August News 2008
Posted in News on July 29th, 2008Yahoo bosses under fresh pressure.
Bosses at US internet firm Yahoo are under fresh pressure after it emerged that opposition to them at its recent AGM was far greater than first thought. The outcome of shareholder votes were revised after technical glitches meant some votes had not been counted. The revisions show that 33.7% voted against the re-election of chief executive Jerry Yang - much more than the 14.6% figure first published. Yahoo bosses came under fire for their handling of Microsoft’s recent bid.
Error Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s $47.5bn offer, arguing that it undervalued the firm’s assets and future business prospects. Some investors believe Yahoo was too hasty in spurning the offer and has not come up with an alternative strategy for future growth. Rebel investor Carl Icahn, a critic of Mr Yang and the current management, negotiated three seats on the board following a long campaign against the firm. Revised details of the votes cast at the recent annual shareholder meeting will increase the pressure on Mr Yang and his fellow directors. The voting process was reviewed after a major shareholder, Capital Research Global Investors, complained that its votes weren’t properly reflected in the official outcome.
‘Pressure’Following an audit, it was found that 100 million shares had not been accurately reflected, a situation blamed on a printing mix-up by an intermediary processing firm. The new figures show that nearly 40% of shares were withheld from the re-election of chairman Roy Bostock, not 20% as originally indicated. Other directors also faced higher protest votes against re-election than it first seemed although none of the original results will be overturned. “It is important for Yahoo’s board to understand there is still pressure on them,” said hedge fund manager and Yahoo shareholder Eric Jackson. “I thought Yahoo’s board was kind of let off the hook last week when they didn’t really deserve to be.” In a statement, Yahoo noted there had been what it described as a “tabulation error” in the results but stressed this had not affected the outcome of the election of directors. Source
Oasis have announced plans to perform a one-off gig for their fans in London.
The band will perform tracks from their new album, Dig Out Your Soul, live to a select audience at a rehearsal studio in the capital. Fans who have signed up to Oasis’ official website are being offered the chance to enter a draw for the gig by posting their details on the site. The concert will be the Manchester five-piece’s first before they hit the road for a world tour later this year.
Future broadcast The gig, which will be held on 14 August, will be filmed and may be broadcast in the future. The closing date for the draw will be three days prior to the gig. Oasis’ seventh album, Dig Out Your Soul, will be released on 6 October. The first single to be lifted from the record will be Shock Of The Lightning, which is due out on 29 September. The album was recorded with producer Dave Sardy at Abbey Road Studios and mixed in Los Angeles. Source
Leona Lewis up for US MTV award
Leona Lewis, Duffy and The Ting Tings are amongst the acts nominated for a special British prize at September’s MTV Music Video Awards in the US.
The pop acts go up against Coldplay and Estelle in the Best UK Video category, with the winner decided by public vote. It has already been announced that comic Russell Brand, who caused a stir when he hosted the 2007 Brit Awards, will present the show. The ceremony takes place at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on 7 September. Nominations for the VMAs are being revealed on a weekly basis in the run-up to the awards. Britney Spears, who made a shambolic “comeback” performance at last year’s show, stands to win best female video for her hit single Piece Of Me. She faces competition from Jordin Sparks, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey and R&B star Rihanna. Among the male artists vying for a coveted moonman statuette are Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Usher, TI and Flo Rida. Categories to be announced in the coming weeks include video of the year, best rock video, best new artist and best dancing in a video. On 6 November, the MTV Europe music awards take place at Liverpool’s Echo Arena. Source
Telegraph mobile site goes free
Telegraph.co.uk is switching from a paid-for to a free mobile content offering with the launch today of a new version of its site offering news, sport and travel articles for readers to access from 3G and WAP-enabled phones.The new mobile site will carry images alongside text stories and will be updated with breaking news automatically throughout the day as Telegraph.co.uk adds new content.Telegraph.co.uk mobile site Telegraph.co.uk’s new mobile service will be free to access, beyond the web-surfing changes demanded by mobile operators, and is intended to complement the news, football and cricket alert services already offered by Telegraph Media Group.The mobile website retains the distinctive gothic masthead but with a simplified navigation to make it easier to access lead stories. The launch version will not carry adverts, although they may be introduced to the site as it grows. Prior to this launch, TMG only offered a paid-for mobile site to which users bought subscription for £5 per month. The launch of the new service, which is also available online at telegraph.co.uk/mobile, follows the recent revamp of the Telegraph’s website, which was the first major project to be produced through TMG’s innovation lab after six months of development. The innovation lab, which combines teams from the editorial, technical and commercial departments, is designed to speed up development of new products and services.As part of the redesign of the telegraph.co.uk website, TMG moved to a new digital publishing and content management system, Escenic, which will also run the new mobile sites.“[The new mobile site] reflects the areas of redesign on the website,” said Aashish Chandarana, the product development manager at TMG.“As each section of the website gets a new look and feel, it will be added to the mobile site as well,” Chandarana added.He said the new Escenic technology will enable developers to monitor traffic user figures and the popularity of mobile content.It is also expected that more multimedia content will be added to the mobile site in the months to come. Source
Wedding Blues For Web Gift Firm
Hundreds of couples waiting for their wedding gifts will be left disappointed after online service Wrapit confirmed it was going into administration.Hundreds of couples could have to wait for their giftsThe group, which handles around 2,500 to 3,000 wedding lists a year, has appointed KPMG as administrators.The company recently said it had fallen into financial difficulty, blaming the credit crunch and problems in the retail market.It also said problems were compounded when a couple of refinancing deals fell through at the last minute and blamed HSBC bank for withholding “one million of our money”, leaving it in a cash crisis.Wrapit said HSBC has failed “to cooperate financially, or even provide an ongoing credit card processing facility”.The move is likely to mean delays and disappointment for hundreds of couples awaiting gifts from the business.How long does it take to receive all your wedding gifts? Well in my case it’s about nine months and I’m still not quite there yet.
