Sales & Marketing news

• Retailers at NRF agree: tech needs to solve real business challenges and improve the experience

  22-01-2018 21:08 via retailpro.com
    At NRF 2018: Retail’s Big Show, retail IT leaders shared how they pushed past pitfalls in choosing or creating technologies for the business in a panel on digital transformation. Scott Emmons of Neiman Marcus testified to greater progress once the Business …
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• Lush on its journey to provide ‘the ultimate customer experience’

  22-01-2018 18:31
  Lush is not a brand that struggles to offer good customer service. The retailer has been in the top five brands for customer experience for almost as long as KPMG Nunwood has been running its annual research. But the company isn’t one to sit on its laurels and so is turning its attention to digital infrastructure in a bid to offer customers an even more seamless shopping environment.
  In a first for a major retailer, Lush has built and now launched its own tablet till system. The open-sourc
  
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• Richard Shotton: Don’t spread yourself thin, focus on what makes your brand memorable

  22-01-2018 18:28
  It seems obvious that many of our spending decisions are influenced by the past. Consider how you pick a restaurant. You think about your previous visits: the taste of the food, the charm of the waiter and, of course, the pain of the bill.
  However, strictly speaking it’s not the past that shapes our future behaviour but our memory of the past. That might sound like a semantic difference, but it’s not; it’s a fundamental distinction.
  This is because our brain doesn’t oper
  
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• WE'VE GOT A DEAL: Government shutdown looks set to end as Democrats surrender

  22-01-2018 18:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Senate is set to clear a procedural hurdle and allow a funding bill to reopen the government to move forward.
  The deal was reached after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell committed to bring a bill to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to the Senate floor.
  The House will need to vote on the measure in order for the bill to go to President Donald Trump to sign.The Senate was set to clear a key procedural hurdle on a deal to fund the government on Monday, taking a lar
  
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• CRYPTO INSIDER: Bitcoin falls again

  22-01-2018 18:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.
  Bitcoin is slumping again, down 8% Monday, as the flagship cryptocurrency pares many of Friday's gains. The brief buoyancy was seen as a possible correction to last week's bloodbath. 
  Here's the scoreboard as of Monday morning: Bitcoin (BTC): $10,594 (-8.0%)
  Ethereum (
  
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• The world’s most valuable bitcoin startup just grabbed an ex-Twitter exec to make cryptocurrency more user-friendly

  22-01-2018 18:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  Coinbase just hired former Twitter and Salesforce executive Tina Bhatnagar to improve the company's customer support.
  Bhatnagar has two major tasks: to double the size of the company's support team in three months, and to expand its phone support into a 24/7 service by the second quarter of 2018.
  It's the latest step taken by the crypto unicorn to curtail widespread criticism about its ability to handle customer concerns while scaling. The $1.6 billion cryptocurrency startup Coinbase has hi
  
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• WALL STREET PAYDAY: 4 banks made a killing from Monday's $20 billion in biotech deals

  22-01-2018 17:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  Biotech mergers and acquisitions are off to a hot start in 2018.
  On Monday, French drugmaker Sanofi spent $11.6 billion to buy US hemophilia firm Bioverativ, and Celgene spent $9 billion on cancer specialist Juno Therapeutics.
  Investment banks stand to make as much as $185 million in fees for advising on the deals.Two major biotech acquisitions dropped on Monday: French drugmaker Sanofi spent $11.6 billion to buy US hemophilia firm Bioverativ, and Celgene spent $9 billion on cance
  
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• Netflix pops ahead of earnings — here’s what to expect from its report (NFLX)

  22-01-2018 17:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  Netflix is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell Monday.
  The streaming giant is expected to post modest growth at home in the US, and even more from abroad.Shares of Netflix rose 2.6% Monday morning ahead of its scheduled fourth quarter earnings report after the closing bell, signaling investor confidence in the streaming giant.
  Wall Street analysts polled by Bloomberg expect Netflix to report earnings of $0.504 per share on revenue of $3.277 billion.
  Netflix has been growing faste
  
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• Twitter slides after news that online lending startup SoFi may poach its operations chief (TWTR)

  22-01-2018 17:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of Twitter fell after it was reported that its chief operating officer may leave the company for Social Finance, an online lending startup.
  Anthony Noto was reported to be in talks with SoFi to join the firm as its CEO.
  Twitter has suffered from a wave of management changes as it struggles to bring value to shareholders.
  View Twitter's current stock price moves here.Shares of Twitter dipped on Monday after it was reported that Twitter's chief operating officer, Anthony Noto, may leave the
  
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• The IMF's rosy economic forecast came with some sobering fine print on financial market risks

