text:
The evolution of Airbnb has gone from two mates renting out an airbed in their apartment to a disruptive phenomenon on a global scale, but it’s not satisfied with resting on its laurels.
Or at least that’s the sentiments of the company’s global chief marketing officer Jonathon Mildenhall, who when speaking to B&T said Airbnb was “restless”.
“Here in Silicon Valley, the appetite for innovation within companies is just extreme,” Mildenhall said, hinting at further innovations of the business later this year.
“We as a company continue to innovate within itself, and this coming November we’ve got further great product and service news to show that Airbnb is kind of restless with its current state.
“We believe that we should be disrupting our own business not because we want to but because consumers demand it.”
The home sharing business on Friday launched a series of localised, Aussie-narrated ads that build on its latest campaign inspiring travellers to “live” their destinations, by swapping the American accent for a more familiar one.
Airbnb kicked off its ‘Never A Stranger’ campaign a couple of years ago to address what Mildenhall said was a “universal tension” surrounding Airbnb’s business model.
“The team uncovered some insight at the time that showed when you said you were travelling with Airbnb, people would say, Are you crazy? Is it safe? Is it ok?,” he told B&T.
“This was amplified even further with people putting homes on Airbnb and sharing their homes with strangers.”
From this, the campaign to address what Mildenhall calls the “uncomfortable truth of Airbnb” was born, growing the brand to four times the size it was at that time.
But the journey doesn’t stop there, with Mildenhall telling B&T the next challenge was identifying the next “universal tension” that needed addressing, and that was the state of modern tourism.
“We started thinking, we’ve done stranger tension, but then we identified a bigger global tension which affects all travellers and that tension is modern travel,” he added.
“And that’s the way people are shepherded around in groups, waiting outside monuments to take same pictures, eating at the same restaurants, visiting the same attractions.
“When people travel they want local experiences, not tourist experiences. Now we’re actually addressing this global need because people think modern travel is sick.”
Looking at its community of users and hosts at large, Mildenhall said it’s one of the most varied environments he’s ever worked in.
“The Airbnb community is so diverse – we’ve got families, singles, LGBT, different ethnicities – all travelling around – so we want to make sure the marketing of Airbnb is as diverse as platform itself.
“I cannot think of another brand that’s been able to do millennials and families with same kind of cool.
“We looked at the trajectory of Airbnb and thought we’ve got to start looking at families, but we don’t want to turn into a brand that millennials don’t think is cool, so we needed to use the same kind of creativity we use in millennial spots.”
The SingularityU Australia Executive Program will take place this may, celebrating leadership at the intersection of the values of humanity and the value of technology. The Elon Musks, Apples and Xeros of the world are taking risks for humanity and creating new technologies that streamline and beautify business operations. They simplify life by providing basic […]
Brisbane media professional and former OMD Australia Account Director Taylor Fielding (pictured) has officially launched TFM Digital. TFM Digital is a specialist media agency based in Newstead which primarily provides media buying services, and strategy development, to businesses chiefly, but not exclusively, within the franchise sector. Prior to the launch of TFM Digital, Fielding spent […]
Judging by the hangovers in the B&T office today you can count yourself damn lucky we even managed this photo thingy.
Launch marketing specialists Five by Five Global have been appointed by FutureFeed to develop their brand, international certification trademark and go to market strategy. The innovative livestock feed ingredient developed by CSIRO, Meat and Livestock Australian and James Cook University uses a specific genus of seaweed, Asparagopsis, which significantly reduces methane emissions in ruminant livestock. […]
Andrew Knowles, partner and co-founder of the corporate communications consultancy Shoebridge Knowles Media Group (SKMG), has won the PR category in the 2021 B&T 30 Under 30 Awards. Knowles received the award at a ceremony in Sydney last night, claiming victory in a highly competitive field that included leading executives from some of Australia’s biggest […]
The AFL is delighted to welcome Therabody as its Official Recovery Partner of the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Therabody’s industry-leading devices and research will be integrated into pre-match training and post-match recovery routines to help prevent injuries and help improve overall athletic performance. Therabody will also become the naming partner for the end-of-season AFL […]


text:
Whoever ends up becoming the new owner of the OI Glass business in Australia & New Zealand, will face tough demand conditions over the next two to three years, writes industry analyst and director of Margin Partners, Paul Allen, in this exclusive report for PKN.
As previously reported in PKN, the ANZ assets of Owens-Illinois are up for sale, and now in the third and final round of bidding. Visy has thrown its hat in the ring, along with two private equity firms.
Recent announcements from key stakeholders paint a less than rosy outlook for glass packaging volumes in the Australia New Zealand region.
The current state of play
Orora and OI Glass supply roughly one million tonnes of domestic glass per annum. Domestic demand closely matches domestic supply.
Total glass demand is apportioned across key categories as follows :
- 40 per cent beer
- 40 per cent wine (60 per cent export and 40 per cent domestic)
- 7.5 per cent food
- 7.5 per cent soft drinks
- 5 per cent spirits
Wine Australia has highlighted a 5 per cent decline in packaged export sales in 2019. This equates to a 12,000 tonne decline in glass, which is expected again in 2020.
Locally, domestic wine consumption declined by circa 1.75 per cent in 2019 or 2,800 tonnes of glass.
Beer sold in glass, traditionally 70 per cent of all packaged beer, recorded an approximate 3 per cent dip in 2019 or -12,000 tonnes.
Worse still the growth of craft beer, much of which is sold in cans, is forecast to accelerate.
Add it all up and it’s looking like a 3 per cent decline in demand or roughly 30,000 tonnes p/a for the domestic glass makers. Even then, some may label this as conservative given the forthcoming impact of fire/smoke damage on grape production and the worsening Coronavirus impact on wine exports into Asia.
OI Glass results
Beyond the market impacts, the future new owner will also be reflecting on the just published OI Glass trading results for FY 2019. It’s a shattering read. The Asia Pacific division of OI Glass, of which the soon-to-be-sold ANZ business accounts for the bulk of revenue, recorded sales of US$634m in 2019. This is down from $675m in 2018 or -6 per cent. Worse still, 2019 profit was just $29m or a 4.4 per cent return on sales. Alarmingly, this is a 34% decrease on the 2018 profit result of $44m.
To give this 2019 profit result context, OI has a WACC (weighted average cost of capital) of 7.69 per cent. The WACC is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets and is commonly referred to as the firm's cost of capital. The ANZ assets of OI Glass are being sold because they are simply not paying their way.
Anyone who buys OI Glass ANZ will either need cheaper capital or a big appetite for a major operational turnaround.

domain: news


text:
A limited edition mayonnaise, which has been given a makeover in order to raise money for Breast Cancer Care, has now officially gone on sale.
Condiments producer Stokes Sauces, who are based in Suffolk, have joined forces with the national breast cancer charity to boost fundraising efforts in 2012.
Their ‘Real Mayonnaise’ now sports a bright pink label and lid, along with the Breast Cancer Care ‘ribbon’ logo.
Stokes will donate 10p to the charity for every jar sold between August and the end of October this year.
October is national breast cancer awareness month and is the culmination of all fundraising efforts for the charity.
The mayonnaise can be purchased in Waitrose stores nationwide, via the online grocery shop Ocado, Tesco and from other selected supermarkets as well as independent delicatessens and farm shops nationwide.
Rick Sheepshanks, Managing Director of Stokes Sauces said:
“We are delighted and proud to be able to work with Breast Cancer Care and help them with their fundraising efforts this year.
“The mayonnaise now looks really eye catching and we hope this venture raises lots of much needed funds for the charity.”
Judy Beard, director of fundraising and marketing from Breast Cancer Care added:
“Every year, 50,000 people across the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer.
“We want to be there for each and every one of them but cannot do this without the support and fundraising efforts of companies like Stokes Sauces. Thank you.”
Launched in 2004, Stokes Sauces now produces more than 100 different lines and its produce is stocked in farm shops and independent stores throughout the UK.
Key lines from the Stokes brands are also available in commercial sized packs for use in the catering and hospitality industry.
For more information about Stokes click here to visit the website.


text:
Tweetdeck only for a fee
Meta will soon introduce Twitter competitors
7/4/2023 6:53 am
Under the leadership of Elon Musk, Twitter is currently undergoing a turbulent change: More advertising, subscriptions and, in the future, licensed applications such as Tweetdeck will also be subject to a fee. With Threads, Facebook parent company Meta is bringing an alternative to the market in a timely manner.
The eagerly awaited Twitter competitor of the Facebook group Meta is to be launched in a few days. The application called Threads was announced for Thursday in Apple’s US App Store. The Twitter platform, which has been massively turned inside out by new owner Elon Musk, is meanwhile in the midst of new turbulence and is trying to convert users of its Tweetdeck app into paying subscription customers. Tweetdeck, which is mainly used by professional Twitter users such as journalists, is getting a new version that will be subject to a charge after 30 days, as the service announced.
While there are several smaller Twitter competitors, Mark Zuckerberg’s meta is considered a particularly strong rival. The group knows how to operate large online platforms and, unlike the longtime top dog Twitter in the Musk era, has no money problems. A starting advantage could also be the basis of more than a billion users who are already linked: The Threads app is connected to Meta’s popular photo and video app Instagram.
With other Twitter rivals such as Mastodon, Bluesky and T2, such user networks that have grown over the years have to be re-established. This sets the course for a business duel between Musk and Zuckerberg, after the two billionaires had already agreed to an exhibition match in the ring in June. The “New York Times” reported at the weekend that such a fight is actually being prepared – but it is still unclear whether it will actually take place. Zuckerberg, 39, trains with martial arts trainers and is visibly fitter than 52-year-old tech billionaire Musk.
Tweetdeck for verified accounts only
Musk imposed tweet viewing restrictions on Twitter in an unprecedented move over the weekend. According to this, paying subscription customers should be able to read up to 10,000 tweets per day and users without a subscription up to 1000 posts. Musk explained the move by saying that there were too many attempts to skim large amounts of data from Twitter.
The announcement was followed by problems at Tweetdeck, where, among other things, the display of lists was disrupted. Recently, tweets could only be displayed without advertising and with automatic updates via Tweetdeck. It has been speculated for years that the heavy-user software could become chargeable – long before the multi-billion dollar takeover by Musk in autumn 2022. The technology blog “The Verge” provided an explanation for the recent problems at Tweetdeck, citing software developers: Twitter has cut interfaces that the program used to access the platform.