Wrapit also said: “HSBC have accepted that they will be responsible for ensuring that all those people who bought gifts through Wrapit using either a credit card or a Visa debit card get a full refund, if they request one.
“So the only people who will lose out will be those who bought using a Switch/Maestro card or a cheque. These amount to about 20% of purchases. (American Express users will get a refund through AmEx).“HSBC now have it within their power to minimise the pain caused to 2,000 couples (and, probably, 100,000 of their guests) and ensure that no Wrapit customer loses any money - and, as things stand, they will not take it.”The group has about 100 staff and 15 showrooms around the country.Wrapit was co-founded by former fashion journalist Pepita Diamand in 2000 to allow couples to compile their lists, with guests able to buy items online through the websiteThe firm buys and delivers the items, with an aim to send them within eight to 12 weeks of the list being closed. But customers of the wedding present firm have already faced big delays in receiving their gifts, with some newlyweds claiming to have waited for six months or more.One disgruntled couple set up a Facebook site attacking Wrapit - called “Wrapit’s wedding list service - worst customer service ever?” - after delays to their gifts. Wrapit has a central warehouse in Acton, west London. Its showrooms are in London and Wandsworth, Aberdeen, Beaconsfield, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury, Darlington, Glasgow, Harrogate, Manchester, Newbury, Newcastle and Norwich. Source
United Business Media’s (UBM) Live Media Division has acquired Reed Exhibitions International Direct Marketing Fair (IDMF) and Ecommerce and Digital Marketing Expo (ECDM).
IDMF and ECDM will now be incorporated within UBM’s Internet World, Technology for Marketing and Advertising and Call Centre Expo.
The announcement may come as a shock to the industry as Reed Exhibitions and CMP Information were in a heated feud over dates as ECDM was set to run at the same time as Internet World. Internet World will still take place from 28-30 April but will move back to Earls Court 2 from Olympia, where it will take place alongside Reed’s Infosecurity Europe and VCM Exhibition’s Service Desk and IT Support Show, taking place in Earls Court 1.
UBM group director Mark Snell said: “While we review the potential for the IDMF to be relaunched in 2010 we believe that the short-term interests of the market and our customers will be best served incorporating both the IDMF and ECDM exhibitors into our current events for 2009.” Source
Graduate recruitment levels have significantly increased at most of the UK’s largest agencies, as the industry continues to buck recession trends.
In one of the clearest indications that the PR industry is equipped to ride the impending economic storm, nine of the top ten agencies in the UK by fee income have hired a total of 85 graduates so far in 2008, compared with 64 last year.
Agencies with bigger consumer offerings, such as Weber Shandwick, Freud Communications and Edelman, showed the biggest increase in graduate recruitment levels. Across the financial sector hiring remained largely flat, with agencies perhaps feeling the effects of a waning M&A and IPO market.
Ketchum was the only top ten agency to buck the trend, dropping to four from 20 last year.
Ketchum HR director Sarah Barrett said: ‘The agency doesn’t operate an official graduate training programme other than the PRWeek and Ketchum James Maxwell Award.
And as we have witnessed strong staff retention this year there haven’t been as many roles open to fill in 2008 for graduate places. In addition, driven by client needs, we have shifted our recruitment to more mid-level hires.’
The news comes in a week when mortgage approvals hit fresh lows, the Ernst & Young Item Club said economy would grow by only one per cent next year and figures confirmed UK jobless levels are rising.
PRCA comms manager Richard Ellis said: ‘We might see a slight slowdown in the rate of growth over the next 12 months, but consultancies are looking to the future and seeing that PR is continuing to be a growth area. Agencies realise they need to keep recruiting good staff to avoid another shortage of account managers and account directors.’
CIPR head of professional policy Dawn Chapman said: ‘The growth in graduate recruitment is a good reflection of the quality of PR degrees now available and graduates. The CIPR runs an increasing number of approved degree courses, all of which combine the latest theory and practice, thereby producing new recruits who can hit the ground running and who answer employer needs.’ Source
Chrysler offers 50percent off fuel in sales drive
Chrysler is planning to take advantage of high fuel prices by offering prospective customers 50percent off of petrol for rest of the year.
The promotion, which was created by The Kitchen, launches in the regional press this week and is available on selected Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models.
In exchange for a petrol receipt owners of the new cars will receive a 50percent for 50percent of their fuel costs from Chrysler. Consumers are allowed to spend up £100 a week.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers sales of both Chrysler and Jeep models declined in 2007. However the company was buoyed by a rise in the sales of Dodge, which rose from 2,162 in 2006 to 3,273 last year. Source