  22-01-2018 17:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  The International Monetary Fund has revised up its forecasts for global economic growth.
  The Fund cited "increased global growth momentum and the expected impact of the recently approved US tax policy changes" for its fresh optimism.
  However, the rosier outlook came with a major caveat on financial markets, which the IMF warned could be at the risk of a confidence-shaking correction.The International Monetary Fund’s upgrade of its global economic growth forecast came with a major caveat: b
  
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• The most expensive home for sale in every US state

  22-01-2018 16:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  There's nothing like America's over-the-top real estate to remind you that nearly one-third of the world's billionaires call the US home.
  But luxury comes in many forms — and at varying price points — across the country. Our friends at Trulia helped us compile a list of the most expensive homes currently for sale in every state, plus Washington, DC.
  From a $3 million private island in Alaska to a $180 million European-style estate in California, below are the most expensive homes on
  
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• Millennials are snapping up shares of Netflix ahead of earnings (NFLX)

  22-01-2018 16:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  Netflix is set to release its fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Monday.
  Millennials on several popular investing apps seem bullish on the company.
  Watch Netflix shares trade in real time here.Netflix is set to report earnings on Monday after the market close, and millennials are jumping over each other to buy the stock ahead of the release.
  The company is the 16th-most popular stock on Robinhood, the trading app popular with millennials, and the sixth-most held stock
  
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• Big investors are valuing homes with a method outlawed for everyone else after the housing crash — and the SEC is asking questions

  22-01-2018 16:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Large investors are increasingly using so-called broker price opinions to value and purchase thousands of homes on the brink of foreclosure.
  This method is used in place of traditional appraisals, which are done by licensed professionals and usually cost more.
  The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether companies are using BPOs to wrongly inflate property values.A method of valuing homes that was outlawed for most people after the financial crisis is still popular among large
  
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• Stock investors don't seem to care about government shutdowns — but this one comes right in the middle of earnings season

  22-01-2018 16:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  The federal government will go into a third day of a partial shutdown Monday after the Senate failed to break an impasse on Sunday.
  Financial regulatory agencies will be working with a skeleton crew in the middle of a busy earnings season. 
  Despite this, stocks have fared well in recent government shutdowns, historical data shows. After Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, were unable to pass a spending bill by midnight Friday, the US government has entered a partial shu
  
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• Amazon's new cashierless store is its latest huge bet in defiance of the retail apocalypse

  22-01-2018 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  Amazon opened its futuristic Amazon Go store to the public on Monday.
  It's just one of several physical retail initiatives the primarily online retailer has undertaken recently.Amazon has become synonymous with online shopping.
  The e-commerce giant is now estimated to take about half of all online sales in the US.
  But Amazon cannot live online alone. The company is increasingly moving into the physical world, opening spaces in malls, shopping districts, and even local strip malls.
  
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• The government shutdown is now in day 3 — here's how long previous government shutdowns have lasted

  22-01-2018 16:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  The government shutdown is now in its third day.
  This is the 18th time the federal government has entered a shutdown since the modern budgeting process began.
  Most of those times the shutdown has been short and not involved employees being sent home, but that has changed in recent shutdowns.With the Senate at an impasse the partial shutdown of the federal government is now into its third day.
  This is 18th time since the modern budget process began with the Budget Act of 1974 that the federa
  
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• Xerox pops after reports that activist investors are pushing for its sale (XRX)

  22-01-2018 15:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of Xerox climbed on Monday before the bell after news that activist investors are pushing for a potential sale of the 111-year-old company.
  Billionaires Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, who are Xerox's biggest and third-biggest shareholders respectively, have banded together to push for the change, according to the Wall Street Journal. Collectively, they hold around 15% of Xerox's shares.
  There have also been talks that investors are pushing to break Xerox's joint venture with Fujifilm Holdi
  
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• Bitcoin is slumping back down toward $10,000

  22-01-2018 15:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bitcoin is down 7%, trading around $10,700 Monday morning.
  The flagship cryptocurrency plummeted last week, before paring some of its losses on Friday. 
  Now it could fall below $10,000 per coin once again. 
  Follow the price of bitcoin in real-time here>>After paring much of last week’s heavy losses on Friday, the world's largest cryptocurrency lost another 8% on Monday, bottoming out at $10,479 per token.
  Bitcoin has lost 17.52% of its value — or roughly $59.27 billio
  
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• There's a huge gender component to income inequality that we're ignoring

