Sales & Marketing news

• Google hid another nerdy math joke in its latest earnings report (GOOG, GOOGL)

  01-02-2018 23:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  Google announced a very specific share buyback in its earnings report.
  The number given is a "perfect number."
  Google has a history of making mathematical references.In its Q4 earnings report on Thursday, Google's parent company Alphabet announced plans to buy back some of its stock — $8,589,869,056 of stock to be exact.
  There's a likely reason Google chose that specific value for their planned buyback: It's what mathematicians call a "perfect number."
  Perfect numbers are wh
  
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• Google dips after reporting an earnings miss (GOOGL, GOOG)

  01-02-2018 22:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of Alphabet's Google dropped 4% on Thursday after it reported quarterly earnings that missed Wall Street's estimates.
  Google reported revenue of $25.9 billion, below Wall Street's estimates of $26.23 billion.
  It reported non-adjusted earnings of $9.70 per share, compared to analysts' estimates of $10.04 per share.
  Its traffic acquisition costs, a concern for Wall Street observers, was $6.45 billion, up from $4.85 billion a year ago.
  The company also announced that John Hennessy was appoin
  
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• Chipotle's next CEO is going to inherit a ton of problems (CMG)

  01-02-2018 22:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Chipotle faces several problems, from declining brand perceptions to the troubled rollout of its queso.
  The company is searching for a new CEO, which could help, but some analysts remain skeptical of the fast-casual chain.
  Watch Chipotle's stock move in real time here.Chipotle's next CEO is going to inherit a ton of problems.
  The company said in November that it is searching for a new CEO to replace Steve Ells, the founder of the chain, who will step down once the company finds a suita
  
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• Amazon erases losses after beating earnings expectations (AMZN)

  01-02-2018 22:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shares of Amazon recouped Thursday’s 4% loss, surging 3% after-hours, after the company announced earnings that beat Wall street expectations.
  The e-commerce giant reported earnings of $3.75 per share on revenue of $60.5 billion. Analysts had expected $1.83 per share and $59.85 billion in revenue.
   
  Since its last earnings report in October, Amazon has added more than 30% to its stock price, increasing its market value by $206 billion.
  Ahead of earnings, millennial investors on the tr
  
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• Republicans may reject a major proposal to pay for Trump's $1.5 trillion infrastructure project because it could ruin the goodwill from the tax law

  01-02-2018 21:54 via feedproxy.google.com
  President Donald Trump rolled out a promise for a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package during the State of the Union.
  Republicans discussed paying for the federal portion of the plan with an increase in the federal gas tax, which hasn't been boosted since 1993.
  GOP leaders are concerned such a move would ruin some of the positive reaction they are seeing from the recently implemented tax law, according to Axios' Jonathan Swan.Republicans may shut down a major idea to fund President Donald Trump'
  
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• GoPro tanks after missing on earnings (GPRO)

  01-02-2018 21:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  GoPro reported its fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday.
  Investors, both professional and retail, were mostly bearish ahead of the report.
  Watch GoPro trade in real time here.GoPro reported a miss on earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter, and shares are trading down as much as 6.78% to $5.09 immediately after the report.
  The company reported an adjusted loss of $0.30 per share, compared to Wall Street's estimate of $0.11 per share. Revenue came in at $334.8 million, missing e
  
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• Google parent Alphabet misses earnings targets, stock falls (GOOG)

  01-02-2018 21:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  Google's parent company Alphabet missed its fourth-quarter earnings, sending the stock down slightly in after-hours trading.
  The company is paying more in traffic acquisition costs (TAC), which has been a concen as searches shift from desktop to mobile.
  Alphabet also announced an $8.6 billion share buyback and a new chairman of its board.Alphabet, Google's parent company, posted disappointing results in its fourth-quarter earnings report, as rising expenses to reach smarpthone users and increase
  
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• Apple sold fewer iPhones than expected during the holiday quarter, but Wall Street is looking on the bright side (AAPL)

  01-02-2018 21:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  Apple beat Wall Street expectations for both revenue and earnings per share when it announced December quarter earnings on Thursday.
  However, Apple's iPhone sales were down from the same period last year. 
  Investors are happy. The stock rose over 3% in after-hours trading. Apple's iPhone sales were below analyst estimates during the all-important holiday sales season and the company gave a weaker-than-expected sales forecast for the current quarter.
  Despite the worrisome results, which
  
