Sales & Marketing news

• Nearly half of tech 'unicorns' rely on tricky math to land imaginary valuations

  02-08-2017 23:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  Two business professors studied the valuations of 116 unicorns, finding that many overstated their value.
  When they adjusted valuations for special protections provided to VC investors, nearly half of unicorns lost their coveted $1 billion status.
  Tech "unicorns," once a rarity, have become commonplace.
  Some 200 now exist around the world — with more than half coming from the US — earning an aggregate valuation of $600 billion, according to a recent study by two business profess
  
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• Tesla burns through the most cash in its history (TSLA)

  02-08-2017 23:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  Tesla burned through a record amount of cash in the second quarter as it prepared to unveil its Model 3 sedan. 
  The company's earnings statement released Wednesday showed that Tesla's negative free cash flow expanded to a record -$1.2 billion from -$622.4 million a year earlier. 
  The stakes are high for Tesla's first mass-market car priced at $35,000. Tesla on Wednesday said production was on track to hit its targets, and that over 1,800 vehicles were being ordered daily on net.
  Tesla
  
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• An influential US Senator is worried about the stock market getting hacked

  02-08-2017 23:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  Senator Mark Warner (D-Va) just sent a letter to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission focused on cybersecurity.
  The letter is focused on Reg SCI, which requires certain trading venues to notify the SEC when there has been an intrusion.
  He wants there to be more transparency about which firms are subject to the rule, and for investment advisers and broker-dealers to factor in compliance to Reg SCI when deciding where to trade stocks.
  Senator Mark Warner (D-Va) is worried about
  
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• The bitcoin split gave some investors free money — here's why not everyone got paid

  02-08-2017 22:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  On Tuesday, bitcoin split in two, doubling the holdings of some investors. 
  With bitcoin cash trading around $400, those investors got a big payday. 
  Not everyone is benefitting because not every exchange backed the new cryptocurrency. 
  The bitcoin split doubled the holdings of some investors, and today they appear to be reaping the benefits of the much anticipated fork. 
  To recap, on Tuesday, bitcoin split in two following a years-long battle in the community over
  
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• Warren Buffett's bet on Apple gains $1 billion in a single day (AAPL)

  02-08-2017 22:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  Warren Buffett's bet on Apple gained $1 billion on Wednesday.
  Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns about 135 million shares of Apple. Apple released its third quarter earnings report after the bell on Tuesday and beat Wall Street's expectations. Shares of the company rose 5.11% on Wednesday following the strong report to $157.72.
  Multiplying Berkshire Hathaway's 135 million shares by the $7.67 rise in Apple's stock price nets the holding company $1,035,319,579; more than $1 billion in a single day
  
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• Inside the rise, fall, rebound, and spectacular flameout of Anthony Scaramucci

  02-08-2017 22:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  Anthony Scaramucci is still planning to sell his firm, SkyBridge Capital, and that has his friends and colleagues wondering what's next.
  People close to him say he's still interested in politics, and he told a reporter this week that he'll reemerge after laying low for a while.
  The former White House communications director is used to being a misfit, on Wall Street and in DC.
  NEW YORK CITY — There's something you need to know about Anthony Scaramucci: He's humiliated himself epically befo
  
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• Tesla reports a smaller loss than expected, says Model 3 production is on track to hit targets (TSLA)

  02-08-2017 22:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  Tesla on Wednesday reported a smaller quarterly loss than expected and said production of its Model 3 sedan remained on track to hit targets.
  The electric-car maker reported a loss of $1.33 per adjusted share on revenue of $2.79 billion. Analysts had forecast Tesla lost $1.88 per share and earned $2.51 billion in revenue, according to Bloomberg.
  The results came after Tesla's big event on Friday to launch the mass-market Model 3.
  In the earnings letter, Tesla said it averaged over 1,800 net Mode
  
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• How Anthony Scaramucci rose to the top of Wall Street, sold his company, tanked his marriage, and traded it all for a wild 10 days in Trump's White House

  02-08-2017 22:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  It only took Anthony Scaramucci 10 days to go from getting hired as President Donald Trump's new communications director to suddenly looking for a new job.
  The Long Island native has a long history on Wall Street, and was an early, vocal backer of President Donald Trump.
  Scaramucci's appointment to the White House set off a firestorm of controversy that included the resignation of embattled press secretary Sean Spicer, the ousting of chief of staff Reince Priebus, and an expletive-filled in
  
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• 4 more senior staffers have exited Guggenheim Partners amid ongoing internal strife

  02-08-2017 21:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  Three senior bond traders and a senior portfolio manager have left Guggenheim Partners, according to a report from Bloomberg. 
  This adds to a wave of recent exits, as 10 other senior staffers had already left the company in the past 15 months amid a reported power struggle between the firm's two top executives.The Bloomberg report said the latest round of departures includes: Andrew Arthur, a managing director in sales; Luke Lawrence, a junk-bond trader; Matt Bagley
  
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• Snap sinks to new lows — but hitting one key number could stop the bleeding (SNAP)

