The entire editorial staff of Mel Magazine--roughly 15 people, including editor in chief Josh Schollmeyer and general manager of the lifestyle division Ryan Brown--was laid off on Friday, one year exactly after the title was acquired in July 2021 by Recurrent Ventures, a media company backed by the venture equity firm North Equity. The layoffs...
Many industry observers see Meta's Oversight Board as lacking power, but after news Friday, they certainly can't see it as lacking funds. Meta Friday approved a three-year, $150 million commitment to fund the Oversight Board, with the money going to the Oversight Board Trust, which enables the board to continue operating as an independent entity,...
Vita Coco, a brand that holds stunts near and dear to its hydrated heart, is launching a "colossal coconut pop-up" stocked with icy cold beverages in the middle of a triple-digit Texas heat wave. Timing, as they say, is everything. And so is showmanship: the centerpiece of the activation is a 3-story-tall inflatable coconut, dubbed...
After seeing an explosion of adoption during the pandemic ecommerce boom, the buy now, pay later space is experiencing growing pains in the United States as consumers and investors tighten their purse strings amid a period of economic uncertainty. Swedish delayed payments giant Klarna recently saw its valuation slashed to $6.7 billion--around a seventh of...
Havas Paris has announced the outcome of its internal #MeToo investigation which has led to the departure of its creative director Christophe Coffre, although chief executive Julien Carette has returned. The internal investigation, which began on May 9, saw the pair step down while the investigation was conducted following anonymous accusations made on the Instagram...
Comic-Con is back. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic shut down San Diego Comic-Con for the first time in 50 years. Unfortunately, the virtual Comic-Con events that followed didn't quite match the former glory or excitement fans felt on their annual pop culture pilgrimages to the West Coast. However, this weekend marks Comic-Con's return to live...
Over the past year, the Great Resignation is a topic that has dominated my video calls, board meetings and mentoring sessions: "What is its impact on our business?" "How is it changing the culture of our company?" And, the one that has resonated most with me, "What do I want to do next?" As a...
Lack of access to clean drinking water is an issue that many marginalized communities--more specifically Black and brown communities-- continue to face. To help combat the issue, American footwear brand Sperry is empowering people of color to reclaim their water. To amplify voices around the historical relevance of water in Black communities, Claima, a podcast...
TikTok introduced an auto translations feature that will cause the video-sharing application to automatically translate a video's captions, description and text stickers into a user's desired language. Users can turn on the auto translations feature from within the app's settings menu. Our guide will show you how to turn on auto translations in the TikTok...
Instagram added a "Dual" feature to the Instagram Reels camera that allows users to record videos with their device's front- and back-facing cameras simultaneously. For instance, users can record an event with their back-facing camera and record their reaction to the event with their front-facing camera at the same time. Our guide will show you...
The adult beverage category is in a state of disruption, with the implications of evolving consumer demographics having been greatly exacerbated by two years of pandemic-altered habits. Today, the youngest generation of adult beverage consumers is discovering, buying and consuming spirits in entirely new ways, while older generations are expanding their horizons and altering their...
Chao Williams knows how to turn conversations into ads. The creator approaches strangers on the streets of New York to ask questions like "Where are you going?" "What drives you in life?" and "What would make today a 5-star day?" And if Williams didn't have a branded microphone in his hand, you probably wouldn't know...
Championships can do wonders for a sports franchise, but they can't sell tickets, merchandise or sponsorships on their own. City Football Group (CFG) knows that better than almost any sports organization on earth. Its marquee soccer club, Manchester City, has won four of the last five English Premier League championships--securing its latest with a win...
In many businesses, one of the biggest barriers to hiring more diverse teams is that bias can blight the recruitment process. Numerous studies have shown that factors such as ethnicity, gender or a foreign sounding name can make it more difficult for candidates to get job interviews. For example, a 2019 report from the Centre...
Publisher CafeMedia, which runs sales for titles like MacRumors and Stereogum, has managed to recoup millions of dollars in previously blocked ad revenue over the last two years. Between October 2020 and June 2022, CafeMedia detected over 500 million pages with ad blockers running on them. Thanks to ad-block recovery firm Blockthrough, it was able...
Snap Inc. saw revenue sputter a bit in the second quarter of 2022, tallying $1.111 billion, up 13% from the same quarter last year. The company said in its letter to investors that revenue decelerated by 25 percentage points from the first quarter of the year, occurring throughout the quarter, across both brand advertising and...