S T U D I O 1 2 : Facebook, Twitter Pull Out of SXSW

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First Things First

March 3, 2020

By Jess Zafarris and Jameson Fleming

Coronavirus Updates: Facebook and Twitter Pull Out of SXSW

Twitter announced Sunday that it was suspending all noncritical business travel and events, which included CEO Jack Dorsey's scheduled return to South by Southwest, due to coronavirus. The company notified employees that the suspension would remain in place "until the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deem it appropriate to step back from pandemic precautionary measures, or when a vaccine becomes available."

Facebook followed Twitter's lead, pulling out of SXSW and limiting travel by employees. It comes on the heels of Facebook's decision to cancel its F8 developer conference, which was set to be held in May.

Local residents of Austin, Texas are pressuring the city to cancel the conference, fearing travelers could bring the virus to the city. As of late Monday, more than 25,000 people signed a petition to cancel the conference.

A number of cancellations took place on Monday:

Adobe moving its Adobe Summit online.
The One Show canceled its in-person judging.
Target's annual investor meeting will be broadcast online.

Related: The major holding companies made decisions on how they plan to address concerns over the coronavirus. Some networks like Dentus Aegis and Omnicom Group have already closed offices after employees contracted the virus. The others have restricted travel, especially to "high-risk areas," and some have instituted quarantine periods for anyone who has traveled to areas where the virus has been identified. See the full list of actions taken by the holding companies to protect their employees.

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch Has Died at 84

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric who oversaw the company's enormous growth under a strategy that focused on rooting out bureaucratic inefficiencies, died late Sunday at age 84. Welch is known largely for his business savviness—GE grew from $4 billion to $410 billion under his leadership, according to CNBC. In a nod to his success, Fortune Magazine gave him the title, "Manager of the Century" in 1999. Welch also helped launch CNBC in 1989.

Levi's Introduces 'Industry-Leading' Family Paid Leave Policy

In an expansion of its family leave policy, Levi Strauss and Co. now guarantees eight weeks of paid leave for certain workers in situations where their family members require extra care. The new policy will apply to about half of the company's U.S. staff, allowing workers to take off two weeks at a time to take care of family members in need. For retail, which often lags behind in terms of worker benefits, the new policy is considered an "industry-leading approach."

Orangina Plots a Comeback in North America, With New Owners and an Old Recipe

The fizzy, citrus-flavored beverage Orangina is back in the U.S. and Canada with its original 1936 recipe. The iconic glass, pear-shaped bottle has returned too, along with two new designs, which are being tested to meet consumer and retailer demands. The brand's new owner, Venture Food and Beverage (VFB), will roll out a three-year plan to reinvent the drink and create a new category of beverages, dubbed sparkling juice.

Best of the Rest: Today's Top News & Insights

Nutella Takes Aim at Syrup, Declares Itself the Superior Pancake Topping

Nutella is arguing that it's the best pancake topping. Timed to National Pancake Day and Fat Tuesday on Feb. 25, Nutella launched a two-week campaign that encourages U.S. consumers to ditch syrup for its hazelnut cocoa spread as their pancake topping of choice.

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Meet the Industry Leaders Talking Artificial Intelligence

Are you interested in artificial intelligence's role in chatbots, entertainment, customer experience and your marketing strategy? You can't miss Elevate: AI on March 19th in NYC - an entire day of sessions with industry leaders on the future of advertising. Last tickets available.

Agencies Share Their In-Office Sustainability Efforts

"As an experience marketing agency, our efforts are three-pronged because we are thinking about sustainability in our offices, our fabrication facilities, and on site at events. At all 30 of our offices, we have enforced a robust recycling plan that includes electronics, and have moved to either reduce or eliminate single-use products. Our fabrication and graphic production facilities in the US, China and Europe identify and utilize environmentally friendly materials and inks, and we've upgraded our facilities to energy-efficient LED lights."

—Otto Rosenbusch, svp, operations, George P. Johnson Experience Marketing

"Here are some outcomes from our Green Team initiatives that we implemented in the summer of 2019:

Composting – We are composting about 100 gallons of waste each week or 5000 gallons per year.
Can/bottle reduction – We installed our Bevi machine in July 2019 and since that time we have saved 13,152 cans/bottles of water.
One-time use plate/flatware removal – We hold roughly 10 cookouts each year, plus probably another 10 full-staff meals. From these meals alone, we have saved several thousand plastic forks/spoons from going to the landfill.
Single-use creamers – Since the middle of 2019, we no longer use single-use creamer containers. If even half of the 160 people in our building were using one creamer before, that's 2,400 fewer containers going to the landfill per month.
Centralized Trash – We no longer have individual trash receptacles in offices and work stations. Each employee brings his or her own trash to the multi-stream collection locations around the office. The result is that more trash is being appropriately sorted. In addition, the centralized collection locations saves our cleaning crew about 10 hours per week."

—Scott Chapin, COO at Marcus Thomas

Wendy's Begins Serving Breakfast Nationwide in Bid to Boost Sales

Fast-food chain projects morning offerings to increase bottom line by 6% to 8%.

AMC's Kim Kelleher on Her Move to TV and the Power of Consistency

Anyone who knows Kim Kelleher knows she keeps it real. So, it comes as no surprise to many of us in the media and marketing world that Kim is a big believer of authenticity and consistency, or in other words, embracing her whole self. Recently, Kim made the leap from publishing to television, with a few stops in digital media (and support from her "girl gang" along the way). Here, Kim shares some of her valuable learnings, all of which are worth leaning into.