International expansion in the airlines business continues

International expansion in the airlines business continues. This time, it is the SkyMiles partners adding transatlantic flights. Why not if you can sell business class tickets for $5-9,000?

Here is what PRNewswire reported on March 25, 2011

 -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and the Air France-KLM Group (OTC: AFLYY) kick off a major international expansion this week with new flights connecting Florida with three major European cities: London, Paris and Amsterdam.

Delta will launch daily new nonstop service between Miami

 and London

's Heathrow Airport on March 26. On March 27, KLM begins new nonstop flights between Miami and its hub in Amsterdam four days weekly. And on June 11, Air France will inaugurate new nonstop service between Orlando and its Paris hub three days weekly.

The airlines will operate the new Florida flights under their industry-leading trans-Atlantic joint venture, an agreement, which also includes Alitalia, that allows the partners to coordinate flights and share costs and revenues of the service. 

In conjunction with its new service between Miami and London, Delta is also adding new nonstop service between Miami and Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa. Those flights, operated by Delta Connection carrier Comair, begin March 26 and will provide convenient connecting service for Florida customers traveling to London-Heathrow.

International expansion at consulting firm

International expansion may be key to the future of this consulting firm according to Zack's Investment Research. Here is what they have to say:

We maintain our long-term Neutral rating on Baltimore, Maryland-based FTI Consulting Inc. due to the absence of any significant driving factor in the stock. ... impressed with FTI Consulting’s one brand strategy as well as international expansion, lackluster performance in Corporate Finance and Restructuring segments and depressed margins will remain a haul.

... the company plans to bring all its acquired firms under one brand i.e. FTI Consulting by November 2011. FTI Consulting has acquired more than 25 companies over the last five years.

The company’s has also been aggressive in international expansion. During March 2011, the company announced its plans to acquire the majority of LECG Corporation’s remaining European operations. FTI Consulting intends to strengthen its already sound advisory team in U.K. and Europe via this acquisition.

The company expects to add a billion dollars in revenue over the next four years through growth and acquisitions, most of which will be from Europe, Asia and Latin America. 

International expansion of real-time airline flight information service system

If you are interested in international expansion, you may run into this company sooner or later:

Flyte Systems, a provider of airport travel information displays and digital signage content for the hospitality industry, convention centers and related businesses, announced the international expansion of its real-time airline flight information service system. The expansion will begin with hotels in South America and the Caribbean.

Flyte Systems offers a suite of products that serve the traveling public: FlyteBoard, FlytePass, FlyteChannel, FlyteTouch and FlytePad.

• FlyteBoard is a wall-, floor- or ceiling-mounted, high-definition flat panel screen for lobbies, restaurants, bars and other public areas, displaying flight information for one or more airports. 
• FlytePass combines FlyteTouch with free, secure boarding pass printing and can be provided as a stand alone or packaged in an optional all-wood kiosk or integrated metal kiosk, to match hotel décor. 
• FlyteChannel permits guests to view live airport flight information from their in-room television.
• FlyteTouch enables individual guests to search flight information using an interactive touch screen that displays real-time flight arrivals and departures for one or more airports.
• FlytePad is a mobile-ready service that delivers real-time airline information via the iPad, enabling hotel staff to provide guests with airline information anywhere and anytime.

We welcome its international expansion and think its system is a real convenience. 

Famosa toy company focuses on international expansion

International expansion is one of the strategic priorities of Famosa. It is already present in more than 50 countries, although its own organization operates only in Portugal, France, Italy, and Mexico. These and other key markets mean approximately half of its revenues.

According to Key4Communications, its strategic priority is to grow outside Spain without neglecting its leadership in the local market.

The firm has more than 500 people in several countries. Products manufacturing is based in China, as well as in Alacant and Monterrey (México) factories. Headquarters are in Madrid. 

Famosa sells two kinds of licensed products: own development, manufacture, and distribution of such brands as Ferrari, in the Feber line, or novelties such as The jungle on wheels, of Disney (which will launch in May); also, manufacture of products distributed by third parties with license, such as the Disney Phineas & Ferb line.

Online sales are not yet significant for the toy industry, but will continue to grow medium term. 

Can Vevo succeed at international expansion?

Can Vevo succeed at international expansion?

Vevo is getting ready to expand to the U.K. within the next few weeks, according to a Guardian report. Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff told the audience of the Abu Dhabi Media Summit that the major label-backed music video platform is “planning to launch in the U.K. imminently,” and the paper quotes unnamed sources saying that a launch could come before the end of March.

