Travel
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines Announce New West Coast International Alliance
Alaska Airlines and American Airlines recently announced an alliance intended to offer more options for West Coast customers. “Alaska has always been proud to serve Seattle, the city that we call home,” Ben Minicucci, president of Alaska Airlines, said in a joint press release. “We’re thrilled to give our guests more choice, broader use of loyalty benefits, and seamless global service with American and oneworld. Additionally, international service to global business and tech hubs Heathrow and Bangalore is a tremendous win for the growing Seattle region and the West Coast.”
Restaurants
Starbucks names new CMO focused on bridging physical, digital experience
According to a Marketing Dive article, “Starbucks has promoted Brady Brewer to CMO from VP of digital customer experience, CEO Kevin Johnson announced in an internal letter to employees that was reported in Adweek.” Brewer now will oversee marketing plans, digital customer experience, data and analytics and food and beverage portfolio and report directly to Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Roz Brewer.
Innovation
MoneyGram Launches Innovative MoneyGram FastSend Service
MoneyGram International, Inc. recently announced the launch of MoneyGram FastSend, a new service that allows consumers to send money to a mobile phone number via the MoneyGram website and mobile app. MoneyGram says the new service provides the fastest transaction times in the industry. “With the launch of the new FastSend service, sending money is now as easy as sending a text,” Alex Holmes, MoneyGram Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said in a release. “FastSend builds on the success of our extremely popular mobile app and will further MoneyGram’s leading position in the evolution of digital P2P payments.”
Corporate Social Responsibility
Lululemon exec: Mental health is the ‘next major step in our journey’
Celeste Burgoyne, Lululemon’s EVP of Americas and Global Guest Innovation, made a pledge to promote and support mental wellness at the MAKERS Conference in Los Angeles. Burgoyne reflected on her pledges over the last three years. “We achieved 100% pay equity in 2018, a leading parenthood program offering up to six months paid leave [for both mothers and fathers] in 2019, and our senior leadership team is comprised of 60% women as of today,” she said. “The next major step in our journey is leading the way in mental wellbeing because we know in order to be 100% authentically you, you need to be well. In 2020, we commit to offering our people leading mental health benefits and providing training to all people managers so that they are equipped to support mental health conversations.”
Retail
A First Peek Inside Amazon’s New Grocery Store Concept in Los Angeles
The grocery industry is keeping a close eye on a strip mall in Los Angeles, where Amazon.com Inc. is working on the first in a new chain of grocery stores set to open this year, according to a Bloomberg article. “The company has kept construction inside the store firmly under wraps, and, until now, no one has peeked in on Amazon’s latest plan to upend how food is sold. Based on never-before-seen photos of the facility at 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd., as well as planning documents filed with the city, the store looks remarkably conventional—with a few Amazon-style flourishes,” the article states.