Tommy Hilfiger will jettison the chief brand officer role following the departure of incumbent Avery Baker in June, the fashion label has confirmed. Baker has announced plans to step down from the job in June. The marketer will then rejoin the company on a consulting basis, primarily as part of a new brand advisory board staffed by external advisors and chief executive officer Daniel Grieder.
Baker’s C-suite brand responsibilities will be divided among other senior members of staff. She is currently responsible for global marketing, communications, brand strategy, creative direction for product design, global licensing and creative services.
The marketer joined the PVH-owned company in 1998. She landed the chief marketing officer title in 2011 after a stint as executive vice-president of global communications and marketing.
For many in Korea, Lunar New Year is a time to meet relatives and exchange elaborately-packaged gift sets that could contain anything from fruits and raw meat to cans of Spam. But one side effect to this approach to gift giving is the excessive waste – especially those originating from gift set packaging – which has been brought up as a major concern by Korea’s environment authorities in recent years.
With growing government pressure and awareness about the environmental issues caused by excessive packaging, department stores and grocery franchises are trying to take the lead in adopting greener alternatives this year.
Colored Styrofoam and gel-based ice packs, which are notoriously difficult to recycle, are the first things to get scrapped.
Hyundai Department Store and Lotte Mart have both announced that they are replacing colored Styrofoam in gift sets with a plain white alternative starting from this holiday season. Previously, the companies added color to the material to add visual appeal. Colored Styrofoam materials are difficult to recycle because more money and manpower is required to create new Styrofoam products from them, making them unattractive to recycling companies.
Lotte Mart Thermal Bag
Lotte Department Store is chilling gift sets of meat and fish with ice packs filled with water instead of gel-based ones for the first time this year.
Competitor Shinsegae Department Store is also ditching the hard-to-recycle wooden boxes and cloth wrapping it had previously used to package gift sets. It will use paper boxes instead.
Other retailers are collecting ice packs – both gel- and water-based – and recycling them themselves.
Department store chain AK Plaza said it will collect ice packs from AK Plaza-bought gift sets across all its stores until Feb. 10 for recycling and disposal.
Hyundai Home Shopping is taking it one step further and accepting ice packs regardless of their place of purchase. This year, it teamed up with Gangdong District office in eastern Seoul to install collection bins in 18 locations to allow customers to drop off used ice packs after the holidays.
“We’ve collected ice packs from our online shopping members in the past and decided to install public ice pack collection bins this holiday season,” said a Hyundai spokesperson. “We will send out the ice packs that we collect to our partners in the food industry so they can be reused.”
Lotte Mart is focusing on making gift bags more attractive and practical to encourage customers to use them even after the holidays end.
The thermal bags that come with its beef gift sets now have shoulder straps and a sleek black design, making them practical and user-friendly. While the thermal bags have always been reusable, they were previously covered with large Lotte brand logos and difficult to carry around.
The grocery chain is also going to package more fruit gifts this year in what it calls “recycle boxes.” The boxes, first introduced during last year’s Chuseok (harvest festival) holidays, are made of sturdy paper that can easily be reassembled into mini storage boxes.
“We didn’t register any copyright for our fruit ‘recycle box’ design so that other retailers can also participate in recycling and reducing disposable waste,” a Lotte spokesperson explained.
The businesses’ green initiatives follow the government’s consistent calls to reduce packaging and other waste during the Lunar New Year holidays.
As has become customary every holiday season, the Environment Ministry announced last month that it will work together with local governments to inspect gift sets being sold across retailers in the country and fine violators up to 3 million won ($2,700) if they do not comply with packaging rules.
Current regulations stipulate that gift sets can only be wrapped two times and that the volume of packaging must not exceed 25 percent of the product’s total volume.
Last Lunar New Year, the Environment Ministry fined the manufacturers of 49 products that were in violation of these rules. The total fine combined came to 52 million won ($46,000).
“We have seen a small decline in the number of products that violate excessive packaging regulations over the years,” said an Environment Ministry official in the recycling division. “The participation of companies to reduce packaging and comply with inspection is always a big help.”
