Vuong Nguyen; ARCH1101

Coca Cola
by ABC News

The multi-national soft drink company Coca Cola Amatil has confirmed it is intending to buy the Cascade brands, raising concerns about potential job losses in Hobart.

Carlton United Breweries says the acquisition will have no impact on beer and cider production at its South Hobart brewery.

Helen Gibbons of the union representing Cascade workers, United Voice, has told ABC Radio's Country Hour program Coca Cola Amatil is buying the brands only, not the soft drink plant.

"They intend to make these drinks somewhere else we're not as clear about what they're going to do with the cider," she said.

"We think the cider might continue to be made in Tasmania but my understanding is that the cordials, or the non-alcoholic drinks are going to be made elsewhere."

Dick Warner from the Australian Blackcurrant Association says local growers hope they will continue to supply the new owners.

"We would see only very positive benefits coming for our group for growers here and those two labels being supported and marketed by Coke," he said.

Coca Cola Amatil says it intends to continue sourcing produce from Tasmanian growers.

It says the transfer is expected to be completed over the next two months.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-07/coca-cola-swallows-cascade/4059104?section=tas

Take-Two Interactive Software
by The Associated Press

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net loss more than tripled as revenue fell and the video game maker failed to repeat the success of "Red Dead Redemption" from a year ago.
Sales were slightly better-than-expected and its shares rose 69 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $11.85 in after-hours trading following the release of the earnings report.
The company's net loss in the three months to March 31 came to $66.8 million, or 79 cents per share, worse than the loss of $22.1 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding stock-based compensation expenses and other items, the adjusted loss came to 60 cents per share, steeper than the 54 cents per share loss expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue fell 19 percent to $148.1 million from $182.2 million a year ago, but that topped the $144 million expected by analysts.
Game makers have faced a tough market with sluggish sales of games on aging consoles. NPD Group said earlier this month that U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 32 percent in April from a year ago, the fifth month of decline.
For the fiscal first quarter, Take-Two expects an adjusted loss of 60 cents to 75 cents per share on revenue of $225 million to $275 million. That's worse than the 9 cents a share profit on $280 million in revenues analysts were looking for.
It also said it expected annual adjusted earnings of $2 to $2.25 per share on revenue of $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion in the year through March 2013. That's below the $2.76 per share in earnings expected by analysts. The revenue forecast bracketed the $1.79 billion expected by analysts.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-05/D9UU24301.htm

Facebook
by Salvador Rodriguez

LOS ANGELES: Facebook is rebuffing claims that its advertisements are ineffective. It's come out with its own research results, which show that most ad campaigns get companies $3 for every $1 they spend.
The new data released by the social network company was released on Tuesday together with ComScore in a report that also shows how Facebook ads have helped companies including Starbucks and Target.
Facebook said its research shows that 70 per cent of ad campaigns will get advertisers a return three times what they put in, and in nearly half of all campaigns, Facebook ads get companies $5 for every $1.
ComScore said that users who saw paid ads for an unnamed retail company were 16 per cent more likely than those who didn't to make a purchase from the company's locations and made online purchases 56 per cent more frequently, according to a Bloomberg report.
The report also showed people who "Like" Target were more likely to buy from the company 21 per cent more frequently, and people who saw unpaid marketing messages from Starbucks made purchases from the company every four weeks 38 per cent more often than those who didn't.
"This provides some strong evidence that Facebook can be an effective marketing channel," said Andrew Lipsman, vice president of industry analysis at ComScore, to Bloomberg. "These are strong results."
The study is based on 60 campaigns in recent years but only addresses Facebook's non-mobile platform, leaving up in the air how effective its mobile advertisements are.
The new report comes out about a month after General Motors announced that it was pulling all of its Facebook ads just prior to the social network company going public, which raised concerns from would-be investors.
Reuters added to those concerns by releasing a poll earlier this month that showed that 80 per cent of Facebook users said the site's ads had never influenced them.

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebook-report-aims-to-prove-its-ads-make-money-20120613-20aan.html

Mashup
by Vuong Nguyen

The multi-national companies Coca Cola Amatil, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. & Facebook confirmed it is intending to buy Starbucks and Target together. They intend to repeat the success of recent years, raising potential retail sales. We would see only very positive benefits coming for our group. Facebook said its research shows that 70 per cent of sales were better-than-expected and its shares rose $2.25 per share to $11.85. Coca Cola Amatil says it intends to profit on those two labels being supported and marketed by Facebook, rebuffing claims that its advertisements are ineffective. A research report show the 3 companies revenue will topped $1.85 billion in the year through March 2013.