Posts made in April, 2018

on Apr 3, 2018

By John Glenday A bout of consolidation within the European digital sector has seen 10 creative firms come together as one entity – international digital agency Dept. This will pull together the experience of Netherlands based TamTam; Expand Online; a Friend of Mine; Second Degree; eBrella; Unskippable and Tricode together with Irish agency Webfactory and Building Blocks, which has offices in the UK, US and Spain. The 10th member of Dept, Germany’s Studio Dumbar, will stand apart from the pack and retain its own identity as ‘part of Dept’. Based in Amsterdam, the newly formed business will see all its partners operate Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 3, 2018

By John Glenday Spotify founder Daniel Ek has spoken of the opportunities presented by his companies listing on the New York Stock Exchange today after a surprise decision to ditch planned Initial Public Offering. Explaining his decision to forego a headline-grabbing IPO Ek wrote on the company blog: “Normally, companies ring bells, Normally, companies spend their day doing interviews on the trading floor touting why their stock is a good investment. Normally, companies don’t pursue a direct listing. While I appreciate that this path makes sense for most, Spotify has never been a normal kind of Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 2, 2018

By Danielle Long China’s online retail market will hit $1 trillion this year, a year ahead of predictions, according to Forrester. The Forrester report revealed the growth in mobile shopping and consumer spending in categories like fashion and grocery would see China’s retail sales reach $1.1tn in 2018. Chinese online shoppers will continue to grow by 4.6% annually to reach 631 million by 2022, up from the current 502 million. The report, which provides online retail forecasts for Asia Pacific, found China remains the largest market accounting for close to 83% of all retail sales across the region. Japan is the second largest with $97bn, followed by Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 2, 2018

By Charlotte McEleny As real life gets closer to the science from our fiction, the task of creating the human and creative elements is knocking on some agency’s doors. Wolff Olins is an agency that has done just that – creating the human face to Alibaba’s ET Brain, its AI product launched at the Winter Olympics earlier this year. According to Emma Barratt, creative director at Wolff Olins, the agency has always wanted to work with Alibaba, as they are pushing disruption. “AI is a crucial part of the next wave of digital disruption, and tech is becoming ever more Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Apr 2, 2018

By Danielle Long Alibaba has acquired Chinese delivery app Ele.me in a bid to further bolster the brand’s ‘new retail’ strategy. The deal sees Alibaba assume full ownership of the app, acquiring all outstanding shares in the start-up local delivery company. Alibaba previously held 43% of shares in Ele.me. The deal, which values Ele.me at $9.5bn, will enhance Alibaba’s New Retail strategy by providing local delivery services from Ele.me’s huge national network of delivery drivers. Alibaba also plans to expand Ele.me’s services beyond food to incorporate other products and services, in a bid to give the company a bigger slice of China’s Read full story › Source: The Drum...