Weekend Digest: Retailers Ready For Attention

For our weekend business readers:

RETAILERS’ ADS TAKE OVER
So many ads during the political campaigns , especially in swing states for the presidential candidates.  Now that the votes have been counted and the races are over, it’s time for an onslaught of a different type of advertising.

The good news is that the election is behind us, so expect political ads to disappear from the airwaves more or less immediately. The bad news is that you can now spend the next six to seven weeks getting thoroughly sick of Christmas advertising.

With Americans fixated on the election, retailers had to take a back seat to holiday advertising.  Even if they had wanted to buy spots, time and space were hard to find because of so many political ads, says Daily Finance.

That doesn’t mean that retailers have been totally sitting on their hands. Target got an early jump with a TV spot that it introduced weeks before Halloween, and retailers have also taken advantage of other promotional channels like email.

With Thanksgiving coming early this year, read the full story to find out how retailers plan to make up for lost time with more “diversified” ways of spending advertising dollars and get a sneak peek at when those Black Friday circulars may start coming out.

NATION’S LARGEST RETAILER TO JUMP START BLACK FRIDAY
It’s official.  Wal-Mart has announced its earliest start time ever for Black Friday and if you are in the mood, it may be a good way to bust back some of those Turkey Day calories.  If that sounds like a hint, it is.

Black Friday sales have been starting earlier and earlier every year, and in recent years, a few brave retailers have broken the midnight threshold to open their doors late in the evening on Thanksgiving.  Walmart threw down a new gauntlet: It announced it would open its doors at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving evening.

So will other major chains follow suit and how does this huge announcement settle with Walmart employees who are already threatening to walk off the job on Black Friday in protest of working conditions?

Click on this link for the entire post from AOL.

GLOBAL WORKFORCE STUDY MAKES POWERFUL CASE FOR SUSTAINING EMPLOYEES
The Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study — 32,000 employees across 30 countries — makes the most powerful, bottom line case yet for the connection between how we feel at work and how we perform.

What’s required now is something called “sustainable engagement.” The key factor, the study finds, is a work environment that more fully energizes employees by promoting their physical, emotional and social well-being. I’d add to that mental and spiritual well being — or more specifically, the added energy derived from the capacity for absorbed focus and a strong sense of purpose.

That’s according to Harvard Business Review which takes an analytical look at the key points of the study and how sustainable engagement can affect the bottom line.

In a broader analysis of 50 global companies, Towers Watson found that companies with low engagement scores had an average operating margin just under 10 percent. Those with high traditional engagement had a slightly higher margin of 14 percent. Companies with the highest “sustainable engagement” scores had an average one-year operating margin of 27 percent.

Go inside the story to learn how sustainable engagement can affect other things like turnover, burn out and energy in the workplace.

iPAD 3 VS iPAD MINI
At seven inches, it’s the latest version of Apple’s iPad line, but it’s first mini. The regular-sized iPad has become one of the most popular devices in the world, but with its recent release, the iPad Mini – despite being pricey – has already become “the” tablet for adoring users.

Why?  Well, a tech reviewer for ZDNet explains why in his post, “5 reasons I like the iPad Mini more than the iPad 3.”  He also compares the Mini to the Nexus 7, and Kindle Fire HD.

Want to get the scoop?  Click here.

COOKING SPRAY CAN DO MUCH MORE THAN FRY AN EGG
Say what?  Well, we don’t make this stuff up and it’s true says Homesessive.

Since it hit the market in 1959, cooking spray has evolved into a kitchen cupboard staple. But if you’re only spritzing this stuff to cut calories or prevent food from sticking to pans, you’re missing out on a valuable household tool.

So what else can cooking spray do?  Click here to find out.