News - June 07
Posted in News on June 6th, 2007a|wear winners of MII’s Best PR Campaign 2006 Award
The results of the Marketing Institute’s All Ireland Marketing Awards were announced last week in the Burlington Hotel. Beating out stiff competition from Bank of Ireland Life, Bank of Scotland and ESB, a|wear was declared winner of the Best PR Campaign 2006 for the launch of the Peter O’Brien for a|wear collection. Head of AFA O’Meara and judging panel member, Stuart Forgarty, said: "As judges we looked for clarity in PR goals, tight definition of target audiences, coherent themes, creativity in execution, and meaningful measurement. a|wear excelled. They were far and away the winners."
Google Profits Surge By 69% in Q1
Online search giant Google has reported net profitsof $1bn for the first quarter of 2007 according to figures published today. This is a 69% increase on the same quarter in 2006.
The company’s increased share of web search more than offset increased costs. Ad revenue generated from Google-owned sites reached $2.28bn with a 76% increase year-on-year.
Google extended its dominance into the display advertising market last week, when it bought DoubleClick for $3.1bn.
The company’s partner sites generated revenues through Google’s AdSense program of $1.35bn, representing a 45% year-on-year increase.
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said: "We continued to expand our worldwide footprint, adding important new partners and growing our platform to increase our ability to deliver targeted and measurable ads."
Google’s results come after Yahoo, owner of the most visited US website and number two in internet search, this week reported an 11% fall in first quarter profits to $142m.
Dublin unveils range of summer events
A string of concerts, festivals and special events will entice thousands to spend the summer in Dublin, it was predicted today.
Summer in Dublin 2007 was unveiled today to promote a wide range of events combining family entertainment with literary festivals and outdoor concerts.
Boasting the Bloomsday celebrations, the Liffey Swim, Writers’ and Maritime Festivals, the capital is also promoting itself as a shopping venue.
"The family fun festivals, galleries, parks, buskers, unique atmosphere and fashion choice available in Dublin City Centre create the perfect shopping and leisure destination," Tom Coffey, CEO of Dublin City Business Association (DCBA) said.
Events include city-wide family fun days, music concerts in the city’s parks and gardens, together with art exhibitions in the galleries and museums. Many of the events are free.
Jointly organised by DCBA and Dublin City Council, this year’s festival has an extensive programme of family leisure and cultural events developed by a broad range of organisations.
"We encourage people to come and experience Summer in Dublin , there is something for all the family" communications manager with Dublin City Council Michael Sands said.
"The city has changed remarkably in the last number of years," added Mr Coffey. "The quality
of the display and buildings has improved enormously. It [Dublin] has developed into a truly European cosmopolitan cafe-society style capital."
More information on Dublin’s various summer activities can be obtained at www.dublincity.ie
Airlines Losing Public Relations Battle
International airline executives agree they are losing the public relations battle over their industry’s role in global warming, but they are still grappling with how to win back public and political support.
Executives in Vancouver this week for the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual meeting, have warmed to carbon emissions trading, but only because it is viewed as less punitive than alternatives such as carbon taxes.
"We’ve lost the PR battle and we’re not going to win the emissions battle by chattering with more PR about the past. They (the public) want to see action," Leo Van Wijk, chief executive of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, told his colleagues on Tuesday.
Van Wijk said the aviation industry is paying the price of ignoring warnings that environmental issues — especially in Europe — were becoming a political concern on a par with public and government worries over safety and security.
The airlines complain they have been unfairly cast as a bad guy in the debate over global warming, and accused environmental groups and regulators of ignoring the gains they have made in aircraft fuel efficiency and emission reduction.
IATA, which represents airlines with 94 percent of the world’s scheduled flights, says aviation produces only about 2 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions and that will grow to only 3 percent by 2050, even with expected strong growth in passenger and freight traffic.
Chief executives of several airlines say regulators are targeting an industry still recovering from years of financial losses, while ignoring other polluters and the government’s own role in promoting airline inefficiencies.
"We are clearly viewed as an easy target," Robert Milton, chairman of Air Canada, said on Monday in a panel discussion in which debate over environmental concerns almost overshadowed talk of the other issues facing the industry.
Milton and other airline leaders dismissed suggestions that people would stop flying because of environmental concerns, but said the usually fractious industry must act quickly and in a coordinated fashion to improve its image.
"We do have a good story. And we can show that at the end of day, when you account for all the facts and figures, you can fly rather than take the train because ecology-wise it is much more sound," said Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber.
Executives of some non-European airlines complained that with the issue of airline pollution being most hotly debated in Europe, there is a danger that region would dictate how all airlines deal with emissions reduction.
"I do not support a one size fits all plan," said Malaysia Airlines CEO Idris Jala. Another executive worried regulators may demand emission cuts from facilities in Africa that the infrastructure cannot obtain.
IATA said it is developing an industry plan for trading emission credits, and that any trading system has to be global to reflect the global nature of the industry and avoid it being used to distort trade.
"I think we have passed the stage of being in denial," said Singapore Airlines chief executive Chew Choon Seng said.
Motorola presents Dublin Fashion Week
Dates for the much popular Dublin Fashion Week have now been confirmed as August 27th, 28th and 29th. One of the issues that we would most like to promote among your student body is The Talks, a series of short lectures from key figures in the Irish and International Fashion industries. Last season we had the designer and marketing guru behind Motorola’s new Razr handset, Ignacio Germade, as well as Eddie Shanahan, a business consultant specializing in fashion and retail, among other key topics that would be of great interest to your students. Former speakers that have seen capacity at the events reach standing room only also include Godfrey Deeny, European Editor of Fashion Wire Daily, top designer Helen Mc Alinden and buying director of Brown Thomas, Stephen Sealey.
This forthcoming season will be no exception, and while names have yet to be confirmed, the people that we are talking to, are of huge influence in the style and design departments from some of the biggest names in global fashion. These are perfect for your students to learn more about the business of Irish fashion and also to develop their opinions on their own work and how they may be able to fit into any particular niche.
There will be two Talks taking place on each of the three days of Dublin Fashion Week (details tbc).
Students that are studying fashion, textile, business and/or production would also be very interested in the fact that this season sees us expanding on the introduction of fashion shows to the Dublin Fashion Week itinerary. There are a number of other exciting initiatives that are still in the planning stages but they are sure to attract a huge amount of interest to Dublin Fashion Week and help it on its way to becoming a key player on the International fashion week stage.
We believe that the students of today need all the support, guidance and help that we can endeavour to provide.
Further updates and developments can be found on our site: www.dublinfashionweek.com
