US Court of Appeals backs AT&T takeover of Time Warner February 26, 2019 US telecoms giant AT&T’s takeover with Time Warner was given the green light today by a federal appeals judge that ruled in favour of the acquisition. An appeals court rejected the Justice Department's bid to overturn a ruling that approved the $80bn (£60bn) merger, which has led to one of the largest US anti-trust lawsuits in [...]
DEBATE: With the Oscars success of Roma, has Netflix broken the dominance of the traditional film studios? February 26, 2019 With the Oscars success of Roma, has Netflix broken the dominance of the traditional film studios? Abbie Llewelyn, freelance writer and commentator, says YES. Just six years after Netflix started producing original content, it has scored 15 nominations and three wins at the Oscars. This is a huge breakthrough for streaming platforms, as up until [...]
This time with Alan Partridge: Lessons from the great man February 25, 2019 I'm fairly certain that whatever the creators of Alan Partridge intended for him, it wasn’t to provide guidance for businesses. He has, however, become an unlikely icon, and when he eventually passes to the tiny studio in the sky, he’ll be granted a period of national re-runs. Many brands also aspire to becoming “iconic”, so [...]
Netflix is first choice for almost half of Brits wanting new movie releases February 20, 2019 Almost half of UK film lovers prefer watching new release movies on Netflix over going to the cinemas, according to data released today. The survey from consumer profiling firm GlobalWebIndex reveals that 46 per cent of Brits would rather watch a film from the comfort of their own home on than head out to the cinema. [...]
Make your business spark joy using Marie Kondo’s KonMari approach to tidying up February 15, 2019 When Marie Kondo released “The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up” in 2011, it soon became a bestseller. Clearly, the KonMari approach – the notion of removing anything from our homes that doesn’t bring us happiness – resonates. Kondo is now taking Netflix by storm with her TV show, encouraging more people to get purging. Whether [...]
Editor’s Notes: The EU simply chooses which rules to enforce and which to ignore February 14, 2019 Allow me a moment away from our own Brexit turmoil and to focus instead on a nasty spot of rot right at the heart of the European Commission. While the Brexit process has made some of the EU’s top brass more recognisable to a British audience, it’s unlikely that many could identify one of its [...]
Revolut’s Valentine’s Day advert caused a social media storm – and shows the pitfalls of using comedy in marketing February 11, 2019 Roses are red, violets are blue, there’s a company in hot water and it’s called Revolut. The fintech challenger bank, which offers a mobile-based banking service, recently launched a new ad campaign of Tube posters that joked about the spending habits of its customers. One of the four adverts read: “To the 11,867 people who [...]
It’s time for brands to let their old products pass away February 11, 2019 Corporate giants in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector have been sitting on their hands for the past decade, waiting for the startup bubble to burst so that they can rule the supermarket shelves once again. They’ve been dozing, and are only now realising that these plucky challengers aren’t going away. The number of brands [...]
Quit nostalgic navel-gazing and get excited for the future February 11, 2019 The thing about the 1970s – if you lived through them – is that they were for the most part dull and dour years, devoid of political and economic energy. And as for the fashion, don’t even go there. Yet there seems to be no shortage of fresh-faced tweets proclaiming those years to be something [...]
Premier League plots streaming service for live football matches February 10, 2019 The Premier League is planning to launch its own streaming service for live football matches in a bid to bypass broadcasters and boost revenues. The Netflix-style streaming service was due to be tested in Singapore, but the Premier League backed out of the project. Instead, the league sold rights to the next three seasons to Singapore [...]