  22-01-2018 15:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  Most of the world's extremely poor people are women and that most uber-wealthy individuals are men, a new Oxfam report says.
  About 82% of all wealth generated in the past year went to the top 1%.
  The richest 1% hold more wealth than the whole of the rest of humanity.
  "Women provide $10 trillion in unpaid care annually to support the global economy," the report says.Oxfam's report on global inequality, released Monday, contains a barrage of startling, depressing statistics, including:82% of all w
  
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• Forget tax cuts — there's another clear reason stocks look unstoppable

  22-01-2018 15:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  The effect of tax cuts on the stock market is being overstated as the S&P 500 continues to hit record highs, according to Credit Suisse.
  Looking at two performance measures, the firm says it's clear that the market's torrid rally is instead being driven by two tried-and-true catalysts: earnings growth and economic strength.It's easy to look at the timing of the stock market's blistering move to record highs and assume that Republicans' tax law is to thank.
  Credit Suisse is here to dispel tha
  
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• WHAT'S OPEN?: Here's how the shutdown is affecting key parts of the federal government

  22-01-2018 15:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  Thousands of federal employees began their weekends gripped with doubt, uncertain of when they'll be able to return to work and how long they'll have to go without being paid after a bitter political dispute in Washington triggered a government shutdown.
  And now that the shutdown has extended into the work week, federal employees entered Monday unsure of when their next paycheck would come.
  Many government operations will continue — US troops will stay at their posts and mail will get del
  
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• Google has conquered American classrooms — now Microsoft is striking back with cheap PCs and a Minecraft upgrade (MSFT, GOOGL, GOOG)

  22-01-2018 15:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  While Microsoft dominates the global market for classroom PCs, Google Chrome OS rules the roost in the United States. 
  Microsoft is teaming up with partners including Lenovo to bring a new line of cheap, sub-$300 PCs to market, to take on Google's low-cost Chromebooks. 
  Microsoft says that a Windows PC is more capable than a Chromebook — Windows 10 lets you run software like Minecraft or the full version of Microsoft Office. 
  Minecraft is getting a new chemistry module for s
  
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• Marketing Academy Scholarship programme open for nominations

  22-01-2018 14:54
  The Marketing Academy’s 2018 Scholarship programme, a free learning and mentoring initiative for emerging leaders in marketing, media and advertising, has launched and is open for nominations.
  Now in it’s eighth year, the part-time programme sees scholars receive one-to-one mentoring from CMOs, CEOs, marketing directors, senior agency executives and entrepreneurs over nine months.
  Scholars will also attend three ‘boot camps’ with sessions based around personal and profess
  
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• Customer experience? You must mean 'human' experience?

  22-01-2018 11:00 via warc.com
  Experience is the battleground for brands today, says Mark Sherwin of Accenture Interactive, with consumers and business buyers able to pick and choose more freely than ever. And industries are being disrupted constantly to give new...
  
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• Saga, Google, Viewability: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Saga appoints new marketing director
  Over-50s’ brand Saga has appointed Stuart Beamish as its new group marketing director, replacing former Tesco chief creative officer Matt Atkinson, who left in December to join The Co-operative Group as its chief membership officer.
  Beamish has been with Saga since December 2016, when he joined  marketing director for Saga Holidays and Cruises. His previous employers include Barclaycard, British Airways and BMI.
  Beamish said: &l
  
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• Kimberly-Clark, Twitter, Virgin Trains: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Kimberly-Clark to cut 5,000 jobs
  Kleenex-maker Kimberly-Clark its to cut at least 5,000 jobs and close or sell 10 manufacturing plants in a move affecting 12% of its workforce.
  The company said the restructure would streamline its supply chain, saving at least $500m by the end of 2021, in addition to a further $1.5bn of cost reductions. Chief executive Thomas J Falk said the restructure, which is expected to cost as much as $1.9bn by 2020, will make Kimberly-Clark “leaner, stronger and fas
  
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• Budweiser, Fever-Tree, Arsenal: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Bud commits to 100% renewable energy
  Budweiser has committed to brewing all its beers around the world with 100% renewable energy by 2025, and is introducing a logo to labels to indicate when this requirement has been met.
  The US is the first market to meet the target so will roll out the logo on all labels by the beginning of spring this year. The logo will be introduced to other markets, including the UK, as they reach 100% renewable electricity in their beer brewing operations.
  Budweise
  
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• Barcardi, ITV, Netflix: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Bacardi to take control of premium tequila brand Patrón in $5.1bn deal
  Bacardi has bought  premium tequila brand Patrón Spirits International in a deal that attaches an enterprise value of $5.1 billion. The spirit giant already owns 30% of Patrón, which it purchased in 2008, but the transaction will mean that they control 100 per cent of the business it announced on Monday.
  Patrón will be joining the Bombay Sapphire gin and Grey Goose vodka amongst others in a mo
  
