Sales & Marketing news

• Lyft plunges below its IPO price (LYFT)

  01-04-2019 22:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  Lyft shares plunged 13% Monday, the company's first full day of trading after debuting on the Nasdaq.
  The stock traded below its initial public offering price of $72 a share.
  Watch Lyft trade live.
  Lyft plunged nearly 12% Monday in its first full trading session, closing at $69.01 a share, below its initial public offering price of $72. The company on Friday became the first ride-hailing company to hit the public market.
  "Feels like just some of the faster money exiting the stock following the s
  
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• Slack is reportedly going for a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange

  01-04-2019 21:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  Slack is planning to direct list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in the next few months, The Wall Street Journal says, citing sources.
  Last year, Spotify became the first big technology company to direct list its shares.
  Companies avoid paying fees by direct listing shares, but there are some risks. 
  The workplace-messaging platform Slack is planning to direct list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in June or July, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. 
  
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• Millennials are about to overtake Baby Boomers as the largest adult generation — and it could drastically alter the US housing market

  01-04-2019 21:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  Millennials are projected to overtake Baby Boomers as the largest living adult generation.
  As older generations age and look to sell properties, growth in the rental market could outpace homeownership over the next decade.Americans have already begun to lean toward rentals, as softer construction activity and housing shortages price potential buyers out of the market.
  Growth in the rental market could outpace homeownership over the next decade as older generations age and look to sell properties
  
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• Saudia Arabia's oil giant Aramco is printing money as the world's most profitable company

  01-04-2019 21:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company, filed for its international bond debut Monday with crazy high profits.
  The company made $111.1 billion in net income last year, according to Moody's, making it more profitable than Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet (Google's parent company) combined.
  Aramco is issuing a $10 billion bond to investors after doubling its profits in 2018 on the back of improved oil prices.Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant blows the rest of the world out of the water
  
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• Congestion pricing could mark the beginning of the end of New York's famous yellow taxis (LYFT)

  01-04-2019 21:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  Congestion pricing in New York City will achieve the goal of reducing gridlock.
  But the way it's structured could also spell the end of the taxi business.
  Congestion pricing represents a hard bargain between well-capitalized ride-hailing companies, such as Uber and Lyft, and governments desperate for money to fix aging mass-transit systems.Yellow taxi cabs and New York City — what could be more iconic?
  Successfully hailing a cab has always been a rite of passage for New Yorkers. It has bew
  
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• Marijuana retailer Cresco Labs is buying up a competitor for $825 million in one of the largest US pot deals as the company looks toward a US listing

  01-04-2019 21:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Cresco Labs has agreed to buy Origin House in an approximately $825 million deal.
  The deal would be the largest public acquisition in the US cannabis industry to date, according to Cresco.
  Deals of nearly $1 billion are becoming common in the US cannabis industry as companies chase down what's set to be a $75 billion market.The marijuana retail chain Cresco Labs has agreed to buy the marijuana retailer Origin House in an approximately $825 million deal.
  The deal, expected to close in June, would
  
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• Victoria's Secret's Pink brand is 'without fans and rudderless' (LB)

  01-04-2019 20:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  Pink is the next sore spot for L Brands' Victoria's Secret, according to Jefferies analyst Randal Konik. 
  He says sales for the brand fell by low double digits in the fourth quarter and are set to keep sliding.  
  Konik went to a Pink event at Rutgers University that he says proved the brand is "without fans and rudderless."
  Watch L Brands trade live. 
  Pink is the next trouble spot at Victoria's Secret, according to longtime L Brands skeptic Randal Konik, who last week visited
  
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• Hackers steered a Tesla into oncoming traffic by placing 3 small stickers on the road (TSLA)

  01-04-2019 20:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  Cybersecurity researchers from Tencent's Keen Labs say they were able to fool Tesla's Autopilot into merging into oncoming traffic.
  The hackers also controlled the car using a video game controller.
  Tesla thanked the group for its research and said no customers had experienced the problems in real driving.A prolific cybersecurity research firm says it has managed to make Tesla's self-driving feature veer off course by sticking three small stickers on the road pavement.
  Keen Labs, a two-time hono
  