Vietnam’s exports fell by 1.3 percent year-on-year in January to $20 billion as phone shipments fell sharply. Exports of phones were 27.5 percent down at $2.9 billion, according to the General Statistics Office. Computer and electronics exports fell 5 percent to $2.3 billion.
But exports of textiles and garments rose by 6.7 percent to $2.7 billion, footwear by 12.8 percent to $1.6 billion and machinery and equipment by 15.2 percent to $1.4 billion.
The U.S. was the biggest importer ($4 billion) followed by China ($3.8 billion) and the EU ($3.2 billion). The country’s Southeast Asian neighbors only accounted for $2 billion.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s imports rose by 3.1 percent to $20.8 billion.
Last year exports were worth $244.72 billion, up 13.8 percent, and imports cost $237.51 billion, giving Vietnam its highest trade surplus ever of $7.21 billion.
Retailers know they need to evolve, even though they cannot do it overnight. But while there’s no silver bullet for transforming culture, collaboration, and workflows inside a large organization, there are steps you can take to make sure your business is receptive to the change it’s about to undergo.
Understand performance goals
Before you start, you need to understand the business problem and the role that technology is going to play. Solving complex organizational issues needs the relentless management of changes in behavior, process, and technology all working together to support your performance goals and objectives.
Collaboration is not a KPI
Decide how you’re going to measure your KPIs. And remember that collaboration is not a KPI – it’s a means to an end. KPIs could include customer satisfaction, getting products to store faster, selling more products per visit, or retention. You need to get down to that granular detail.
Shut things off
If you have an existing tool which people did not like and you invest in something new to overcome those challenges and frustrations, you need to have a path to turning that tool off or at least turning off the elements that are now conflicting. This will impact adoption of new tools and ways of working.
Educate, educate, educate
Launching a tool is the easy part, the real work begins when people use it. People need to be educated on what they should be using it for. Show some examples of what ‘good’ looks like, and also what the tool should not be used for. Design an internal marketing campaign and treat it exactly the same as an external campaign. A product-driven approach could help here. Think about how companies try to refresh products in the market over time to improve adoption.
Put somebody in charge
For any system, and especially for a collaborative experience, you need someone who can get employees to use the tool in the right way at different times. That might be a community manager who understands the business cycle. Putting up content is the single most important driver of getting people to use the platform and to entice them to contribute their own.
Pizza chain Little Caesars has opened its first restaurant in the Philippines. Little Caesars Philippines made its debut on Saturday, the first restaurant opened under the brand’s new franchise relationship with local operator Palmtree PH Foods Corp. It opened at the Metrosquare Building in Ermita with a promotional celebration that involved family activities and free pizza offerings.
“Little Caesars is excited to celebrate the opening of its first restaurant in the Philippines, and to finally share our delicious pizzas with everyone”, said Paula Vissing, senior VP international for Little Caesars Pizza.
Palmtree owner James Kodrowski, who manages a group of companies that operate in the region, said: “Little Caesars Pizza is exactly what this market needs … We believe that the Hot-N-Ready concept will have undeniable market appeal, as well as our commitment to excellent guest service, and superior value.
It is our ambition to make Little Caesars the new favorite pizza of the Philippines.”
Little Caesars Singapore also launched this month as the brand continues to experience growth internationally. The brand is the third largest pizza chain in the world, currently operating in 23 countries and territories.
Chinese textile and retail investment company Shandong Ruyi has bought the US-based Lycra business for an undisclosed sum. Shandong Ruyi, whose retail investments include Aquascutum and SMCP (Sandro, Maje, and Claudie Pierlot), will take over the world-famous lycra brand, all assets and contracts relating to Lycra from current owner Invista and rename the business The Lycra Company.
Lycra’s CEO Dave Trerotola said in a statement the company was fortunate to have been acquired by Shandong Ruyi.
“[The] company shares our vision and our commitment to delivering high-quality products, technical expertise, and unmatched marketing support to our valued customers,” he said.
The new company will operate as an independent subsidiary, and will continue to manufacture advanced fibre and technology solutions for the apparel and hygiene industries. The Lycra Company also owns a raft of consumer and trade brand names, including Lycra HyFit, Lycra T400, L by Lycra, Coolmax, Thermolite, Elaspan, Supplex, Tactel, and Terathane.
