Author: Arabian Media staff

Brand owners have rarely faced a more testing period, given the need to carefully navigate rapidly shifting political and cultural conventions to reach consumers who are increasingly polarised and atomised in their tastes and views.Marketers say there is an increased nervousness about how consumers use brands. On one side, some companies are worried about being “cancelled” by left-leaning campaigners and, on the other, being attacked for being “woke” by rightwing social media warriors emboldened by the election of Donald Trump as US president.Choosing certain creative paths, and even using certain channels, such as Elon Musk’s X, can send a message…

Luca de Meo was among the French business elite celebrating the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games at a party hosted by luxury group LVMH at its five-star Cheval Blanc hotel in Paris last July.The Renault chief executive joined LVMH patriarch Bernard Arnault and top executives such as Louis Vuitton chief Pietro Beccari. But few expected that within a year the motor industry veteran would end up with the top job at LVMH’s longtime rival: Kering.The Italian is set to leave Renault next month to become boss of Kering, the struggling owner of Gucci and Saint Laurent, from mid-September.  While de Meo has…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Big brands are courting Generation Z consumers more than ever, while trying to seem authentic and avoid doing anything that could get them “cancelled”.The Gen Z cohort spans those born between 1997 and 2012 and forms about a quarter of the workforce in the US, which has driven companies to better understand their desires.Mara Stolzenbach, director of strategy at dcdx, an advisory firm that specialises in Gen Z, says the key to brand success with this generation is authenticity, a view that…

Brands are diluting or scrapping campaigns with social purpose as the movement against DEI intensifies Source link

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Central banks myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Central banks expect to keep buying more gold this year, and anticipate their holdings of US dollars will fall over the next five years, according to a survey of global monetary authorities.Geopolitical concerns, sanctions risk, and worries about the status of the US dollar have driven global central banks to make record purchases of bullion. Gold recently overtook the euro to become the world’s second-largest reserve asset, behind the US dollar. Gold prices have surged 30 per cent since January and doubled…

Image: Supplied In this interview with Gulf Business, Lina Abou Diab, EMEA Sustainable Fixed Income & Middle East Securities Lead at Bloomberg LP, breaks down the latest trends in sustainable finance. From the resilience of green and social bond markets amid macroeconomic uncertainty to the growing prominence of Gulf issuers like Saudi Arabia and UAE’s Omniyat, Diab highlights how policy, investor appetite, and long-term sustainability goals are shaping the region’s fixed income strategies in 2025.  How would you summarise the state of the global and EMEA sustainable fixed income market as of Q1 2025? What are the most notable shifts…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A KKR-led takeover bid for NHS landlord Assura has been hit by opposition from some of the FTSE 250 group’s biggest shareholders, which favour an alternative offer from its UK-listed rival Primary Health Properties. The bidding war over Assura has been running since February, with a consortium formed of KKR and US infrastructure investor Stonepeak last week making a “best and final” cash offer of £1.7bn. But two of Assura’s top 10 shareholders — wealth manager Quilter Cheviot and investment firm Schroders…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the EU energy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The EU must be open to resuming Russian gas imports in the event of a peace deal being brokered to end the war in Ukraine, Austria has said — one of few countries in the bloc to openly float such an option.Brussels “must maintain the option to reassess the situation once the war has ended”, the Austrian energy ministry told the Financial Times.The statement confirmed reports that Elisabeth Zehetner, the Austrian state secretary for energy, made this plea to her EU peers…

Whenever Rachel Watkyn’s job as a business leader thrusts her into the spotlight, she braces herself for a section of the response online: relentless comments about her appearance, misogynistic slurs, threats. “Without doubt it’s getting worse and worse and worse,” says the founder and managing director of Tiny Box Company, the UK’s largest online gift packaging company. “If you are in the public eye, you are public bait, you are owned by them.”As a high-profile businesswoman, Watkyn is navigating social media at a time when gender-based harassment online, particularly that targeting female leaders, is on the rise because of a confluence…

Image: Riyadh Air Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier, announced an order for 50 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft during the 55th annual Paris Air Show, marking a major step forward in the kingdom’s ambitious aviation expansion. The agreement includes 25 firm orders with options for an additional 25 aircraft. The signing ceremony took place at Le Bourget Airport and was attended by senior officials including PIF governor and Riyadh Air chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas, Riyadh Air CFO Adam Boukadida, Airbus EVP for Sales Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, and Airbus CEO of Commercial Aircraft Christian Scherer. “Our new…