  02-08-2017 21:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  Snap hit another all-time low in its seemingly endless downward slide. But, according to one analyst, there's a way to stop the bleeding.
  Snap fell to a low of $12.53 a share on Wednesday, making for its lowest print since its March 1 initial public offering. 
  According to Justin Post, an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, there's one key metric that Snap can hit in its August 10 earnings report that can cause shares to reverse course.
  "We continue to believe the [daily active
  
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• John McCain is now more popular with Democrats than Republicans after his vote to kill the GOP healthcare bill

  02-08-2017 21:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  John McCain is enjoying high levels of approval from many voters — just not those in his own party.
  McCain's vote, along with fellow Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, helped kill the Republican push to overhaul the US healthcare system last week. And it appears Democrats now appreciate the Arizona senator much more than Republicans.
  A new Quinnipiac poll showed 39% of Republican voters held a positive view of McCain and 49% held a negative view. By contrast, Democratic vot
  
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• Marketoonist on misinterpreting data

  02-08-2017 16:16
  Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne
  See more of the Marketoonist here
  The post Marketoonist on misinterpreting data appeared first on Marketing Week.
  
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• Ryanair unveils voice-controlled booking in customer service focus

  02-08-2017 15:54
  Ryanair customers will soon be able to use their voices to search for and book flights and hotels as the budget airline introduces Alexa voice recognition.
  Speaking at a press conference today (2 August) the airline’s CMO Kenny Jacobs said the changes form part of its ‘Always Getting Better’ customer experience programme as it looks to become the “Amazon of travel”.
  At first, the functionality will only be available on Ryanair.com, but Jacobs told Marketing Week tha
  
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• Lucozade plots biggest ever product launch as it enters water market

  02-08-2017 15:27
  Lucozade is planning its biggest ever product launch as it looks to shake-up the bottled water industry by offering “functional water” targeted at people with a fitness-inspired lifestyle.
  The launch of ‘Fitwater’ is the culmination of a two-year journey after research showed that exercise is changing and people are doing less intense exercise. As a result, Lucozade is hoping to reach a broader group of people than its current sports drinks, including those that exercise
  
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• Mark Ritson: Marketing debate is so polarised it’s hard to be sure of anything

  02-08-2017 13:14
  The worst of all sins in marketing, in my book at least, is the use of that hoary old quote often incorrectly attributed to either John Wanamaker or Lord Leverhulme. You know the one with the apocryphal line that “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don’t know which half”. If it crops up in a presentation, marketing article or debate – with the exception of this masterpiece you’re reading at the moment – it signals an almost inev
  
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• Small budget, big impact: How to create video on a shoestring

  02-08-2017 12:50
  Video is understandably an attractive medium for brands – it’s creative, gets the message out and stylishly shows off products and services in action.
  Take Ted Baker, for example. Last year, the brand teamed up with with film director Guy Ritchie to launch a short video that allowed consumers to click and buy featured products. It even launched its own video series using Instagram Stories in March.
  Campaigns like this require the type of budget that most smaller brands can
  
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• From ‘stories’ to livestreaming: The newest video formats for brands

  02-08-2017 07:00
  As brands become more aware of the need for video content, social media sites and content creators are proving their worth through livestreaming, tailoring video options to screen size and launching several variations of short, disappearing ‘live’ videos.
  The way content is created, branded and shared is constantly evolving. Here Marketing Week explores some of the newest options in video.
  The rise of live video
  Livestreaming is currently being tried, tested and launched via var
  
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• YouTube doubles rate at which it removes extremist videos

  02-08-2017 02:00
  SAN BRUNO, CA: YouTube, the Alphabet-owned video platform, announced that it has doubled the number of videos it has removed for violent extremism, and doubled the rate at which it removes them.Announcing the
  
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• United Healthcare tickles the funny bone

  02-08-2017 02:00
  CANNES: United Healthcare, the healthcare provider, has effectively leveraged humour as a means of engaging consumers in a classic low-interest category.Andrew Mackenzie, United Healthcare’s CMO, discussed the brand’s on-going...
  
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• The Chinese senior market shows huge potential for growth

  02-08-2017 02:00
  BEIJING: Shifting mindsets among mature Chinese consumers have uncovered huge spending potential, spurred by the rapid growth in the country’s economy. Chinese seniors now have the luxury to think about themselves and explore opportunities...
  
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• Picking a path through header bidding

  02-08-2017 02:00
  LONDON: Header bidding has solved many problems in the programmatic buying process but its very success has thrown up new ones, according to an industry figure.In a WARC Best Practice paper,
  
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• Indian tourists embrace Monsoon travel

  02-08-2017 02:00
  NEW DELHI: Indian travellers are taking advantage of aggressive deals from travel companies, delivering record year-on-year growth. As a result, monsoon season this year surpassed the earlier summer season in terms of booking growth.“Average...
  
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• Amazon wrestles ATP tennis from Sky

  02-08-2017 02:00
  LONDON: Amazon Prime Video will broadcast practically all top-level men’s tennis in the UK, except for the four grand slam events, as the ecommerce giant outbid the ATP’s current home, Sky Sports, in a deal thought to be worth up to...
  
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