“With the continued investment of Ruyi, we look forward to working with our customers to bring exciting innovations to market. Our new shareholder’s textile and retail experience will be a tremendous asset as we develop differentiated fibres that deliver the lasting performance benefits consumers have come to know and expect from our brands,” said Trerotola.
The acquisition includes eight manufacturing facilities, four research and development labs, 17 offices located in 14 countries, and about 3000 employees. Current management and employees will continue in their roles.
Yafu Qiu, chairman of the board of Shandong Ruyi, promised his company would continue to invest in The Lycra Company’s innovation pipeline and brands in order to grow the business.
“As a spandex producer ourselves, we have admired the iconic Lycra brand for years, and we see the value The Lycra Company adds to our business. We believe its assets and capabilities are a perfect complement to our own and will help strengthen our position as a world-class, fully integrated textile company.”
The Lycra Company’s legacy stretches back to 1958 with the invention of the original spandex yarn, Lycra fibre.
Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding is the largest textile and apparel company in China, and ranks among the Top 100 Chinese multinational enterprises. It is headquartered in Jining, Shandong and operates 13 domestic industrial parks.
Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn Bhd, which opened its eight Starbucks Reserve concept store in Berjaya Times Squar, plans to open two to three more such stores this year. “The reception has been really good for Starbucks Reserve (stores). We hope to be able to have about two or three Reserve (outlets) every year,” Berjaya Food Bhd’s CEO and Starbucks Malaysia and Brunei managing director Sydney Quays said.
“The Reserve concept store is not something that you can open many because it is very exclusive. The coffees that we have in a Reserve are very exclusive and you don’t get that in other outlets. So it is very critical that we expand carefully and in locations that are very well appreciated,” he added.
Historically, Quays said the group has always aimed to open 30 stores a year, with investment around RM50 million to RM60 million.
According to Quays, the investment for a Reserve concept store is 30% higher compared to the non-Reserve concept stores.
The Starbucks Reserve Berjaya Times Square joins locations at The Garden Mall, Sunway Pyramid, SkyAvenue Genting Highlands, Publika, Desa Parkcity, Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur and Paradigm Mall Johor.
On its outlook, Quays believes the consumer sentiment has improved as a lot of uncertainty is over, and the rising tourists numbers also augurs well for its business.
Asked whether the sugar tax announced in Budget 2019 will impact its business, Quays said he is of the view that the new tax will not be a big issue for Starbucks Malaysia.
“Obviously sugar is an add on product for us, but we have not experienced any negativity in that and I don’t think it will affect us very much,” he said, adding that increase in price to its products is unlikely at this point of time.
Berjaya Starbucks has 282 outlets in the country comprising 42 drive-thru outlets.
U.S. aviation authorities are expected to grant a Category 1 rating to Vietnam soon, allowing direct flights between the two countries. Two U.S. officials who asked not be named said that the permission should be issued in the coming weeks. Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completed safety assessments in December and was supposed to provide the results this month.
“But as the U.S. government was closed, we couldn’t receive the results. We expect to have it soon,” he said.
Local airlines including state-owned Vietnam Airlines, budget airline Vietjet and new private airline Bamboo Airways have already expressed interest in opening direct flights between Vietnam and the U.S.
The direct route is expected to cater to the large demand for travel between both countries.
Passengers travelling between Vietnam and the U.S. now have to transit through different countries and territories like China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Vietnam has never held an FAA rating, unlike Thailand, which once had a Category 1 rating and is seeking to regain it after a downgrade to Category 2. The FAA determines whether a country has a 1 or 2 rating depending on its safety assessment of the country’s airlines.
The Vietnamese government had early last year approved plans to expand the network of national carriers to major markets including Australia, China, Europe and the U.S.
Under plan, Vietnam Airlines will go through with its proposal to open non-stop services to the U.S., starting with direct flights to San Francisco or Los Angeles.
Vietnam and the U.S. signed an air transport agreement in 2003 to allow airlines to operate direct flights between the two countries.