text:
Kevin Butler’s latest challenge has come to an end.
Sony’s lively mouthpiece has been honouring the best gamers on the PlayStation Network for the past few weeks on his YouTube channel, finishing yesterday with a Thanksgiving highlights reel.
If you’re a PlayStation gamer, you would have seen the genius marketing character before, with his best appearance coming at E3 back in June with a kickass speech.
There’s 18 videos altogether, and they’re all part of Sony’s Long Live Play campaign. Watch the latest below, and the rest of them out here.


text:
Dr. Mehmet Oz examined the safety of a controversial new food additive called Sweetmyx and revealed anti-aging hair care tips on the April 23 episode of the Dr. Oz Show.
Sweetmyx is a new sweetener that's not artificial, but isn't natural, either. And it could soon be used in a wide variety of food products, including sodas, energy drinks, candy, cakes, cookies and doughnuts.
Sweetmyx is a "sweet taste enhancer" that's supposed to boost the sweet flavor of food and drinks without the extra calories of sugar, but there are lingering questions about its safety. "You'll be hooked on their products and will never suspect a thing," said Dr. Oz.
PepsiCo and Senomyx, the makers of Sweetmyx, are banking on the product as sales of diet sodas have plummeted for the ninth straight year due to concerns over the safety of artificial sweeteners.
Not Approved By FDA But Will Hit Stores Soon
Sweetmyx has not yet received approval from the Food and Drug Administration, but has been labeled "safe" due to a technical loophole.
“Under current law, a company can, and in this instance did, independently determine that an ingredient is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for particular use without notifying the FDA," the FDA said in a statement to the Dr. Oz Show.
Bruce Bradley, a former Big Food marketer turned food advocate, is concerned because there has been little information shared with the public about Sweetmyx. Bradley, author of Fat Profits, said S617 is the main ingredient in Sweetmyx, and so far, it appears to be artificial.
S617 works by binding to your taste buds and triggering a sweet taste. Dr. Oz is concerned that the S617 in Sweetmyx could enhance your taste buds so much that you become addicted to foods containing it.
Critics say it's alarming that Sweetmyx will soon be available to the public with very little involvement from the FDA. "Sweetmyx is yet another troubling example of how big food and beverage companies approach the issue of food and health," said Bradley.
"Excessive consumption, which drives higher corporate profits, is the heart of Big Food’s business model. To achieve this goal, more and more minimally tested additives are being introduced into our food supply with questionable concern for the long-term health consequences for consumers."
Dr. Oz Reveals Anti-Aging Hair Care Tips
On a separate segment, Dr. Oz's guest was hairstylist Rodney Cutler. Rodney said hair loses luster and volume as we age, but we can take steps to minimize hair loss and damage:
- Use protein-infused hair products. Cutler said protein restores and reinforces your hair to minimize breakage.
- Use a boar brush. The boar brush is a smoothing brush that gently detangles hair without damaging it.
- Moisturize hair with argan oil. Chronic hair coloring leads to dry, damaged hair, but applying argan oil to wet hair after showering can restore moisture and shine.


text:
Fund Strategy looks at some key events shaping the week and what to expect.
Monday 10 October
- Nobel Prize for economics
- British Chamber of Commerce Q3 economic survey
The last survey found business and economic confidence softening in the lead up to the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. Nine per cent of manufacturers reported improved export and domestic sales in the last quarter, while in the services sector 24 per cent saw an increase in domestic sales and 11 per cent saw improved export sales.
Tuesday 11 October
- British Retail Consortium sales
The retail sales monitor will address total and like-for-like sales. IHS Markit chief economist for European and the UK Howard Archer says CBI figures suggested consumers took a “breather” in September after strong spending in August. “Sales of clothing, footwear & DIY were reported healthy in September, but there were lower sales for grocers, food and drink specialist shops and for footwear and leather.”
Wednesday 12 October
- Federal Open Market Committee minutes
The Fed voted to keep rates on hold at its last meeting, but signals from the central bank’s officials were mixed in the lead up to the decision. Markets are now pricing in a December rate hike – will the Fed’s minutes support this view?
Thursday 13 October
- Profitability of UK companies: Apr to June 2016 – Office for National Statistics
Friday 14 October
- UK construction output Aug 2016
Howard Archer forecasts construction output will be up 0.5 per cent in August in the latest ONS figures. However, he warns: “While the latest surveys and hard data suggest that the construction sector is improving, there are still major uncertainties for the sector going forward – particularly regarding clients willingness to commit to major projects, especially in the commercial real estate sector.”
- Wells Fargo Q3 results
The US bank faces a reputational crisis after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hit it with a $185m fine for its employees opening fraudulent accounts to meet sales targets. The fine is already the largest issued by the CFPB and further investigations and lawsuits have already been announced.


text:
The new John Lewis Christmas ad was unveiled on Friday morning, and has already sparked the annual conversation about how emotional it’s making everyone and, indeed, raised questions about why we’re all so excited about a literal advert in the first place.
While past efforts have been soundtracked by a range of singers from Ellie Goulding, Lily Allen and Bastille singer Dan Smith, the musical contributions have all had one thing in common – they’ve been covers of songs we already know.
For their 2020 ad, John Lewis did things a little differently, and recruited Celeste singer-songwriter to contribute an original track to feature in their first effort.
Having been named the BBC’s Sound Of 2020 and received the Rising Star Award (previously named the Critics’ Choice Award) at the Brits back in February, Celeste’s original song A Little Love features in the two-minute clip.
She said: “I felt honoured to be asked to take part. I wanted to create something that felt classic but still true to who I am as a writer and performer.”
Celeste’s track is also helping those in need, with 10p from each download of A Little Love going towards John Lewis’ charity campaign.
Instead of the usual stuffed toy merchandise, the retailer has unveiled a series of “Give A Little Love’”products, including a slogan t-shirt and a heart-shaped umbrella. All profits from these will also go towards the charity appeal.
A second shorter ad, created with artwork by four post-graduate students from Kingston University, details how customers can further support the campaign.
Watch this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert in the video above.


text:
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has issued a call for Input on competition issues that could arise in the UK’s New Payments Architecture (NPA)
The regulator is inviting all interested parties to respond to a ‘call for Input’ which seeks to gather feedback on the likelihood of competition issues materialising in the NPA and how harmful or significant they could prove to be.
The overall aim is to provide greater clarity and more detail on the PSR’s expectations, concerns and regulatory approach.
Ultimately, the PSR will publish a ‘Policy Statement’ to explain what bidders, participants and other users can expect from the regulator as the NPA becomes a reality. The PSR expects to publish this statement before the end of 2020.
The PSR is the regulatory and concurrent competition authority for payment systems in the UK and all participants in those payment systems. This includes payment service providers, operators and infrastructure providers to those payment systems.
The NPA is the UK payments industry’s proposed new way of organising the clearing and settlement of payments between banks, known as interbank payments.
The importance of the NPA
“The importance of the NPA should not be underestimated. It is a once-in-a-generation change to the very fabric of the UK’s interbank payment systems,” the PSR says. “It will facilitate the development of services that make transactions safer and give everyone more control over who, when and how they pay.”
Whether paying employee wages, or transferring money to a friend using internet banking, interbank payments are a key part of everyday life for businesses and consumers alike.
The PSR says it wants to see the NPA delivered in a way that drives innovation in payment systems and benefits the people and businesses who use them. This can be done by boosting competition between existing and new payments services as well as enhancing resilience and security in payments.
The payment systems infrastructure
The payment systems infrastructure is the network through which payments are cleared and settled. Thanks to this network, funds can be transferred and payments be made to other people and organisations.
Without this network, salaries would not be paid into bank accounts, cards would not be able to withdraw cash from ATMs. Recurring bills would not be paid, and items would not be able to be purchased from retailers – both in-store and online.
Chris Hemsley, Managing Director of the PSR, commented: “The renewal of the UK’s interbank payments infrastructure, through the NPA, has the potential to deliver innovative new services and products for businesses and consumers.”


text:
Breaking: Home-based Micromax topples Samsung India
In what the Korean phone maker fears most, Samsung has surrendered its top smartphone vendor position to Micromax in India. This is coming after analysis carried out in the mobile industry for the fourth quarter of 2014 by Canalys.
Micromax had their name on 22% of smartphones sold in India during the quarter, up from 21% while Samsung lost out to second place by clinching only 20% of the market share. The top four list was completed by two other local vendors namely Karbonn and Lava (makers of Xolo smartphones).
In 2014 Q3, a local smartphone brand, Xiaomi toppled Samsung in China. This could only mean that markets are rooting more support for home brands recently. But perhaps, Samsung has a lot more to worry about as it was reported that the company’s global shipments of smartphones was outdone by Apple’s during 2014 Q4.
You may also like
Lenovo releases Marshmallow update calendar for its smartphones
Huawei India launches the 5.5-inch G7 Plus with 13MP camera and fingerprint scanner
OnePlus X up for sale via Amazon in India
Intex Aqua Q7 with 3G support goes official sporting a 4.5″ FWVGA screen
Moto G Turbo unvieled in Mexico, to be available November 13


text:
What’s the upshot for consumers and the economy? Gasoline prices, already among the highest in the nation, would increase as much as 24 cents a gallon in the short run to reflect higher carbon-emission costs. Lawmakers proposed issuing “climate dividend” checks to Californians to offset the higher cost of carbon. The financial impact of an all-renewable electricity grid is uncertain.
Oregon takes the No. 1 spot when it comes to renewable energy use, and also for the overall Best States for energy rnaking. Nearly 80 percent of the state's renewable energy comes from hydropower, according to the National Hydropower Association.
The primary cost for an electric car is its battery, responsible for almost half the pricetag of a mid-sized plugin. If you take that away, electric cars are much cheaper to produce and maintain than internal combustion vehicles. (That’s why French carmaker Renault sells its popular Zoe without a battery, which customers pay a monthly fee to lease.
For true mass-market appeal, the up-front sticker price is what matters most, and battery prices must come down further. Fortunately, prices are falling fast—by roughly 20 percent a year. The manufacturing cost of electric cars will fall below their gasoline counterparts across the board around 2026, according to a recent analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Economic conditions might be another factor. Even though the recovery has been stronger in California than in the rest of the country, Borenstein said business activities – and the resulting carbon emissions – are lower than regulators assumed when they started pulling together regulations a decade ago.
U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2016 totaled 5,170 million metric tons (MMmt), 1.7% below their 2015 levels, after dropping 2.7% between 2014 and 2015. These recent decreases are consistent with a decade-long trend, with energy-related CO2 emissions 14% below the 2005 level in 2016.


