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Wednesday Nov 30, 2011

Beyoncé is committed to the Telethon. The American singer, very involved in helping victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Ike in the United States, joined this year for 25 years BrandAlley appointment. 2 and 3 December next, dates of the Telethon, the site of private sales balances up to 70% because the clothing brand of the star, House of Deréon. The full benefit of these sales will be donated to the Telethon, said the private sales site.

House of Deréon, brand launched in 2005 by the singer in partnership with her mother Tina Knowles, markets especially its models – sold around the equivalent of 100 euros – the United States and Canada. But France is a market that does not neglect Beyoncé.His latest album, "4", it was number one record sales this summer, thanks to intensive promotion conducted by the singer in the French media no teletrack payday loans.

The operation could also be a carrier for private sales website BrandAlley. With a turnover of 70 million euros in 2010, the site just yet to reach the level of its competitor, vente-privee.com, which dominates the area. Last year, BrandAlley has diversified its business by offering its customers not only of unsold at bargain prices, but also collections in progress. The site, rumored consider a stock market listing, this year is between 40% and 45% growth.

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With such high stakes - such as the future financial well-being of a family - choosing the correct life insurance policy is a very serious decision and one that requires deep thought.
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Friday Nov 25, 2011

The biggest shop shows the world may soon see the day in Paris. The luxury group Richemont actively preparing to open a palace watches of 2250 square meters on two floors, which would be represented as 60 brands ranging from entry level to luxury. This store may be substituted for the brand Old England, old shop of the 19th century, strategically located between the Opera and the Boulevard Haussmann in the heart of the capital. According to the website dedicated businessmontres.com, Richemont should benefit from the commercial end of the lease granted to the current property owner to get their hands on the site. Neither the luxury group, nor the SFL, owner of the walls has to comment that "rumor".

Sources close to the discussions say, however, that the real estate transaction is scheduled for over a year.Richemont has even approached the great names in luxury and watch as LVMH, Swatch and Rolex to tell them about the operation. If the participation of the latter to the final draft to be confirmed, Richemont has already convinced major retailers such as Audemars Piguet Breitling or to be part of.

The Swiss group is currently in discussions with Bucherer, another big name in the jewelry and luxury watches, in order to leave the management of this huge store. Few in France, it has been favored by Richemont because of its extensive experience in managing multi-brand stores. In addition to his label, Bucherer has a network of 15 stores which are marketed brands Rolex, Piaget, TAG Heuer, or Longines. It also has other stores in Austria and Germany.


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Tuesday Nov 15, 2011

Happy! Bernard Tapie alongside the greatest patrons of the planet. Here are the results of a survey Way Opinion on leadership and the qualities of a good leader conducted among 300 business leaders and our colleagues unveiled Monday by the Parisian. The former head of the OM occurs in the top 5 managers behind Steve Jobs (the first), Carlos Ghosn, Bill Gates and Michel-Edouard Leclerc.

Asked Monday by Le Figaro, the former head of the said OM has naturally flattered by the result but did not seem surprised. "People have accepted my statements on TV that have contributed to enhancing the business entrepreneur, he says. For years it was believed that the corporate world was synonymous with sadness and we do it not amused. I helped to change that image. "

"Good players become ill on arrival at the OM"

Bernard Tapie has little original definition of a good manager, is "to want its employees to offer the best of themselves to excel payday advance. The priority is not to be loved but to lead them to discover their full potential. " The most original are the examples come to mind the old boss "My former assistant became assistant Pinault and not the assistant of a hardware dealer" and the players of the OM – Papin , Wadle, Pele – were good players when they were recruited and then become real stars.

"Being a great manager was to make them grow up, says that to date remains the only French boss to win the Champions League. Today, good players become ill on arrival at the OM. This is the stereotype of bad management or bad environment. "


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Friday Oct 28, 2011

Household consumption, the traditional driver of French growth, declined in September. It fell 0.5% last month, according to figures from INSEE published on Friday, after rising 0.2% in August. Despite this poor performance, the third quarter remains positive consumption rose 0.2% after a particularly bleak picture of the second quarter this indicator fell by 1.9%.

In September, it is the purchase of textile-leather and energy costs which have lowered consumption. These expenditures have dropped respectively by 4.7% and 4% last month, a much greater decline than in previous months. For the textile sector, the wrong number "announcement of hard times," Judge Camille Williencourt, an economist at Natixis. It points out that consumption fell by 17% in this sector since the second quarter of 2007.The position of the energy suffers for his back spending for petroleum products. During the quarter, energy consumption is still rising sharply (+3.3%), after falling 2.1% in the second quarter.