In 2004, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines sought permission from the U.S. to provide direct services. However, the request was denied because the CAAV did not meet safety supervision requirements set by the FAA.
Vietnam’s aviation industry has seen increasing demand in recent years. The country welcomed 12.5 million air passengers last year, up 14.4 percent from 2017, according to the General Statistics Office.
The country’s aviation traffic increased 16 percent on average each year from 2010 to 2017, data from its civil aviation regulator shows.
Li & Fung has appointed Joseph Phi as the company’s Group President. As Group President, Joseph will lead the company’s Supply Chain Solutions operating groups, including Business Development. He will continue as President, LF Logistics and to serve on the Board of Directors of Li & Fung. He will report to Spencer Fung, Group CEO.
Joseph has a strong track record at tLFhe company having organically grown its logistics business over the past decade. He has nearly 20 years’ experience with the company and is well positioned to assume this important leadership role.
Joseph joined Li & Fung in 1999 and was previously executive director of Integrated Distribution Services Group Limited from 2004 until its acquisition by Li & Fung in 2011. He is Chairman of GS1 Hong Kong and a Director of its Management Board and is a Member of Supply Chain 50.
He is an advisory committee member of Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s Logistics Services and honorary advisor of the Asian Logistics and Maritime Conference. He also serves as an advisory committee member of Eye Fund, a charitable institution in HK.
Joseph graduated magna cum laude from the University of The Philippines (UP) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and attained a Master of Business Administration degree with top honors also from the same university.
He is a 2011 recipient of UP College of Business Administration Distinguished Alumnus Award and 2013 recipient of UP Industrial Engineering Alumni Award and UP Alumni Engineers Global Achievement Award for Logistics. Between 2014 and 2018, he was an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business and Management at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Joseph takes over from Marc Compagnon, who served as Group President and Executive Director of Li & Fung Limited from July 2014 and has moved to the Fung Group as Senior Advisor while remaining on the Board of Li & Fung Limited as a Non-Executive Director.
Fung Group is the major shareholder of Li & Fung, whose core businesses operate across the entire global supply chain for consumer goods including sourcing, logistics, distribution and retail.
Spencer Fung, CEO of Li & Fung said, “Our goal is to build the supply chain of the future to help our customers navigate the digital economy and to improve the lives of one billion people in the supply chain, and I am confident Joseph is the right person to build on the solid foundation that Marc has built and to take this to the next stage of development.”
The latest Amazon results are positive – but there is now a clear divergence in performance between the top and bottom lines. On the profit front, Amazon’s results are impressive. Net income increased by 63.1 per cent and operating income by 78 per cent. Much of this is coming from the AWS segment, where income from operations rose by 61 per cent. However, some credit should also go to the North American operation where volume increases helped ease up operating profits by 33 per cent. These uplifts come in spite of the fact that Amazon is still investing huge amounts in the business. Therefore they go a long way to justify the myriad of projects that Amazon has undertaken and continues to undertake.
While the profit lines look rosy, the sales line presents a mixed bag. The slowdown in product growth is now tangible and although an 8.2 per cent uplift is strong compared to many retailers, by Amazon’s standards it is a weak performance. On a divisional basis, North America held up better than international markets, largely thanks to the confidence of the American consumer. Even so, sales growth in North America has also dipped.
There are several dynamics at play here. First, is the maturity of Amazon’s operation: Amazon is now a massive retailer and it is simply unrealistic to expect it to keep on growing at its historic pace. However, more concerningly, this maturity is also coinciding with a period of rising competition. Retailers like Target and Walmart have invested heavily in their online operations and pulled out all the stops this holiday season. Our data show that they made solid customer gains, and some of that dented Amazon’s growth. In our view, the gap between Amazon and the rest is now narrowing.
Another area of concern is Whole Foods. Amazon’s results show that sales at physical stores dropped by 2.7 per cent over last year, largely thanks to the grocery division. The investment in lower prices partly explains this, but it does not account for the bulk of the decline. In our opinion, much of this is because Whole Foods’ proposition is simply not up to scratch. Basics and commodity products still cost way more than at rivals like Target, and this is one of the reasons perceptions that Whole Foods is needlessly expensive have persisted. Such expense is not justified by store experience nor by customer service, both of which remain lackluster.