text:
About 22,000 workers in the tech and startup sector, along with more than 12,000 in the Indian startup ecosystem, have lost jobs this year as companies which benefited from a pandemic boom are feeling pressure amid economic meltdown, according to Crunchbase. The startups are reportedly finding fundraising much more difficult as their valuations have started to dip in the gloomy environment.
Several unicorns like Ola, Unacademy, Vedantu, Cars24 and Mobile Premier League (MPL) have laid off employees in the name of “restructuring and cost-cutting”. Companies like Blinkit, BYJU’s (White Hat Jr, Toppr), FarEye, Trell are among other startup ventures to have shown the door to many employees this year.
According to the report, the Indian startup sector may witness more than 60,000 job losses to navigate through the “funding winter”. Citing industry experts, the report suggests that at least 50,000 startup employees are likely to be fired in 2022 in the name of “restructuring and cost cutting” while certain startups keep receiving millions in fundings.
Global companies like Netflix, financial services company Robinhood and several crypto platforms – battered by the economic headwinds– have trimmed their workforce.
Investors should brace for a historic drop in the stock market to start filtering through to startups over the next few quarters, said a partner of US-based venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures, reported Bloomberg.
“We are going to be in for some hard times ahead — I don’t know if it’s going to be one quarter, two quarters, three quarters or more,” Cathy Gao said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “My message to everyone is this is an opportunity to look inwards, get your house in shape and be ready for the future.”
“My stage is a little bit frozen right now because, on one hand, a lot of companies raised a lot of money in 2021 — they might have 30 months of runway,” Gao said. “On the other hand, investors don’t know where the valuation is going to settle quite just yet.”
(With inputs from agencies)


text:
Countering a move by Kraft Foods Inc. to stop advertising sweet cereals and snacks to kids under 12, General Mills Corp. announced Wednesday that it will target kids with a new ad campaign promoting the importance of breakfast.
This week, General Mills tacked on 10-second commercials promoting the importance of eating a good breakfast to the end of its 20-second commercials for Cinnamon Crunch, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and other cereals the company advertises during kids' programs.
"We really believe that all cereals, including presweetened cereals, are a healthy breakfast choice," said Jean Storlie, a registered dietician and the senior manager of General Mills' Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition, noting the cereals are "a key source of at least 10 vitamins and minerals."
In addition to the 10-second spots, the Minneapolis-based company has set up a Web site and is asking kids to sign a pledge in which they promise to "choose a healthy breakfast and to be active each and every day."
Mark Addicks, General Mills chief marketing officer, said the campaign is intended to keep kids from walking away from breakfast in the morning.
"Our job is to communicate the benefits in a way that will resonate with kids and make a difference," he said.
Surveys show that 25 percent of all Americans start the day without breakfast, and that the number skipping breakfast is expected to increase.
For General Mills, however, the decision to target kids with the breakfast message may be rooted in its lost sales in the past year. Cereal sales by the food giant were down 7 percent compared with a year ago for the period ending May 15, according to data compiled by Merrill Lynch.
"Advertising to kids will always work in the short run," said Christie Nordhielm, a marketing professor at the University of Michigan.
Kraft Foods in January decided to take an entirely opposite approach--shifting advertising for some of the sugary, fat-filled foods away from programming targeting kids ages 5 to 11--and has remained alone in doing so.
Both companies said they made the changes to encourage healthier eating. But it remains unclear which path will pay the best dividends.
"Both seem to believe that they not only need to do something, but they need to get good PR for being concerned about health, and especially the health of kids," said Jean-Pierre Dube, a marketing professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Kraft on Wednesday applauded General Mills' decision to encourage kids to eat a balanced breakfast before heading to school or play.
"We think it is important that companies are taking proactive steps to help consumers select more nutritionally balanced diets," said Renee Zahery, a spokeswoman for Kraft.
Early sales returns indicate that Kraft may be suffering from the decision to cut out advertising the sugary foods on kids' television programs.
Sales of Kraft's cold cereals were down 4 percent from a year ago for the four-week period ended May 15. Sales of its Lunchables line, which also used to be heavily promoted on kids shows, were down 2 percent, according to the Merrill Lynch data.
The sales figures for Kraft and General Mills exclude sales at Wal-Mart, which does not allow outside organizations to track its sales.
"The truth is it is really hard to attribute the change in sales to the change in advertising," said Dube. He said it is too soon to judge the impact of the advertising decision.
But Northfield-based Kraft said it isn't about to shift its strategy.
"We've very positive about what we're doing," said Zahery.
Nordhielm, who said Kraft is most frequently associated with macaroni and cheese and Velveeta, said the food company is trying to implement a long-term strategy.
"They will not see consistent results from this strategy for a year," she said.
But Bob Messenger, editor of The Morning Cup, a food industry newsletter, said he believes companies like General Mills and Kraft are caught in the middle.
"On one side are those insisting they have a social responsibility to promote healthy products, while the other are Wall Street analysts and shareholders demanding they increase profits," he said.


text:
Diesel, which yes, is still a brand, and yes, is still churning out its signature, and oh so Eurotrash “dirty denim,” filed for Chapter 11 this week.
As reported by Bloomberg, the company’s chapter 11 petition “estimates up to $100 million in assets and as much as $50 million in debt,” which the label blames on “plummeting sales, a botched turnaround, pricey leases and unwavering landlords,” — in addition to about $1.2 million in losses related to cyber fraud and theft.
But, unlike Payless, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and promptly announced 2,500 store closures, Diesel USA “doesn’t plan to shutter.”
The American division of the Italian conglomerate, which currently employs 380 people across 28 retail stores, intends to “restore” its standing in the US, by “opening new stores and retrofitting some old ones to make them cheaper to operate.”
Turnaround plans also call for the brand to “collaborate with social media influencers, enhance its denim collection for female customers, and relocate some stores to smaller cost-effective locations with reduced rent.”
While the story didn’t mention how much all of that will likely cost (our guess is a lot), it did say that the company — which, as a reminder, is what would happen if bottle service at a Midtown nightclub became jeans — still had $7.4 million in unsecured obligations to trade creditors. And in a very Fyre Fest twist (which is very on-brand for Diesel), the US Customs and Border Protection agency in Atlanta was listed as “its single biggest unsecured creditor.”
You can read more about it at Bloomberg.


text:
ADM-led project aims to boost Indonesian cocoa quality
June 9, 2011 – Leading cocoa processor Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has announced it is kick-starting its Ivory Coast sustainable cocoa initiative – Serap – in Indonesia in a bid to boost cocoa quality from growers in that region.
Indonesia is the third largest cocoa growing nation in the world, with growers in Sulawesi the target of the programme, said ADM.
A spokesperson for the cocoa processor told ConfectioneryNews.com that sustainability is essential to ensuring the long term future of the country’s cocoa industry.
“In Indonesia, cocoa farming is the main source of income for more than 600,000 smallholder farmers and their families, most of whom are located on the island of Sulawesi.”
Serap, which provides training and financial incentives to help cocoa farmers implement sustainable farming practices, will involve the collaboration of the Indonesian Cocoa and Coffee Research Institute (ICCRI), continued ADM.
As the consumer movement for sustainable and fair trade type products gains momentum, chocolate and cocoa suppliers are receiving more and more requests from customers for clarity in the supply chain.
The global commodities giant said that its confectioner customer base will gain through an additional source of certified sustainable cocoa products.
When asked about its five-year target for sustainable cocoa tonnage arising out of the programme in Indonesia, the ADM spokesperson said:
“Tonnages are always difficult to forecast as the programme roll-out depends on many different factors. We do know that Serap participants achieve generally a higher standard of cocoa bean quality due to all the support provided through the programme.”


text:
Who says Europeans are more happy in adapting a work-to-live attitude than their American counterparts, known as a group who mostly lives to work? Certainly not a new Harris Poll that finds Americans “much more happy” with their lives and “much more optimistic” about their future than Europeans. This is clearly good news for U.S.-based marketers, noted Humphrey Taylor, chairman at the Harris Poll. “High expectations have a high correlation with strong consumer confidence and tend to increase purchasing activity,” Taylor said. “When expectations are low, it’s harder to market new fashion, let alone sell more things.”
More than twice as many Americans, or 57 percent, say they are “very satisfied” with their lives, compared with an average of 21 percent of Europeans. Forty-nine percent of Americans think their lives have improved in the past five years, versus an average of 36 percent of Europeans. And 63 percent of people in the U.S. expect their personal situation will improve in the next five years, against 40 percent in Europe, on average.
A Stella McCartney sketch of a custom dress made from protein-based silk in partnership with biotech lab Bolt Threads. The dress will be displayed at The Museum of Modern Art's upcoming design exhibition, "Items: Is Fashion Modern?"


