U.S. based luxury retailers are a fashionable purchase for Canadian pension plans
Luxury retail is on-trend for investment, with the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and Ares Management teaming up to acquire a majority stake in Neiman Marcus. The two companies, which partnered in 2011 for $1.55 billion purchase of 99 Cents Only Stores, will hold equal interest in the Dallas-based retail chain. Less than two months ago Hudson’s Bay Co. announced its purchase of Saks for $2.9 billion, which was funded in part by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
[Read more via Globe and Mail]
See what Miami Ad students did to commemorate 9/11
Plenty of marketers failed Wednesday by trying to insert themselves into the social dialogue about 9/11. First there was AT&T with a view of the tower lights as seen through a smartphone, then Marriott with its cheapo free muffins in honour of 9/11. Some less-seasoned marketers at Miami Ad School, however, found a more appropriate way to commemorate the day with a simple chalk drawing outside Citi Field in New York.
[Read more via Buzzfeed]
Video ad industry could be in a bubble
Popular ad industry narratives suggest video viewership is quickly moving from TV to the web. A new study by Nielsen, however, suggests online video ad spending is actually outpacing the move. Speaking to Ad Age, Brian Wieser, senior research analyst at Pivotal Research Group, even went so far as suggesting the industry is in a bubble, noting the average American still watches multiple hours of TV a day, though a disproportionately large volume of ad dollars are moving towards online video.
[Read more via Ad Age]
Time purchases American Express Publishing’s magazines
Publishing deals and mergers happen all the time, but not many of them have been two decades in the making. It’s been announced that Time will be purchasing all of American Express Publishing’s magazines after a courtship that lasted longer than, well, many magazines. The roster includes Food & Wine, Departures and Travel & Leisure. The two groups have worked together before by pairing up “on advertising and back-office deals.”
[Read more via The New York Times]
Kia makes a meme map of America
Partnering with the Daily Dot, a site that reports on web culture and trends, Kia has created a map that shows the birth places of some of the internet’s most popular memes, from the Gregory Brothers in Brooklyn (remember, Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife??) to the Double Rainbow guy in Yosemite National Park. Click through for a virtual trip down meme-ory lane.
[Read more via the Daily Dot]