Arguably, a holiday period that coincided with strong consumer finances should have been fertile ground for Whole Foods to thrive. However, very little effort was made to entice or enthrall customers. Aside from fresh counters, the festive product line up was incredibly poor with a noticeable lack of treats and interesting items. As a result, many consumers simply went elsewhere.
We are cognisant that many of the Whole Foods issues are not of Amazon’s making. However, the poor performance underlines how much work remains to be done in transforming the chain’s fortunes.
Despite these niggles, we remain positive about Amazon. The Prime platform still has enormous potential, there is plenty of upside in devices, and there are many opportunities to improve own-brands (some of which have underperformed). Taken together, along with AWS, this means Amazon has scope for future growth.
However, it is also clear that Amazon will now need to work doubly hard to achieve any future sales gains.
Vietnam’s largest listed private company Vingroup has reported revenues of VND600 billion ($25.77 million) from car, electric motorbike and phone sales last year. VinFast, a Vingroup subsidiary, became the country’s first indigenous car manufacturer last October and showed off its first two car models at the Paris Motor Show in France. It has begun to accept bookings and deposits for the cars, and will start selling them next August.
Last November it launched its first two electric scooters, but has not disclosed sales figures.
VinSmart, the Vingroup unit that produces smart electronic devices, launched four new phones in December in a market of 95 million people currently dominated by Samsung and Apple.
Its factory in the northern city of Hai Phong is capable of making five million phones a year in the first phase.
The company also hopes to expand to markets outside Vietnam, and will make smart TVs and other smart products soon.
Vingroup is a conglomerate with the country’s largest real estate operations and interests in retail, healthcare and resorts.
The conglomerate reported profit before tax of over VND13.8 trillion ($592.6 million) last year, up 52 percent from 2017, on net revenues of VND122.57 trillion ($5.24 billion).
Malaysian palm oil futures fell last week, after data from a cargo surveyor showed exports grew more slowly than expected in January. The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 0.2% to RM2,299 a tonne. Trading volumes stood at 24,751 lots of 25 tonnes each.
“The export numbers released are below yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) market rumour. The ringgit’s strength also pushed the market lower,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, adding that the coming long holiday weekend should prompt traders to cover short positions. “That should limit any big sell-offs,” the trader said.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said yesterday exports of Malaysian palm oil products for January rose 14.7%, while independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia reported a 15.5% increase.
Palm oil may slide into a range of RM2,256-RM2,274 per tonne, as its correction from the Jan 28 high of RM2,333 looks incomplete, Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals said.
AirAsia has further strengthened Malaysia-Thailand connectivity with the launch of a new route from Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Rai, its seventh and newest hub in Thailand. AirAsia Thailand, which will base an Airbus A320ceo at Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang International Airport, will also operate new services to Phuket, Singapore and Macau, providing a massive boost to the local tourism and business communities, the airline said in a statement.
AirAsia currently operates a total of six routes to and from the capital of Thailand’s northernmost province, including existing services from Bangkok Don Mueang and Hat Yai.
AirAsia Thailand director of ground operations Witchunee Kuntapeng said the opening of its new hub in Chiang Rai is much like building a new home.
“Chiang Rai has great potential to be one of the top tourism destinations in Thailand, with its unique Lanna culture and hill tribe way of life recently gaining global attention.
“We believe it is a great time to promote Chiang Rai to travelers and are pleased to see that our four new routes between Chiang Rai and Phuket, Macau, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have been well received. We’d like to thank the local community for their wonderful support,” Kuntapeng added.
A welcoming ceremony led by Chiang Rai vice governor Paskorn Boonyalug, Tourism Authority of Thailand executive director for the East Asia region Titiporn Manenate and local travel agents was held at the new hub for each of AirAsia’s four inaugural flights from Phuket, Macau, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur between Jan 30 and Feb 1, 2019.
The flight from Kuala Lumpur saw a load factor of 85% percent, proving the airline’s efforts to promote Chiang Rai as a leading destination for overseas visitors was off to a great start, it added.