text:
Apple is reportedly looking for studio space to help power original productions
By Matt Collins Article may include affiliate links
The potential new complex could be up to 500,000 square feet, according to the WSJ sources.
Apple already leases sound stages throughout the Los Angeles region for shows such as “The Morning Show” and “Ted Lasso” that are available exclusively on its premium streaming service Apple TV+.
Apple TV+ launched in late 2019 and still remains a relatively small part of the streaming wars.
One significant difference is that, unlike larger streamers such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Discovery+, Peacock and Paramount+, Apple TV+ only features content produced for the service — there’s no archive of existing film or TV titles to pick from.
All of these streaming services also feature original, exclusive content or provide to help draw in subscribers, or release select content earlier on the platforms.
Because of the flurry of production on original streaming content, sound stages and backlots are reportedly in high demand in Hollywood, which could drive up prices, so Apple could be attempting to lock in a centralized location at a fixed price that could also share common back office services.
Apple TV+ stumbled early with its very limited library, but has garnered critical attention for some of its series and increased production. It normally charges $4.99 a month for the service, which is one of the lowest priced streaming options, but there are potentially millions of subscribers who haven’t been paying a dime.
Apple originally included a free year of TV+ with select purchases of iPhones and iPads, but that was cut back to 90 days July 1, 2021.
Early adopters who qualified for the program saw that offer extended twice, with the earliest ones now set to expire in July 2021.
Apple then announced a program where paying customers would be credited back $4.99 a month to their Apple accounts, essentially making the service free, though that is set to run out at the end of July.
Apple also introduced Apple One, a bundle starting at $14.99 a month that includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and upgraded iCloud storage space, with each package offering savings overing buying each service separately.
Apple doesn’t release subscriber figures separately, so it’s tricky to figure out how many people are actually subscribed to free or paid Apple TV+ plans and how much revenue that would generate for the company to invest in new content.


text:
However, if you did manage to play it, chances are you’re excited for BioShock Infinite. Yes, there was a BioShock 2, but it wasn’t created by Irrational Games – makers of the original BioShock. Of course, Irrational also has Ken Levine, who envisioned the series. So, in some cases, BioShock Infinite is the true BioShock sequel.
People don’t need to wait that long to play it, as 2K has announced that the game will be hitting shelves this coming October 16. Mark your calendars, folks! This will be a game to watch.


text:
- Order Reprints
- Print Article
- Resize icon
Vacheron Constantin released its Reference 57260 watch in 2015 to mark the brand’s 260th anniversary. The model, with 57 complications, 2,826 parts, and 31 hands, and which took eight years to assemble, is touted as the most complicated timepiece in the world.
The Swiss luxury watchmaker has now unveiled a single, unique timepiece based on Reference 57260: Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon.


text:
Last month Brentwood store director, Manoj Pater, joined a number of other Essex store directors and the Essex regional relationship manager, Roy Thorogood, to take part in a mega charity cycle challenge.
The mega bike ride, which saw the brave Specsavers staff cycle 64 miles, was organised to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.
The team initially set a target to raise a whopping £1000 for their chosen cause – but the team have excelled all expectations and have raised an amazing £1,817.
Speaking of his delight on how much the team raised, Manoj Pater, store director at Specsavers in Brentwood, said: ‘I’m thrilled we’ve raised almost double our target amount.
‘Even though the bike ride was a very trying task it was worth it in the end to raise a great amount for the Alzheimer’s Society.’
Manoj added: ‘It was a great day and I know the Essex stores are planning more fundraising activities for the future as well as ensuring all stores have a qualified Dementia Friend.’


text:
As the U.S. motorcycle market continues to feel a sales pinch, the side-by-side has risen to fill the gap as one of the most popular powersports vehicles. It’s the fastest growing vehicle segment, with OEMs such as BRP and Polaris reporting sales growth every quarter as they release increasingly innovative updates. Lenders aren’t slacking either as companies such as ThunderRoad Financial move to meet the growing demand for side-by-side loans.
However, while more side-by-sides are being sold and financed, there seems to be a lack of UTVs organically hitting the secondary market.
“What we are not seeing on the back end, which we would expect to see, is … a rise in the number of vehicles that are coming through the secondary channel,” Tony Altieri, business development manager of National Powersport Auctions told Powersports Finance. “The ratio of side-by-sides that we’ve been selling [at auction] hasn’t really increased very much over the last 10 years, even though we’ve been, as an industry, selling and financing more. The dealers aren’t seeing more used side-by-sides coming back through their doors, so we continue to sell more new vehicles.”
To better understand this, PSF spoke with three industry professionals who offered their perspectives as to why used side-by-sides aren’t arriving in the secondary market, despite their popularity.
Side-by-side sales growing step-by-step
Side-by-sides began gaining traction in the market three years ago and their popularity has since continued to rise. BRP side-by-side sales rose 30% year over year during the third quarter, which contributed to the OEM’s U.S. sales rising 24% YoY, the company reported last year.
The vehicles appeal to multiple types of consumers, as they can be used for recreational and industrial purposes. Additionally, there are “[fewer] barriers to entry in terms of licensing requirements,” Altieri said. “In some states, you don’t have to get a vehicle titled or registered because it’s an off-road vehicle. So, there are some hurdles for a retail consumer to be able to get into a motorcycle that doesn’t exist in the side-by-side market.”
Another contributing factor to the overall growth is that, from a margin perspective, dealers and OEMs have more incentive to push and sell these vehicles. The average price range on a UTV is typically $10,000 to $20,000, so dealers and OEMs receive a larger margin of profit than they do with motorcycles, despite the fact it takes more energy to manufacture, move, store and sell them, Altieri added.
While the new side of the UTV business is growing, the used side appears to be moving at a slower pace. On average, NPA has sold 80,000 to 90,000 powersports vehicles per year since 2010. The peak number of side-by-sides sold in one year was 4,100, just 6% of the company’s overall inventory.
The bulk of NPA’s used side-by-side inventory comes from de-fleets from rental agencies, as opposed to dealer consignments or repossessions from lenders. While there isn’t necessarily a lack of used side-by-sides, they aren’t coming from typical sources at a frequent pace.
Prime credit leads the pack
One possible explanation for why lenders aren’t repossessing more side-by-sides is that the credit quality of the borrower leans more heavily on prime, who are seen as a safer risk than a subprime borrower. Though there is a growing number of nonprime customers seeking loans for these vehicles, the scale is still weighted toward prime.
At ThunderRoad Financial, 80% of its side-by-side loans are to prime consumers. As such, the lender has not seen an increase in repossessions because prime borrowers do not default as often as subprime consumers.
“We make sure the risk is priced accordingly,” Chief Operating Officer Kristi Mercier said. “Your 540-credit score probably isn’t going to be our specialty at that level. And, usually, if your prime buyers going to default, they’re going to call you and say, ‘Hey, I’m in a situation and I have to choose between my car or my bike and my [Polaris] RZR.’ In powersports, it is a luxury item.”
Another possible reason for fewer side-by-sides in the secondary market is that the growth in vehicle sales is still relatively recent. Reno, Nev.-based ThunderRoad Financial has been lending side-by-side for about two and a half years, spurred by dealer demand, so those initial loans may not have completed their terms.
“We don’t see a whole lot on the trade-in cycle because [the vehicles are] not old enough yet,” Mercier said. “Usual trade-in cycle is between 30 to 36 months. Well, if you look back, some of the RZRs have only been around just a few years, so maybe they haven’t made it into that trade-in cycle for the newest model.”
With the terms nearing an end, it’s likely that more side-by-sides will begin to arrive in the secondary market.
The cost of repossessions
While it’s likely that repossessions for side-by-sides are not a frequent occurrence for lenders, there is a possibility that lenders are choosing to charge-off the loan rather than go through the expense of repossession.
On average, repossessions on powersports vehicles are more expensive than other vehicle asset types at Primeritus Financial Services, a recovery management company that handles automobiles and powersports, Vice President of Business Development Jessica Rosselli told PSF.
“The cost is going to vary based on a couple of factors,” Rosselli said. “Powersports, in general, are a bit higher of a recovery fee, and that’s going to be based on not only the location [of the recovery], but what agents we’re utilizing as well.”
For instance, the rate might be higher if the vehicle is located in a mountain region compared with a suburban area. Primeritus has not seen a significant change to its side-by-side repo rate since vehicle sales began to rise.
If lenders are opting to avoid the repo expense, then the consequences are that “charge-off rates get higher, it’s going to make folks either stop lending or choose to increase rates when, if we just treated [side-by-sides] like we would a car or a motorcycle, the performance would be as good or better on the back end,” NPA’s Altieri said.
However, Rosselli finds it unlikely that lenders would take the charge-off because the balance on the vehicles is typically higher.
“In general, side-by-sides are a higher balanced powersport unit,” Rosselli said. “They would want to recover them and not have a charge-off that was full balance with collateral attached to it. The recovery is more costly than an automobile, however, it still justifies recovering. I would assume that most of these vehicles are probably around $20,000 to $30,000 balances, especially if there is new inventory rolling through.”
To 2020 and beyond
While side-by-sides may not be hitting the secondary market in large waves, it’s a market that seems poised to grow. As sales at OEMs continue to grow and consumers become more interested in the vehicles, 2020 may be the year to keep an eye on the used side-by-side market.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S III users can now download and install over-the-air patch for remote data deletion vulnerability.
Samsung said that users can download and install security patch that will protect them from code that triggers factory reset on their device without their permission.
This security vulnerability was demonstrated last week at a security conference(Argentina). This flaw is due to the way TouchWiz UI of Samsung which handles unstructured supplementry server data code that enables hacker to execute commands on keypad of device.
This flaw can be spreaded over through QR Codes, links on websites and even providing link in a SMS.
Samsung reassured users that the issue has been resolved by them.


text:
Nokia and The Walt Disney Studios have reached an agreement for the latter to use Nokia's new OZO virtual reality camera to make movie-related content. The OZO VR camera launched back in November for professionals here in the States…
A leak shows Nokia may be entering the mobile game again, but if true, the Finnish company may be going with Android. The Nokia A1 may arrive as soon as the summer of 2016, and it will likely target the mid-range market.
WhatsApp will leave some mobile operating systems behind by the end of this year. BlackBerry, Android 2.1 (Eclair) and 2.2 (Froyo), and Windows Phone 7.1 are among the mobile platforms that will soon miss the popular messaging app.
It's the device Nokia hopes will take the VR world by storm, it has eight lenses capturing 360-degree spherical video and eight microphones for 360x360 surround sound, and it costs so much you probably won't be getting one.
Nokia plans to test Artemis Networks' pCell technology, developed by Steve Perlman. The tech is reportedly capable of using congestion to its advantage, in contrast to traditional networks which struggle with mobile congestion.


