Comedian gets the last laugh over FCUK logo row

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/news/comedian-gets-the-last-laugh-over-fcuk-logo-row-8975113.html

However, instead of caving in, Mr Griffiths fought back, turning the tables on the company when he discovered that it was itself breaching the copyright of some of the biggest brands in the world. French Connection produced T-shirts using Ford's and Mars's logos, replacing the wording with FCUK; another KFC-inspired design read "Finger lookin' good – FCUK". In total, Mr Griffiths found 25 companies which had had their logos used by French Connection. "At first I felt it was unfair that they thought they could threaten me in the way they did. But then, when I saw them using other people's designs, I thought it was a complete hypocrisy."

The 44-year-old started calling round the different companies to tell them he believed the fashion company was infringing the copyright of companies including Pepsi, KFC, Durex, IBM. "I thought it was only right to kindly inform each company what French Connection was doing. Sometimes it would take days for me to convince them to take it seriously, but once the first company complained to French Connection, and that led to a full withdrawal and apology, I couldn't help myself." Several months and hundreds of phone calls later, the project turned into an obsession, with Mr Griffiths roping in his mother to take delivery of the French Connection catalogue after the company refused to send it to him.

Obama's tech wizard hones his media weapons

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/30/obama-miliband-no-10-mitt-romney-labour-campaign

McGregor sees digital tools as the way to energise supporters and put them at the heart of the campaign. He talks about the importance of "online chats" and "Google hangouts" – Obama did these, hanging out with three or four swing voters – as ways to make contact and enthuse support, and to raise funds through small donations. "While traditional media is a vital part of our campaign plan, fewer people read newspapers and they have a lower level of trust in the media than they used to, so they are looking for other [ways to gather] information."

But it will be as part of a rich mix of old and new that together offers new possibilities. It is "complete bollocks", he says, to claim that social media will mean the end of traditional media. Rather, one will complement the other.

Yahoo’s strategy for mobile web is a gamble

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/nikhil-kumar-yahoos-new-direction-since-marissa-mayer-took-charge-to-revive-company-by-tooling-it-up-for-the-mobile-web-is-a-gamble-8973907.html

Why is Ms Mayer trying to turn a technology company into a media business? To begin with, as has been widely noted, part of Ms Mayer’s challenge in reviving Yahoo is not just attracting new users but keeping them engaged so they keep returning. To use the jargon, this kind of “stickiness” in websites is highly prized by advertisers.

One, and perhaps the most obvious, way of doing this is coming up with a breakthrough product such as, say, Google’s search engine, which became everybody’s go-to tool for navigating the web. They kept returning, and Google kept growing its advertising business. Wisely, Ms Mayer seems have decided against taking on her ex-employer in a fight that Yahoo would probably lose, such is Google’s strength when it comes to search.

And so, she seems to be adopting a different strategy, inspired perhaps by the success of Netflix. Netflix was just a video service, marrying its technological know-how with external content. Lately, however, it’s been producing its own programmes.

An everyday taste of happiness - By Simon Kuper

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/f3f7be5a-56fb-11e3-8cca-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2m3lUf1Xi


The fall of the Wall accelerated globalisation, and globalisation tends to improve cooking. Our food has kept getting more exotic. The number of Indian restaurants in Britain, for instance, has gone from 1,200 in 1970 to about 9,000 today. (Indian food, incidentally, epitomises globalisation: chilli reached India from Portugal, tandoori from west Asia, and curry powder, bizarrely, from England, writes Amartya Sen.) Gradually, more westerners came to regard food as more than just fuel. On April 14 1999, Jamie Oliver presented his first cookery show on BBC television. A new generation of “foodies” was born.

Great masses of people now watch cookery shows on TV. They don’t all then cook the dishes but they must be influenced. Often they consume the foods in simplified or snack forms: in coffee shops, or as ready-made supermarket meals. There’s even a “fresh fast food” phenomenon. Recent TV commercials for Taco Bell in the US, for instance, feature the celebrity chef Lorena Garcia rhapsodising about “beautiful ingredients” while preparing a “burrito bowl” in her kitchen. This sort of thing is easy to mock, but these foods are probably tastier than, say, the Wonder Bread that used to be an American staple.

