Sales & Marketing news

• My daughter's preschool just said they will accept bitcoins for tuition — I think that's a terrible idea

  26-05-2017 23:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The rest of my daughter's preschool tuition is due on June 1st. I just got a message from the school informing me that they are pleased to announce that they will now be accepting bitcoins for tuition payments.
  It's a really interesting time to be getting this email given that the value of a bitcoin has gone up 30% in the past week and has doubled in less than two months.
  If I chose to take them up on their offer I would be paying them about nine and a half bitcoins at the current price. If I ha
  
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• Here's what a typical day is like at the New York Stock Exchange, which turned 225 years old this month

  26-05-2017 22:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  See story here.Join the conversation about this story »NOW WATCH: Trump is reportedly selling his Caribbean estate for $28 million — take a look inside
  
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• Gentlemen, a few things to keep in mind about your dress shirts

  26-05-2017 22:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  We've seen some bad dress shirts. Don't pretend you haven't as well.
  You've seen the guy at the office with the untucked billowy shirt.
  You have the friend who still thinks it's okay to wear a dated black, striped dress shirt out to the bar. He is unaware that he looks like a member of Smash Mouth.
  Most bad dress shirts fall under the categories of, too big; too wrinkled; wrong color; wrong fit. A bad dress shirt can make you look sloppier, fatter and cheesier than you ever want to look.
  So we a
  
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• Apple is working on a chip to power artificial intelligence in future gadgets, including the iPhone

  26-05-2017 21:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Apple is working on chips to power artificial-intelligence capabilities in its gadgets, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported Friday.
  The chips would handle more advanced AI tasks, such as facial recognition, and help better manage battery life and power, the report says. The chips could also be used in future products, like self-driving cars or digital glasses, in addition to iPhones and iPads.
  The news comes as Apple's competitors like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have made significant advancement
  
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• One of the most hated drug companies on Wall Street is facing another nasty probe

  26-05-2017 20:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has sent a letter to Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, asking the company for details about the pricing of its pain medication, Ofirmev.
  Ofirmev can be used as a safer alternative to opioids, and Mallinckrodt acquired the drug in 2014 when it purchased Cadence Pharmaceuticals for $1.4 billion.
  Almost immediately after the sale, Mallinckrodt doubled the price of Ofirmev to 1,019.52 for a pack of 24 vials.
  This is costing hospitals a fortune, so some of them are using c
  
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• Iconic hedge fund manager Seth Klarman says investors are missing huge risks

  26-05-2017 19:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  An iconic hedge fund manager says investors are misperceiving risks in the markets — at a time when markets are hitting historic highs.
  Baupost Group's Seth Klarman laid out his concerns in April in a client letter, a copy of which was reviewed by Business Insider.
  Risk, Klarman wrote, is the most important consideration when investing, and investors are being too trusting.
  To make his point, Klarman contrasted today with the start of the financial crisis.
  "When share prices are low, as th
  
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• Oil-rig count rises for 19th straight week

  26-05-2017 19:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The US oil-rig count rose by two to 722 last week, according to oilfields-services company Baker Hughes. 
  This week marks the one-year anniversary of when the tally bottomed after the price downturn. The stunning drop in the number of rigs was a proxy for how hard lower prices were hurting exploration companies. 
  With 19 straight weeks of rig additions and oil near $50 a barrel, producers are clearly more confident in market conditions than they were a year ago.  
  The gas-rig
  
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• Nationwide: Brands are turning a blind eye to safety and measurement issues

  26-05-2017 16:50
  
  From left to right: Jakob Nielsen, GroupM, Simon Cook, YouView, Chris Ladd, Nationwide, Jonathan Lewis, Channel 4 and Jamie West, Sky. Photo credit: Paul Hampartsoumian/RTSNationwide says TV needs to learn from the mistakes of online services such as Facebook and Google and align itself with “quality” to stay ahead.
  Speaking at an event entitled ‘Is targeted advertising the future of TV?’ hosted by the Royal Television Society earlier this week, the brand’s senior
  
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• US brands will lose $6.5bn to ad fraud in 2017 as report claims the war is ‘winnable’

