Browsing: Business-Finance & Marketing

An influential activist investor is wagering that postponed return-to-office initiatives will cause more disruption in the commercial real estate market. For the last three years, Jonathan Litt of Land and Buildings has been shorting real estate investment trusts (REITs) with extensive exposure to office space. “If you have no rent growth and your vacancies are going up and you have giant operating expenses to run an office building, you’re going backwards fast,” the firm’s chief investment officer said on CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Tuesday. Before the “existential hurricane” slammed the financial sector in May of 2020, Litt warned Wall Street.…

After arriving in New York on Tuesday, China’s new ambassador issued a plea to “safeguard the interests of China,” as stated in a statement issued by the Chinese embassy in the United States. After a vacancy of almost six months, China finally appointed Xie Feng as its ambassador to the United States. His most recent position was that of deputy foreign minister. On Tuesday, Xie said the bilateral relationship confronts “serious difficulties and challenges,” and that his goal is to “enhance China-U.S. exchanges and cooperation,” as the statement put it. CNBC sought comment from the U.S. Department of State, but…

Due to inferior growth and lower profitability after the 2008 financial crisis, Ana Botn, executive chair of Spain’s Santander Group, said that the largest bank in the United States is worth what the top nine or ten European banks are. However, credit default swaps, a sort of protection for a company’s bondholders against failure, are more prevalent at the top European banks, “which means that fixed income investors think the risk of our debt is lower than the best banks in the U.S.,” Botn said. She argued that the recent volatility that resulted in the sale of Credit Suisse to…

The increasing competition in the electric car industry may have finally convinced Tesla CEO Elon Musk to embrace conventional advertising efforts. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, recently said that the company might “try a little advertising,” marking a dramatic departure from Tesla’s traditional anti-ad stance. The electric vehicle manufacturer has relied on the enthusiasm of its customers and supporters rather than investing in expensive advertising efforts during the course of its twenty-year existence. When asked why Tesla has never before invested in advertising, Musk has gone so far as to say he “hates advertising.” At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting on…

Directors  Oatly, who have just unveiled a campaign praising the dairy sector, have been having a lively discussion about how the company plans to differentiate itself via the use of unconventional marketing strategies. Oatly has never been afraid to stir the pot, and that won’t change anytime soon. For the better part of its decade in the public eye, the Swedish oat milk brand has been poking fun at the traditional dairy sector and upending marketing norms with a series of commercials that nearly urge the customer to disregard them. For instance, one billboard ad asked its target audience, “You…

Michelle McEttrick, the head of marketing at Primark, met with her counterparts at Boots and Waitrose to explore expanding the in-store experience. In the 24 weeks ending on March 4, 2023, sales in the UK were up 15% over the same time a year earlier, thanks to increased foot traffic. Sales across the board for ABF, which includes Primark as well as its sugar, food, and farm businesses, increased 21% to £9.56bn. McEttrick, speaking on a panel at Advertising Week Europe in London this week, avoided discussing the company’s digital offering in favor of emphasizing its “firmly based in bricks…