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• Asda, Barcardi, L’Oréal: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Asda to review entire advertising business 
  Asda is overhauling its entire advertising business, including its media, creative and digital accounts.
  Chief customer officer Andy Murray has kicked off a procurement process, which will lead to the consolidation of its agency roster. The move is an attempt to better “engage with customers across channels, both physical and digital”.“The next step in our journey is to create an agency partner ecosystem that helps us drive growt
  
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• Asda, Barcardi, ITV, L’Oréal: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Asda reviewing entire advertising business due to ‘procurement process’Asda’s is overhauling their entire advertising business, including its media, creative and digital accounts, according to  Asda’s chief customer officer Andy Murray.
  Murray has “kicked off a procurement process” which will lead to the consolidation of their agency roster. The move is an attempt to better “engage with customers across channels, both physical and digital.” Th
  
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• Asda, Bacardi, L’Oréal: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Asda to review entire advertising business 
  Asda is overhauling its entire advertising business, including its media, creative and digital accounts.
  Chief customer officer Andy Murray has kicked off a procurement process, which will lead to the consolidation of its agency roster. The move is an attempt to better “engage with customers across channels, both physical and digital”.“The next step in our journey is to create an agency partner ecosystem that helps us drive growt
  
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• Amazon, YouTube, P&G: Everything that matters this morning

  22-01-2018 08:55
  Amazon opens first checkout-free food shop
  Amazon its opening its checkout-free grocery store, Amazon Go, to the public for the first time today (22 January). The store, which is based in Seattle, allows shoppers to scan their smartphone with the Amazon Go app as they enter the store through a turnstile. They can pick out the items they want and leave, with the app checking out all the items and paying.
  The store combines maching learning and cameras to tell what people are leaving the store wit
  
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• Thomas Barta: Don’t let technology become a confidence-drainer

  22-01-2018 08:00
  Digital technology promises a bright future, but it’s complex and it nags on executives’ confidence; more so than many will admit. Time to shift gear – you can’t know it all. The new currency of expertise is having an overview.
  Technology has penetrated almost every corner of the business. For the most part, that’s great news. What do customers want? What’s the most profitable sales channel? Which half of our marketing money is being wasted? Thanks to technolo
  
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• Netflix leapfrogs BBC iPlayer to become one of the UK’s top 3 brands

  22-01-2018 01:01
  Netflix has leapfrogged BBC iPlayer to move into third place in a list of the top UK brands as its marketing message of quality original content resonates with consumers.
  According to YouGov BrandIndex, Netflix had a Buzz score (which measures the positive and negative things said about a brand) of 14 last year. That was enough to push BBC iPlayer, which scored 13.2, outside the top three for the first time since 2014.
  “The big story of this year’s top 10 is the increasing power of N
  
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• TV sponsorship is for the long term

  22-01-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  LONDON: Investment in TV sponsorship has grown by over 47% in the past ten years, but deals are sometimes forged as last-minute buys or under the premise of ‘cheaper’ airtime, an approach which fails to appreciate just how sponsorship...
  
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• Telstra evolves from 'telco to tech-co'

  22-01-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  SYDNEY: Telstra is repositioning itself not just as a telecommunications services company but a content one as Australia media consumption habits change, according to senior executives at the company."We're thinking about experience, we're...
  
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• Subway interested in 'd-commerce'

  22-01-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  LAS VEGAS: Brands seeking to connect with consumers across multiple touchpoints should consider exploring the potential of “d-commerce”, Carissa Ganelli, Chief Digital Officer at restaurant chain Subway, has argued.Ganelli highlighted...
  
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• Is it time for brands to ditch plastic?

  22-01-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  LONDON: Coca-Cola is the latest brand to join the war on plastic waste, announcing a new World Without Waste initiative which aims to collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle or can it sells globally by 2030.“It’s simply the...
  
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• Facebook News Feed changes affecting video metrics

  22-01-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  NEW YORK / LONDON: Changes made by Facebook to its algorithm last week are already having a negative impact on both brands’ and publishers’ video views, according to new research.An analysis of 33,000 Facebook videos by video creation...
  
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• Chinese men overtake women in online spend

  22-01-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  BEIJING: For the first time, men in China spent more online than women, due to heavy spending from young men on takeaway food and gaming, in a reversal of the traditional belief that women shop more than men.This is according to a survey of over...
  
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• A glimpse at the car industry's future: collaboration

  22-01-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  DETROIT, MI: Self-driving cars may grab the headlines, but reports from the Detroit Motor Show suggest the real shift taking place in the auto industry is the development of unexpected partnerships.Car companies have traditionally been secretive...
  
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