently represented by pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson (>> Johnson & Johnson), Merck & Co. (>> Merck & Co., Inc.) and Pfizer Inc. (>> Pfizer Inc.).
The health-care sector has grown to account for about 7.6% of gross domestic product last year, up from 6.6% of GDP in 2006, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data. As of the close of trading Thursday, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Pfizer made up 7.9% of the blue-chip index by weight. With the addition of UnitedHealth, the weight of the health-care sector would increase to about 10%.
S&P Dow Jones Indices said the Dow Jones Averages Index Committee believes the reduced market capitalization and projected lower percentage of revenue make Kraft less representative of the U.S. large-cap market space.
"The new company's smaller size and lower stock price means it will no longer be the most appropriate choice to be a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average," said Dave Guarino, director of communications at S&P Dow Jones Indices, during a conference call Friday morning.
A Kraft spokeswoman declined to address the exit from the Dow but said, "As we separate into two industry-leading companies on Oct. 1, we remain focused on maintaining strong business momentum, driving solid growth for our shareholders and making foods people love."
With the Dow's unique makeup--its 30 components are weighted by stock price, rather than market value--the swap of UnitedHealth for Kraft makes sense in terms of the similarity in share price, according to Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group. "Price has to be a consideration, because that is the weighting," Mr. Colas said. "It's a logical swap, because it doesn't create too much of a disturbance in the weightings of the other components."
S&P Dow Jones Indices' Mr. Guarino confirmed that price was a consideration during the selection process.
Kraft finished at $40.13 on Thursday, while UnitedHealth closed at $53.89. On Friday, Kraft shares were down 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $39.93, while UnitedHealth shares added 36 cents, or 0.7%, to $54.25 after the news.
The price consideration is likely the reason many Apple Inc. (>> Apple Inc.) fans will continue to be disappointed by the tech giant's lack of inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. With a share price of about $691, were Apple included in the index, it would end up with more influence than International Business Machines Corp. (>> International Business Machines Corp.), Caterpillar Inc. (>> Caterpillar Inc.), Exxon Mobil Corp. (>> Exxon Mobil Corporation), Coca-Cola Co. (>> The Coca-Cola Company), Microsoft Corp. (>> Microsoft Corporation), General Electric Co. (>> General Electric Company) and Bank of America Corp. combined.
"All benchmarks are in some way imperfect," said Lawrence Creatura, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors. "But as the Dow tried to keep turnover low and focuses on companies with more stability and longer-term track records it creates a tool that does measure the broad economy."
But not all were satisfied with the scope of Friday's announced change, with some looking for bigger moves to incorporate newer technology companies.
"The expectation was for more of a change, but we just got another baby step forward, not the giant leap that many had expected to make the average more relevant," said Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management. "The problem is Dow Jones doesn't want to include an Apple or a Google because of the stock price, but the stock-price weighting makes the index less relevant."
Kraft was a relatively recent addition to the blue-chip index, having replaced American International Group Inc. (>> American International Group, Inc.) at the height of the U.S. financial crisis in September 2008. Cisco Systems Inc. (>> Cisco Systems, Inc.) and Travelers replaced Citigroup Inc. (C) and General Motors Corp. (>> General Motors Company) on the average during the most recent switch, in June 2009.
Changes to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are determined by the Averages Index Committee, which is headed by S&P Dow Jones Indices' David Blitzer and includes the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, Robert Thomson; David Carlson, director at S&P Dow Jones Indices; and Craig Braswell, senior director of the index firm. Dow Jones & Co. publishes this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
Friday's announced change is the first since Dow Jones and CME Group formed a joint venture with CME Group in early 2010, and since partnering with McGraw-Hill's (>> The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.) S&P Indices this year. The index committee was created in 2010. With the new joint venture with S&P, Mr. Thomson and Mr. Braswell were retained as committee members from Dow Jones Indexes, while Mr. Blitzer and Mr. Carlson joined from S&P Indices.
--Melodie Warner contributed to this article
Write to Kaitlyn Kiernan at email@example.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
Stocks mentioned in the article : UnitedHealth Group Inc.
, Exxon Mobil Corporation
, Merck & Co., Inc.
, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
, The Coca-Cola Company
, Kraft Foods Inc
, Microsoft Corporation
, The Travelers Companies, Inc.
, Pfizer Inc.
, Caterpillar Inc.
, American International Group, Inc.
, Cisco Systems, Inc.
, General Electric Company
, Johnson & Johnson
, International Business Machines Corp.
, General Motors Company
, Apple Inc.


