S&S Activewear CEO: People, acquisitions make us strong | Advance Auto Parts' spokesman is a bilingual "super fan" | Pool Corp. posts higher profit, record sales in Q2
S&S Activewear has grown into a $1.51 billion company under the leadership of CEO Jim Shannon, who attributes the company's success in part to its hardworking employees and strategic acquisitions. "We pride ourselves on having little turnover and watching our employees grow in skill, experience and rank alongside the growth of our company," Shannon said.
Spanish language spot featuring Ed Vance. (Advance Auto Parts/YouTube)
Advance Auto Parts' latest campaign was created by The Marketing Arm with Dieste and other agencies to introduce brand spokesman and super fan Ed Vance in English and Spanish spots and social media. "Ed is a truly bilingual character, played by a bilingual actor, who can reach English and Spanish-speaking audiences alike," says TMA Chief Creative Officer Harris Wilkinson.
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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is taking in 33% more containers now than at the same time in 2019, with an average of 22 ships backed up each day at one anchorage and an average wait time of 5.25 days to dock, according to port officials. "East Coast and Gulf congestion will continue through July, with vessels at anchor in New York, Norfolk, and Savannah," said Flexport, noting that 36 ships were waiting 7 to 10 days for a berth at the end of last month.
Business-to-business marketplaces can achieve "new revenue opportunities, reduced risk, and more decision-making data" by adding embedded finance tools that allow customers to pay directly on the platform, writes Amanda Parker, chief growth officer at FundThrough. Parker explains how embedded finance meets the needs of buyers, sellers and marketplaces with an end result of "frictionless B2B payments."
Efficiency between a company's sales and revenue operations teams can improve when the two teams understand each other's goals, working processes and pain points, Pouyan Salehi, co-founder and CEO of Scratchpad, writes. Choosing the best tools -- even if they're the ones you're using now -- and avoiding rigid rules are two other ways to increase productivity, Salehi writes.
Analytics are one of the best ways to determine the efficacy of marketing efforts, digital expert Noah Rue writes. Understanding, using and tweaking metrics regularly can help managers map the sales chain and pinpoint failure areas to allow for targeted changes, according to Rue.
Mature CEOs are not afraid of pursuing multiple avenues of growth and have developed a tolerance for risk and potential failure, writes Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca. "You can't innovate and lead a market if you won't accept the risk that a new product or project might fail," Johnson writes.
Leaders can create peace around them when they cultivate it inside themselves by practicing gratitude, creating relationships based on trust, taking responsibility and seeking the best for everyone, writes Frank Sonnenberg. "Seek areas of common interest, where everyone can benefit, rather than on optimizing your individual situation," Sonnenberg writes.
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