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• Here are all the differences between Tesla's sedans — the Model S and Model 3 (TSLA)

  01-04-2019 18:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  Tesla sells two sedans, the Model S and the Model 3. 
  The Model S is a more luxurious mid-size four-door that can almost stretch to full-size duty.
  The Model 3 is a compact four-door that takes a more minimalist approach than the Model S.Since 2017, Tesla has officially been selling two sedans, the Model S and the Model 3. Both are fully electric, but with the arrival of the base, $35,000 Model 3, there's now a wide price difference between the cheapest Tesla four-door and the most expensiv
  
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• Amazon's cloud service is going to get a big boost from AI, analyst says (AMZN)

  01-04-2019 18:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Amazon's artificial-intelligence capabilities will drive increased AWS cloud sales, says Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein.
  AI will drive increased margins through higher-end products and also lock-in enterprise customers according to the research note.
  Watch Amazon trade live.
  Amazon Web Services' cloud business will get a big boost from the firm's growing artificial-intelligence products, driving both revenues and margins, according to Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein. He raised his price
  
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• Morgan Stanley's recession dashboard is flashing a signal it's never shown before — and the firm has put together a game plan to avoid the losses to come

  01-04-2019 18:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  Morgan Stanley's US cycle indicator is sending two clear messages: A market peak is imminent, and it's time to turn defensive, according to the firm's cross-asset strategists.
  The indicator is a composite of economic and market trends, and it's on an unprecedented streak that points to losses for stocks and bonds.
  The firm's strategists provided three portfolio recommendations to guard against a downturn.Too much of a good thing can be bad.
  This applies to Morgan Stanley's US cycle indicator, a
  
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• The recession in German manufacturing is worse than we thought

  01-04-2019 17:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  The recession in German manufacturing is even worse than initial estimates, according to new purchasing managers' index data.
  German factories are now reducing jobs.
  This could be as bad as it gets — new data from China suggests new trade orders are on their way.The German manufacturing sector "is clearly in deep recession" and is laying off workers, analysts said in notes Monday on data from the IHS Markit purchasing managers' index, a measure of sentiment among factory executives.
  Monday
  
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• Apple just slashed iPhone prices in China as it continues to grapple with falling smartphone sales (AAPL)

  01-04-2019 17:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Apple has slashed the prices of various iPhone models in China by 300 to 500 yuan (roughly $44 to $75).
  Apple has grappled with falling iPhone revenue, citing economic factors in China as contributing to the reduced revenue guidance it issued for its fiscal first quarter of 2019.
  Apple is also facing increased competition from Chinese smartphone makers like Huawei and Oppo in the region.Apple has lowered the prices of various iPhone models in China, according to reports from the Chinese news org
  
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• Lyft and Levi's just went public with 2 very different IPOs that say the same thing about what investors want (LYFT, LEVI)

  01-04-2019 17:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  Lyft, the 7-year-old ride-hailing company and Silicon Valley darling, and Levi Strauss, the 166-year-old denim company with San Francisco roots, have both gone public in the last two weeks.
  Demand for the two initial public offerings — and in Levi's case, a return to the stock market — suggest investors may be gunning for one thing: growth potential in a slowing economy.
  Watch Lyft and Levi's trade live.
  Lyft and Levi Strauss share little in common at first blush.
  One is a young, mon
  
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• Marketing Week Masters Awards deadline extended

  01-04-2019 16:51
  The Marketing Week Masters Awards deadline has been extended to Friday, 3 May, giving you more time to be celebrated, recognised and rewarded for you and your team’s marketing achievements.
  The awards are the biggest celebration of marketing excellence in the UK and offer a unique opportunity to have work judged by some of the biggest names in UK marketing and profiled on Marketing Week.
  A panel of senior marketing leaders including Meghan Farren, CMO of KFC UK and Ireland, easyJet CMO Li
  
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• Was AB InBev right to choose Budweiser over Stella Artois as the name for its UK business?