Increase in car purchases

On a positive note, the consumption of durable goods, which partly reflects consumer confidence in the future, has rebounded. After falling 0.3% in August, it rose 1.9% last month. The quarter proved generally positive 0.4%, after falling 6.2% in the second quarter. A strong performance driven by car purchases (2.8% in September) and household equipment (1.3% in September from 2.7% in August). "During the quarter, automotive expenses are stable after a fall of 11% in the second quarter," notes INSEE.A sign that the industry "is recovering gradually, after a very poor second quarter impacted by the decision of the cash for clunkers," said Camille Williencourt.

INSEE had Tuesday reported an unexpected improvement of consumer confidence in October. Indeed, they are much less likely to anticipate a rise in unemployment – although the statistics published this week have reported a record high – and are optimistic that this summer on their future standard of living. Other anticipation apparently bodes well for the consumption of the end of the year, they were also more likely to feel the need to make major purchases. But despite these positive developments, "consumer sentiment remains generally depressed, said Helene Baudchon, economist at BNP Paribas, well below its long-term average of 100."


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Paris receives thirteen ministers of digital

Friday Oct 21, 2011

By organizing a eG8 the eve of the G8 in Deauville last May, Nicolas Sarkozy has brought the Internet for the first time, among the concerns of leaders. In line with their statement. Now we must find the tools for an Internet "free, open to all." To do this, Eric Besson, Minister of Industry, Energy and Digital Economy, today organized a seminar in Paris bringing together 13 Ministers of the Intergovernmental digital from around the world.

Innovation and Networks, protection of privacy, digital divide, security against cyber attacks are on the agenda of the conference New World 2.0. However, "there will be no statement after the conference, because there is already the declaration of Deauville, Le Figaro said Eric Besson. I wanted to spend New World 2.0 principles into action. It is time to materialize. "

Participants include, among others, Elliot Schrage, head of public policy for Facebook, David Drummond, Senior Vice President in charge of development of Google and Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, and Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission , in charge of the digital agenda. "This is progress as concretely as possible. These are issues that must be discussed together. New World 2.0 will bring together participants from 18 countries from five continents and all walks of life: ministers, large companies, startups, bloggers, venture capitalists, civil society, "explains Eric Besson cashadvance.

Value of content

The question remains networks at the heart of the debate. "There would not have the current development of the Internet without investing heavily in networks. In addition, we are only at the beginning of the increased use of networks.This raises the question of standards, quality of networks and investments, "says the minister. Before continuing, "On networks, we also work with the Americans. We do not want to trap them. What is the value of networks that are circulating over the contents. Our goal is to involve all major players. Thus we are able to be in the same round table number 2 on Google and the boss of France Telecom. "

If no resolution is produced at the end of this seminar, we must also rely on the goodwill of the United States, who will take over the presidency of the G8, to wedge the next go digital . "The event was to bring Internet to the agenda of the G8. And the highlight today is to bring together so many Internet stakeholders to implement together the principles of Deauville, "said Eric Besson.


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The failure will be costly to the BlackBerry

Thursday Oct 13, 2011

After three days of failure and silence, it is time for excuses at RIM, the maker of BlackBerry smartphones. Mike Lazaridis, the founder of the group, announced yesterday mid-afternoon recovery of e-mails and the Internet and especially apologized in a video.

It is not clear that this is sufficient to restore the trust of those customers who have been touted for years the irreproachable quality of service of BlackBerry. The damage is considerable.For nearly four days, the vast majority of the 70 million BlackBerry circulating in the world have been very long breaks in services.

This failure is striking for its breadth and comes at the worst time, when the company was criticized by shareholders and that its rival Apple released the iPhone 4S.

"We can compare this failure which occurred earlier this year Sony with piracy data bank. The service was not affected, but it aroused the same loss of customer confidence. In both cases, the credibility in terms of brand image is reached ", e xplique Jean-Michel Huet, managing partner of the firm Bearing Point. To cope, it is necessary not only that RIM do his mea culpa, possibly to indemnify customers and above all it gives the guarantee that this will not happen again. "There are three or four years, the Bouygues Telecom network had broken down.They had compensated the customers by offering a day pass, "he recounts.

For now, RIM could face significant financial claims. Vodafone, Telefonica (Spain), Emirates Telecommunications plan to compensate their subscribers and then to turn against BlackBerry. Operators might be less generous in their grants to buy a BlackBerry, frustrated by having to manage "a deluge of calls on line pay day loans."

Captive customers

However, RIM has the advantage that some of its customers are captive: companies will not change their entire fleet of mobile overnight, and individuals are often under commitment and can not change your mobile. The Canadian manufacturer has a little time to regain the trust of its customers. But not all."There are already companies that are considering leaving RIM and wonder about its reliability," says Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner.