Singapore mentions “Polaroid” and most people will think of the retro, palm-sized instant prints often stuck on refrigerators or posted in scrapbooks. Not many will associate it with artwork – much less the sort of art you might hang in a gallery. The exhibition of Polaroid in National Museum of Singapore features 10 large Polaroids which are each 20 by 24 inches (50cm by 60cm) – bigger than a sheet of A2-sized paper – and is on display at the National Museum of Singapore as part of an exhibition on the history of Polaroid photography and art using Polaroid, “In An Instant: Polaroid At The Intersection Of Art And Technology”.
Also on display are about 160 other photographic artworks – in various sizes and styles – by artists such as Andy Warhol, Ansel Adams, David Hockney and others.
This is the Asian debut of the exhibition, which has traveled in the United States and Europe and will return to North America next year.
“In An Instant”, which is on until the end of March, starts off by charting the history of the Polaroid camera, the brainchild of American scientist Edwin H. Land.
The exhibition also features a short film demonstrating the effect of polarised lenses. All the museumgoer can see is a white glare until he puts on a pair of Polaroid sunglasses.
The Polaroid artefacts and artworks are on loan from the MIT Museum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the WestLicht centre for photography in Vienna, The Polaroid Collection and various artists, as part of a collaboration between the National Museum of Singapore and the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography.
The Singapore edition of the exhibition ends with a series of video projections of “influencers” talking about what “in an instant” means to them.
Among them are comedy site SGAG’s co-founder Karl Mak, YouTube star Jianhao Tan, YouTuber and comedienne Preetipls, socialite Jamie Chua, Instagram twins Yafiq and Yais Yusman, and Angie and David Sim from the lifestyle and travel blog Life’s Tiny Miracles.
Visitors who want to take home a memento can head to the photo-booth and selfie station outside the exhibition space.
The exhibition has also a ‘Silent Cinema’ section where visitors can watch a movie wearing Polaroid sunglasses.
Strong international sales ensured respectable McDonald’s results in the latest quarter as the fast-food giant encountered challenges in its core US market. Global sales slipped 3 per cent in the three months to December, to US$5.16 billion, although this was largely due to currency translations, without which sales would have been flat. While the company did not break out Asian performance, it said international same-store revenue rose 5.2 per cent.
Same-store sales in the US rose 2.3 per cent, primarily due to increased prices, given foot traffic in stores fell by 2.2 per cent. Global visitor numbers crept up by a mere 0.2 per cent.
Breakfast remains its most challenging category, with the chain struggling to attract diners in the mornings. While that mealtime accounts for about a quarter of its total sales, the breakfast market is experiencing fierce competition among rival chains.
“We’re doing well with average check growth but we really want the customer to come back and more often,” CEO Steve Easterbrook said in an investor presentation about the McDonald’s results.
He said McDonald’s is trying to recover breakfast customers by trialling different price promotions, launching localised advertising campaigns and improving the drive-through service.
More stores, more kiosks
Globally, McDonald’s plans to open a net 750 new stores this year. It will also speed up the rollout of its digital touchscreen ordering systems. Easterbrook says stores with self-ordering kiosks were achieving higher sales than those without.
Commenting on the McDonald’s results, Neil Saunders, MD of GlobalData Retail, said the kiosks and order-by-app services need to be rolled out faster.
“This isn’t just a case of installing and implementing the technology, it is about getting customers to actually use it. Consumers need to be given more incentives to use the new ways of ordering, especially mobile, as many still shun the technology,” said Saunders.
“Longer term, more automation in the kitchen is also critical – something that will be particularly beneficial now McDonald’s menu options are more varied and complex.”
Saunders described the latest McDonald’s results as “reasonable”. But he said a 6.7 per cent decline in operating income suggests that McDonald’s is having to work harder for much slimmer rewards.
“In our view, this does not sit well with the increasing complexity and higher levels of capital expenditure the company is introducing into the business.”
Saunders believes McDonald’s is on the right track. “However, this year will be a more challenging year than last and it will be a balancing act between keeping both customers and franchisees happy.”
