Yesterday evening the big news was officialy confirmed, William and Kate are waiting for their second baby. Apart from it being a joyful announcement, the still to be born will play a massive role in the Scottish referendum of September 18. If there is one thing people in the UK really love, it is the Royal family. No matter what part of the Kingdom you are from, there is a high probability you admire the Royals. Therefore, we can now see a completely new scenario. I'm sure that many of the undecided who were opting to vote "Yes", will back the "No" party. My estimate is the "No" winning with a 10/15% advantage. Well, the Unionist have been undoubtedly lucky, the situation definitely had the twist they were looking for, with no effort for them! If you would like to know more on Kate's second pregnancy read this article by "NBC news" http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/prince-william-kate-middleton-are-expecting-second-child-n198061
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In 11 days time people in Scotland will be saying "Yes" or "No" to their country becoming independent. According to the latest data, the outcome is really difficult to predict. Following a YouGov poll for Sunday Times, 51% declared they planned to back independece. This means that the "Yes" party has only a 2% advantage apparently. Anyhow, what would independence mean for Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world? For Scotland leaving the UK, would have two main consequences: 1)not being a EU member anymore (it would be necessary to go through the joining process again) 2)abandoning the pound Their effect for its economy, would be, in my opinion devastating in the short to mid term. Even if it would be true that Scottish taxpayers' money will remain in Scotland, the beneficial effect of this would be dwarfed by the negative effects of quitting the kingdom membership. For the UK, the north-friends leaving would translate in losing an asset of great relevance, represented by petroleoum, and in a shock in the financial markets and institutions, which are not properly preared for the rich Scotland to leave. Furthermore, UK economy would contract (but not face a crisis), showing the need for a re-organisation of its industrial strategy. For the rest of the world, the Scottish going on their own, would definitely not mean a financial or economic crisis, even though some business, with strong interconnections to the the UK, could find themselves facing a short period of stagnation and some financial institutions could leave the CITY for countries like Luxembourg and Malta. I personally expect the "No" campaign to win, because people in Edinburgh in their mind know that going solo would be a huge and unforgivable mistake! If you would like to get more information on this read this article by the BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-29096458 Cernobbio's forum has just started today and will close on Sunday. It will be the occasion to discuss about international business, finance, industry and also Italy's current situation. Many influencial businessmen, politicians and economists will attend the event included Pier Carlo Padoan (MEF). The main absent will be Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi, who simply declined the invitation as it was nothing really important to him. It is just Matteo's latest mistake. It is not by avoiding a serious comparison that you are going to solve Italy's situation, Matteo. After this decision expect your fan base to contract....because, sometimes, you also need to face the serious guys. It is too easy just to talk via a TV screen or a newspaper and getting no real-time feedback from people who really have a broad understanding of the matter. Review your policy and your marketing campaign, Matteo! Well, dear Matteo, the announcements bonus is finally over after your a "1000 days to change Italy" official start speech. (The 1000 days didn't start when you went into office anyway?). Now, you must take action and take responsability for what you do and what you do not do. You can't anymore be the lazy guy who lives on the fame of the others (you all surely remember what happened after Draghi's speech). Now it is just you and the country. To date, you demonstrated that you are a great speaker....but even the majority of people discussing about gossip on TV are good at speaking. We were looking for somebody different! Well it is official, Italy following fresh data released from ISTAT (Italy's national institute for Statistics) is in deflation. The consumer price index (CPI) saw a 0,1% plunge on annual basis. Furthermore businesses sentiment also saw a contraction, the worst in the Eurozone (e.g. for manufactoring enterprises it fell from 99,1 to 95,7) and families consumptions reduced by 2,6% consacrating the unusefulness of the famous Renzi's government 80 euro bonus. It is high time for Renzi and his mates to completely review their policies. It end the 80 euro bonus proved to be simply a way to gain political support, support than now is unfortunately fading. It wasn't really difficult to predict that the bonus would have had no effect on putting Italy's economy on the way to recovery. Very few individual after receiving the bonus used it for purchases, the big majority just put it apart for the unexpected or used it the tackle the increased tax burden. As analysts stressed many times 80 euro to some millions of Italian, is not