Daily LInks
1. Don’t Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession: Research shows that products launched during a recession have both higher long-term survival chances and higher sales revenues. That’s partly because there are fewer new products to compete with, but it also comes from the fact that companies maintaining R&D have focused the investment on their best prospects — which may explain why products introduced during recessions have been shown to be of higher quality. – Read More on Harvard Business Review
2. A sweeping overhaul at Swarovski has the family up in arms: As the co. celebrates its 125th anniversary, there’s little cause for jubilation. Revenue is set to take a hard hit this year, falling by a third to about $2.4 billion; management has announced 6,000 job cuts; and the family risks ceding some control should the new CEO eventually prevail with his plans for a possible IPO or a strategic partner. Ultimately, this reveals a deep rift in the sprawling Swarovski family, consisting of more than 200 members, many of whom are spread between Austria and Switzerland. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. COVID-19 accelerates repatriation of Chinese luxury goods spending: Chinese consumers accounted for about 35% of the global personal luxury market in 2019, yet just 11 percent of the purchases were made on the mainland. COVID has changed that, and with the expansion of duty-free shopping, coupled with price harmonization by the luxury groups, some of the purchases traditionally made overseas will likely be made on the mainland when international travel resumes. – Read More on S&P Global
4. Struggling retailers rush to file for bankruptcy as fears of a second wave of coronavirus linger: industry executives and analysts predict another round of retail bankruptcies and liquidations could be coming if the predicted second wave of Covid-19 infections happens. Competitive pressures ahead of the holiday season could trigger a rush to bankruptcy court, they say. – Read More on CNBC
5. Coronavirus is putting the whole idea of fashion out of fashion: “Fashion is over, at least in the sense we’ve come to know it recently. [Fewer] flamboyant, wasteful shows. [Fewer] unnecessary collections. [Fewer] department stores in which ‘exclusive’ versions of items from said collections – behold, an ugly zip you’ll find absolutely nowhere else! – may be sold.” – Read More on the Guardian
6. Three Questions With Bluemercury’s Marla Beck on How Covid-19 Is Changing the Beauty Business: “Catching a wave of growth and continuing to innovate into growth areas is the most critical piece for any size business and that you have to keep watching the white space.” – Read More on the Wall Street Journal