  26-05-2017 15:48
  
  As brands place more of an emphasis on digital advertising, the risk of ad fraud only increases. But despite this threat, the level of ad fraud in the US is set to fall in 2017.
  According to the latest Bot Baseline report from White Ops and the ANA, which is based on an analysis of 49 ANA members’ digital advertising activity between October 2016 and January 2017, US brands will lose $6.5bn in revenues due to ad fraud in 2017. That is down 10% from 2016 when this figure stood at $7.2bn.
  &l
  
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• M&S, Walkers and Google: 5 things that mattered this week and why

  26-05-2017 12:52
  
  M&S says its marketing is going further amid budget cuts
  Although its CEO Steve Rowe insisted things were on the “right track”, M&S’ annual results were a difficult read this week. Pre-tax profits fell a whopping 63.5% to £176.4m – something Rowe blamed on restructuring costs – for the financial year to 1 April. And like-for-like sales in its struggling general merchandise division fell 3.4% – a return to decline following a surprise growth over
  
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• Sign up to our webinar on why you should embrace the Customer Data evolution

  26-05-2017 12:37
  
  The Customer Data Platform is the evolution of the marketing database. It is a watershed step, improving customer identification, data management, data manipulation and deployment.
  This webinar will look at:
  Reduce costs by removing data silos and platforms. CDPs remove the requirement for up to eight platforms, driving down costs and improving ROI.
  Manage data and technology more easily to deploy multichannel campaigns. Data-driven customer understanding is the key to success in toda
  
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• E.ON launches new marketing strategy in bid to become purpose-led brand

  26-05-2017 12:37
  
  E.ON has overhauled its brand and communications strategy in a bid to keep up with changing consumer needs and be seen as a more “purpose-led” brand.
  To launch the new strategy, the energy brand has unveiled a new digital campaign in collaboration with music act Gorillaz, which sees the band harness the sun’s energy to create a solar and battery storage powered music studio and will run across seven European markets including the UK. The campaign looks to promote E.ON’s n
  
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• Why great teams drive agency creativity

  26-05-2017 01:40
  
  NEW YORK: Agencies seeking to foster greater creativity could benefit from focusing on team dynamics rather than looking to compelling individuals, a paper in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR) has argued.The article, entitled
  
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• Ramadan spending boost for Indonesia

  26-05-2017 01:40
  
  JAKARTA: Ramadan marks the biggest spending month of the year in Indonesia, with marketers hoping to boost sales as consumers, flush with annual wage bonuses, buy a range of items across categories.According to figures from the Indonesian...
  
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• Havas price transparency 'a step in the right direction'

  26-05-2017 01:40
  
  PARIS/SAN FRANCISCO: Havas Group has claimed its new Client Trading Solution – a platform that gives advertisers full visibility on programmatic trading – is a "game changer", but others have been more cautious in their reviews. ...
  
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• Grocery innovation hit by supermarket cuts

  26-05-2017 01:40
  
  BRACKNELL: With leading UK supermarkets cutting the number of products they stock by up to 10%, fewer new branded items are being launched and sales from new products are down.According to a new study by IRI, a provider of big data and predictive...
  
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• Data quality handicaps European marketers

  26-05-2017 01:40
  
  EUROPE: Poor quality data is holding back the effective use of digital advertising across Europe, according to a new survey.When digital media platform Xaxis looked at the delivery of digital advertising campaigns in seven European markets –...
  
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• China cybersecurity law poses questions

  26-05-2017 01:40
  
  BEIJING: With a new cybersecurity law due to come into force in a few days, foreign businesses in China are having to consider the potential impact of recent changes to the language which broadens the scope of those affected.Companieswere...
  
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• Brands risk backlash for political stance

  26-05-2017 01:40
  
  NEW YORK: Brands may not derive benefit from aligning with social or political causes, findings from two studies conducted in the US suggest.The twin studies – a poll of 300 agency professionals and a complementary survey of 1,000 consumers...
  
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• $33 BILLION HEDGE FUND: There could be a recession if the Trump administration doesn't get its act together

  26-05-2017 00:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Billionaire Paul Singer's Elliott Management says we might be in for a recession if the Trump administration doesn't pass reforms in taxes, regulation and health care.
  Trump took office with a plan to cut taxes, cut back on regulations and boost infrastructure spending — all in a bid to raise economic growth. The plans have mostly been stymied by political disagreements over healthcare reform and a probe into Russia's potential interference in the election. 
  In a private first-quarter
  
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