WPP boss Martin Sorrell warns of clients unwilling to take risks
WPP boss Martin Sorrell says geopolitical issues are making clients less willing to take risks, resulting in brands targeting costs rather than revenue growth.
Sorrell sounded a note of caution despite WPP increasing pre-tax profits by 2.8% to £1.49bn as revenues rose 6.1% to £12.2bn.
He said: "Despite this strong performance, the always on, Don Draperish general industry optimism seems misplaced."
He claims the risk of Britain leaving the EU is "top [of] the agenda" alongside the Ukraine crisis and tensions in the Middle East and North Africa.
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BHS threatens to close stores if rents are not reduced
BHS is threatening to close over a third of its shops if landlords do not agree to a significant reduction in rents.
The retailer has filed a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a form of insolvency proceeding, in a bid to restructure its finances.
BHS has reportedly told landlords it will shut 50-60 of its 164 stores if it does not receive substantial reductions in rent, while an additional 30 are also said to be at risk without cuts.
BHS is being advised by the accountancy firm KPMG. It is believed BHS demands on the most at-risk sites are so significant their survival is doubtful.
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Amazon disables encryption on latest version of Fire OS
Locally stored data on Amazon Fire devices is no longer encrypted following an update to the company’s Fire operating system.
Those who upgrade their Kindle Fire, Fire Phone, Amazon Fire HD, or Amazon Fire TV Stick to Fire OS 5 will potentially leave local information vulnerable to cyber attacks and stored in plain text.
The move has puzzled observers because it goes against basic cybersecurity principles because encryption results in an attacker receiving nothing but scrambled data if they gain access to the device.
Local data that could be exposed without encryption includes app data such as log-ins and credit card details, along with photos, videos, texts, and emails.
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Catch up with some of our longer reads...
It's tempting (and useful) for marketers to put people in neat demographic boxes. But, as consumer lives become more fluid, age-agnostic and globally minded, is it time to put a stop to generational generalisations, asks Rebecca Coleman.
At a time when parenting is endlessly interrupted by digital communication and social media, brands must beware of exacerbating the pressure on women, writes Nicola Kemp.
If you watch one video today...
...hear what the public think of the Conservative government spending £5m to promote the new National Living Wage.
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