Sales & Marketing news

• The Winklevoss twins are worth about $1.3 billion in Bitcoin alone

  19-12-2017 23:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Winklevoss twins have amassed a Bitcoin fortune worth about $1.3 billion as of Tuesday.
  Bitcoin's price has exploded over the last two years, leading some experts to call it a bubble.
   
  The Winklevoss twins made a big bet on Bitcoin — and it looks like it's paid off.
  Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have amassed a Bitcoin fortune worth about $1.3 billion as of Tuesday, according to estimates from the New York Times.
  The twins bought about 120,000 Bitcoins back in when
  
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• More than 8,000 store closures were announced in 2017 — here's the full list

  19-12-2017 23:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Retailers are closing thousands of stores following years of declines in sales and customer traffic. 
  Bankruptcies accounted for a large chunk of the stores that have closed or are closing. But a tough physical retail environment stemming from steeper online competition is also being blamed.
  We compiled a list of the 8,053 closures that were announced in 2017. Radioshack — 1,430 stores
  Radioshack filed for bankrupcy in 2017, and announced it will close all its stores.
  Payle
  
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• The House will be forced to revote on the massive tax bill because of provisions that break Senate rules

  19-12-2017 23:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  The House on Tuesday afternoon voted to pass the GOP tax bill.
  But a Senate rule then forced Republicans to drop two provisions in the bill.
  Since the House passed a bill different from the one the Senate will vote on, the House must revote on the final version, most likely on Wednesday.The House will be forced to vote for a second time on the GOP tax bill because a Senate rule forced Republicans to change it hours after leaders celebrated what appeared to be a massive legislative victory.
  The
  
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• These 15 retailers could be the next to declare bankruptcy

  19-12-2017 22:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  50 US retailers filed for bankruptcy in 2017, and more bankruptcies are on the horizon.
  Companies most likely to default within the next year include Sears, Vince, Bebe, Stein Mart, and Destination Maternity, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
   
  Retailers are filing for bankruptcy at a staggering rate.
  A total of 50 US retailers have filed for bankruptcy this year — the highest rate since the recession — and analysts say more bankruptcies are on the
  
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• Paul Ryan yelled in delight and triumphantly slammed his gavel as he announced the GOP tax bill's passage

  19-12-2017 21:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  House Speaker Paul Ryan has been fighting for tax reform for decades.
  Ryan presided over the House as the massive GOP tax bill passed the chamber.
  In announcing the final vote, Ryan got excited and yelled out the final vote count.
  House Speaker Paul Ryan is really pumped about the GOP tax bill passing the House.
  Ryan, who has fought for tax reform for much of a near two-decade career in Congress, became excited at the prospect of delivering on the bill Tuesday with the House's passage of the ma
  
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• Chinese company soars 150% after pivoting from juice to crypto

  19-12-2017 20:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of a Chinese juice company exploded Tuesday after investors got wind of the company's pivot to fintech.
  It's a growing trend among companies to announce a new focus on cryptocurrencies or blockchain and watch the stock rise in kind. Shares of China’s Future Fintech Group, an unprofitable firm formerly known as SkyPeople Fruit Juice, exploded as high as 221% Tuesday after the company announced it would pivot to financial technology, eventually settling up roughly 127%.
  The pivo
  
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• Ford responds to New York Times story about sexual and racial harassment at Chicago plants (F)

  19-12-2017 20:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  Ford settled discrimination and harassment charges at two Chicago-area plants in August for $10.1 million.
  A story in the New York Times reported that the plants continue to be difficult places for women to work.
  Ford responded to Business Insider's request for a comment with a statement updating us on the company's general policies, as well as its efforts at the Chicago plants.In August, Ford announced that it had reached a $10.1 million settlement of racial and sexual harassment charges at tw
  
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• McDonald's new Dollar Menu carries a massive threat to Wendy's and Burger King (MCD)

  19-12-2017 20:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  McDonald's is rolling out a new take on the Dollar Menu in January. 
  Analysts say the new Dollar Menu could spell disaster for fast-food rivals like Wendy's, Jack in the Box, and Burger King. 
  Chains including Jack in the Box and Taco Bell have already announced new dollar menu efforts of their own as they gear up for a fast-food price war. 
   