text:
Basic Attention Token (BAT) Grows Amid Rumors of Coinbase Support
Perhaps not one of the most known and recognized virtual currencies, Basic Attention Token (BAT) – currently the 37th most valuable crypto – has experienced an important price increase in the last weeks. This situation has been generated because there are some rumors and important possibilities that Coinbase could add support to it.
First of all, Basic Attention Token wants to improve the efficiency of the advertising industry. Publishers, advertisers and users on the Ethereum blockchain would be able to exchange the BAT cryptocurrency. BAT is a utility token that is based on the user’s attention and engagement.
Coinbase announced a few months ago that it was exploring different virtual currencies. Among those, we could find BAT and 0x (ZRX). Now, some weeks ago, Coinbase decided to add support to 0x. The other virtual currencies that Coinbase mentioned were Cardano (ADA), Stellar Lumens (XLM) and ZCash (ZEC).
According to CoinMarketCap, Basic Attention Token has experienced a substantial increase over 10 days ago. On October 15, BAT was being traded around $0.1813 dollars and it moved up to $0.2908 on October 22. That represents an increase of 60% in just a few days.
The other virtual currencies mentioned by Coinbase, XLM, ZEC and ADA have also been growing in the past days after the San Francisco-based firm decided to add support to ZRX.
On September 25, Coinbase also announced a new asset listing process aimed at rapidly list all assets that meet the standards and that are compliant with local law and legal framework.
Coinbase is currently supporting Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and 0x (ZRX). In the near future, new assets could be added, including all those mentioned before.
At the moment of writing, BAT is being traded around $0.25 dollars and has a market capitalization of $251 million dollars. However, in the last 24 hours, the virtual currency experienced a 10% correction. Nevertheless, the virtual currency is being traded 50% higher that some days ago.


text:
Bus ban sign row prompts Fort high street retailers into action
MORE than 20 Fort William High Street businesses have signed up to a new retail association after the Highland Council opposed the removal of controversial signs stopping coaches parking near the town centre.
Signs banning coach tours dropping off holiday-makers at bus stops close to Fort William High Street, as reported in the
Lochaber Times April 13, have been in place on bus stops in Middle Street.
Plans to remove the signs after an outcry from town centre shop keepers were opposed by a few Fort William councillors.
High street shopkeepers were angered by the move, claiming tour buses visit the town daily and bring valuable customers to the town’s businesses.
Councillors held a meeting in private last week to try to resolve the issue of where tour buses can drop off visitors to the town. They have now agreed the bus stop beside the Nevis Sport shop, and at the West End of town, can be used as coach drop- off points temporarily.
It was also agreed a consultation would be carried out with interested parties with a view to improving coach arrangements.
Those due to be consulted are Lochaber Transport Forum, the Disability Access Panel, Shopmobility, Lochaber Chamber of Commerce, tour bus companies and evening businesses.
But High Street shop owner Drew Purdon, who first raised the coach issue, is concerned town businesses will not have a seat at the discussion table so started the association.
With more than 20 business already signed up, Mr Purdon said the association aims to ‘protect and promote the interests of high street businesses’. Mr Purdon told the Lochaber
Times: ‘The council is planning a consultation about coaches in the town, but don’t seem to be planning to include one retailer in the high street. There is a great deal of concern about what will happen with the coaches stopping and puzzlement as to why it has taken councillors five years to come to a decision.
‘This decision about stopping coaches parking in local bus stops came from Inverness. They were changing the rules so decided to inflict the same ones on Fort William without any knowledge of the number of coaches we get and how important they are to the town.’
A retail association with 35 members was set up about 12 years ago. Mr Purdon said the group met regularly and were consulted on High Street matters.
He said: ‘ We [shop owners] have been ignored in the past. We have no body which represents all of the High Street and it is one of the biggest employers in Lochaber, representing around 150 jobs.
‘Coaches bring so much business to the town and are here every day of the week, and we want to maintain that. Businesses will struggle if we can’t.
Senior ward manager Dot Ferguson said: ‘ We have already stated we would be consulting with Lochaber Transport Forum, Access Panel, Shopmobility, Chamber of Commerce, tour bus companies and evening businesses over the next two to three months with a view to improving arrangements. We would be content to consult with the retail association if they can get in touch with contact details.’
Fort William businessman Drew Purdon at the bus stop nearest the High Street as a tourist bus braves the ban to drop off passengers.


text:
Iceland resumes whale meat export
Iceland has resumed whale meat exports after a gap of more than 15 years. It recently sold minke whale meat from its scientific whaling programme to the Faroe Islands.
Environmental groups say the trade contravenes the un's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (cites). Iceland's whaling commissioner, however, says that the trading is legal as Iceland and Faroe Islands have jointly created a free trade area, where trade of whale products is permitted. Iceland has joined Norway and Japan in exempting itself from the cites restrictions. But environmentalists argue that Faroe Islands fall under the ambit of cites, since Denmark, which handles the island's foreign policy, is a signatory to the accord.


text:
Classic category management, a business process developed in the 1990s and embraced by the food retail industry, is now being reinvented with a new focus.
While retailers found category management to be an important tool in achieving optimal shelf management, they also encountered downsides to the process.
For one thing, classic category management is a labor-intensive enterprise that involves between seven and nine steps, from defining the categories themselves to developing strategies for them and, finally, to monitoring and reviewing the process.
After a few years of diligently conducting annual reviews, supermarket operators were telling consultants they couldn't afford the staff time anymore. Paul Weitzel, vice president, Bishop Consulting, Barrington, Ill., said retailers would complain, "Resources are tight. We can't execute all these plans."
Manufacturers were getting the same message, according to Mike Greene, vice president of customer marketing at Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich. "What the industry is saying is, 'We used to go through a labor-intensive exercise, but shoppers are leaving my store now. I'm losing them to my competition. Rather than doing an eight-step process, uncover that one particular issue that can get them back."'
A worse problem was that even after retailers went through the considerable time and expense involved in the category management process, they would end up learning little that they didn't already know.
Weitzel observed, "After you've done it twice, how much value do those reviews have?"
Faster, More Focused
The new category management is sleek, fast and as focused as a laser. Greene described it as "more of a targeted than a shotgun approach."
Sometimes the target can be larger than a single category. Weitzel said he preferred to speak about "aisle management" instead of category management. "There's a huge interest in trying to grab five key aisles a year rather than trying to do all the categories every year," he said. "Retailers are scaling back the amount of category management work they're doing and going for the big win, the aisles with double-digit growth.
"The focus is on the big wins you can fix today."
Other times the target can be those categories that year-in, year-out, are a store's most important.
Ken Harris, partner, Cannondale Associates, Wilton, Conn., said resource-limited supermarket operators need to focus on a few key categories, usually such items as milk, snacks, soup, yogurt, pizza, ice cream and carbonated beverages. "Those are the impression categories, the bellwethers, when you're not putting your full resources into a category review of every item."
In classic category management, he noted, the process itself sometimes became the focus. "The process was painful," Harris said. People were happy when they completed a category review, "but they weren't paying attention to the result. By the time you were done with the review, you felt you had accomplished something."
The new category management also can involve gazing more deeply at the small picture. Commented Bernard Beary, assistant vice president, category management, Hy-Vee, West Des Moines, Iowa, "Probably the most significant change taking place today in category management is the movement to make category management more consumer-specific.
"Instead of just looking at categories of products, we're looking at subgroups within those categories that appeal to particular consumers."
And yes, the new category management is fast. Observed James Tenser, principal, VSN Strategies, a sales and marketing consultancy based in Tucson, Ariz.,"Velocity is the essence of this business."
Most of those interviewed for this article said classic category management is largely a thing of the past.
"The eight-step process is very, very seldom used." said Dirk van Renesse, vice president and director of category and technical management at the National Distributing Co., an Atlanta-based wine and spirits distributor.
Greene observed, "There is a lot less of the classic, eight-step approach going on."
But that does not mean it has been entirely abandoned.
Ed Gallina, executive director, category management at Associated Wholesale Grocers, Kansas City, Kan., remains a purist. "I am slanted toward pure category management," he noted. In his two years with AWG, he said he has instituted more than 90 category plans, and 80% of AWG's internal sales of grocery, dairy and frozen are now done by this standard approach.
"When those plans are executed," he observed, "they are showing good-to-exceptional results."
He admitted that creating and reviewing those plans can be labor-intensive. "To do a plan takes time," he said, "but the rewards outweigh the time spent."
Gallina also said he isn't worried that he's sacrificing speed in his quest for thoroughness. "What you're getting off point-of-sale data is information that validates if your decision was correct," he noted. He added that it was "unrealistic" to expect to make adjustments in real time. "You can't change planograms every three weeks."
In contrast, Tenser said it can be extremely useful to be able to make short-term corrections. "It may be a good idea to find out in three to six weeks if a new item is selling rather than wait six months."
At heart, what seems to distinguish Gallina from his fellow category managers is his view of shoppers.
"Customers don't change," he said. "The products they buy change."
The new category managers make no secret of their attempts to track a fickle, almost whimsical, shopper -- a target in perpetual motion.
Observed Weitzel, "The consumer is changing faster than ever. We can't let the category management process slow us down."
He said it's not a question of giving up on the process so much as a streamlining of it. "It's more a question of rebalancing of resources," he explained.
Noted Hy-Vee's Beary, "The changes in category management, like the other changes in our industry, are being driven by changing consumer demographics, lifestyles and trends. Merchandising that works for some products in a category may not work for other products in that same category.
"It's not just about what people buy. It's about why they buy it."
All those interviewed, the purists and innovators, said that focus on the why is essential.
Greene's colleague at Kellogg, Kimberly Marsh, the company's senior director of category management and human understanding, said, "Retailers are asking us more in-depth questions about consumers and how to meet consumer needs."
Role of Technology
There is also general agreement that technology can speed up the process and enable manufacturers, distributors and retailers to get closer to consumers.
Gallina said, "Technology has the ability to give you information in less time. The information has always been there, but technology has expedited the process."
Technology and speed go hand in hand, according to Beary.
"Technology is going to continue to drive category management toward a more real-time reflection of consumption demands," he said.
For the past three years, this technology has been steadily evolving, according to Alex Yakulis, vice president of business development at Crossmark, a Plano, Texas-based sales and marketing agency.
He said Crossmark now uses customized category management software that enables it "with a single key stroke" to look at 36 measures, including pricing, assortment and feature display.
"We can look at every department within retail, every category within a store, and see how that category is performing against competitive sets in the marketplace," he explained.
"What we're finding is that even with the best-laid category management plan, if it's not executed, then you're in a world of pain," Yakulis said.
CATEGORY MANAGEMENT: THEN AND NOW
CLASSIC APPROACH: Following is the classic eight-step system of category management. Category Definition and Segmentation. Categories are defined and then segmented based on an analysis of how consumers make their purchasing decisions.
Category Role. Category roles -- such as "destination driver" or "staple" -- are determined by comparing the performance of categories.
Category Assessment. Data is obtained, organized and analyzed to identify the areas of greatest opportunity for improved results.
Category Objectives. Objectives are created based on the findings from the category assessment.
Category Strategies. Strategies typically cover such areas as pricing, promotion, space, range and product supply.
Category Tactics. Store-level tactics -- the precise changes the retailer is going to make are determined based on output from the category management process.
Implementation. Strategies and tactics are implemented accurately and completely. Monitor and Review. The plan's performance is measured to ensure its objectives have been met.
NEW APPROACH: The new category management uses some classical tools in an effort to handle dynamic change.
Manage the Aisle. Instead of measuring the performance of every category, concentrate on the key aisles, those with double-digit growth, for example.
Focus on Solutions. Put the emphasis on fixing and changing the store and not simply obtaining and analyzing information.
Keep Up With the Consumers. Use data on purchasing trends to catch up to or even get ahead of shoppers as they alter their lifestyles -- and shopping habits.
Monitor in Real-Time. Employ technology to monitor performance (and make changes) in days and weeks instead of months or a year.


