Latest news with #influence
Washington Post
9 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
DOGE loses control over government grants website, freeing up billions
The U.S. DOGE Service has lost the power to control the government's process for awarding billions of dollars in federal funds, the latest sign of the team's declining influence following Elon Musk's high-profile exit from Washington, according to two people familiar with the situation and emails obtained by The Washington Post.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Pep Guardiola and the age of football amnesia
When Keanu Reeves was doing press for Bill & Ted Face the Music in 2020, he had to explain the narrative tension underpinning the film. In essence, it was about facing your own mortality. Bill and Ted had failed to write a song that would unite the world. This had consequences for them and their families. They now had to come up with one to save the universe — otherwise it would end. Advertisement After giving a light-hearted, semi-serious answer in keeping with his character Ted, Reeves was asked a serious follow-up question by the late-night host Stephen Colbert: 'What do you think happens when we die?' Reeves leaned back, inhaled, thought about it for a second and gave an unexpectedly excellent and profound answer. 'I know that the ones who love us will miss us,' he said, a sweet and moving sentiment. Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola doesn't seem to share it. In the build-up to the FA Cup final in May, Guardiola did not get the same question as Reeves. But he did reflect on his life and legacy up until now. 'When we die,' he said. 'Our families cry for two or three days and then that's it — you're forgotten. In the careers of coaches, there are good and bad ones, the important thing is that the good ones are remembered.' Guardiola's place in football history is assured. He has won trebles, plural. He is credited with changing the game. The Spanish and German national teams lifted the World Cup during his time working in their leagues, an indicator of his influence. England have yet to do so. Next year perhaps? Regardless of whether England do or not, Guardiola's eight seasons with City have undeniably altered the football landscape in the U.K. And yet, his bleak outlook on remembrance appears to have been greatly shaped by how quick some corners of the football world were to forget Istanbul and the treble of 2023. How much of that was City-specific — Wasn't it about time they did it? — is one thing. How much of it is due to our ever-decreasing attention spans is another. As the calendar gets more congested, teams play more and more games and the turnaround time from one season to another shortens, football is, perhaps, entering its own age of digital amnesia — the phenomenon whereby the abundance of information on the internet is apparently affecting our ability to retain and remember it. Advertisement Every game risks becoming like a reel on Instagram or a TikTok video. We scroll through it, laugh or smile, share it, forget it, go blank. Onto the next one. Wydad, Al-Ain, Juventus again. They played each other in December, didn't they? Yes, in the new, extended Champions League 'League Phase'? Feels like another season ago, doesn't it. Dusan Vlahovic scored. Weston McKennie too. Remember it well? Prior to City and Juventus meeting in Orlando, Guardiola was asked by a reporter from La Repubblica about the Club World Cup and how invested he is in winning it. 'Well, now we're here we want to do well. I don't know,' he said in Italian. 'Maybe after two or three days at the end of the tournament it'll be forgotten.' Covered by the sands of time, buried by the scirocco of a new season, the golden edge of a Tiffany trophy poking through a dune as the Premier League nears on the horizon. After all, there's Wolves away already on August 16. If City win the Club World Cup, it will no doubt be a source of pride within the club. But Guardiola is probably right. The newness of the competition and the dismissive reception of the Club World Cup back in the UK — being able to say you're world champion seemed to mean little to English clubs even in the smaller, old format — mean it probably wouldn't be heralded as significant. That's in part the island mentality of England, the belief our competition is best and its only rival is the Champions League, not the Club World Cup. Not yet. 'I don't think we should ever live thinking about whether we're going to be remembered,' Guardiola said in that interview in May. So what's the purpose? Why renew for another two years? Does Guardiola keep doing what he does because he doesn't know anything else? Only football. Or is there meaning beyond being remembered? Advertisement Guardiola said after City's 5-2 win over Juventus his players made a statement to themselves. The challenge this coming season, he added, is to redefine themselves too. Whether people remember City's season or not is out of his control. The 6-0 against Wydad and 2-0 over Al Ain isn't and while they will be swiftly forgotten, they are part of the process he is overseeing. The bigger question is more for us — and the football calendar: Less still feels like more. Meaning isn't to be found in the many, but the few. More than amnesia, there is nostalgia for how the game used to be; smaller World Cups, shorter seasons, competitions that genuinely did boast the best teams from their respective continents. What will happen to football then if it dies? It won't perish, surely. The game goes on and on. But if it did, the ones who loved it will probably remember those, apparently, better days when the memories made were memories that lasted.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Anna Wintour's ‘Pivotal Decision' to Cede (Some) Control
