Sales & Marketing news

• Tesla has 6 ways to raise money — here are the pros and cons of each (TSLA)

  07-08-2017 22:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  On Monday, Tesla announced that it would issue bonds to raise $1.5 billion. 
  This debt offering will be a departure from Tesla's previous fundraising vehicles. The ratings agencies didn't run for the hills though. S&P wrote:We affirmed our 'B-' ratings on Tesla despite the higher debt leverage following the proposed offering to reflect its improved liquidity. The offering will provide the company with an adequate cushion to fund its upcoming maturities and significant capital expenditur
  
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• A key state's Obamacare markets are facing a nightmare scenario

  07-08-2017 21:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  Nevada's Division of Insurance said Monday that Anthem, the largest provider of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the country, would pull out of the state's 2018 individual insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.
  Anthem will no longer offer plans in the three counties in which it was planning to participate next year. The insurer had already announced in July plans to exit 14 rural counties in Nevada.
  The newest round of departures in Clark, Washoe, an
  
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• Here's how Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has responded to employee concerns about Facebook (SNAP, FB)

  07-08-2017 21:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  Earlier this year, Snap employees got the chance to ask the CEO, Evan Spiegel, anything on their minds.
  Using a Google document that was shared throughout the company, employees submitted written questions to Spiegel, who had recently started the tradition (unlike execs at other tech companies, Spiegel rarely holds in-person, all-hands meetings).
  The questions from employees revealed a common anxiety: About one dozen of the questions were a variation of whether emp
  
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• Bitcoin can get to $100,000 if it keeps following one of tech's golden rules

  07-08-2017 21:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bitcoin is trading at record highs on Monday, but the cryptocurrency may still be far from hitting its ceiling.
  It rallied 16.19% since July 31, despite last week's fork that split it in two. It's up 465% since last year.
  According to analysis by Dennis Porto, a bitcoin investor and Harvard academic, bitcoin's price could hit $100,000 per coin if it continues to follow one of tech's "golden rules" — Moore's law.
  The rule, which was devised in 1965 by Intel cofounder Gordon Moore, des
  
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• There’s one remarkable trend in the jobs numbers that few people are noticing

  07-08-2017 20:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Trump's view of US job numbers has changed now that he's in office and wants credit
  One remarkable trend in US employment has been the stability of monthly gains
  Weak wages, low inflation suggest things could still get a lot better
  Donald Trump was quick to take credit for a solid July employment report, despite having cast doubt on the veracity of US economic data when it happened to point to strength under former President Barack ObamaThe president took to his preferred medium, Twitter, to si
  
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• Tesla slides following news the company is offering $1.5 billion of junk bonds (TSLA)

  07-08-2017 20:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of Tesla are down 0.39% at $355.53 a piece after the company announced on Monday it will be issue bonds to raise $1.5 billion.
  After the announcement, Standard & Poor's gave the bonds a B- rating, putting them in the high-risk junk bond category. Moody's assigned a similar B3 rating to the bonds.
  "We could lower our ratings on Tesla if execution issues related to the Model 3 launch later this year or the ongoing expansion of its Models S and X production lead
  
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• A model who says she was kidnapped says auctions for women like her go for $300,000 worth of bitcoin

  07-08-2017 19:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  The anonymity of bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has made it a darling of criminals and the so-called dark web. 
  The Italian mafia has used bitcoin to launder money for its illicit activities, for instance, and the notorious WannaCry hackers extorted over $140,000 worth of the cryptocurrency from their malware victims. 
  And the reported kidnapping of a 20-year old mother might provide the latest example of bitcoin being used for nefarious purposes. 
  Chloe Ayling, a Briti
  
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• Top GOP senator: Republicans 'shot their wad' on healthcare

  07-08-2017 19:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  Sen. Orrin Hatch is ready to move on from the Republican healthcare debacle.
  The Utah senator and chair of the Senate Finance Committee told Politico in a story published Monday that the GOP botched its chance at any repeal and replace of Obamacare for now.
  And he had a colorful way of saying it is time to move on to tax reform.
  "We’re not going back to health care," Hatch told Politico. "We’re in tax now. As far as I’m concerned, they shot their wad on health ca
  
