I read an interesting article by Jayson DeMers in the Forbes that shared a report from Shareaholic. Based on the 340k websites in the Shareaholic network then, as of December 2014, social media is now the #1 driver of all website referral accounting for 31.24% compared to the 22.71% from the same period in the previous year.
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It was predicted that 2014 would have been a milestone, when the number of Google searches carried out on mobile devices would surpass that of PCs. Although Google remains secretive about the exact proportion of mobile versus desktop search, it is estimated that half of searches do indeed come from smartphones and tablets.
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The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) “is an issue that is sexy right now”, according to European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, commenting on 23rd February while attending the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) conference on the subject. TTIP might be sexy, but there is no love these days as EU opposition is growing and consolidating. This could be considered rather sad given the worthy transatlantic vision of deeper European and American economic co-operation and integration, driven essentially by lower tariffs and reduced regulatory barriers. But from Germany, via France all the way to Greece, protagonists at this time on euro issues, have a common beef against TTIP.
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Trade fairs are a wonderful export and international business development tool. When well-managed (from selection, to planning, through preparation, attendance and crucially follow-up) they can be hugely influential, highly cost-effective and a big generator of new, as well as extending existing, business. They can also bring unique opportunities to visit faraway places, meet friends, colleagues, competitors and start a whole new social life and fall in love. A few years ago, a French member of our business development team attended a hospitality trade fair in Paris. Being a vigilant young man, he spotted an intelligent, beautiful young Italian lady. Suffice it to say, I recall that the end of the 4 day event, during which time we saw very little of either of them, was a very sad occasion. As life’s rich pattern flows, so did they. Within 6 months, we had a team member based in Italy as he relocated to Milan. They are now happily married, with two children!
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Today, commerce in Europe is all about the e’s; there are 2, but add a 3rd in front and you have it. Everywhere (note 4 e’s) we look for opportunities and growth we find a big bold "e" written. The big EU stories for 2015 will be ecommerce; ecommerce will continue its boom across Europe this year, growing at a very healthy >18%. The figure for 2014 was 18%, 22% in 2013 and 2016 is projected at 19%. FYI, this compares to the US where online sales are expected to grow in 2015 at 14%.
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Our European (EU) Quantitative Easing (QE) overview. It’s big EU news. It’s official. It's just in time central banking. EU QE phew-ee. On Thursday the 23rd January 2015, Mario Draghi (we call him Super Mario) our European Central Bank (ECB) President, announced the EU’s >€1 Tn government bond buying program. The ECB is noted as the last major central bank to embark upon such a program. US QE dates from 2008, and that of the UK from 2009, and both are deemed to have worked.
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Facebook is launching a new app, Facebook at Work, which aims to expand its presence within the business community. It is positioning itself as a challenger to LinkedIn and other established collaboration tools targeted at businesses, such as Yammer, Jive and MangoApps.
In our December blog Making your website user-friendly: DIY requirements identification for companies we introduced a check list for companies on how to identify user requirements, including 1) Persona definition 2) Scenarios and story-boarding and 3) Requirements definition. The aim of these two blogs is to advice business owners, sales and marketing managers and IT managers on how to create user-friendly websites that generate business using techniques that are not resource-intensive. Today we have a closer look at usability testing.
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Agriculture and foodstuff rears its tasty head, making TTIP headlines this January 2015 month in Europe. Served hot or cold, agriculture and foodstuff have been the subject of transatlantic conflict for decades, epitomizing European and American societal and cultural challenges, interconnecting with food security as well as environmental sensitivities. And lest we forget, on both sides of the Atlantic, agriculture and food is big, really big economic stuff, with >700,000 big, medium and small businesses serving a market of >800 million wealthy, educated and discerning consumers, worth >€2 Tn.
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Opportunities for US companies in Europe abound. They always have and will, the question is one of timing. US exporters to Europe, of both goods and services, achieved an accomplished and steadily growing >$500Bn in 2014. This is inextricable linked to the existing pool of business investment by US companies in the EU. The US is the largest external investor in the EU, with 33% of the total, mostly in the business services and software sectors. US investment in the EU accounts for >50% of all U.S. direct investment abroad and is valued at >$2.5T.
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