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• Amazon's stock jumps 6% after its 4th-quarter results beat the Street's expectations (AMZN)

  01-02-2018 21:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  Amazon's fourth-quarter results, which it announced Thursday, topped analyst expectations.The company's cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services, grew rapidly and again provided the bulk of Amazon's profits.
  Investors cheered the results, sending the company's stock up 6% in after-hours trading.Amazon's stock jumped more than 6% after the e-commerce giant topped Wall Street's fourth-quarter expectations.
  The company reported its holiday-period results on Thursday afternoon. At the time of w
  
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• One of Sears' biggest defenders just revealed why he abruptly cut ties with the company

  01-02-2018 21:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  Bruce Berkowitz, a former Sears director and one of its biggest defenders, says the company's losses "wrecked" his hedge fund's performance."Sears realized billions of dollars from asset sales, as we predicted, but I did not foresee the operating losses that have significantly reduced values," he wrote in a letter to investors. 
  The letter marks the first time Berkowitz has spoken out about Sears since quietly leaving its board in October. Hedge fund manager Bruce Berkowitz came out sw
  
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• Here's what Apple's battery-slowing controversy means for iPhone sales

  01-02-2018 20:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  Business Insider executive editor Sara Silverstein sits down with senior correspondent Steve Kovach to discuss the Department of Justice and SEC investigation of Apple's software update that slowed down some iPhones.Join the conversation about this story »
  
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• Google is slipping ahead of earnings (GOOG, GOOGL)

  01-02-2018 20:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  Google's stock was flat on Thursday ahead of earnings.
  Investors are waiting to see how the company will handle abuse across some of its platforms.
  They also want to see if its other divisions, like self-driving cars and health and life sciences, will be profitable.
  View Google's stock price in real time here.Shares of Alphabet's Google were flat at $174.80 ahead of the company's quarterly earnings report, which is due out after the bell on Thursday.
  Though most investors see a knock-out quarter
  
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• Greg Coffey, a star trader who retired at 41, is prepping one of the largest hedge fund launches of 2018

  01-02-2018 20:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  Greg Coffey is prepping one of the largest hedge fund launches of 2018, with $1 billion on day one, according to an investor familiar with the plans.
  His new firm, called Kirkoswald, will hard close at $2 billion, with offices in London and New York, the investor said.
  Coffey was once described as "the most impressive trader I've ever seen" by billionaire Louis Bacon.Greg Coffey, a star trader who retired at 41, is prepping the launch of a new hedge fund, and it's shaping up to be one of th
  
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• Mexican drug cartels are preying on a multibillion-dollar industry and taking a deadly toll on the workers who run it

  01-02-2018 20:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  Oil theft has become increasingly common in Mexico.
  As organized-crime groups have pursued oil theft, oil workers have become targets for bribes, intimidation, and violence.
  There is little sign local, state, or the federal government in Mexico are able to mount an effective response.Mexico's oil industry has gotten increasing attention from criminal organizations, including powerful groups like the Zetas and Jalisco New Generation cartels.
  The number of illegal taps found on state oil firm Peme
  
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• Nintendo Switch is on track to sell 20 million units in 2018

  01-02-2018 20:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  In just 10 short months, the Nintendo Switch has sold more units than the Wii U's entire five-year lifetime on the market. The hybrid console's popularity has even surpassed Nintendo's original sales target, with close to 15 million units sold since March 2017. 
  As this chart by Statista shows, the original Wii is still one of the top-selling consoles across its entire lifetime, but the Switch's exploding popularity might eventually surpass it, given Nintendo's ambitions for the product.
  Th
  
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• Apple investors are holding their breath ahead of earnings (AAPL)

  01-02-2018 20:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  Apple shares are flat ahead of earnings.
  Investors will be watching for the company's guidance around sales of the iPhone X.
  Watch Apple trade in real time here.Apple is set to report earnings from its holiday quarter after the bell on Thursday, and investors are sure to be watching the results closely.
  Shares of Apple are little changed at $167.46 in the hours before the report is set to cross the wires. Wall Street is expecting adjusted earnings of $3.84 per share on revenue of $87.302 bi
  
