Posts made in August, 2019

on Aug 6, 2019

By John Glenday Distressed clothing retailer Jack Wills has been rescued from administration following the acquisition of business and assets by Sports Direct for £12.75m. The deal will see the retail giant, whose subsidiaries include Lillywhites, Kangol, and Hargreaves, acquire all Jack Wills stores across the British Isles as well as the rights to the international brand. Before the appointment of administrators, Jack Wills reported an operating loss (before exceptional items) of £14.2m with assets of £99m from which it made a net profit (after exceptional items) of £19.2m. Suzanne Harlow, chief executive of Jack Wills, said: “For the past year, we Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Aug 5, 2019

By Tom Jarvis With news this week that WhatsApp will launch a payment service later this year, Facebook is making its move to becoming a fully-fledged payments business official. A force for financial inclusion? The WhatsApp Pay program will roll-out in India before the end of 2019, following tests it has been running in the country since last February. India is a hugely important market for WhatsApp with over 400 million active users and the initial tests the company ran have ramped-up recently when in June, Facebook announced they had reached more than a million users. Following the announcement, Will Cathcart, Global Head of Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Aug 5, 2019

By Shawn Lim Advanced TV has taken off in the Asia Pacific, especially in Australia and New Zealand, because of investments in addressable TV, connected TV (CTV), programmatic TV, TV Everywhere and broadcast video on demand (BVOD) by the region’s largest broadcasters. CTV has become the primary platform where audiences watch BVOD content, Kevin Smyth, general manager of South East Asia at Telaria, tells The Drum as the platform is currently working with all of the major broadcasters in the region. For example, in 2018, it partnered with Seven Network in Australia to make live premium sports video supply directly available Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Aug 5, 2019

By Shawn Lim Singapore’s Advertising Standards Authority (Asas) has announced it wants to introduce a recommendation on race and ethnicity to marketers when they are planning for campaigns. This comes after an e-payment ad produced by Havas for Nets was accused of promoting racism and cultural appropriation after using a Chinese actor, who is employed by Mediacorp, to dress up as characters of other races, including darkening his skin. The ad was intended to encourage the public to use electronic payment solutions in coffee shops, hawker centres, and industrial canteens across the country. According to The Straits Times, the recommendation by Asas Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Aug 3, 2019

By Stephen Lepitak In an attempt to showcase the personalities of the people behind the media and marketing sector, The Drum speaks to individuals who are bringing something a little different to the industry and talks to them about what insights and life experience they can offer the rest of us. This week’s 10 Questions are put to Lindsay Turner, CEO, Blue 449 and Spark Foundry. What was your first ever job? My first foray into the world of work was as a very busy local babysitter. I came from a large family so had plenty of experience wrangling children Read full story › Source: The Drum...