Anna Wintour shocked the media and fashion worlds on Thursday when she said she would give up her role as editor of American Vogue. It's a shift in power, but not the end of her run as the world's most famous magazine editor. At Condé Nast, where she has worked since 1983, Ms. Wintour has three jobs. Once she relinquishes the editor in chief title, that role will no long exist. Instead, a 'head of editorial content' — a newly created role at American Vogue — will report directly to her. Ms. Wintour, 75, will remain Vogue's global editorial director. She will also remain chief content officer for Condé Nast, overseeing Wired, Vanity Fair, GQ and several more magazines. (The only Condé title she does not oversee is The New Yorker.) The fervor over Ms. Wintour's stepping down is a testament to her influence over the fashion world, and her chokehold on the industry rumor mills. Every few years brings a slew of reports about Ms. Wintour's departure plans and her potential successors. They have never been accurate. Thursday's news was also only a half step. 'I wanted to talk to all of you this morning about a pivotal decision that I've been thinking about for a long time,' Ms. Wintour told Vogue's staff Thursday morning, in remarks obtained by The New York Times. She outlined that she would be looking for a head of content for American Vogue but reinforced — in the most Wintour-esque way possible — that she wasn't going anywhere. This was not a chief executive retiring and joining the board. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Donald Trump, Marketing Influencer In Chief
Last week, Forbes released its 10th annual list of the 50 Most Influential CMOs. But the person who Forbes' Seth Matlins named the Unofficial No. 1 marketing influencer of the year has more sway than all 50 honorees put together: President Donald Trump. Trump did not receive this somewhat dubious honor because he is a marketing machine—though the president's personal branding is arguably his most consistently successful venture of nearly a half-century in the spotlight. Trump has always made his name and image synonymous with wealth, business aptitude and power, even when the facts didn't back that image up. Instead, this honor was given to Trump because of the way he's run the country during his second term in the Oval Office. As Matlins put it, Trump is the Unofficial No. 1 'for his outsized influence on global uncertainty, its near and long-term consequences, and thus on what CMOs and the brands and companies they help steward do and don't next.' Marketing is difficult even in the best of times. Figuring out the right ideas, strategies, messages and methods for reaching your targeted customers is far from simple. But when global policy seems to shift daily, with new tariffs, program cuts and military actions being announced on social media at all hours of the day and roiling the business and economic landscape, it's much harder for marketers to deliver a consistent message—and for companies to make any solid plans. How can marketers be counted on to deliver growth when the economic picture changes every day? Meanwhile, Trump is doing more to push his brand from the White House. A wealth of merchandise featuring the president's name and image is available on an official e-commerce website. $TRUMP and $MELANIA are both memecoins. Last week, the Trump Mobile cellphone and service were announced. And an LLC owned by Trump filed to trademark the Trump name for a plethora of virtual products and a crypto wallet. But how well the Trump brand fares over the long run is likely directly tied to how well he performs in his job as president. The constant chaos from this term in the White House—and the wild changes it brings to society—may be the one thing that pulls the Trump brand down. getty Using copyrighted materials to train AI counts as fair use, a California federal judge ruled this week. A group of authors sued AI company Anthropic, arguing that the company unlawfully used their copyrighted books without permission to train some of their large language models. But U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that using the books to train the AI system counts as a transformative use of the works. 'The technology at issue was among the most transformative many of us will see in our lifetimes,' the order states. However, the ruling doesn't grant a free pass for AI companies to train their LLMs on copyrighted works, writes Forbes' Rashi Shrivastava. Some of the books in this case were purchased—though sometimes as used paper copies that were then digitized—but others were downloaded from a pirated books website. And this, Alsup wrote, is likely not a fair use under copyright law. The order states there will be a separate trial scheduled on the issue of the pirated books that were used to create Anthropic's central library to determine financial damages. The trial will also look at the paper books that Anthropic purchased after downloading the pirated copies—something the order says will not absolve the company of liability. ATTENTION ECONOMY KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images It's well known that President Trump prefers to get his information from television, but his opinion on cable news has been souring. He told reporters this week that the channels all broadcast 'garbage,' especially CNN and MSNBC, which he referred to as 'scum,' writes Forbes senior contributor Mark Joyella. He's never been a fan of those two channels—these latest insults came after they questioned how extensively damaged Iranian nuclear sites were by U.S. bombs—but Trump also has been turning on some of his old favorites. After a Fox News poll found that only a slight majority of people approved of his border security policy, and just over half disapproved of his immigration policy, the president posted on Truth Social that the conservative news station has been biased against him for years, and 'They are always always wrong and negative. It's why MAGA HATES Fox News, even though their anchors are GREAT.' Trump's recent attitude toward TV news is reflective of that of the rest of the country, though millions are still watching Fox News. The station was the clear leader in viewers tuning in last Saturday night after the announcement about the airstrikes on Iran, writes Joyella. Fox News had an average total audience of 4.938 million viewers during primetime on Saturday. ABC was a distant second, with 2.346 million viewers, and CNN was an even further distant third, with 1.809 million viewers. Legacy media of all kinds are losing their audience. Forbes senior contributor Andy Meek writes that the Washington Post 's total paid subscribers has dropped down to 97,000—a far lower number than many would expect for a global newsroom that has a history of producing consequential journalism. Five years ago, Meek