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• MORGAN STANLEY: Warnings about a stock market crash are 'out of whack' with reality

  07-08-2017 18:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Some corners of Wall Street are unfazed by all the warnings of a stock-market crash.
  The doomsayers say the market is vulnerable after a period of unusual quiet. For instance, the S&P 500 hasn't closed up or down by more than 0.3% for 12 straight trading days, breaking the previous record of 10 days last set in 1966.
  They also note that stocks are as expensive as they were around the dotcom bubble, judging by the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio.
  In other words, you could say
  
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• These 17 stocks have the highest exposure to emerging markets

  07-08-2017 18:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  HSBC released its list of US stocks with the highest exposure to emerging markets.
  The companies on the list have an average exposure of 65% of total revenues and the entire list has outperformed the broader US market by 20%. Much of that performance is driven by the fact that many of these stocks are from the IT sector.
  The list includes many semiconductor companies such as Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, along with companies from the consumer services, utilities, and software sectors.
  Here is
  
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• APPLY NOW: Business Insider is hiring a paid breaking news intern

  07-08-2017 17:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  Business Insider is hiring an intern to work with our news team this fall. We're looking for applicants who are news-obsessed, quick to learn, cool under pressure, careful, and appreciative of our approach to journalism.This is an important internship that will involve working closely with top editors and journalists across our team.Responsibilities will include spotting and covering important breaking news stories as they unfold. There will be a mixture of original writing a
  
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• Alibaba is climbing after announcing a partnership with Marriott (BABA, MAR)

  07-08-2017 17:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  Alibaba is trading higher by 3.31% at $158.40 a share following word the company is getting into the hotel booking business.
  The Chinese e-commerce giant is partnering with Marriott to offer its Chinese customers easier access to hotels around the world. The partnership will list global hotel rooms from Marriott's various brands on Alibaba's travel platform "Fliggy," according to a news release. It will also link the two loyalty programs.
  Shares of Marriott are up 1.49% on the news.
  T
  
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• Blue Apron is spending more than $400 for every new customer — and that's creating a major problem for the company (APRN)

  07-08-2017 17:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  Blue Apron is spending big to get new customers.
  The meal-kit company is spending more than $400 to recruit each new customer, despite making only $236 a customer a quarter, Eater reporter Whitney Filloon said in an interview on Cheddar on Monday.
  When Blue Apron filed for its initial public offering in June, the company said its cost of acquiring a subscriber on average was $94. At this point, the vast majority of Blue Apron's marketing costs — which include things like ads to get the wo
  
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• Mitch McConnell: My first thought when the Republican healthcare bill died was, 'Feel better, Hillary Clinton could be president'

  07-08-2017 16:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he thought of one person when the long-held Republican promise to repeal and replace Obamacare went up in flames: Hillary Clinton.
  The Louisville, Kentucky-based NPR affiliate WFPL reported McConnell told attendees of Fancy Farm — an annual Kentucky event — that he took solace in the fact that Clinton wasn't president following the stunning defeat of the Senate plan to repeal Obamacare.
  "I choose not to dwell on situations wh
  
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• Bitcoin just hit an all-time high — here's how you buy and sell it

  07-08-2017 16:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bitcoin hit a record high of $3,402 on Monday.
  The cryptocurrency's value is surging a week after bitcoin split into two. While bitcoin has hit new heights, bitcoin cash, the offshoot also known as bitcash, has been tumbling.
  "All that money that seemingly came out of thin air to pump up the value of Bitcash is now being fed right into Bitcoin," Mati Greenspan, an analyst at the trading platform eToro, told Business Insider's Oscar Williams-Grut. "Bitcash has fallen from its peak of $12 billion
  
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• One of the stock market's biggest opportunities is being ignored

  07-08-2017 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bank stocks are underperforming the broader market this year, and Goldman Sachs sees an intriguing opportunity for investment
  Much of the bullishness stems from the big increase in capital available to be returned to shareholders following a series of successful bank stress tests
  Banks are having a rough go of it this year, at least compared with expectations.
  Once viewed as an area poised to benefit greatly from deregulation and higher lending rates, Wall Street firms have seen excitement wane
  