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Under Armour to outfit USA Gymnastics through 2020 Olympics
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Under Armour Inc. has signed an eight-year deal to outfit USA Gymnastics through 2020, marking the Baltimore sportswear maker’s first sponsorship of a national governing body for a Summer Olympic sport.
As part of the deal, Under Armour will be the official apparel, footwear, and accessories provider for USA Gymnastics at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. The company will provide apparel for the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics teams, as well as the country’s trampoline and tumbling squads.
U.S. National Team coaches and staff will also be outfitted head-to-toe in Under Armour at national training camps and competitions.
Adidas was formerly the apparel provider for USA Gymnastics. Terms of the new deal were not disclosed.
“The plans we have discussed for our partnership have the potential to elevate both of our brands in the United States and on the international stage,” Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, said in a statement.
Under Armour has been seeking to grow its brand internationally, where just 6 percent of its more than $1.8 billion in revenue stems from.
The company has previously outfitted winter Olympic athletes such as U.S. gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn, the U.S. speedskating team and the Canadian snowboarding team.
GK Elite Sportswear, a Reading, Pa.-based manufacturer of gymnastics leotards, will work with Under Armour (NYSE: UA) to create team leotards for the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams. GK Elite has been the exclusive manufacturer of competitive gymnastics apparel for USA Gymnastics since 2000.
U.S. gymnasts will debut Under Armour apparel on Saturday at the AT&T American Cup in Worcester, Mass.,
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team was one of the top American stories from the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. The team, nicknamed the “Fierce Five,” won the gold medal in the team competition while Gabby Douglas, a 16-year old gymnast born in Virginia Beach, Va., won the gold medal in the women’s gymnastics all-around competition.
Jack Lambert is responsible for driving breaking news coverage on the BBJ's website, baltimorebusinessjournal.com. His specialty coverage areas are sports business and transportation. However, Jack goes where the news is on a daily basis.
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You would have to be living under a rock to not know that a global scarcity of microchips is wreaking havoc with auto production and causing shortages of new and used vehicles.
Despite widespread media coverage of the pandemic-related ills challenging automakers and as well as dealers, there are still non-believers and conspiracy theorists out there.
Greg Carrasco, an Oakville, Ont., auto retailer and host of a national weekly radio show, has confronted both listeners and customers who believe that the inventory shortage is a sham, concocted by car makers to inflate prices.
“From time to time … I’ve received a bunch of calls on the show from people saying this is all just a [price-fixing] scheme,” said Carrasco, general manager at Oakville Nissan and Oakville Infiniti.
In Carrasco’s showrooms, some customers are unconvinced that he can’t meet their price until they’ve shopped around at competitors in a futile exercise to get a better deal, he said.
“We try to convey logical reasoning in the price position because if we don’t sell them [vehicles] for what we’re supposed to, we wouldn’t be able to keep the lights on.”
Admittedly, the conspiracy theorists constitute a small minority, but such cynicism surprised Carrasco.
“It’s based on misconceptions about the car industry. I didn’t understand how cynicism sometimes takes the best of us ... I didn’t realize it was ingrained about car dealerships in 2021.”
To educate consumers, Carrasco uses his radio show and online advertising to set the record straight on inventory shortages and lengthy waits for vehicles.
“We tell people, there’s a lot of noise in the marketplace about the shortage of semiconductors, and it’s true. If you’re looking at buying a vehicle within the next two, three, four, six months, go to the local store and touch the vehicle you’re buying, because if you place an order, most dealerships don’t have the ability to guarantee you’re going to get this order.”
If an order is placed, the dealership will keep the buyer abreast of that unit’s progress, he said.
As with dealers across the country, Carrasco is in a delicate balancing act: Generating sales while managing customer expectations as well as educating them about the forces that are squeezing inventory and driving up average transaction prices.
Dealers need to temper the promise of a new vehicle with the reality of production disruptions and lengthy delivery waits.
The steady flow of product to dealer lots isn’t expected to begin until early spring, says Carrasco. But much of that flow will be designed to clear up the growing backlog of vehicles on order.
That means, he says, another year of tight supply and managing customer expectations.