writes, the Post reported a subscriber base of 250,000. Now, more people are consuming news via podcasts. Meek writes that progressive podcast the MeidasTouch recently crossed 5 million subscribers. SOCIAL MEDIA Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Years ago, former WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum kept a note tacked to his desk that said, 'No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks.' Meta, which bought the messaging platform in 2014, kept that ethos alive until recently. Now, writes Forbes senior contributor Kate O'Flaherty, WhatsApp has introduced advertising in some areas of the app. Right now, the ads don't disrupt the messaging functions of the app. Businesses can promote themselves in the new 'Updates' section of the app, which can feature promotions aimed at gaining followers for their channels or other subscriber content. They can also advertise through status updates that look like Instagram Stories. While users' conversations and messages on WhatsApp remain encrypted and private, O'Flaherty writes that adding advertisements raises many privacy concerns. A WhatsApp account can be linked to those on Meta's Facebook and Instagram, meaning that targeting information can flow through all three platforms. There also doesn't seem to be an opt-out option, so WhatsApp users are likely to have more of their data collected now. Jake Moore, a global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, said that users should keep an eye on consent settings and whether they change in the future. DEEP DIVE Introducing the 2025 Forbes World's Most Influential CMOs From left: Alicia Tillman, CMO Delta; Takeshi Numoto, CMO, Microsoft; Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, L'Oréal Groupe, Chris Davis Global Brand President & CMO, New Balance. ILLUSTRATION BY ORIANA FENWICK FOR FORBES As the marketing world rapidly changes, there are some CMOs that are setting the pace for what is happening now and what will come in the future. For its 10th annual Most Influential CMOs list, Forbes partnered with Sprinklr to analyze data points to determine who these pacesetters are. The analysis looked at the attention CMOs received for their marketing work; how they drove their brand's attention, sentiment and salience; and how well they pushed brand awareness and sentiment. Forbes' Seth Matlins writes that the honorees 'aren't just influencing what a brand says but shaping how a company thinks, what it does, and when, why, and how often others buy. They aren't just steering creative—they're stewarding growth. They're leading from the center, even if their titles—and/or CEOs and Boards—don't always put them there.' This year's list puts Netflix CMO Marian Lee at the top for her work in bringing integrated events, like the NFL 'Beyoncé Bowl' and fan-favorite shows like the second season of Squid Game to the streaming platform. Lee has also created marketing events that bring immersive fan experiences to different locations, including the Tudum Netflix fan festival. She topped the list last year as well. Other top honorees include New Balance CMO Chris Davis, whose success in transforming the company from 'dad shoes' to the choice of elite athletes including Cooper Flagg, Shohei Ohtani and Coco Gauff was featured in a story from Forbes' Justin Birnbaum. L'Oreal Chief Digital and Marketing Officer Asmita Dubey is third on the list. Klarna CMO David Sandström, who talked to Forbes CMO last May about the company's marketing 'AI factory,' and DoorDash CMO Kofi Amoo-Gottried, who talked to Forbes CMO earlier this year about Super Bowl ads, are also in the top 10. Six CMOs joined the Hall of Fame this year, an honor earned by appearing on the Most Influential list five times. They include Ferrari Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera, JPMorganChase CMO Carla Hassan, Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Greg 'Joz' Joswiak, Meta CMO and VP of Analytics Alex Schultz, Delta CMO Alicia Tillman and Walmart CMO William White. COMINGS + GOINGS Life insurance and retirement savings firm Equitable appointed Greg Boosin as its new chief marketing officer. Boosin most recently worked as executive vice president of global B2B & product marketing at Mastercard, and succeeds Connie Weaver. appointed as its new chief marketing officer. Boosin most recently worked as executive vice president of global B2B & product marketing at Mastercard, and succeeds Connie Weaver. Data and analytics platform Alteryx hired Michelle Huff as chief marketing officer. Huff joins the firm from UserTesting, and has also worked in leadership at Salesforce and Oracle. hired as chief marketing officer. Huff joins the firm from UserTesting, and has also worked in leadership at Salesforce and Oracle. Cybersecurity and systems management company Tanium selected Tara Ryan to be its chief marketing officer. Ryan previously worked in the same role at Saviynt, Contrast Security and Incorta. STRATEGIES + ADVICE Email marketing is an important way to get customers' attention, but it can be difficult to produce something that people will read, can earn their trust and inspire sales. Here are some ChatGPT prompts you can use to come up with the topics and writing style to make your emails more effective. We all know that it pays to build a personal brand, but how much do you need to do to make it work? Optimal personal content production means something different for everyone. Here are some things to do to find what adds up to yours. QUIZ An NBA franchise sale announced last week has a record-high valuation of $10 billion. Which team is fetching this price? A. Los Angeles Lakers B. Miami Heat C. Chicago Bulls D. Golden State Warriors See if you got the answer right here.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
AI Titans Struggle to Use Rising Clout to Block State Regulation
Staunch opposition from a handful of Republican lawmakers is endangering the tech industry's drive to attach a ban on state regulation of artificial intelligence to Donald Trump's tax bill. But AI titans' success in persuading the Trump administration and Republican congressional leaders to at least initially incorporate the controversial proposal into the party's centerpiece legislation is a stunning demonstration of their ascendant influence in Washington.