  01-04-2019 16:26
  AB InBev UK & Ireland changed its name to Budweiser Brewing Group UK & Ireland last week in a move that it hopes will elevate both its brands and business’s reputation.
  Rumours of the drinks giant’s name change have been circulating for roughly a year with the brand citing a lack of awareness among consumers as a key reason. Alongside Budweiser, the business also makes Stella Artois, Becks and Corona – and is the world’s biggest brewer – but this is relativ
  
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• ANA urges brands to join SeeHer movement

  01-04-2019 16:10 via warc.com
  Boosting the accurate portrayal of girls and women in ads and media is the main goal of the SeeHer initiative. From New York, WARC’s Stephen Whiteside reports on the project’s progress.
  
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• Retail sales unexpectedly fell in February

  01-04-2019 15:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  US retail sales fell unexpectedly in February.
  Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity.
  The results underscore expectations for slower economic growth in the coming months.
  US retail sales slipped in February as receipts fell in more than half of major categories, an unexpected pullback underscoring expectations for slowing growth in the world's largest economy.
  The Commerce Department said Monday that retail sales slipped 0.2% in February, compared with econo
  
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• Kellogg has agreed to sell its Keebler and Famous Amos businesses to Ferrero for $1.3 billion (K)

  01-04-2019 15:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Kellogg has agreed to sell its Keebler and Famous Amos brands, as well as its fruit-snacks business, to Ferrero for $1.3 billion.
  The deal is expected to close by the end of July, the companies said in a statement on Monday.
  Watch Kellogg trade live.
  Kellogg agreed on Monday to sell a collection of businesses to the Italian chocolate maker Ferrero for $1.3 billion, according to a statement from Kellogg.
  Among the businesses are Keebler and Famous Amos, as well as several smaller ones including f
  
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• Economists say the way Trump's latest Fed pick wants to set interest rates is 'fringe' and ‘nuts'

  01-04-2019 15:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  President Donald Trump said Friday he would nominate Stephen Moore for an open spot on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. 
  Moore holds unconventional views and has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle.
  He has even suggested pegging interest rates to the cost of commodities, which could cause widespread price volatility.
  A political ally to President Donald Trump and an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve, Stephen Moore has raised a litany of concerns following his nominat
  
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• Private-equity tricks mask mounting debt: 'I'm 5 feet 8 inches, but I change the scale and make myself 6 feet 2 inches on a pro forma basis'

  01-04-2019 14:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  Jonathan Lavine, a co-managing partner at Bain Capital, warned in an interview with the Financial Times that massive debt piles in the private-equity industry were raising the risk of a crash.
  Lavine said that parts of the private-equity space were being "increasingly aggressive" in their calculations.
  Higher prices for deals are leading to firms taking on greater amounts of debt to pay for transactions.Jonathan Lavine, a co-managing partner at Bain Capital, is warning that massive debt piles in
  
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• The digital duopoly, mergers and acquisitions, GDPR: 5 killer stats to start your week

  01-04-2019 14:20
  1. Close to half of marketing roles at risk from automation
  Close to half (43%) of marketing roles are at a risk from automation, although that figure declines to 28% of senior marketing directors.
  Marketers say skills in AI and machine learning are available in 45% of organisations, yet another 64% believe these skills would be important to the future success of their respective organisations, revealing a skills gap (19%).
  Some 87% of marketers say developing skills in AI and machine learning
  
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• The star investor in 'The Big Short' has a new short against Barclays — and is ramping up bearish bets on banks

  01-04-2019 12:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  Steve Eisman, the hedge-fund manager known for betting against the US housing market ahead of the 2008 crash, is holding a short position in Barclays.
  Eisman, who was played by Steve Carell in the movie "The Big Short," is a portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman. The fund disclosed the positions in a filing.
  Neuberger Berman is shorting a swath of European, Canadian, and US banks including Wells Fargo.Steve Eisman, the hedge-fund manager known for betting against the US housing market ahead of t
  
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• Facebook, Arcadia, April Fools: Everything that matters this morning

  01-04-2019 08:39
  Industry unimpressed by Facebook calls for help to regulate content
  Mark Zuckerberg’s claims that regulators and governments should play a more active role in controlling internet content have failed to impress US government and trade bodies.
  The Facebook CEO’s comments, published in the Washington Post some two weeks after a gunman live streamed a terror attack on a New Zealand mosque, suggested that the responsibility for monitoring harmful content is too great for social media fi
  