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• There’s a rift growing between what Wall Street and the rest of the world thinks about Facebook — and only one side will win (FB)

  01-02-2018 20:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  Facebook reported Wednesday that 50 million fewer hours are being spent on the service per day as a result of its News Feed algorithm change.
  But Facebook argues its users are getting a higher quality experience, which is good for its business long term.
  Wall Street is eating it up. Facebook's stock was up Wednesday, despite other fundamental problems with the company like rampant abuse of its platform.It turns out Facebook might not need a News Feed full of memes, clickbait, and viral videos to
  
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• A bitcoin conference held an event at a Miami strip club, and you can guess what happened next

  01-02-2018 19:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  The North American Bitcoin Conference booked a Miami-based strip club for a networking event, according to Bloomberg News.
  The event ran until 11 p.m., at which point nude performances started up again. Many of the attendees stayed at the club, wearing their conference badges. 
  The decision shines light on a space that is dominated by men. A cryptocurrency conference in Miami hosted a networking event at a strip club last month.As reported by Bloomberg's cryptocurrency watcher Lil
  
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• Two ways brands can engage beyond the Super Bowl ad spot

  01-02-2018 17:00 via warc.com
  The Super Bowl is one of the most expensive places to advertise, giving brands access to an experience shared across America. But there are other ways to speak to consumers around the big event, argues Joe Worswick. Last...
  
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• Coca-Cola revives clay dolls, Wendy’s throws shade at McDonald’s: International round-up

  01-02-2018 16:15
  Coca-Cola revives its clay dolls for Chinese New Year celebrations
  Coca-Cola’s famed clay dolls have become a staple in the company’s Chinese New Year campaigns since 2001 and this year is no different, aside from their slightly more modernised and rejuvenated appearance.
  The campaign, produced in partnership with McCann Shanghai, shows the clay dolls in a number of different, happy family scenarios, such as causing mischief at the dinner table alongside the slogan “Chinese New
  
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• Unilever increases media spend by £220m and shifts more money to digital

  01-02-2018 14:06
  Unilever has increased how much it spends on media and in-store advertising as it reinvests savings in production costs into “real consumer-facing spend”.
  Speaking on a press call this morning (1 February), Unilever’s CFO Graeme Pitkethly said the company’s ‘brand and marketing’ spend was up slightly in absolute terms in 2017. It invested €250m (£220m) more in media and in-store in 2017 than 2016, offsetting that investment with efficiencies in ad p
  
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• Sainsbury’s buys Nectar for £60m in move to take loyalty ‘to the next level’

  01-02-2018 13:42
  Sainsbury’s has bought Nectar for £60m in a strategic drive to ensure it knows its customers “better than anyone else”.
  The acquisition will see Sainsbury’s take over the UK business of Nectar-owner Aimia. That includes all assets, colleagues, systems and licences required for the full and independent operation of the Nectar loyalty programme in the UK.
  “One of our strategic aims is to know our customers better than anyone else and obviously having owners
  
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• Sainsbury’s buys Nectar for £60m

  01-02-2018 13:42
  Sainsbury’s has bought Nectar for £60m in a strategic drive to ensure it knows its customers “better than anyone else”.
  The acquisition will see Sainsbury’s take over the UK business of Nectar owner Aimia. That includes all assets, colleagues, systems and licences required for the full and independent operation of the Nectar loyalty programme in the UK.
  “One of our strategic aims is to know our customers better than anyone else and obviously having owners
  
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• Claudia Willvonseder, CMO, IKEA Group: 'A well-executed brand purpose is about showing, not telling.'

  01-02-2018 13:00 via warc.com
  Claudia Willvonseder is the CMO at IKEA Group and is the chair of the Effective Use of Brand Purpose category at the 2018 WARC Awards. Here, she talks about IKEA’s purpose, the importance of employee engagement and why brands are like...
  
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• Claudia Willvonseder, CMO, IKEA: 'A well-executed brand purpose is about showing, not telling.'

