Month: September 2018

Weekly Industry Brief: 9.24.2018

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Hi! I’m back. Happy new season!Here is a recap of news from the last two weeks. Seriously considering an Amazon-only news recap day…thoughts? Meantime, sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brands and Retailers

  • Amazon Prime Day: what the real lessons are.  McKinsey
  • Michael Kors is close to buying Versace for $2B.  Bloomberg
  • Amazon may open 3,000 cashier-less stores by 2021.  AdAge
  • A look inside Target’s store of the future.  AdWeek
  • Walmart is borrowing luxury’s playbook to gain an edge on Amazon in fashion.  Quartz
  • Amazon will sell and deliver live Christmas trees this year.  CNN Money
  • Gap’s new menswear line is a direct challenge to Lululemon.  Fortune
  • Ikea quickly shifting to a zero-emissions delivery fleet.  Fast Company
  • Halloween spending to hit $9B.  Retail Dive
  • How Nike became the biggest fashion brand in the world.  GQ
  • Walmart wants to bring its everyday low prices to healthcare.  CNN Money
  • J.Crew quietly launched a new platform that takes a page out of Amazon’s playbook.  Business Insider
  • Amazon introduces an Alexa-powered microwave and other home products.  The New York Times 
  • Crate & Barrel CEO says tariffs won’t send production to U.S. Bloomberg
  • Farfetch tops price range in IPO boon to luxury market.  Reuters
  • Why L Brands is shuttering all its Henri Bendel stores.  Forbes
  • Amazon investigates employees leaking data for bribes.  The Wall Street Journal 
  • Zara’s upbeat outlook eases concerns about online competition.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Coke may be planning cannabis drinks.  Fast Company 
  • Walmart’s Jet.com to offer Nike products in bid for urban consumers.  Reuters
  • Starbucks to build 10,000 “greener” stores by 2025.  CNBC
  • Target launches kitchen line with Chrissy Teigen.  Biz Journals

Marketing and Social Media

  • Why Weight Watchers is shedding the baggage of an old name.  AdWeek
  • Google following Instagram and Facebook with push into Stories format.  Recode
  • Amazon launches “storefronts” to promote small businesses.  Fast Company 
  • Amazon forecast to be No. 3 digital advertising player in 2018.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Here’s everything Google announced today at its “Future of Search” event.  TechCrunch
  • How Nordstrom reinvented its loyalty program.  Glossy
  • FabFitFun expands its video reach with new experiment in live programming.  TechCrunch
  • Pinterest launches API that lets brans find and track influencers.  VentureBeat
  • Snapchat lets you take a photo of object to buy it on Amazon.  TechCrunch
  • Eva Chen explains Instagram’s new shopping features.  Vogue
  • What the rise of men’s makeup means for masculinity.  Vox
  • Pinterest introduces a few product tagging tool for organic pins.  Marketing Land
  • L’oreal doing background checks as part of new influencer vetting process.  The Drum
  • TripAdvisor wants to become your Facebook for travel.  Fast Company 
  • Time Magazine sold to Salesforce founder for $190M.  The Wall Street Journal

Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions

  • Here’s why SeriusXM is purchasing Pandora for $3.5B.  AdAge
  • Meet the nine companies in Snapchat’s new startup accelerator.  TechCrunch
  • Six AI innovations that could change skincare and beauty.  Dazed
  • For major beauty companies, brand incubation is the way of the future.  Fashionista
  • Slack acquires Astro to conquer email.  TechCrunch
  • Here’s why Adobe dished out $4.75B for Marketo.  AdAge
  • Google might release a Home Hub to take on the Echo Show.  The Verge 
  • How AI can help stop cyberattacks.  The Wall Street Journal 

International

 

Weekly Industry Brief: 9.10.2018

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

Brands and Retailers

  • J.Crew to sell its factory products, J.Crew Mercantile, on Amazon.  AdWeek 
  • Walmart was asked by several outdoor product brands to remove items from its website.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Urban Outfitters launches its own beauty brand.  InStyle
  • How Nike and REI made experiential retail a strategy.  Retail Dive
  • Glossier CEO on why the company won’t sell on Amazon.  TechCrunch
  • Inditex to sell all its brands online by 2020.  Reuters
  • How Adidas and Carbon are changing the sneaker supply chain.  TechCrunch
  • Jeff Bezos on what he plans to conquer next.  Forbes
  • AllBirds is opening a massive store in New York and plans more across the US.  CNBC
  • Amazon ordered 20,000 Mercedes-Benz vans to start a delivery service.  Fortune
  • The mystery of Amazon’s HQ2 has finalists seeing clues everywhere.  The New York Times 