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• BBC, EasyJet, Morrisons: Everything that matters this morning

  01-04-2019 08:39
  Discovery strikes £300m deal with BBC for wildlife shows
  Discovery has struck a landmark £300m ten-year partnership with the BBC for the rights to its natural history and wildlife programs, such as Planet Earth and Blue Planet.
  The moves comes as the US Pay TV broadcaster looks to launch a subscription-based streaming service next year in a bid to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime for on-demand viewers.
  According to the Financial Times, David Zaslav, president and chief executiv
  
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• How being ‘masculine’ helped Strongbow Dark Fruit recruit new cider drinkers

  01-04-2019 08:30
  In 2013 the cider category was booming. Fuelled by sunny weather and the urge for a sweeter, more drinkable summer beverage, consumers couldn’t get enough of bottled fruit cider.
  Kopparberg, Bulmers and Rekorderlig had all launched fruity mixes and as a result Strongbow, the traditional draught cider was suffering. The 51-year-old brand was in decline and its owner, Heineken, was desperately trying to compete.
  READ MORE: Rekorderlig on its transition from cider to cocktails and why cheap
  
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• How marketing and supply chain combine to create a ‘mission brand’

  01-04-2019 08:15
  Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate company exists to show the inequalities in the cocoa trade.Now more than ever brands are waking up to the possibilities of using their business as a force for good. However, rather than paying lip service to the notion, some brands are bringing their marketing and supply chain together to ensure their business is built on equality and sustainability from the bottom up.
  Dutch chocolate company Tony’s Chocolonely, for example, did not start life wanting to
  
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• Why doing good is good for business

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  For Admap's April issue on sustainability, Chris Arnold, founder, Creative Orchestra, details how doing good for the environment and doing good for humanity go hand in hand, while it is increasingly evident that...
  
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• ThirdLove taps the power of TV

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  ThirdLove, the direct-to-consumer bra and underwear company, has seen tangible benefits from moving beyond its digital marketing roots and embracing the power of television.Heidi Zak, ThirdLove’s co-founder/co-CEO, discussed this subject at...
  
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• Sustainability and the consumer in 2019

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  In 2019's post-plastic landscape, brands will need to move beyond simplistic messaging and token gestures and embrace systemic change, as consumers seek meaningful relationships that reflect their own progressive values. Duncan Baizley, senior...
  
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• #PassOnPlastic: Sustainability across the business at Sky

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  As part of Admap's April issue on sustainability, Fiona Ball, group head of responsible business, Sky, details the launch of Sky Ocean Rescue, an initiative that sets out to stop our oceans from drowning in...
  
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• Netflix sources local content for global audiences

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  Netflix, the video-streaming service, wants to keep an edge over its competitors by tapping different storytelling techniques from around the world and sharing them with global audiences, the company’s CEO has said.In an interview
  
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• Lessons from the Creative 100

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  Using purpose to power behavioural change, involving customers to drive brand engagement and weaving creativity into the customer experience, are the three main themes that power the world’s most creative campaigns, according to a new WARC...
  
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• Grab in talks to spin out its financial arm

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  Grab, the Singapore-based ride-hailing service, is reported to have held talks with PayPal and Ant Financial, the payments division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, about spinning out Grab Financial Group as an independent business.Citing two...
  
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• Coca-Cola launches its first branded energy drink

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  Coca-Cola will launch its first energy drink in the UK under the Coca-Cola brand in a move that will put it in direct competition with market leaders Red Bull and Lucozade, as well as Monster, in which Coca-Cola has a minority stake.Coca-Cola...
  
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• Building brands in a transparent age

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  This month, Admap puts the spotlight on sustainability. We asked David Droga, founder and chairman, Droga5 for his views and advice on building a sustainable brand.
  
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• 40% of US consumers would try out CBD products

  01-04-2019 02:00 via warc.com
  One big business trend in recent years has been the willingness of brands, including some major names, to invest in the legal cannabis industry and now a survey has revealed the extent to which consumers are interested in products containing...
  
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