News

Procter & Gamble vice chairman Werner Geissler, who is also special adviser to the chairman and CEO, has announced plans to retire from the company Dec. 31, after more than 35 years of service.

Skincare brand Olay has selected actress Katie Holmes as its first global brand ambassador. Holmes will represent the Olay global brand campaign “Your Best Beautiful.”

“I’m very excited to be the Olay Global Brand Ambassador,” said Holmes. “Olay is a brand I respect, trust and believe in. I love the products and message to women to never settle and put their best face forward, every day.”

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. will acquire the remaining shares of its Japanese joint venture, Starbucks Coffee Japan, for $913 million to accelerate growth across multiple channels in the country, including the introduction of new concepts such as Teavana. The acquisition is the largest to date made by Starbucks. Japan is the company’s second-largest market in store sales after the United States.

“Full ownership in this market is the right approach for the future," said Troy Alstead, COO, Starbucks, in a conference call with analysts.

Hudson’s Bay Company has signed a lease with Brookfield Property Partners L.P. to open an 85,000-sq.-ft. Saks Fifth Avenue store in Brookfield Place at 225 Liberty Street and a 55,000-sq.-ft. Saks Off 5th store at One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan.

HBC is also leasing 400,000 sq. ft. of office space, adjacent to the Saks Fifth Avenue store at Brookfield Place. This space will become the home office for the company’s New York City-based corporate associates.

London - Shopitize, a U.K.-based provider of mobile, interactive shopping intelligence, is using Tableau's visual analytics to provide actionable insight into consumers' brand-specific shopping baskets. Shopitize is providing brand partners with access to real-time retail intelligence.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores is moving deeper into financial services. The retailer is launching an exclusive checking account product, called GoBank, with Green Dot Corp., a prepaid-cards specialist that has a subsidiary bank. Wal-Mart already offers a prepaid debit card, credit card, check cashing and money transfers.

Hasbro has entered into a strategic merchandising relationship with Disney Consumer Products for the Disney Princess and Frozen properties. The agreement gives Hasbro global rights (excluding Japan) to develop dolls based on Disney Princess stories and characters including Cinderella, Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid and Frozen beginning in 2016.

Chicago – One-in-two marketers report that fragmented technologies impede their ability to create a consistent experience for consumers across the Web, mobile and other channels. According to a survey of 281 marketers in 16 countries released by cross-channel technology provider Signal, 90% of marketers believe that connecting the disparate tools in their company's marketing technology stack would improve their ability to innovate, personalize consumer interactions, send timely messages, boost loyalty, evaluate campaigns, and increase return on marketing investments.