Month: July 2018

Weekly Industry Brief: 7.30.2018

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Happy Monday! Here is a quick scan of industry news from the last week.  Sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brands and Retailers

  • Nike has a plan to survive retail’s existential crisis – and it’s working.  Quartz
  • Online apparel sales rose 7% in 2017.  Retail Dive
  • How Goop’s haters made Gwyneth Paltrow’s company worth $250M.  The New York Times
  • Following its rebrand, Joann is no longer your mom’s fabric store.  AdWeek
  • Walmart reportedly recruits ex-Epix CEO In bid to build video service.  TechCrunch
  • WeWork is just one facet of SoftBank’s bet on real estate.  TechCrunch
  • Welcome to the Hypebeast Hotel.  GQ
  • Secondhand retailer ThredUp pens letter to Burberry over burned clothes.  Fortune
  • A look at Beautycon, the Super Bowl of the beauty industry.  The New York Times
  • Why ingestible beauty is becoming big business.  Glossy
  • Amazon’s quarterly profits hit record $2.5B.  Financial Times
  • Gucci profits and sales soar without opening new stores.  The Wall Street Journal

Marketing and Social Media

  • Warby Parker created a throwback music video with NYC public access TV.  AdWeek
  • QVC turns to Facebook Live to boost its beauty category.  Glossy
  • Amazon has big plans for its multi-billion-dollar ad business. Fast Company
  • Facebook takes historic plunge as scandals finally take a toll.  AdAge
  • Snapchat deals with NFL, NBC to add more sports videos.  Engadget
  • You can now book influencer-approved vacations straight through their posts. Fashionista
  • Pinterest nears $1B in ad sales and valuation rises at it looks to go public in mid 2019.  CNBC
  • Voice control forces marketers to think differently.  eMarketer
  • American Eagle is resurgent after learning how to tap into the progressive social leanings of Generation Z.  Fast Company
  • Walmart is cozying up to influencers.  Digiday
  • Why unstoppable Stories ads could revive Facebook.  gucciTechCrunch
  • Twitter shares lose over one-quarter of their value.  CNBC
  • Amazon to test new grounds for its product ads.  AdAge
  • Dior brought back the saddle bag with a global Instagram blitz.  Business of Fashion

Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions

  • How AI is changing sales.  Harvard Business Review
  • Groupon loses $83M patent dispute with IBM.  Fast Company
  • Digital studio Awesomeness sells to Viacom for $25M.  Fast Company
  • The Real Real raises $115M in Series G funding.  Fashionista
  • Genderless makeup brand Jecca is L’Oreal’s latest startup squeeze.  Forbes
  • Google Glass is back – now with artificial intelligence.  Wired

International

  • Google to add wifi hotspots in Africa.  Google Blog
  • A tale of two millennials: India and China.  Jing Daily
  • Starbucks pairs up with Alibaba in China to deliver coffee.  Fortune
  • Marriott and Alibaba partner in China to allow facial scanning check in.  Forbes

Weekly Industry Brief: 23 July 2018

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Happy Monday! Here is your quick hit of industry news from the last week.  Sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brands and Retailers

  • Alphabet reports strong Q2, tainted somewhat by massive EU fine.  Fast Company
  • How Best Buy is thriving in the age of Amazon.  Bloomberg
  • WeWork opens a retail operation, highlighting products made by its members.  Entrepreneur
  • How Nordstrom changed its merchandising strategy for the DTC brand era.  Glossy
  • ‘Fast beauty’ company Be For Beauty wants to be the ASOS of the cosmetics industry.  Fashionista
  • What the fashion industry can learn from North Face and Vans parent company VF Corp.  Forbes
  • Walmart, Microsoft in partnership to use cloud tech.  Reuters
  • Petco tries to ‘Amazon-proof’ its business with a new store.  CNBC
  • Why a former pro soccer player and his co-founder decided to make Allbirds all about simplicity.  Inc
  • Comcast lets Disney win the 21st Century Fox bidding war. Fast Company
  • Target uses Prime Day to its advantage, logging its biggest online shopping day so far this year.  CNBC
  • Sonos to raise up to $264M in IPO.  Bloomberg
  • Gap CEO looking for acquisitions.  Fortune

