Month: April 2021

CompoSecure was featured in PYMNTS On The Lures Of Heavy Metal Payment Cards and SPAC Mergers

Posted on April 29, 2021 by - Client News

As economies reopen, businesses hire and the worst of the pandemic seems to be behind us, consumers are getting ready to resume spending – on their cards.

In an interview with PYMNTS, Jon Wilk, CEO of CompoSecure, which designs and manufactures cards, said he anticipates that metal payment cards will see greater usage, particularly in touchless, face-to-face transactions, as consumer spending picks up after more than a year of pent-up demand.

The conversation came against the backdrop where CompoSecure said this month that it would go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Roman DBDR Tech Acquisition Corp. The transaction values CompoSecure at $1.2 billion, on a net revenue base of $261 million as measured last year.

“The reason the SPAC route made sense for us,” according to Wilk, “is because in a SPAC transaction, you are able to tell the story not just of where you’ve been, but of where you’re going” with projections and forward-looking commentary.

Read the full article: CompoSecure On The Lures Of Heavy Metal Payment Cards – And SPAC Mergers

Elevate Brands was featured in Internet Retailing on Buying Amazon Sellers

Posted on April 23, 2021 by - Client News

This month Elevate Brands bought its 20th Amazon seller, and it’s targeting a stable of 100 brands selling on the marketplace by the end of next year. It will soon open a European office in London as it looks to expand beyond its home market in the US – and predicts it will turn over $150m this year. It’s a fast pace of growth for a business that started life as an Amazon seller as recently as 2016.

The sector has thrived in the disruption thrown up by the pandemic, says Elevate Brands co-founder and chief Ryan Gnesin, a former commodities trader. Covid-19 restrictions meant that shoppers discovered the benefits of buying online rather than in shops and, he says, that represents a shift online that is now here to stay.

Online, says Gnesin, “is just a far better shopping experience”. He adds: “The question was how do you change consumer behaviour where people have their entire lives been buying in-store and you want to shift them to buying online – and the pandemic did that for us. And now those people have experienced the benefits of online shopping I believe that behaviour is here to stay for the vast majority of people.”

Read the full story: How brand aggregator Elevate Brands is expanding quickly through buying Amazon sellers

How to Get Media Coverage in a Post-Pandemic World | eNews from OWC

Posted on April 16, 2021 by - eNewsletter

A new survey of more than 2,500 reporters reveals what we already knew: the news cycle has been focused on three stories: COVID-19, social justice and the presidential elections. With the elections over, business news now has a better chance to fit in. In the meantime, however, news staffs are being reduced. Bloomberg announced it was letting go of almost 100 employees. Also trimming staff are The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, New York Post and others. The survey suggests that reporters can be harder to reach when not working from an office, and that their stories take longer to appear, as a result of the competition from pandemic news.

Survey insights offer new opportunities for success in business news:

Pivot to COVID story angles. Almost 40 percent of reporters said that their stories now have some COVID-19 factor. 65 percent now cover more stories on the pandemic and/or health and wellness, even if that wasn’t their original area of expertise. Finding business news that aligns with current events has always been smart, and today it is fundamental.

Trusted sources include CEOs. A major theme in 2020 was finding reliable news sources, according to the survey. As covered in our October newsletter, How 2020 Changed PR. Business Leaders, Take Note, most Americans didn’t trust traditional media to give them all of the news, so they looked to social media. Now, 58 percent of journalists get news from online newspapers or magazines while only 16 percent rely on Twitter, which is down from 22 percent the year before. The vast majority of journalists report finding academic experts (86 percent) and CEOs (74 percent) to be their most credible sources, good news for businesses and experts seeking to be interviewed and quoted.

Reporters are looking at your social media. 73 percent of reporters said they “sometimes” or “usually” consult a company’s social media channels when covering a story. Business social media pages aren’t just for customers, so it’s smart to post on valuable industry news to position the company leaders. Twitter is still considered a valuable social channel by reporters, but they actually get more information from online newspapers or magazines, the study revealed.

Reporters have a love/hate relationship with PR. While only six percent see their relationship with PR pros as a partnership, 59 percent described the relationship as mutually beneficial. We’ll take it! Reporters are our #1 client, and if we don’t help them, we’re all missing the boat.

The survey reveals that half of media are covering five or more beats and filing seven or more stories a week. They’re busy. Media want to be pitched 1:1 with customized and relevant content. The best times to receive email pitches are Monday mornings. Pitches need to be under 200 words and with no attachments, which means concise, creative and compelling pitches win. Reporters, editors and producers do not like to be contacted by phone, especially now because it means calling their personal mobile phone. Email is preferred, with Twitter as the back-up option.

It’s good news that the press trusts CEOs and knows business expertise when they see it. Let’s get out there and be a part of the story.

Best,

Tracy

Fox 40 Sacramento shares story of local man suffering heart attack on a ski mountain

Posted on April 12, 2021 by - Client News

At the beginning of 2020, Jim Hays and his wife Peggy were on a ski trip in Jackson Hole when he suddenly suffered a heart attack on the mountain.

“We took a selfie in front of the giant yeti statue. That’s where I started saying, ‘I’m kind of tired. I’m not feeling very well.’ I’m sure something was already happening at that point,” Jim Hays recalled.

As a medical professional, Peggy Hays said her instincts kicked right in.

“He literally just dropped over on his left side like a tin soldier,” Peggy Hays said. “Just kept his airway open with my thumbs because he was still breathing. His heart was still beating.”

Doctors told Peggy Hays that Jim suffered an aneurysm, which lead to a heart attack.

For the next month, Jim Hays continued to fight for his life at a heart transplant institute at the University of Utah, all while the coronavirus pandemic started to affect the country.

Doctors implanted an Impella, the world’s smallest heart pump, to allow his injured heart to rest and recover.

See the full article here: Sacramento man has heart attack while skiing, another while recovering

Leonardo247’s CEO and co-founder on how proptech can help multifamily real estate owners

Posted on April 7, 2021 by - Client News

Providing housing to the more than 100 million Americans living in apartments, nursing homes, low-income housing and other rental properties has never been as straightforward as people outside of the industry might assume, according to Leonardo247 co-founder and CEO Daniel Cunningham.

“Challenges surrounding compliance with housing laws, municipal codes, preventative maintenance and managing overall operational risks have always served as potential landmines to investment returns. However, property managers now have an entirely new spate of responsibilities and burdens due to Covid-19. They must preserve the health and safety of not just their residents but also the site employees.”

Read the full article via Forbes here: How Proptech Can Help Multifamily Real Estate Owners Overcome Today’s Challenges