  McDonald's new Dollar Menu is bad news for fast-food rivals. The chain's upcoming value menu could boost McDonald's sales b
  
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• HOUSE PASSES TAX BILL, NEARS HUGE WIN FOR TRUMP AND GOP

  19-12-2017 20:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  The House on Tuesday voted 227-203 to pass the Republican tax bill.
  The bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, would be the biggest overhaul of the US tax code in a generation.
  It will next head to the Senate for a vote, expected later on Tuesday.The House on Tuesday voted 227-203 to pass the massive GOP tax bill, putting Republicans on the edge of their biggest legislative victory of Donald Trump's presidency and a once-in-a-generation overhaul of the federal tax code.
  The bill, the Tax Cuts and Job
  
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• Microsoft is taking a stand on an employment practice that can silence victims of sexual harassment (MSFT)

  19-12-2017 20:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  Microsoft is removing from employees' contracts provisions that barred them from suing the company over sexual harassment claims.
  Only a "small segment" of employees had the provisions, which require them to go to arbitration for such claims, in their contracts.The change comes as Microsoft is supporting legislation that would ban such clauses from employment agreements at all companies.
  Mandatory arbitration clauses have come under fire of late; critics charge that they silence victims of sexu
  
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• A cryptocurrency hedge fund has delivered a 24,000% return over the past 4 years

  19-12-2017 19:45 via feedproxy.google.com
   Pantera Capital's bitcoin fund has delivered a 24,004% return for investors since its launch in 2013.
   The blockchain-focused hedge fund was among the first to invest in the nascent digital coin market.
   
  Bitcoin's more than 13,000% return since its inception can't hold a candle to Pantera Capital.
  The investing firm's Pantera Bitcoin Fund has delivered a 24,004% return for investors since its launch in 2013, according to a report by Nathaniel Popper at The New York Times.
  "A si
  
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• McDonald's new Dollar Menu means massive price cuts for customers (MCD)

  19-12-2017 19:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  McDonald's new value menu will slash overall menu prices by 15%, according to analysts. 
  The new "$1, $2, $3 menu" will offer deals at three price points. 
  The revamped version of the Dollar Menu rolls out in early January. McDonald's much-anticipated new value menu means massive prices cuts for customers. 
  Credit Suisse found in "anecdotal pricing checks" that McDonald's upcoming "$1, $2, $3 menu" will result in a roughly 15% price reduction across the chain's the full menu
  
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• Here's what America's biggest companies plan to do with all that cash coming back to the US

  19-12-2017 19:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  Republicans' tax plan, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, is expected to be signed into law as early as Wednesday.
  The bill would lower the federal corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% and allow a one-time repatriation of overseas cash.
  Sixty-five percent of companies responding to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey say they would use at least some of the repatriated cash to pay down debt.Republicans' tax plan, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, could be signed into law as soon as Wednesday. And while the bi
  
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• A 34-year-old activist who's fighting for his life traveled to Washington to oppose tax cuts – and he says 'Republicans are screwed'

  19-12-2017 19:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  Ady Barkan, a 34-year old activist used to fighting for others, is now in a fight for his own life as he battles a terminal diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. 
  Despite his limited mobility, Barkan has traveled from California to Washington in a last-ditch effort to oppose a tax cut bill that also includes steep cuts to healthcare.
  Cuts to Medicare triggered by the legislation could prevent Barkan from having enough money to fund a ventilator that could prolong his life.  
  Bar
  
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• Republicans just sunk Trump's controversial pick to run a bank he wanted to kill

  19-12-2017 19:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank just got rejected by the Senate Banking Committee.
  Two Republicans, Sens. Tim Scott and Mike Rounds, joined Democrats in voting down Trump's nominee, former GOP congressman Scott Garrett.The Senate Banking Committee rejected President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank on Tuesday after a pair of Republicans joined with the panel's Democrats in voting down former congressman Scott Garrett.
  The committee voted 10-1
  
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• Here's who will win and lose under the final version of the GOP tax bill