Marketing and Social Media

  • Now for sale: the empty space insider retailers’ packages.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Are influencer brands the key to bringing millennials to department stores?  Fashionista
  • Equinox and SoulCycle are launching a talent agency for fitness influencers.  Fast Company
  • How brands are making pop-up shops more interactive and Instagrammable than ever.  AdWeek
  • Snapchat is shutting down Snapcash.  Fast Company
  • AMC teams with Facebook for movie ticket purchases.  Variety
  • Why Club Monaco is stealing tricks from scrappy startups.  Fast Company
  • Amazon advertising is working directly with brands now, cutting out ad agencies.  Digiday
  • Facebook pulls Walmart and P&G’s ads for lacking ‘political’ labeling.  AdAge
  • Retailers are getting into the media and advertising businesses.  Axios
  • Snapchat beefs up ad targeting deal with Nielsen.  AdAge
  • Inside the mating rituals of brands and online stars. The New York Times
  • Snapchat partners with 4 news discovery platforms to help push content beyond the app.  MarketingLand
  • YouTube is testing its own ‘Explore’ tab on iPhone.  TechCrunch

Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions

  • P&G reportedly bought First Aid Beauty for $250M.  Allure
  • Will virtual shopping malls save retailers? Forbes
  • Marks & Spencer, Founders Factory form JV to support retail startups.  WWD
  • Why online marketplaces fell out of favor and why VCs should love them again.  Forbes
  • Rocket Internet turns to US with new fund.  Bloomberg
  • Robot truck upstart Embark hauls in $30M to take on Waymo and Uber.  Forbes
  • Eventbrite is reportedly going public in the second half of this year.  TechCrunch
  • Facebook confirms its working on a new internet satellite.  Wired
  • HoneyLove looks to reinvent shapewear.  TechCrunch
  • How voice is changing everything.  AdAge
  • Uber partners with Cargo to enable commerce in your next Uber ride.  Fortune

International

  • Google fined a record $5B by the EU for abusing the dominance of Android.  Business Insider
  • Report: Amazon temporarily killed all international traffic to deal with Prime Day outage.  Fast Company
  • Alibaba and Tencent in talks over stake in WPP’s Chinese unit.  Reuters

Weekly Industry Brief: 07.16.2018

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Happy Monday!  Here is a quick list of industry news from the last week. Sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brands and Retailers

  • Amazon suffers glitches at the start of Prime Day, its biggest shopping day of the year.  CNBC
  • Amazon’s share of the US commerce market is now 49% or 5% of all retail spend.  TechCrunch
  • Nordstrom Local expands its innovative, inventory-free retail hubs.  Fast Company
  • Fabletics plans to open 75 new stores in global push.  CNBC
  • Home Depot getting into the home decor space.  Forbes
  • US mobile data use, cell sites set new records in 2017.  Wireless Week
  • Study finds that Amazon Prime Day suppresses foot traffic at other retailers.  Fortune
  • Nike’s digital reboot is working.  CNN Money
  • New Nike concept store goes live in LA.  Retail Dive
  • How Kylie Jenner built a $900M fortune in less than 3 years.  Forbes
  • Why brands like Madewell and Reformation are driving growth for Nordstrom.  Fashionista
  • How Huda Kattan built a multi-million dollar beauty brand from a blog.  Fast Company
  • This retailer is betting big on made-to-order brands and is opening 15 stores dedicated to it.  AdWeek
  • Strong retail sales in June boosted growth.  The Wall Street Journal
  • CPG giants seek out tie-ups and push M&A to 15-year high.  Forbes
  • Apple launches clean energy fund in China.  NBC
  • Netflix stock plummets after missed subscriber targets by 1M.  Fast Company

Marketing and Social Media

  • Target has a secret app for superfine and it looks like Instagram.  Fast Company
  • Google works with Shopify to spur commerce, retail ad spending.  Bloomberg
  • Aerie’s latest campaign features women in wheelchairs, with illnesses and more.  Fashionista
  • Pinterest’s rudimentary consultancy gives retailers advice on in-store marketing.  The Drum
  • On Instagram TV, brands go longer, weirder.  AdAge
  • Facebook testing AR ads in the news feed and new tool to help brands create video ads.  MarketingLand
  • Google expanding store visitation and local conversion reporting.  Search Engine Land
  • How H&M’s millennial brand Nyden is crowdsourcing design on Instagram.  Glossy

Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions

  • Alibaba, Amazon and Nike all point to the next innovation in retail: personalized physical spaces.  Forbes
  • AdQuick raises over $2M to make billboard advertising more programmatic.  TechCrunch
  • Lady Gaga is quietly working on a new beauty startup.  Recode
  • Retailers use AI for more personalized approach.  AdAge
  • Facebook taught bots how to navigate New York City using natural language.  Fast Company
  • Adobe is bringing real Photoshop to the iPad, possibly in 2019.  Fast Company

International

  • Burberry to cut prices in China.  Jing Daily
  • Louis Vuitton expands ecommerce to cover all of China.  Jing Daily
  • Instagram is changing the way fashion sells in India.  Quartz
  • WeWork’s biggest rival in China is on an acquisition spree.  TechCrunch

Weekly Industry Brief: 7.9.2018

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And just like that – we are more than halfway through 2018 – WOW!  Might be time for a quick pulse check on the year.