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• Tanya Joseph: New data laws are a chance to reset customer relationships

  07-08-2017 14:18
  I have a confession to make. Until relatively recently whenever I saw the letters GDPR, I thought that is for the data geeks to be worried about. But I kept seeing them (the letters, not the geeks) and I figured I had better just check what all the fuss was about.
  I should be clear from the get go: the days of my being responsible for a database of five million contacts are past. Nowadays, all I hold are the contacts on my phone, which I acquired directly from individuals who were clear that I w
  
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• Tanya Joseph: New data law is a chance to reset customer relationships

  07-08-2017 14:18
  I have a confession to make. Until relatively recently whenever I saw the letters GDPR, I thought that is for the data geeks to be worried about. But I kept seeing them (the letters, not the geeks) and I figured I had better just check what all the fuss was about.
  I should be clear from the get go: the days of my being responsible for a database of five million contacts are past. Nowadays, all I hold are the contacts on my phone, which I acquired directly from individuals who were clear that I w
  
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• Anatomy of a Leader: The key skills marketers must possess

  07-08-2017 10:30
  To read the full feature with in-depth analysis of the research click here: Do you have the Anatomy of a Leader?
  The post Anatomy of a Leader: The key skills marketers must possess appeared first on Marketing Week.
  
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• Russell Parsons: The modern marketing leaders might not be who you think

  07-08-2017 10:19
  A week rarely goes by without hearing that ‘this is the best time to be a marketer’. Justification for such claims usually centres on the depth and breadth of responsibility the modern marketer enjoys.
  A marketer now drives the technology, purpose and customer agenda of a business, it is often said. And when they are not leading the charge in these areas, they are working with HR on driving culture change and IT on digital transformation.
  It is with this in mind we have decided to l
  
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• Tom Goodwin: The future of retail is everything being shoppable

  07-08-2017 10:02
  Alibaba is the world’s largest retailer, selling more than Amazon and eBay combined to over 200 countries. And yet, it holds no inventory. It does no shipping or selling. Perhaps it’s defined best by what it doesn’t do.
  There is nothing new about platforms or marketplaces, but we’re seeing the world of retail start to be less about vertical operations or integration and far more about providing thin, horizontal slices of value.
  Even companies touted as being ‘verti
  
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• Colin Lewis: Future leaders will need a compass, not a map

  07-08-2017 08:00
  When discussing leaders and leadership, it’s a good idea to be clear about definitions. There are 17,623 search results on Amazon when you search for marketing leadership. On Google, there are 267 million results.
  Combine that with the millions spent annually by would-be leaders on leadership development courses, and I think we can argue that marketing leadership is important to marketers, but it’s hard to define it in a way that is satisfactory to everyone. Indeed, the very concept
  
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• Hack your commute: Stop multitasking

  07-08-2017 07:00
  Whatever you feel like doing on your commute – or when you get to your desk, for that matter – pick one thing and one thing only. Why? Because our brains aren’t good at multitasking.
  Academics at Vanderbilt University found evidence way back in 2006 (which means we really should have learned by now) that the brain’s frontal lobe creates a “bottleneck of information processing that severely limits our ability to multitask”.
  The proliferation of media channels a
  
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• Do you have the Anatomy of a Leader?

  07-08-2017 07:00
  What makes a modern marketing leader? Received wisdom suggests they need to be strategic and empathetic visionaries, natural storytellers with an endless curiosity and insatiable desire to learn. Not a lot to ask.
  From being a whizz with data to a customer champion and motivator of diverse and inclusive teams, marketing leaders are also required to deliver stellar results across an ever expanding list of channels.
  In order to discover the attributes, responsibilities and core skills most importa
  
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• Short-form video gains traction with Warner Bros

  07-08-2017 01:53
  LOS ANGELES: Warner Bros, the entertainment studio famous for its movie productions, is embracing short-form video as video-streaming and social platforms offer new opportunities to attract younger viewers, a company executive revealed.Speaking to...
  
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• Shared values drive Gap brand in China

  07-08-2017 01:53
  SHANGHAI: Clothing retailer Gap took five years to roll out its brand across China, choosing to focus on the shared values of young Chinese and Americans, according to a senior agency creative.“This was a unique moment in time of GAP –...
  
