How Iceland found the perfect Christmas campaign formula December 11, 2019 Twas the month before Christmas (in 2018), and the festive cheer was seemingly “cancelled” for British frozen food giant Iceland. “We’re absolutely gutted,” a defeated Richard Walker, Iceland’s managing director, told the BBC. “We wanted to share this message far and wide.” Well, for Richard, Christmas miracles are very much real. This particular miracle began when [...]
Pub chain censured after ads implied booze could boost confidence December 11, 2019 The advertising watchdog has taken aim at a UK pub chain over adverts deemed to encourage excessive drinking and imply alcohol could cure shyness. Read more: Peloton’s ‘sexist’ advert was so bad it sent shares crashing Blackrose, which operates roughly 40 boozers across the country, posted adverts on Facebook about three of its pubs. In [...]
Peloton’s ‘sexist’ advert was so bad it sent shares crashing December 4, 2019 Exercise bike firm Peloton is facing a fierce backlash over a Christmas advert that has been widely mocked as “sexist” and “dystopian”. The 30-second campaign shows a woman receiving a Peloton bike – which costs roughly £2,000 – from her husband. Read more: What the cluck? Watchdog bans offensive KFC advert over swear word reference [...]
London gym 1Rebel unveils at-home Peloton competitor November 11, 2019 City gym studio 1Rebel has revealed a collaboration with equipment provider Technogym to take its rivalry with US fitness giant Peloton to the next level. 1Rebel is expanding into the at-home gym market, partnering with Technogym to develop an exercise bike and a wealth of both live and pre-recorded spin classes for fitness enthusiasts. Since [...]
Exercise startup Peloton narrows losses November 5, 2019 Fitness startup Peloton narrowed its losses in its first quarter despite pushing forward with expansion plans and investment in its online platform. The company posted a loss of $49.8m (£38.71m) in the three months to 30 September, reducing the figure by $4.8m on the previous year as the firm continued to target international growth. Read [...]
Does WeWork spell the end of the unicorns? November 4, 2019 WeWork has undergone a dramatic fall from grace recently. Just two months ago the office rental start-up was expecting to offer shares to the public at a total business valuation of $47 billion. This soon halved and then investors rapidly pulled their support for an initial public offering (IPO) above $12 billion. The IPO was [...]
Peloton shares sink on second day of trading September 27, 2019 Shares in fitness start-up Peloton sank a further four per cent today after making a disappointing stock market debut yesterday. Peloton shares were initially priced at $29 when the company listed in New York yesterday morning, but closed more than 11 per cent down at $25.75. Read more: Peloton prices float at $29 per share [...]
Peloton IPO: At-home exercise firm prices float at $29 per share September 26, 2019 Exercise bike firm Peloton has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $29 per share to value the company at $8bn (£6.47bn). Peloton priced its float at the top of its $26 to $29 range last night as it looks to raise $1.16bn. Read more: Why Wework’s IPO strategy is not working for investors The [...]
Reality is finally catching up with overblown Silicon Valley rhetoric September 26, 2019 Rhetoric, the art of persuasion, was the backbone of a classical education. Today the term is more often pejorative: rhetoric is found wherever reality isn’t. No fantasy, however, can be long sustained. If rhetoric is to deliver its original purpose and persuade, it cannot escape reality for long. So Silicon Valley is discovering. For over [...]
BP’s invested in electric car charging startup FreeWire January 30, 2018 BP is turning to a tech startup, making an investment in the maker of mobile charging points for electric cars. The oil major is putting $5m (£3.5m) into FreeWire, a three-year-old San-Francicsco tech company, as part of a series A funding round with other investors via its corporate venture arm. Read more: Daimler has invested [...]