In the meantime, here is a recap of industry headlines from the last two weeks. Sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brands and Retailers

  • Sonos files for IPO with plans to raise $100M.  Fast Company
  • How Wharton launched Warby Parker and dozens of tore companies just like it.  Inc
  • Groupon stock surged this morning on news that it wants a buyer.  Fast Company
  • Luxury retail is making a comeback thanks to China, Millennials and men.  Forbes
  • Colgate takes minority stake in Hubble.  The Wall Street Journal
  • A bigger Amazon Prime Day 2018 arrives July 16 with more deals, devices and longer hours.  TechCrunch
  • Amazon makes big push with in-house brands ahead of Prime Day.  CNBC
  • Amazon Prime Day and a Half expected to set record at $3.4B.  WWD
  • Walmart hires CMO from outside the organization.  AdAge
  • Macy’s plans 60 new BlueMercury stores.  Business of Fashion
  • Amazon reveals a new plan to deliver more packages: recruit people to run small-scale delivery services.  CNBC
  • Xiaomi’s IPO raises $4.7B after pricing on low end.  Bloomberg
  • Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie launch new installment payment program online.  Business Insider
  • How specialty food retailers are fighting back against Amazon.  FoodDive
  • 27% of apparel sales are now online.  Retail Dive
  • The American beauty industry is thriving – thanks to these 6 visionary brands.  Fashionista
  • Starbucks will stop distributing plastic straws by 2020.  AdWeek
  • Kroger is launching its own fashion brand.  Fortune
  • How Michael Mente took Revolve from an ecommerce startup to a global powerhouse.  Fashionista
  • Net-a-porter launches kids’ wear with Gucci.  WWD
  • How Netflix became a billion-dollar titan.  The Economist

Marketing and Social Media

  • Snap and Amazon are reportedly working on a visual search feature for Snapchat.  Fortune
  • Facebook is shuttering three of its apps, including Moves.  Fast Company
  • Dedicated Amazon teams are helping brands develop platform-specific marketing tactics.  AdWeek
  • How live events can boost digital marketing.  AdWeek
  • How Benefit Cosmetics is home-growing its own influencers on Instagram.  Glossy
  • Amazon may send holiday toy catalogs in the mail.  Engadget
  • How Frank and Oak is building a data driven subscription service. Glossy
  • Instagram Stories is twice as popular as Snapchat.  CNN Money
  • Adidas Originals surprised influencers with personalized billboards for the drop of a new shoe. AdWeek
  • Tiffany is giving cool a try and it’s working.  CNN Money
  • How packaging is helping launch indie brands on social media.  Glossy
  • WhatsApp copies Telegram to add one-way ‘broadcast’ mode to group chats.  TechCrunch
  • From Muji to Ikea: why the best retailers think like UX designers.  Fast Company
  • Inside Instagram’s social shopping master class.  Business of Fashion
  • Timehop suffered a data breach that affected 21M users.  The Verge
  • Jaden Smith’s latest album is only available on Instagram.  Engadget

Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions

  • How L’Occitane uses AI to improve customer experience online.  Glossy
  • The luggage upstart Away is taking on industry giants.  Fast Company
  • Kroger plans to introduce driverless grocery deliveries.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Walmart-led blockchain effort seeks farm-to-grocery-aisle view of food supply chain.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Walmart offers a 3D tour to get shoppers to look, click and buy.  USA Today
  • Amazon buys PillPack, an online pharmacy for just under $1B.  TechCrunch
  • Uber and Lyft eyeing crowdsourced bus startup Skedaddle.  The Drive

International

  • Instagram Lite quietly launches to find a billion more users abroad.  TechCrunch
  • Inside JD.com, the giant Chinese firm that could eat Amazon alive.  Wired
  • Tencent seeks to list online music unit in US.  Reuters
  • The factors behind China’s growing strength in innovation.  Harvard Business Review
  • 37% of luxury brands with active WeChat accounts introduced a mini program.  L2 Think Tank
  • Siemens inks deal with Alibaba to launch digital products in China.  Reuters