text:
In the last few months, Toyota offered zero-percent financing and other attractive incentives in efforts to counteract the impact of the recent recalls. But eventually, potential buyers are expected to tire of these incentives and Toyota will have to try to bring back customers who don't trust the brand anymore.
Last week, Toyota extended its incentives until June 1. Analysts predict that Toyota will continue to offer deals through the summer but it's inevitable that it will have to cut the incentives and deal with the true extent of the damage from the recalls of over 8 million vehicles due to defective gas pedals and brake problems in the Prius.
James Bell, an analyst with Kelley Blue Book, said that the "deck has been reshuffled." He explained that permanent damage has been done, making Toyota compete "in a way they haven't in 25 years."
Toyota's sales plunged soon after it halted the sale of eight models in late January, but it again drew in the buyers with its incentives in March.
Toyota had been quite successful at attracting local buyers and those who are up for a bargain despite getting a $16.4 million federal fine and the filing of more than 300 state and federal lawsuits against it.


text:
Amazon claimed Thursday its Key associates requested additional than 100 million products during a income event this week that analysts are expecting to be a bellwether for the vacation shopping time.
As expected, the Seattle-based e-commerce enterprise did not share profits figures. Still, some 3rd-occasion estimates provide clues on how people expended throughout the two-day price reduction function that ran on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to the data team Numerator, which tracked approximately 44,670 orders in the course of the sale, the normal purchase size clocked in at $46.68, $13 less than what it was for the duration of Amazon’s Primary Working day gross sales function in July. Inflation also had an influence – 26% of shoppers handed on a offer due to the fact it was not a requirement, Numerator claimed.
Important vendors have been supplying much more getaway discounts this year and accomplishing it significantly earlier than common, aiming to offload extra goods and present funds-strapped Us citizens superior bargains amid significant inflation.
Amazon’s discount occasion this week was the 1st time the organization offered main product sales to its Key members 2 times in 1 yr. Walmart has also been supplying revenue this 7 days and has expanded its window for present returns to among Oct. 1 and Jan. 31, in comparison with previous year’s return window of Nov. 1 to Jan. 24. Meanwhile, Target started supplying holiday specials last week through a two-day price cut party. The company declined to share its earnings from people income.
In accordance to Salesforce, which analyzes on the internet searching info, the average on the internet price cut amount on Tuesday and Wednesday was approximately 21%, the deepest price reduction amount considering that the starting of the pandemic outside of Cyber Week, the time amongst Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
But in spite of the deep reductions, buyers are however usually paying out more than they did in the earlier two many years owing to high inflation. The common on the web selling cost on Tuesday and Wednesday, for illustration, was up 8% in contrast to last calendar year, and 17% in comparison to 2020, Salesforce claimed.
Online paying in November and December is predicted to hit $209.7 billion, a 2.5% bounce from 2021, in accordance to Adobe Analytics. That is sluggish progress when compared to very last year’s acquire of 8.6%.


text:
People News: Visit Baton Rouge, IAEE, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and More Tap New Leadership, Expand Teams
While the U.S. economy may be losing momentum, that hasn’t stopped trade show and event-related organizations—particularly convention and visitors bureaus—from hiring fresh talent and placing new and experienced leadership at the helm. Take a look!
Visit Baton Rouge
Jill Kidder, current president and CEO of the Louisiana Travel Association (LTA), the primary voice for Louisiana’s tourism industry, has been tapped to become the new president and CEO of Visit Baton Rouge. Selected by the Visit Baton Rouge Board of Directors June 30, she will replace current President and CEO Paul Arrigo, who is retiring in September.
Kidder also serves as president and CEO of the Louisiana Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (LACVB) and previously served as executive director of the Alexandria/Pineville CVB.
“The search committee and the board did an outstanding job with the selection process,” Arrigo said. “Jill inherits a staff that is second to none. I look forward to working with her and the staff to make this transition as smooth as possible, and I wish her much success for Baton Rouge.”
The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) recently made several promotions among its 22-person staff of industry professionals following the departure of Scott Craighead, IAEE vice president of exhibitions and events, who is leaving for an opportunity with a destination marketing organization. They are as follows:
- Lisa Buchanan, from director of membership and chapter engagement to vice president, engagement and digital strategy
- Hannah Deters, from senior events and registration manager to director, event management
- Marsha Flanagan, from vice president, learning experiences to senior vice president, events and learning experiences
- Stacy Powers, from senior education manager to director, learning experiences
Buchanan and Flanagan now report to IAEE Executive Vice President and COO Cathy Breden.
Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) recently promoted Lindsey Raimondi to public relations manager after nearly three years with the organization. In her new role, Raimondi will focus efforts on implementing strategic communications programs to support ACVB’s business plan and manage the day-to-day activities of the PR team. She will be the lead contact for domestic media, leveraging those relationships and opportunities to increase Atlanta’s visibility as a top U.S. travel destination.
A previous summer intern with ACVB, Raimondi has held positions as public relations coordinator at Georgia Aquarium and public relations trainee with the Atlanta Braves prior to returning to the organization as PR specialist.
Destinations International has appointed 15-year tourism industry veteran Gathan Borden as its senior vice president of marketing and communications, responsible for the strategic development and implementation of all marketing and communications efforts designed to advise and facilitate engagement opportunities for partners and members, as well as position Destinations International as an industry thought leader across the globe. He will start his new role Aug. 15.
Currently, Borden is the vice president of marketing at VisitLEX in Lexington, Ky., where he has overseen the advertising, branding, marketing, public relations, social media, visitor services and web strategies for the city of Lexington as it relates to travel and tourism since July 2015. Prior to that, he spent time at Louisville Tourism in various marketing roles.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
Starting in early September, hospitality and meetings industry leader Lisa Messina will join the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) as chief sales officer, tasked with leading and helping to grow meeting, convention and trade show sales for Las Vegas and for the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). She joins the LVCVA from Caesars Entertainment, where she was senior vice president of sales, responsible for driving revenue strategy and leading a team of 120 sales directors.
Prior to Caesars Entertainment, Messina served as executive director of intermediary group sales for Hilton Worldwide, in addition to a past leadership role with ConferenceDirect.
INFiLED, a global leader in LED displays, has hired seasoned LED professional Crystal Wu to support its rapidly growing U.S. sales team. Bringing 15 years of experience in the LED display industry to her new role, Wu possesses a combined experience in sales, marketing, customer service and project management in both the rental and fixed install markets.
Based out of the Los Angeles office, she will work closely with customers to understand their needs and develop the appropriate solutions for their rental/staging and system integration projects.
Twenty-year convention sales professional Dustin Arnheim has joined Choose Chicago as its new senior vice president of sales and services, serving as a key executive member of the senior leadership team. In his new role, Arnheim is responsible for leading a team of 20 sales and services professionals and providing overall leadership of these departments, securing new conventions and meetings at venues throughout the city, including McCormick Place, driving visitation and promoting Chicago to global business travelers and partnering with more than 150 hotel partners to generate hotel tax revenue for the city.
Arnheim most recently served as Visit Baltimore’s senior vice president of sales and customer experience, and prior to that, was senior director of sales at Visit Indy. He also spent time with Hyatt Hotels Corporation, starting his career in Chicago as a meeting connections sales manager and association sales manager at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
Leading event marketing and management company, RainFocus, has hired Susan Hanson as its new chief people officer, responsible for leading culture and innovation and driving the company’s next phase of growth.
A proven leader with more than 20 years specializing in human resources, compliance and privacy, Hanson will support the company’s growth, drive culture and innovation, oversee the people strategy, refine strategic business initiatives and ensure the right talent is in place to continue delivering successful client experiences.
Hanson previously served as vice president of human resources at Provation, initially part of Wolters-Kluwer, where she led talent and succession planning. Prior to that, she was director of human resources and later, compliance and privacy officer at Experian, where she established a compliance program and was the central liaison for internal departments, external business partners and vendors.
Digital signage platforms leader, YCD Multimedia, has promoted two team members while expanding its global team. The immersive digital experience designers promoted Ido Aviram to general manager and Dina Townsend to vice president of sales and marketing–Americas.
New additions include Roman Koushner as vice president of sales and marketing–EMEA, Randi Tomchin as an inside sales executive for the Americas and Stuart Armstrong and his firm AAG Consulting as an advisory board consultant to help the YCD parent holding company grow through mergers and acquisitions.
ATL Airport District
The ATL Airport District, the destination marketing organization for the cities of College Park, Hapeville and Union City, Ga., has promoted Kristin Schneider from director of sales to vice president of sales. Bringing nearly seven years of experience promoting and selling the district’s convention and meeting space options, her new role will include expanded responsibilities for promoting its meeting and event opportunities.
Schneider joined the ATL Airport District team in 2015 as sales manager, quickly rising to senior sales manager and was promoted shortly after to director of sales. She previously served as sales manager at the Georgia International Convention Center.
Visit Salt Lake
Suzanne Bajek recently joined Visit Salt Lake (VSL) as its new national sales manager for the Northeast region. Bringing more than 30 years of experience in hospitality sales, most recently with Mohegan Sun Resort, Bajek brings a wealth of experience with northeast clientele to her new role.
A native of Connecticut who currently resides between New York and Boston, two major markets for VSL, Bajek will work alongside Karen Staples, managing director of sales–East Coast as she makes her debut in the destination marketing space.
Have some people news to share? Please send announcements and high-resolution headshots to firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
Face of the French fashion house since 2008 Marion Cotillard becomes Lady Dior once again in an exclusive video by Mert & Marcus. See the latest editions of the Lady Dior bag in a video that echoes the 2016 cruise collection, unveiled exclusively on Vogue.fr.
Zendaya shuts down Paris Fashion Week in her Valentino shorts suit
By Alice Newbold
Brooklyn and Nicola take us to fashion church on Sunday
By Alex Kessler
3 celebrity hairdressers talk about Linda Evangelista's iconic pixie cut
By Hannah Coates