  19-12-2017 19:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new report from the Tax Policy Center showed that, on average, Americans at every income level will receive a tax cut from the GOP tax bill.
  The benefits will also be tilted towards the rich, according to the TPC analysis.
  Additionally, by 2025, 10.9% of middle-income tax filers could see an increase in their tax bill.A new analysis of the GOP tax bill, released just 24 hours before a final vote is expected to take place on the bill in the House, showed that majority of the benefit from the p
  
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• Americans have already made up their minds about the tax bill — and it looks brutal for the GOP

  19-12-2017 18:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  The polling data on the Republican tax bill looks dismal for the GOP.
  On average, 33% of Americans approve of the bill and 52% disapprove, according to the data-journalism site FiveThirtyEight.
  GOP leaders have said the bill will gain popularity once it becomes law.Republicans are on the verge of passing the most significant overhaul of the federal tax code in a generation, but it looks set to become law amid lackluster reviews from people they say it will benefit.
  A vote in the House and Senat
  
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• Pritchard, Ikea and the trouble for CMOs: Our columnists reflect on 2017

  19-12-2017 15:27
  ‘We’re still in the awkward adolescence of digital marketing’
  Tom Fishburne, aka Marketoonist
  “The marketing moment of the year was the 25-minute speech from P&G’s Marc Prichard at the Internet Advertising Bureau’s meeting in January. As chief brand officer of the world’s biggest advertiser, his words inevitably carry some weight in marketing.
  “But in that one speech, he not only called out several of the biggest shortcomings in digital marketi
  
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• Marketoonist on retargeting ads

  19-12-2017 12:12
  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 retargeting ads appeared first on Marketing Week.
  
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• First Choice looks for brand awareness boost with ‘brave’ new campaign

  19-12-2017 12:00
  First Choice is looking to stand out in the fiercely competitive new year holiday market with a two-minute ad featuring a rapping family helmed by a director who has worked with Beyonce and Ed Sheeran.
  The TUI-owned brand is looking to inject a youthful verve into its communication with the spot that it hopes will win it a larger slice of the all-inclusive market, which accounts for about 60% of the package holiday sector.
  The ad features a family rapping the virtues of First Choice’s all-
  
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• Vatican elects Accenture over agency to unify comms strategy

  19-12-2017 01:00 via warc.com
  THE VATICAN: The Holy See’s communications secretariat has appointed Accenture Interactive to unify its communications strategy, as part of Pope Francis’ reforms of the Catholic Church, under a new digital entity: Vatican News.The...
  
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• Tencent and JD.com target fashion e-commerce

  19-12-2017 01:00 via warc.com
  BEIJING: Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeChat, is entering the retail e-commerce field through a partnership with online retail challenger JD.com to invest heavily into Vipshop, an online discount retailer for fashion brands in China.The...
  
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• Sage ramps up content offering

  19-12-2017 01:00 via warc.com
  LONDON: Sage, the accounting software business, is mining its own resources to develop content that more effectively helps its customers and generates business leads.According to Neil Morgan, the company's EVP/Digital Marketing, most of its...
  
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• Marketers respond to transparency issues

  19-12-2017 01:00 via warc.com
  NEW YORK:Marketers appear to be addressing concerns around media transparency and brand safety by bringing more programmatic media-buying capabilities in house, new research shows.According to an ANA survey of 149 senior client-side marketers,...
  
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• Fabletics builds on bricks-and-mortar benefits

  19-12-2017 01:00 via warc.com
  LOS ANGELES: Fabletics,an activewear brand co-founded by actress and fitness guru Kate Hudson, has drawn major benefits from expanding beyond its online roots and opening bricks-and-mortar stores.Adam Goldenberg, co-CEO of TechStyle – the...
  
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• Disney: Closing streaming gap with Netflix is 'highest priority'

  19-12-2017 01:00 via warc.com
  LOS ANGELES, CA: As Netflix pulls ahead in the battle for viewers, Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s media assets could see it take control of rival service Hulu, but the struggle to win subscribers could be immense. ...
  
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• Asia's 'easy money' era is over for global brands

  19-12-2017 01:00 via warc.com
  JAKARTA: Global brands seeking to capitalize on their international status in Asian markets are fast finding the days of “easy money” are over as consumers in emerging markets turn to local brands.Local brands have leapt onto emerging...
  
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