This failure could also hinder the development of RIM in emerging markets. The group is just beginning to establish itself in India, one of the countries most affected by the bug! To compensate for the decline in sales in the United States and Canada, the manufacturer decided to focus on these countries.

In addition, the group's management is facing a serious crisis of confidence that will get better because of the difficulties of society. Last quarter, sales fell 19% to 10 million smartphones, while its net income was divided by more than two, to 329 million, for a turnover down 10% in one year at $ 4.2 billion.Some shareholders, including investment funds, require a change of direction or a sale of the group. The problems this week, compounded by the lack of communication of the group at the beginning of the week, fueling discontent. Yesterday, the title yielded 3.43% at the opening of Wall Street, a decline of over 60% year on year.

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The subprime crisis to the Renaissance

Tuesday Sep 20, 2011

(Special Envoy to Florence)

The tax collectors, 1540, Marinus van Reymerswaele personal business card. (Florence, Museo Stibbert)


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Passos Coelho: "If Greece dark, the entire EU to be at risk"

Monday Sep 19, 2011

LE FIGARO – You met President Nicolas Sarkozy Friday. What is your analysis of the crisis in the euro area?

Pedro Passos Coelho – Our views are converging. We must accelerate the process of ratifying the plan in July that the EU speaks with one voice. It is essential to avoid systemic risk. How to convince the markets where European leaders expressed doubts on the future of Europe! It must be absolutely avoided, it is better to be silent than to sow doubt.

Would it be better to organize the failure of Greece?

I refuse to make predictions, I'd rather be patient and hope that Athens takes its objectives and carry out sustainable reforms. If Greece dark, the entire EU to be at risk.We need to help Greece and at the same time strengthen the EU, to establish a more integrated economic government which deals with taxation.

What are the consequences in Portugal of the deepening crisis in Greece?

Portugal is in a vulnerable position vis-à-vis Greece. If the crisis worsens, it will make our recovery process more difficult. My vision is very pragmatic: we must make every effort to carry out reforms and fiscal consolidation.

Economists doubt your ability to meet commitments on fiscal 2011?

The aid package was negotiated before the elections. Since then we have taken additional steps preventive and our calendar of spending cuts is more ambitious. We have the political support for it.We will keep the target of 5.9% of GDP deficit in 2011 and are targeting a primary surplus (excluding debt service) in 2012 for a balanced budget in 2015 and an external account deficit by half a point against 9% last year. In addition to the expenditure side and the privatization plan, we will conduct several structural reforms, justice, labor market, too rigid regulation. We will create a board of public finances, which will be independent to ensure full transparency in the management of the state.

Where are you from privatization?

We are to remove the golden shares held by the state in public enterprises, then we will begin the process of privatization in the energy sector by mid-November, by selling the companies for electricity, gas and oil, which Galp.We will then proceed to the privatization of the airline TAP, the airport manager Ana, mail, freight rail and radio station public television RTP. The whole process should be finalized in late 2012, the objective to recover at least 7 billion euros.

Have you received expressions of investors?

Yes, many, from the European economies but also emerging countries, Brazil, China and several Arab countries bad credit unsecured personal loans.The president of the National Bank of Economic Development in Brazil (BNDSE), the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, Lula and his predecessor have already come to us with investor interest in Brazil.

This interest is there also for the government debt?

The purchase of public debt is subject to specific rules, but the important thing is that there were demonstrations of confidence in this government about the quality of Portuguese debt.

Will you create a wealth tax, such as Spain prepares to do?

We refused this solution, not to discourage large fortunes to come and settle in Portugal. However, we have created a special tax of solidarity that will help tackle the portion of 2.5% marginal tax on income that will affect higher wages and will last two years.We also created an additional tax of 3% on business profits in excess of 1.5 million euros, also for two years. The purpose of these taxes is not to create an additional revenue but to allow us to finance social assistance measures for families hit hardest by the crisis.

What are these measures?

They are primarily related to housing. Households that can no longer repay their debts to buy their apartments can contact their bank for the loan to be converted into low-rent, which will relieve the financially while allowing them to remain at home. Similarly, those earning up to one and a half times the minimum wage benefit from using public transport.In addition, if we were forced to raise to 23% VAT on gas and electricity, we have created a social tariff for the poorest.

How to boost growth given that domestic demand will remain very low?

It is true that the austerity has a recessive effect. The middle class will suffer significant sacrifices. That's the ticket out of the crisis, the price of a country that has spent too long. Domestic demand will have a negative contribution to the end of 2012. This will be offset by exports that are doing well. The adjustment must be done very quickly to ensure the financing of the economy. Privatization are important to increase the availability of cash to help recapitalize banks. This will improve competitiveness, greater openness and internationalization of our economy.The State abound 12 billion euros in guarantees for banks.

Competitiveness remains the weak point of Portugal?