text:
Some days ago we told you that LG has exhibited a 84-inch 3DTV with a 4Kx2K resolution. On SID 2010 in Seattle LG has also exhibited new touch, OLED, curved display, and IPS technology.
Display technology by LG
LG has brought a lot of interesting technology to this year’s SID 2010 fair in Seattle.
One of the new technologies that LG had on display was a 21.5 optical touch panel that combines the advantages of capacitive touch technology which is very responsive, and resistive touch technology which is ideal for writing on small surfaces
In the ‘Next-Generation Display’ Zone, LG Display presented its different display technologies. On display was a 10.1-inch curved LCD with slim glass, and the world’s thinnest TV panel which measures just 2.6mm in thickness.
LG also exhibited a 15.6-inch notebook LCD product that realizes the world’s lowest power consumption levels, a 3.98-inch UHD mobile high resolution (394 PPI) panel, and a 9.7-inch color e-paper display scheduled to begin mass production within the year.
Finally, LG had brought a 19-inch flexible e-paper and a 3-inch OLED panel for handheld devices.
LG will be promoting their IPS technology on SID 2010 as well.
The zone will feature a 240Hz 47-inch LCD TV with 3 ms MPRT (motion picture response time) and a 9.7-inch smartbook product utilizing AH-IPS technology. Most smaller LCD panels today are based on the cheaper TN panel technology.
LG will also have some side-by-side comparisons between IPS and TN monitors on their stand.
Most of the exhibited technologies are soon coming to the market and the SID fair have a tradition of indicating the marked trends in the coming years.


text:
Artificial intelligence is often overhyped in the media as a magic panacea that will solve all of our day-to-day problems while taking all of our jobs away – or become sentient and lead a robot uprising. But for any business leader attending Nvidia GTC yesterday, the future of AI in a business will hinge on reassessing how the technology can help solve an operational problem or accelerate a company’s efficiency performance. or more systems.
The creation and deployment of a wide range of applications can best be achieved through digital innovations, with AI being the leader among these. And so it was that much of the Nvidia GTC developer conference involved AI and the metaverse (the evolving three-dimensional internet that is poised to significantly impact not just industries, but even on society at large, as consumers become more familiar with virtualized worlds.
A new AI platform
There were a lot of announcements and reveals during the conference (which ends tomorrow), but the metaverse and AI played a central role in many of them. Nvidia has unveiled a number of updates for its DGX ecosystem of full-stack AI infrastructure development tools, including revealing the latest Nvidia DGX H100 AI platform for enterprises.
Built with 80 billion transistors and a host of advancements, the DGX H100 delivers up to nine times the performance when colocated in Nvidia DGX-enabled data centers and networking capabilities twice as fast as its predecessor, thanks to the supercharged AI performance of the NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU. With the Nvidia Hopper AI architecture and powerful new Transformer Engine, H100 will enable enterprises to dramatically reduce the cost of delivering AI applications, while delivering the same level of AI performance as AI pioneers. companies expect Nvidia DGX systems and software.
That means three and a half times more energy efficient, but with three times lower overhead and using up to five times fewer server nodes than the previous generation. H100-enabled systems are expected to power the next generation of high-performance computing (HPC), and more than 50 server models from major vendors including Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Fujitsu, and Lenovo are expected to flood the market before the end of the year.
Preview on LaunchPad
To support the outsized workloads and huge natural language processing models demanded by a variety of industries – from biotech to customer service, with AI enabling things like chatbots and pushing the boundaries of discovery new drugs – Nvidia Base Command and Nvidia AI Enterprise software are built into every DGX system, enabling deployments for all kinds of data center computing, from a single node all the way up to an Nvidia DGX SuperPOD.
But for companies that just can’t wait until the end of the year, Nvidia has revealed that H100 on Dell PowerEdge servers is now available on Nvidia’s LaunchPad platform, along with free training and hands-on tutorials. on the latest features and capabilities of the latest generation of the architecture. Organizations will be able to access compatible hardware and the latest Nvidia AI software.
Nvidia also announced the expansion of its partnership with Deloitte at GTC, to provide Deloitte professional staff with access to the Nvidia AI and NVIDIA Omniverse™ Enterprise platforms, combining the Nvidia product ecosystem with Deloitte’s specialization to help its customers to innovate. Types of AI deployments that can be strengthened include edge and speech AI systems, recommendation engines, conversational AI, digital pairing, and cybersecurity applications.
Development of cloud solutions
The collaboration aims to develop and implement hybrid cloud solutions with Nvidia AI hardware and software, including DGX systems, to innovate both at the Deloitte Center for AI Computing, where the development of AI solutions for Deloitte’s clients can be hosted and accelerated, and Deloitte’s Unlimited Reality Services where 3D open-world design collaboration and simulation (including the creation of immersive 3D replicas of real environments so businesses can make decisions informed to optimize space operations) can be given due attention.
A number of other integrated Nvidia product lines help extend the capabilities of the NVIDIA AI and Omniverse platforms, making them more accessible, capable, and scalable to meet rapidly growing and rapidly digitizing organizational needs.


text:
It does seem as though there is some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for HTC as the Taiwanese company does look as though they are about to make a significant comeback. After all, we did mention that the HTC One M8 has pushed the company into profit, which is not surprising considering the good work done in that flagship that turned the perception of the masses around in favor to HTC. Well, the HTC Desire 616 happens to be a new dual SIM handset that was first introduced in China (after seeing a photo of it leaked earlier), but it has since made its way across North Asia, South Asia, China and Russia.
In other words, the HTC Desire 616 does look as though it is going to be a China exclusive, since there are no concrete plans at all right now to roll out the Desire 616 anywhere outside of the Asian region. Just what kind of hardware specifications does the Desire 616 pack underneath the hood?
For starters, this 5” smartphone will run on an octa-core 1.4GHz processor, where it will be accompanied by a 2,000 mAh removable battery, 4GB of internal memory, a microSD memory card slot for expansion purposes, an 8MP shooter at the back, a 2MP front-facing camera, and depending on which part of Asia you reside it, the final price will differ. A ballpark figure would be $240 thereabouts though.