Marketing and Social Media

  • Snap loses its chief strategy officer.  Fast Company
  • Colin Kaepernick campaign gives Nike a big sales boost.  Fortune
  • Snapchat eyes the fashion set with its latest line of Spectacles eyewear.  Fortune
  • WeWork wants to provide content marketing services to startups.  Digiday
  • A new Spotify initiative makes big record labels nervous.  The New York Times 
  • Amazon surpasses Google in product searches.  MediaPost
  • J.Crew’s relaunch campaign tries to win back lapsed customers.  AdAge
  • Instagram is reportedly building a standalone app for shopping. AdWeek
  • The menswear market is going all in on experiential retail.  Fashionista
  • Pinterest reports 25% increase in monthly active users.  TechCrunch
  • Instagram is testing the ability to tag friends in videos.  TechCrunch
  • Ulta highlights diversity in new campaign.  AdAge
  • Glamour magazine set to cease print operations.  Fashionista
  • Apple wins a Creative Arts Emmy for “Carpool Karaoke.”  Fast Company 

Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions

  • HP’s new 3-D printers built items not of plastic but of steel.  Wired
  • Deep-linking startup Branch is raising more than $100M at a unicorn valuation.  TechCrunch
  • Deloitte is buying a marketing AI platform to expand its ad-tech holdings.  AdWeek
  • Facial recognition tech is ready for its post-phone future.  Wired
  • Theranos is shutting down.  The New York Times 

International

  • Alibaba CEO Jack Ma will retire in a year.  Fast Company
  • Alibaba’s journey to become Asia’s most valuable firm.  Bloomberg 
  • Starbucks enters Italy with an opulent roastery.  Fortune 
  • Mulberry kicks off international expansion with show and pop-up shop in Seoul.  Vogue

Weekly Industry Brief: 9.4.2018

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It’s that time: back to school, back to work, back to reality. And for my retail friends, this basically means the holidays are here, so….Happy Holidays!

Here is a recap of industry news from the last week.  Sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.  Next week I’ll be back to Monday posting!

Brands and Retailers

  • Ulta shares hit 52-week high after announcing Kylie Cosmetics will be in stores by the holidays.  CNBC
  • Hard lessons breathe new life into retail stores.  The New York Times
  • Amazon strikes $1T market cap, four weeks after Apple did the same.  TechCrunch
  • Urban Outfitters gains as it launches a new vision for Anthropologie.  Forbes 
  • How haircare and skincare brands won Amazon Prime Day.  Glossy
  • Sales soar 27% at American Eagle’s Aerie.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Campbell Soup to sell international business and fresh unit.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Kroger expands Instacart home delivery to half its stores nationwide.  USA Today
  • The revamped Tiffany flagship will have more sales and VIP space.  Bloomberg
  • Inside J.Crew’s new CEO’s plans to revive struggling chain.  Fashionista
  • FAO Schwartz to return with store based on experience.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Walmart will have 30% more toys in stores this holiday.  CNBC
  • Target is already thinking of expanding Heyday, it’s first-ever consumer electronics brand.  Forbes

Marketing and Social Media

  • Can Instagram save offline shopping?  The Economist
  • Instagram is driving jewelry sales.  Retail Dive
  • Celine unveils a new logo.  Vogue
  • Tricky ads from a vitamin company that talks up openness.  The New York Times
  • Assessing the fallout – good and bad – from Nike’s Kaepernick ad.  AdAge
  • What happens when Facebook mistakenly blocks local news stories.  Wired
  • Inside Twitter’s long, slow struggle to police bad actors.  The Wall Street Journal
  • Sources say Instagram is building a standalone app for shopping.  The Verge
  • Kylie Jenner joins Adidas as latest brand ambassador.  Forbes
  • Can a festival help Zalando build a memorial brand? The Business of Fashion
  • New video ad gives brands a way to promote deals on Amazon.  AdAge 
  • Snapchat’s latest ecommerce play sells out again, this time with Adidas.  AdWeek

Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions

  • Apple buys Denver startup building waveguide lenses for AR glasses.  TechCrunch
  • Dyson moves ahead on $2.6B electric car plan.  Bloomberg
  • Kroger to open innovation center at  University of Cincinnati.  Market Watch
  • The rise of giant consumer startups that said no to investor money.  Recode
  • Narvar raises $30M in new funding.  The Wall Street Journal
  • New Balance turns to AI.  Fast Company
  • How apparel store are innovating.  AdWeek

International

  • Inside Alibaba’s new kind of superstar: robots, apps and overhead conveyor belts.  CNBC
  • Tommy Hilfiger’s pivot to Asia.  The Business of Fashion
  • The booming male KOL market on Little Red Book.  Jing Daily
  • Alipay: Alibaba’s $150B moat.  Seeking Alpha
  • Amazon launches a Hindi language version of its site and app.  Fast Company