Morning Bulletin: Tesco goes upmarket, Google takes to the skies & listeners desert Radio 1
This morning’s news digest includes a mixed bag of corporate and digital stories including a report that Tesco is looking to go upmarket with the launch of its first pop-up wine bar, Google’s drone delivery fleet being cleared for take-off and an exodus of listeners from BBC Radio 1.
Retail Week enjoys a glass of vino at the launch of Tesco’s first pop-up wine bar as the struggling supermarket chain seeks to go upmarket in an effort to drive awareness of its ‘Finest’ range of own brand goods by offering customers more than just strip-lighted aisles lined with tins of baked beans and cornflakes.
The high street bible also takes note of efforts by Google to keep pace with Amazon, after it obtained clearance for its own drone delivery pilot programme in the US, paving the way for a new era of robot swarms in competition above our heads.
Business Insider follows the latest pronouncement from Tesla founder Elon Musk as the electric car pioneer revealed his firm was now developing a compact SUV called the Model Y to complement its existing line-up – but don’t get too excited, it isn’t expected to arrive on garage forecourts until the end of the decade.
Elsewhere the BBC charts a catastrophic collapse in Radio 1’s audience which has slumped to its lowest level in over a decade with the loss of 1m listeners. Between April and June just 9.5m adults tuned in, compared to 10.4m over the same period last year.
AdExchanger notes a tie-up between Mastercard and location data specialists PlaceIQ as it seeks to better establish connections between what people buy with where they go, enabling it to tailor advertising options to marketers.
Ad Week covers a series of ‘unexpected activations’ around the US this summer spearheaded by Miller Lite, with the beer brand offering surprise rewards such as dishing out advice to beach-goers from a low flying plane, a spray on sunscreen booth and even a giant parasol for Bonnaroo festival goers.
Reuters carries some glum news from Johnston press where pre-tax profits have sunk 27 per cent in the 26 weeks to 2 July as a result of a decline in the uptake of classified ads in titles such as the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post.
The Guardian writes that Time Warner has stumped up $583m to purchase a 10 per cent stake in Hulu as it conducts a dramatic U-turn toward ad supported streaming services, having previously criticised the likes of Netflix for cannibalising subscriptions and advertising rates of traditional broadcasters.
The Times brings healthier news from Next where sales rose by 0.3 per cent over the second quarter, despite political turbulence, thanks to factors such as better weather, more stock availability and a successful end of season sale.
In other business news the BBC relays a bumper set of results from bookmaker Ladbrokes, which saw pre-tax profits jump 51.4 per cent in the first six months to £25.2m courtesy of a series of bookie-friendly results, such as Wales outperforming in the European Championships.