Retailing - The raw and the clicked

Grocery has so far resisted the rise of online shopping. That may be about to change

Grocers have held back for good reasons. Like many bricks-and-mortar merchants they fret that online commerce will shrivel sales in stores but not the costs associated with them. Grocery, with its tiny profit margins, adds complications. Virtual shopping-carts contain dozens of low-value items, which must be stored at different temperatures. Retailers can either get in-store staff to pick them off the shelves, which becomes disruptive as volumes rise, or build dedicated warehouses, which is costly. So are home deliveries: even in thickly settled Britain each one costs grocers around £10 ($16), but shoppers typically pay little more than £3.

Christmas TV ads: watch 10 of 2013's best - video

See festive commercials from Aldi, Boots, Google Nexus, Harvey Nichols, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Phones 4 U, Sainsbury's, Sky and Waitrose

Viral Video Chart: Chatroulette wrecks Miley and it's move over Kanye West

James Franco and Seth Rogen's take on Bound 2, Family Guy fans protest and Alan Partridge conquers Norwich

1. Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version) 
Fabulous balls-up

2. James Franco & Seth Rogen - Bound 3 (Vague)
Come back Kim

3. A Farewell To Brian Griffin
Doggone it

4. Mean Elves 
Middle Earth madness

5. 'Long, stabby thing'
Golden oldie

6. Show Your Joe
Boxing day

7. Lewis Collins on the Bob Mills Show 1997
Tribute to the Professionals actor

8. Harvey Nichols Christmas ad: 'Sorry, I spent it on myself'
It's an advertiser's gift

9. Alan Partridge spectacularly hijacks Norwich Christmas lights
Knowing him

10. The Killing does Christmas Jumper Day
It's a purl

Source: Viral Video Chart. Compiled from data gathered at 14:00 on 28 November 2013. The Viral Video Chart is currently based on a count of the embedded videos and links on approximately 2m blogs, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

Cinema economics

Now showing at your local cinema: operas, circuses and television shows

This new breed of programming is made possible by the spread of digital technology. Cinemas no longer rely on the delivery of 35mm reels, now that pictures can be delivered over satellite or broadband connections. Cinema-owners can make fuller use of their screens, and audiences see delights they would otherwise miss. “We have a presence in 78 Mexican cities,” says Alejandro Ramirez, the boss of Cinépolis, which runs plush cinemas in the Americas and India. “In the vast majority of these cities, there is no opera,” he notes. So far this year nearly 300,000 people worldwide have gone to see opera and other “alternative programming”, such as “Cirque du Soleil 3D”, a circus performance, at Cinépolis’s theatres.

Finding new uses for screens is a product of economic necessity as well as technological opportunity. Ten years ago Americans and Canadians went to the cinema almost five times a year on average; now it is closer to four. In America and Europe in particular, at-home film offerings, including video-on-demand, are plentiful—and cheaper than a night out.

"Making the nation cry... and buy"

Marketing execs reveal the story behind the John Lewis Christmas campaigns since 2009

This film by the IPA & Thinkbox shows how the John Lewis Christmas campaigns generated £1074m of incremental sales and £261m of incremental profit in just over two years. The film interviews the marketing directors and advertising execs involved with the campaign and shows commercial and creative strategy behind the campaigns up to 2012.

Why Lego Succeeded While Jysk Failed in Russia

Notwithstanding a few unpleasant incidents at the border, Lego has managed to maneuver its Russian operations with enormous success. Since 2007, it has increased revenue 10-fold and expects a $360 million annual turnover by the end of 2013

The starkly contrasting outcomes of bids by two major Danish companies to hit it big in Russia could offer a lesson to investors hoping to succeed in a country that, despite its currently sluggish economy, is widely regarded as one of the most promising consumer markets in the world.

Success ultimately depends on three factors: a company's financial backbone, willingness to succeed, and patience, said the businessmen from Lego and Jysk. Time, they said, is important because an investment in Russia may not pay off as fast as in other markets.

Investors also should avoid applying their business model on a one-to-one scale from the European market to the Russian market, said Mette Baerbach Bas, a Danish author who studies Russian business culture. The mechanisms and structure of society can make cultural awareness a significant factor when outlining your Russian business strategy.

Experts outline key brand marketing trends in 2014

Real-time marketing, meaningful brands and customised content for image-centric platforms are just some of the predictions from our panel of experts on key brand marketing trends for 2014