  01-02-2018 13:00 via warc.com
  Claudia Willvonseder is the CMO at IKEA and is the chair of the Effective Use of Brand Purpose category at the 2018 WARC Awards. Here, she talks about IKEA’s purpose, the importance of employee engagement and why brands are like glass...
  
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• New UK sales and marketing director for IT firm Xuper - East Midlands Business Link

  01-02-2018 09:15
  East Midlands Business Link
  New UK sales and marketing director for IT firm Xuper
  East Midlands Business Link
  Sean Price, formerly a Director at a local IT firm and having previously owned a leading creative agency, has a wealth of experience working in the IT industry, particularly within sales, marketing, cyber security and software development. Price says ...
  
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• Lloyds’ winning C4 diversity campaign looks to end stigma of mental health

  01-02-2018 01:01
  Lloyds Bank’s winning campaign for Channel 4’s annual £1m Diversity in Advertising Award, which aims to “get people talking” about mental health, will air exclusively on the channel this evening (1 February).
  Coinciding with mental health awareness Time To Talk Day, the adverts feature celebrities, including Professor Green, Jeremy Paxman, Rachel Riley and Alex Brooker, as well as members of the public and Lloyds Bank colleagues, playing the ‘who am I?’
  
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• KFC’s dancing chicken most complained about ad of 2017

  01-02-2018 01:01
  Chickens? Dancing? A Kentucky-Fried-themed rap? Throw them all together and you’ve got yourself the most complained about ad of 2017.
  Of the 30,000 complaints made to the UK’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority, last year, 755 of those were about KFC’s ‘The Whole Chicken’, seeing it top the chart for the second time after its hugely unpopular Zinger Crunch Salad ad received a whopping 1,671 complaints back in 2005 (and where it remained for an
  
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• What is brand experience?

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  Customer experience and/or experience design have emerged as a discipline that many agencies, especially digital ones, are moving to offer but, Faris Yakob warns, experience cannot entirely replace brand communications.In a recent...
  
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• Super Bowl beacon shines in TV gloom

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  NEW YORK: Average viewing figures for the regular NFL season and the playoffs were down but Sunday night’s Super Bowl remains a major draw for advertisers who will spend more than $5m for a 30-second slot during NBC’s coverage. ...
  
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• Kimberly-Clark explores 'nudge' marketing

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  NEW YORK: Kimberly-Clark, the personal care and healthcare company, is tapping into the power of “nudge” marketing as it seeks to connect with consumers in new ways.Cameron Friedlander, a leader in Global Marketing Technology &...
  
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• Japan's Line expands into fintech

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  TOKYO: Line Corp, the owner of Japan’s hugely popular Line Messenger, has revealed it has established a financial holdings firm and plans to launch in key Asian markets, amid reports it is seeking to expand into cryptocurrency trading and...
  
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• How IKEA becomes a part of every life situation

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  GLOBAL: IKEA has become a symbol of Swedish utility following the vision of its founder, Ingvar Kamprad, who passed away last week. One of the brand’s recent ads, a press ad made headlines, but its strategy shows how the brand has become part...
  
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• How 'China's Netflix' uses AI for creativity

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  BEIJING: Baidu-backed iQiyi, an online video streaming service, is using artificial intelligence to aid across a range of difficult, often creative, decisions. The recent success of a Chinese hip-hop show demonstrated how this technology can enhance...
  
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• H&M profit drop illustrates changes in retail landscape

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  STOCKHOLM: Following the announcement of store closures from the world’s number two fashion group, H&M’s “very poor” full year results illuminate the problems that arise from delaying digital investment.On Wednesday,...
  
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• Getting better at doing the wrong thing

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  The implementation of the time-based billing model – borrowed from law firms by agency leaders like David Ogilvy in the 1980s – was actually a giant step backward for the ad industry. It’s high time, says Tim Williams, that...
  
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• Get ready for the Alexa generation

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  LONDON:Four in ten children in the UK aged 9-16 are already using voice recognition devices at home, according to new research which raises questions about how they will communicate with each other in the future.More than 2,000 children in...
  
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• Dark energy in the digital age

  01-02-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  The fundamentals of marketing and advertising success have not changed because of the digital revolution. Jerry W. Thomas outlines some best practices to help companies navigate the hazards of digital advertising and digital...
  
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