text:
Content Coms sustainability guru Giles Crosse looks at surviving Brexit; a guide for SMEs
Whether you voted Leave or Remain, Brexit is here.
SMEs are the businesses most affected by short term economics. Their day to day existence is governed by cashflow and order books. Even 2 or 3 year blips can signal big trouble for many.
Therefore, Brexit tremors pose SMEs challenges. But SMEs hold a massive stake in the UK economy too. The FSB says small businesses accounted for 99.3% of UK private sector businesses at the start of 2015.
Further; employment in SMEs was 15.6 million; 60% of all private sector employment in the UK, and combined annual turnover of SMEs was £1.8 trillion, 47% of all UK private sector turnover.
So guiding SMEs through Brexit isn’t just about the odd entrepreneur’s career. It’s about keeping the UK’s economic lifeblood pumping.
What should SMEs do now Brexit is here?
The Financial Times reported on 29 June that two SMEs it spoke with had just had credit lines pulled. Another said its recent funding round would have failed had it come after the vote. Then there are companies accustomed to EU subsidies, like dairy firms. Will the next Tory Government find the cash to match payments from Brussels, now dead in the water? Unlikely.
That is the negative side. Contrastingly, Lloyds’ SME Managing Director told Parliament on 28 June that nothing had changed for its SME services, and the bank was very much open for business.
SMEs could, frankly, spend days poring over broadsheets, and while away sleepless nights stressing over whats, ifs and buts.
At Content Coms, our analysis suggests a different, proactive approach is better.
Empowerment for SMEs; broadcast the fact you’re still in business
a) Nothing fundamental has yet changed. While others linger; pump out the message you are active, trading and ready for business in Europe and beyond. Win business while competitors hesitate.
b) Lobby Government, local MPs and business leaders to hold fast to the EU laws, especially on sustainability, that help UK business. At Content Coms, we specialise in low carbon. We know sustainable, energy efficient businesses will form the backbone of UK prosperity for years to come. Shout for maintenance of the UK’s low carbon lead.
c) Rationalise cost. Examine how efficiency can minimise your energy spend. Then, shout about the fact, and use it in your marketing as evidence of futureproofing against potential Brexit shocks. Prove you are an intelligent, forward looking firm, shielded with wise risk management.
d) Talk with the EU. If you do business there, call your contacts today. Promise them you are here to help them. Endorse your commitments to them. In other words, maintain your own chunk of the EU market.
Remember; the media and the politicians love a storm
Half of what you read about Brexit is untrue; the other half is speculation. As is what politicians, who don’t actually know, will tell you.
Media and political careers are built on scaremongering and opportunity. Don’t get caught up in these games. As an SME, your job is to move, swiftly and efficiently, back to business as normal. By doing so now you can prove to competitors and Europe alike just how worthy of investment, support and new business you are.
A Guardian feature, published before Brexit, found small businesses evenly split on Leave or Remain. But tellingly, ‘Half of all respondents could not give a clear business reason for both sides of the argument.’
This is because, unsurprisingly, no one can predict the future. Don’t pretend you can, or even try. Get to work now on day to day business. Top of the list should be clarifying and delivering your marketing stance to the UK, Europe and beyond; we are ready for business, you are welcome to join us.
In so doing, UK SMEs as a whole can achieve what politicians seemingly cannot; logical consensus and a path forward to sustainable trade, jobs and opportunities within an open Europe.
SMEs themselves can show EU firms how keen we are to do business, how valuable our trade is to both sides. Don’t let opportunistic, weak minded politicians scupper your business ambitions. Speak up now, and you will be trading with Europe long after they have left office.
“The Guardian says it all,” comments Jo Watchman, Founder and CEO of Content Coms, itself an SME. “The Guardian writes; ‘some expect this to be a short-term problem as the real UK economy is essentially strong.’”
Strong now, and stronger in the future it can remain, if our SME leaders grab the initiative.


text:
Google Wallet will soon allow its users to send money to anyone in their contact list, without the need for an email address.
An imminent update to the Google Wallet service will soon change how users are able to send and receive money; instead of the app requiring an email address or other contact details, all that will now be required is a simple phone number.
In the future, when a user elects this method to send money, a user will reieve a text message with a secure link which, once accessed, will require a user to enter a debit card number to secure the funds and will then be transferred into a checking account within minutes.
Presently, users who are invested in using Google Wallet are stymied by the fact that both transactional parties are required to have the app and a bank account linked to it in order to facilitate any kind of transfer.
There’s no word as yet on the arrival of Google Wallet or Apple Pay in South Africa, despite companies such as Samsung and LG joining the mobile payments party with Samsung Pay and LG Pay respectively.
What are your thoughts? Would you use Google Wallet were it available in South Africa? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!


text:
Like other so-called “High Streets” around the country, the Magnificent Mile is at a crossroads.
Chicago’s premier retail strip has seen vacancy climb to 12 percent. It has seen a number of major store closings, including Forever 21 and Tommy Bahama late last year, and with Topshop planning to soon shutter a three-floor store.
And average new leases started at $450 per square foot in 2018, down from $550 per square foot in 2016, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Other “High Streets” like New York’s Fifth Avenue and Lincoln Road in Miami are similarly feeling the pinch after years of soaring rents, according to the Tribune.
But the Mag Mile is unique in having more malls and department stores, which keep vacancy down and provide long-term stability, experts said. Without the malls and department stores, vacancy on the strip would be 29 percent, the Tribune reports.
And even though the ongoing redevelopment of Tribune Tower by CIM Group and Golub & Company will add 48,000 square feet of new retail space, experts said there are several signs of hope along the Mag Mile.
One is the diversification of the tenants, including Starbucks’ new 43,000-square-foot cafe and roastery in a vacated Crate & Barrel. Niketown also dedicated a large space to a huge treadmill for classes and gear test-runs.
Another is Chicago’s booming tourism industry, which had a record year in 2018. Plus, the hundreds of planned condos and apartments in the Tribune Tower redevelopment are poised to bring hordes of new potential customers to go with all those tourists.
[Chicago Tribune] — Joe Ward


text:
- NL Sena
An internal mail announced that Dwaipayan Bose, the editor of Mail Today, will move to take charge of IndiaToday.in.
Mail Today, an English language tabloid published by the India Today Group, has suspended its print edition with plans to "reboot" in a "digital avatar".
Aroon Purie, the chairman and editor-in-chief of the India Today Group, sent an internal mail to employees, which said:
Purie said that Dwaipayan Bose, the editor of Mail Today, will move to take charge of IndiaToday.in, reporting to vice-chairperson Kalli Purie.
The mail continued:
Purie noted that the Covid pandemic has "drastically changed reader preferences" and that the "daily and rigorous news consumption on devices during the lockdown makes it clear that the newspaper print medium will not resurrect".
Prior to the pandemic, newspapers were already battered by the economic slowdown. For them, Covid is the final blow.


text:
Results 1 - 20 of 3455
Why Does A Flashlight App Need Your Location?
(Saturday, December 07, 2013 5:46:11 PM IST)
Many apps take your device's location and other information and supply them to third parties, including advertisers and marketers.
Microsoft To Sell Dell Venue 8 Tablet At $99 On Monday
(Saturday, December 07, 2013 4:03:04 PM IST)
The tablet is otherwise priced at $299.
Apple's New iPads Now Available In India
(Saturday, December 07, 2013 3:31:05 PM IST)
The iPad Air starts at Rs 35,900 while the iPad Mini starts at Rs 28,900.
Preorder Xolo Play Tegra Note Tab From Infibeam At Rs. 17,999
(Saturday, December 07, 2013 10:04:15 AM IST)
Google Voice Search Can Now Understand Japanese, German
(Saturday, December 07, 2013 2:17:11 AM IST)
The Voice Search feature is still work in progress though.
Apple iPad Air Coming Soon On Snapdeal.com
(Friday, December 06, 2013 4:53:37 PM IST)
CyanogenMod 11.0 M1 KitKat Based ROM Released
(Friday, December 06, 2013 4:52:49 PM IST)
Cyanogen is going for a monthly release as opposed to the usual nightlies this time.
Google Brings Android 4.4.1 Update To Nexus Devices
(Friday, December 06, 2013 11:46:42 AM IST)
This is the first update for Google's newly launched Android KitKat OS.
Google Search Can Now Show You In-App Results
(Friday, December 06, 2013 8:51:34 AM IST)
Users will now be able to get information from inside apps.
Xolo Play Tegra Note Tablet Comes To India
(Thursday, December 05, 2013 6:27:49 PM IST)
The device is in direct competition with the Google Nexus 7 tablet.
Google And Asus Launch Nexus 7 (2013) Tablet In India
(Thursday, December 05, 2013 5:44:24 PM IST)
Though the device has been available on Google Play for some time now, now it is officially available.
10 Interesting Tech Gadgets That Make For Good Holiday Gifts
(Thursday, December 05, 2013 4:10:34 PM IST)
Gadgets are useful and make for really great gifts. Here are a few options!
ASUS And Google Launch The All-New Nexus 7 In India
(Thursday, December 05, 2013 2:16:16 PM IST)
Windows Phone OS To Get File Manager Built-In
(Wednesday, December 04, 2013 12:52:36 PM IST)
The OS has lacked a file manager always now.
Buyback Schemes May Be Offered For New iPads In India Too
(Tuesday, December 03, 2013 5:47:40 PM IST)
The new iPads are to be launched in India on 7 December.
Apple Buys Twitter Insights Firm 'Topsy'
(Tuesday, December 03, 2013 5:22:24 PM IST)
What Apple plans to do with the acquisition is still unclear.
Microsoft-Nokia Deal Gains Approval In The US
(Tuesday, December 03, 2013 5:00:56 PM IST)
The two companies will now head to Europe for getting the approval.
KitKat Running On 1.1 Per Cent Android Devices Within A Month Of Its Launch
(Tuesday, December 03, 2013 1:34:29 PM IST)
The KitKat OS was designed by Google to run on the lowest RAM driven smartphones.
Nexus 7 (2013) Tablet Now Available On Flipkart
(Tuesday, December 03, 2013 12:54:20 PM IST)
The device is available at pretty much the same price as it is on Google Play.
Surface Pro 2 Cyber Monday 2013 Surface Pro 2 Deals And Sales Details Are At Thankshopping.com
Result Page: 1 2 3 Next
(Tuesday, December 03, 2013 12:11:11 PM IST)


text:
Target's 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report: Progress, and a Look Forward
A Bullseye View | August 13, 2021
Target announces its 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report, sharing accomplishments in the face of unprecedented challenges, while caring for its team and communities like never before. A few highlights to celebrate:
Providing more than 3,000 hours of pro-bono consulting services for Black-, Indigenous-, and People-of-Color-owned small businesses in the Twin Cities. Plus, Target will take on new pro-bono projects, expanding the program to Chicago, Atlanta and the Bay Area of California.
Diverting more than 60% of construction waste and more than 80% of operational waste from landfills. This sets it on track to reduce or divert 90% of waste by 2030 and includes recycling 573,633 tons of cardboard within its operations.
Joining the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, a groundbreaking new partnership built to identify, pilot and implement innovative alternative designs for the single-use retail bag.
An additional $1 billion toward team members well-being, health and safety. Target increased wages and bonus payouts for frontline team members, offering paid leave support, free access to virtual health care navigating the pandemic.
“As we embark on our new sustainability strategy, Target Forward, we know that there is much work to be done as we strive to deliver on our goals. And we remain committed to keeping people and planet at the heart of what we do — co-creating an equitable and regenerative future with our team, guests and communities we serve," says Amanda Nusz, senior vice president of corporate responsibility, Target, and president of the Target Foundation.