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• Coca-Cola India aims for a 'fruit circular economy'

  07-08-2017 01:53
  NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola India is determined on returning to double-digit growth through expanding its portfolio of drinks, greater segmentation and significantly increasing its fruit-buying capabilities, the head of the company has said.Speaking in...
  
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• Cannes study: Video is key for effectiveness

  07-08-2017 01:53
  LONDON: More than any previous year at Cannes, online video has proven to be a key channel for creative effectiveness, according to a WARC study of the 122 campaigns entered for the Creative Effectiveness Lions this year.WARC’s
  
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• Burger King taps the power of memes

  07-08-2017 01:53
  CANNES: Burger King, the quick-service restaurant chain, believes there are major advantages to successfully creating memes with its marketing campaigns.Fernando Machado, Burger King’s Head/Brand Marketing, discussed this subject at the 2017...
  
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• Brands struggle to reach women online

  07-08-2017 01:53
  LONDON: Only half of online ad impressions served in the UK that were targeted at women actually ended up reaching them, according to a new analysis of 60,000 campaigns across 20 countries.Measurement firm Nielsen said that there was a 62% success...
  
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• Advertisers rush back to YouTube

  07-08-2017 01:53
  NEW YORK: YouTube was rocked earlier this year when it suffered a mass boycott by brands concerned about their ads appearing next to inappropriate content, but the latest data suggests advertisers are using the video platform as never before. ...
  
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• Snapchat, Amazon, Uber: Everything that matters this morning

  07-08-2017 01:16
  Snapchat takes a hit
  Snapchat’s shares received another pounding yesterday after losses at its parent company Snap Inc nearly quadrupled in the second quarter. Snap lost $443m despite revenues rising 153% to $182m. That was below analyst expectations.
  Growth also slowed, with Snapchat adding 7.3 million new users in the quarter, below the 8 million expected. It now has 173 million daily active users.
  READ MORE: Snapchat takes another hit on Wall Street
  Amazon’s UK tax bill drops 50%
  
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• Netflix, Uber, Google: Everything that matters this morning

  07-08-2017 01:16
  Netflix buys comic company behind Kick-Ass
  Netflix last night confirmed its first acquisition after buying Millarworld, the comic book company behind Kick-Ass and Kingsmen, for an undisclosed sum.
  The Glasgow-based business was set up by former Marvel comic developer Mark Millar. It is a move that will enable Netflix to own its own superhero characters to develop into shows and movies, much in the way Marvel-owner Disney has done.
  Netflix also intends to turn Millarworld’s existing portfol
  
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• Google, Visa, Flora: Everything that matters this morning

  07-08-2017 01:16
  Flora teams up with influencers, for new campaign
  Flora has teamed up with 20 influencers for the launch of its new flavoured dairy-free spreads, in a campaign created by TMW Unlimited.
  The campaign sees a number of food and lifestyle influencers, including the ‘Topless Baker’, Matt Adlard, creating recipes and ideas of how to use Flora’s new range of dairy-free spreads.
  The spreads consist of: Flora Dairy Free Walnut Spread; Flora Dairy Free Avocado & Lime Spread; and Flor
  
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• Facebook, ANA, Jaguar Landrover: Everything that matters this morning

  07-08-2017 01:16
  Facebook takes on Netflix with new video service
  Facebook is taking on the likes of YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime with the launch of a new video service.
  Via the Watch tab viewers will be able to see a range of shows, including original content funded by the social network. Rolling out first in the US, Watch will be personalised so users can discover new shows based on what their friends are watching. The videos will also serve up targeted advertising before and during the shows.
  The introdu
  
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• Disney, Sky, Instagram: Everything that matters this morning

  07-08-2017 01:16
  Disney announces streaming service
  Disney has become the latest entrant into the streaming market, and in so doing, has caused Netflix headaches by ending the deal it had with the subscription film and TV service. Netflix had been the exclusive US streaming partner for all Disney and Pixar’s animated and live action films since earlier this year.
  From 2019, Disney will have a paid-for subscription streaming service of its own, as will its subsidiary sports broadcasting network ESPN. Netfl
  
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