24 hours: Early bird entries for Effie Croatia end today; A. Nordstrom coming to Digital Takeover; Google Chrome to block ad-blockers; Facebook integrating its messaging platforms…

Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian

By: Adnan Arnautlija

THE EARLY BIRD ENTRIES FOR THE EFFIE CROATIA END TODAY

If you haven’t yet submitted your application through the new, proven and functional system of Effie Worldwide, which will greatly facilitate the application process, this is your last chance, as the early entry deadline closes Monday, January 28, 2019.

The Effie competition rewards the most efficient projects, as well as the joint efforts of advertisers and agencies that have created great projects together. Successful presentation of your projects will be facilitated by application documents, with editable application forms and a handbook with numerous instructions, as well as the jury advice for preparing a quality application.

The regular deadline will be open until February 9th, while the late entry deadline is February 21, which is also the final deadline for applications for this year’s Effie. A special discount is provided for the members of HURA! If you have any questions about how to submit your application, contact info@effie.hr.

AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING BOOK “FUNKY BUSINESS” COMING TO DIGITAL TAKEOVER

One of the most influential global thinkers of today and author of bestseller Funky Business, Dr. Kjell A. Nordstrom, who has 20 years of experience working with major multinational companies, will arrive on March 12 at the largest digital conference in the region, the Digital Takeover, where he will give a lecture on the topic Life in The Matrix – Setting the Scene for Ultra Modernity.

Dr. Kjell A. Nordstrom will talk about the life cycle of companies that are being launched, and closed, in continuous interaction with the current environment. He will focus on the unique challenges of today’s world that are triggered by digitization, as well as on the paradigm shift that requires constant adoption of a new set of analytical skills. In his presentation, he will raise the question of the difference between current monopoly and competitive advantage in the world where we share the basic knowledge base.

Early bird registration fee 1.375 HRK is available until January 31, 2019, while regular price is 2.400 HRK and last minute is 2.800 HRK. You can keep track of all news about the program on the official web and on Facebook.

GOOGLE CHROME WILL BLOCK AD-BLOCKERS

Google has announced plans to introduce certain changes to its Chrome web browser, which might make blocking ads much harder.

The changes could “destroy” ad-blockers according to some of the developers of ad-blocking software, while others say the update would make it far harder for users to stop firms tracking them online and make it easier for them to be bombarded with ads.

Google on the other hand said the proposals they made are still a draft version, and that they would work with developers to limit their impact.

The company states that the planned changes are to improve the “security [and] privacy” of extensions and improve their performance, and to “give users more control” over the data they share.

Read more here.

FACEBOOK TO INTEGRATE INSTAGRAM, MESSENGER AND WHATSAPP INTO SINGLE SYSTEM

Facebook plans to integrate its messaging services on Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

While all three will remain stand-alone apps, at a much deeper level they will be linked so messages can travel between the different services.

The plan was first reported in the New York Times and is believed to be a personal project of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Once complete, the merger would mean that a Facebook user could communicate directly with someone who only has a WhatsApp account. This is currently impossible as the applications have no common core.

The work to merge the three elements has already begun, reported the NYT, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 or early next year.

CHINA TO OVERTAKE US AS WORLD’S BIGGEST RETAIL MARKET

China is poised to become the world’s leading retail market this year as sales grow 7.5% to reach $5.636 trillion.

The growth will see China’s retail sales surpass the US by more than $100bn with the US market forecast to grow 3.3% to reach $5.529trn, according to figures from eMarketer.

However, while both countries are forecast to maintain retail growth in 2019, these rates are slowing, but China’s growth rate will exceed that of the US through to 2022.

China’s behemoth e-commerce market remains the major driver behind the growth, with online sales accounting for more than 35% of China’s entire retail sales, which represents the highest share globally. By comparison, e-commerce sales in the US equate to just 10% of total retail sales.