enough, 200 euro maybe would have helped the economy, but giving such as sum would have been impossible considering Italy's shattered situation. It would have been better to give nothing at all. Consider the price the middle class is paying in order to fund the 80 euro bonus policy (just remeber the 6% increase in the capital gains tax). Dear Matteo Renzi, please learn a lesson from this and do not waste the great job Mario Draghi is doing. And keep in mind that to run a country, more than a smily face and a reassuring tone a needed.......take David Cameron and his mates as a model! We really need Italy to undergo a complete set of reforms, reforms which must not translate in an increased taxation as it has happened until now. If we keep the status quo, I already see in my mind us joining the club of Standard and Poor's not investment grade nations! Mario Draghi's words on the Eurozone and its future injected a huge amount of faith and hope in European financial markets and investors, but now individual countries need to make their moves, and Italy, which carries one of EU least-shining economies, is not exception. Here I illustrate my personal suggestion to Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi: What Italy needs right now is a set of profound reforms, which should included lower taxation in all fields of economic life (tax breaks to some business as in UK model, could be beneficial), more flexibility in the work panorama (it is proven that states with a less workers-protective legilstion are doing better. See UK and USA), elimination of some useless state-participated businesses (25% of them are not profitable), privatisation of State-assets (like Poste Italiane and Enav). But most of all what the boot-shaped country needs is a deep debt-reduction move. The most likely to be succesfull in my opinion is know to analysts as "Fondo Patrimoniale degli Italiani". It would work in this way: a real-estate fund would be created by pouring into it infrastructures, facilities owned by the Italian Republic giving creditors the opportunity to swap their Italian-debt titles with participation titles in the fund. In this way the record Italian debt, which is well over 2000 bn, could be cut by 200-300 bn. This operation would also eliminate some severe inefficiencies and provide financial markets, institutional and international investors with a reason still to believie in Italy and not to bet on its default. Dear Matteo, when you went into office, you looked like a bright guy and said that you and your mates would turn Italy inside-out. The truth is that economic data released in this period are not in your favour. Please exploit this positive moment. The Btp paying less than the the Gilt is a unique event, which confirms how well Mario Draghi is playing his cards, but remember even saints find it difficult to carry out a miracle twice! If you want to know more about Mario Draghi's speech at Jackson Hole check out this article by THE FINANCIAL TIMES http://blogs.ft.com/gavyndavies/2014/08/25/draghi-steals-the-show-at-jackson-hole/? Everybody has Twitter, everybody has Facebook. That's what we hear from the voices of many people during these days. Not being on social media, in today's society feels like missing part of the fun and obviously businessmen agree too! Nowdays social media are in fact hugely expolited by big and local businesses, which strongly try to get their message throguh and to enstabilsh their brands. The period when advertsing meant simply a little advert in the the newspaper or a 15 seconds TV promo is according to many over. Advertising is becoming every minute more and more digital. In this trend social media and websites naturally play a massive role. In fact it is easy to find even small sized businesses, provided with a Facebook, Twitter and Instangram account and adverts all over the web. It is all about reaching the biggest possible audience. It is not rare to find businesses using an integrated approach which consist in online adverts, social media marketing, TV, radio and newspaper adverts. In a panorama where competition is tough all possible means are used. Sometimes, even recurring to online contests to build customer's loyalty to the brand. Let's examine TESCO's marketing strategy to get a more deep understanding of the matter: 1)Tesco has regular TV and radio adverts (local and national radios) all over the UK territory 2)They have a Facebook profile (Tesco) 3)They have multiple Twitter account, which they also use to answer customers' questions 4)They have billboards in the streets 5)They developed mobile apps to encourage their customers to "take the brand with them eveytime" (a mobile is something which shapes our life, being used often in mobility) 6)They have an online shopping platform 7)They have a team of people ready to answer your question on the phone or via email 8) They a CLUBCARD programme Although not all marketing strategies are as elaborate as Tesco's one, it is a good example of how the internet and the social media are used by companies to reach old and new customers. If you want to know more about how companies use social media marketing I suggest you read this article by FORBES http://www.forbes.com/sites/kateharrison/2014/04/22/how-four-eco-brands-are-using-social-media-marketing-effectively/ |
AuthorMy name is Marco and I'm a 22 year old Italian guy. If you want to know more about my world just browse through my website! ArchivesCategories |