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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Nowadays, it seems like just about anything can be bought online and delivered to your door, but a COVID-era Arkansas law allowing alcohol deliveries from stores could soon be repealed.
Over-the-counter and curbside sales were all customers knew when it came to alcohol a couple of years ago, but like many things, the COVID-19 pandemic changed that. Starting when former Governor Asa Hutchinson temporarily allowed deliveries in dry counties.
“That it made it necessary to really reinvent ourselves overnight,” Clark Trim, owner of Colonial Wines and Spirits in Little Rock, said.
His business began to focus online. When Act 158 made online deliveries permanent, his company invested further with two delivery vehicles and additional personnel.
“With the kind of comfortable feeling that this was something that was here to stay. We weren’t afraid of making these investments,” Trim said. “If we had known it was a temporary thing, we might have relooked at the amount of investment that we’ve made in delivery.”
Enter February when Senate Bill 284 was filed to repeal the law. Its author, Sen. Jane English, is the same person who wrote the original bill making alcohol delivery law.
The bill was scheduled in committee to be heard Tuesday and the week prior. On both occasions, English did not show up to present them.
FOX 16 News couldn’t get a hold of English over the phone, but through the Senate Information Director John Reed who spoke with her Tuesday, saying “she was too busy” to run the bill.
David Cox, founder and president of the Family Council shared a statement in support of the bill.
“Practically speaking, alcohol delivery is difficult to monitor in state law. It raises concerns about how you prevent things like underage drinking. S.B. 284 by Sen. English helps provide clarity by eliminating the alcohol delivery statute from state code.”Family Council founder and president David Cox
Officials with Alcohol Beverage Control said they have not had to issue any violations for deliveries to minors. ABC Spokesman Scott Hardin sent a statement regarding the bill.
ABC has not had to issue any violations to restaurants or liquor stores for delivering to a minor. While it may be a bit more complicated to enforce, we do not see that delivery represents a significant portion of business. For example, a restaurant can’t deliver an order with alcohol through a third party delivery service (Uber eats, bite squad, etc). The same requirement applies to liquor stores. Alcohol must be delivered by an employee (21 or older). A small restaurant or liquor store would have to make enough through alcohol delivery to justify an additional position. It seems the larger retail liquor stores are those utilizing delivery.Alcohol Beverage Control Spokesman Scott Hardin
The bill remains in committee. According to the senate information director, English does plan to run it when she has the time.
Trim said the bill “shocked” him and if it passes, it will particularly hurt his elderly customers who’ve gotten used to the service.
“I don’t know what’s broken that needs to be fixed. It just doesn’t make any sense to me,” Trim stated.


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As Michigan begins licensing medical marijuana businesses, there will be a need for hundreds, even thousands of workers in dispensaries. Wochit
A medical-marijuana sample is displayed at 420 Dank in Detroit in September 2015.(Photo: Salwan Georges, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo
LANSING — What can you call a medical marijuana retail shop?
If you’re a regular Joe or Jill or media organization, you can call it anything you want. But according to the state, the medical cannabis shops CANNOT call themselves dispensaries, pharmacies, drugstores or apothecaries. Doing so could put their license in jeopardy.
“Provisioning center” is the preferred term, according to an advisory bulletin issued Monday by the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. And retail marijuana facilities also are not allowed to use any other term in their advertising.
The restrictive terminology is a nod to the Michigan Public Health Code, which says that the use of specific words and phrases is restricted to those people authorized to use them.
“The term ‘provisioning center’ includes any commercial property where marihuana is sold at retail to registered qualifying patients or registered primary caregivers,” the advisory bulletin noted.
And that’s not a typo. The state uses the more antiquated spelling of marihuana, instead of the more commonly used marijuana with a “J.”
The state harkens back to the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 for its chosen spelling of the plant and the Legislature would have to act to officially change the spelling to marijuana.
The Reef, a medical marijuana dispensary in Detroit, offers about 60 different


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Hyderabad: There has been a 25 per cent drop in cash transactions in the sale of gold in the one year since demonetisation. Experts say the industry will take several years to recover. Purchases through cheques and digital transactions remain the same.
A member of the Twin City Gold Association told Deccan Chronicle: “A year pre and post note ban shows that the precious metal industry suffered a drop of 25 per cent in cash sales but increase of 5-10 per cent in digital payment (either through cheque or debit/credit card). When the ban on old currency notes was announced, many imm-ediately purchased gold by paying 50 per cent extra per tola. With this, stocks got exhausted. Demonetisation had a repelling effect on the industry countrywide as the appetite for gold was exhausted.”
While buyers have become more cautious, many purchases of mo-re than `2 lakh are still made with split or multiple bills to avoid tax. The gold industry has certainly been challenged by the fall in cash sales and the closer scrutiny of black money. Traders have also lost margin due to high competition and low sales, and are selling gold at a low margin.


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The best place to share your #shotoniPhone photo is either Twitter or Instagram.
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Zen Magnets Petitions CPSC to Allow Safe Magnet Toys
Zen Magnets, creator of the Buckyballs toys, has been at the center of controversy after the item, which includes small magnets, was recalled. After that, the company found itself in hot water in December for selling the recalled products. Finally, the company accepted the fate of Buckyballs by hosting a mock-funeral for them, and melting them down in an industrial oven.
This week, however, the company announced that it has filed a formal petition to the CPSC, proposing new legislation for a safety standards for all brands of small, rare-earth magnet spheres, like the Buckyballs.
The company submitted the petition after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the CPSC's 2014 rule. The court found that the rule wasn't properly supported by injury data, and the CPSC acknowledged this.
After the rule was put in place, other companies sold knock-off items, many of which lacked proper warnings of ingesting the magnets.
Going forward, Zen Magnets hopes to collaborate with the CPSC to create regulations to ensure safe manufacturing of the small magnets, which would allow the distribution of Zen Magnets and similar products for education, recreation, art and science.
For more information on Zen Magnets, visit www.zenmagnets.com.