Hence the urgent need to launch structural reforms, which should have been done in conjunction with the entry into the EU. The country in several sectors – textiles, information technology, biotechnology … the high performers.


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Skype invests in messages grouped

Tuesday Aug 23, 2011

GroupM was promised a destiny to Twitter and Foursquare. Like the latter, the start-up in New York was revealed at the conference Internet "South by Southwest," which was held in Texas in March. But barely a year after its creation, GroupM has already attracted the attention of the giants of the Internet and has just been bought by Skype for an estimated $ 80 million.

The operation allows the specialist to Internet telephony to build a niche in the amount of online communication: messages grouped. With services such as GroupM, users can create discussion groups on their mobile phone and communicate with others, forming "chatrooms" private SMS.In recent months, major Internet players have been enamored of such services, which range from communication, and coordination, like Facebook, which bought the Beluga service in March 2011, eight months after its creation. In addition, the social network launched mid-August, Facebook Messenger, a mobile instant messaging application.

For its part, Google has made this communication bundle a cornerstone of its community platform + Google launched in late June, with the "hangouts" spaces bundled instant messaging and video. Finally, as recently shown by the London riots, the BlackBerry is an actor to be reckoned with in this area, through its private courier BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). Now owns GroupM, Skype will better stand up to these types of communications fast cash without a hassle.

175 million monthly users of Skype

"Skype and GroupM have a common vision.GroupM's team has created a messaging experience incredibly attractive bundle that runs across the terminals and mobile platforms, making it a perfect complement in voice, video and text of the Skype family, "said Tony Bates, general manager of Skype, in a statement.

For Jared Hecht, co-founder Steve Martocci GroupM, "there is a natural affinity between Skype and GroupM.""Our goal is to continue to develop tools that allow people to easily communicate, share and keep in touch with their close relations and important," he said, arguing that integration with Skype would allow the start-up achieve its vision of "ten times faster."

The start-up is already looking forward to see the service offered to 175 million monthly users of Skype.

The acquisition of Skype by GroupM, which is the subject of discussion for several months, could also be beneficial to Microsoft. It announced the acquisition of Skype for $ 8.5 billion in May.While sentencing the operating system (OS) Windows Mobile Phone 7, the software giant could find with GroupM a valuable feature to include in its bid for smartphones.

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"Come as you are"

Sunday Aug 21, 2011

In May 2010, McDonald's France was a sensation with a TV spot in which a teenager going on a phone call to her boyfriend before having lunch with his father, who explains that, as he did at that age, it could be a 'real card with the babes. " Advertising has been around the world. In the original French with subtitles in English, it even triggered a controversy in the United States. The conservative Fox News channel has even made a field day. Sacrilege: great American brand in the gay friendly side!

In this spot, designed by BETC Euro RSCG, is not known if the son ends up coming out to her.But the statement by McDonald's, which has declined in all genres, is very clear that you're straight or gay, black or white, young or old, rich or poor, we do not judge, "just like you are. "

Before, we criticized the pub not to be representative of "visible minorities", not to be sufficiently "black-blanc-beur". Today, the debate has shifted to the "non-visible minorities" and still gets carried away on the issues of communalism, which are still taboo in France.

10% of "non-white"

The proportion of ads depicting characters perceived as "non-white" compared to the total advertising (TV, press and poster) distributed and reviewed by the Regulatory Authority's professional advertising (ARPP) reached 7% in 2008 against 3% in 2005, and this share has increased further since then, around 10%."Racial minorities are now represented quite rightly, said Ingrid Zerbib, image editor for the magazine Strategies, who viewed all the ads that come out in France. The next step is in progress. Homosexuals, the disabled and the sick are increasingly visible. "

McDonald's campaign has been emulated. Krys posted Orangina or gays in their pubs. Personalities with disabilities such as Down syndrome Pascal Duquenne for the virtual mobile operator Simyo, or the blind Gilbert Montagne, for heating specialist camera, turned in spots. Diseases are also commonplace."You can be sick without stigma," said Anne Ramon, communications director of the National Cancer Institute (INCA), the last campaign "I am a person, not a cancer," conducted by the agency La Chose , seeks to change social perceptions of one of the most widespread diseases in France.

In another, more commonplace, but also an affirmation of reality: that of the Community consumption, with the campaign launched last year by the brand halal Isla Delight "Proudly halal." On the occasion of Ramadan, for the first time in France, the brand was as diverse a reference food, free of any cliché. "This campaign is a marker, decrypts the marketing consultant Jean-Jacques Urvoy.The brand was treated as the French leader Charal. "On a halal market estimated at over 5 billion euros – and therefore highly competitive – the whole trick of the ad was to challenge the EU labeling, while displaying a rooster and a Charolais beef! A war of images in a way.


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