The music video venture plans to expand to the Middle East and North Africa in the next few months, which can be attributed to he United Arab Emirates-based Abu Dhabi Media Company’s co-ownership of Vevo. Further expansion into Europe, Brazil and Australia is planned for the second half of this year or later.

Those steps are a big deal for Vevo, but they also raise questions a number of questions: Why can the venture pull off what Netflix, Hulu and other online video services haven’t been able to? Hulu in particular has been talking for years about international expansion, but no signs point to any imminent move beyond the U.S. market. Netflix started its international expansion last year by opening shop in Canada, but a potential move towards Europe also seems to be taking its time.

The main reason Vevo can expand more aggressively is content rights. The two other co-owners of the venture are Sony Music and Universal, and both major labels own the international rights to the music videos shown on Vevo. That’s very different from Hulu for example, despite the fact that it is also owned by major media entities. Hulu’s owners, which include NBC, Disney and Fox, license their content to TV networks in foreign markets — and those networks don’t want to see competition for the same content online.

However, Vevo’s international expansion won’t come without stumbling blocks. One of the issues the platform will have to deal with are performing rights organizations, which license the rights to the compositions for songs featured in music videos.

Vevo’s partner, YouTube, has been successful at striking deals with some European performing rights organizations, but others are playing hardball. Germany’s rights group GEMA has pressured YouTube to block hundreds of music videos for German visitors, and both parties are currently engaged in legal proceedings about licensing fees. Vevo likely won’t come to countries like Germany until those issues are resolved.

Just-Eat getting ready for aggressive international expansion

Just-Eat secures funding for international expansion. 

London based Just-Eat, an online take-out ordering service, has closed a financing round of $48m co-led by two leading VCs, Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures, with existing investor Index Ventures also participating. Although now based out of London it was originally founded in Denmark.

Just-Eat now plans an international roll-out. Right now it’s in ten countries and three continents and working with 15,000 restaurants. The company claims to generate over $500m of revenue for local businesses in 2011 by linking up normal restaurant POS and ordering systems with an aggregator site which takes orders for takeaway food. 

Read more:

Cruise industry must expand internationally

International expansion key to cruise industry profitability.

A slate of cruise industry executives at an industry conference and trade show, Cruise Shipping Miami 2011,on 3/15 said they looked forward to a future of fewer new ships, global expansion and stronger prices.

A record 15 million people worldwide cruised in 2010, the Cruise Lines Industry Association reported. And 2011 is shaping up to draw even more passengers, industry leaders said, citing the large untapped market of potential cruisers in North America (where only 3 percent of the population has cruised,) a growing presence in Europe that could draw European vacationers and the strong value of cruising when compared to other vacations.

Profitability, however, has been depressed due to a low-price strategy to retain customers during the recession. 

Read more

Certero continues its international expansion

International expansion continues for Certero.

According to a PR Log Free Press Release, March 16, 2011, Certero has announced it has established a presence in Scotland. 

John Lunt, Managing Director of Certero, said: “In parallel with our growth plans internationally, it is important to Certero that focus is still maintained in the UK. To this end, we are delighted to be investing in Scotland. Having expert local people to focus on the Scottish market both demonstrates how important Scottish organisations are to Certero and also provides a focal point for Scottish organisations to engage with Certero.” 

It applies centralised computing power policies to enable organisations to save money, reduce their carbon footprint and prolong the life of their computer equipment. PowerStudio tackles the problem of energy waste, driven by PCs left switched on overnight, over the weekends and even over holidays. PowerStudio enabled a UK council to save around 390 tonnes of CO₂ annually by powering down PCs when not in use. 

To fulfil this demand internationally, Certero is expanding its presence globally, and it recently established a local market presence and sales operations in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. 

Start of international expansion for BlueGlass

Forming of Australian company is the start of international expansion for the leading interactive agency

Thus starts a press release through

PRNewswire on March 16, 2011. 

BlueGlass Interactive, Inc., a leading integrated Internet marketing company, announced today it is has opened an Australian sister company, BlueGlass Australia in partnership with Ireckon Pty. Ltd.  The expansion coincides with one of the founding visions of BlueGlass to take their holistic marketing services and product set and expand it across the globe.

BlueGlass Australia is a full service Internet marketing agency exclusively serving the Australian market.  Utilizing BlueGlass' Internet marketing tools and talent combined with Ireckon's expertise in app, tool and web development, the agency is able to offer the Australian marketplace unparalleled Internet marketing expertise.

"For us, making Australia

 the first step in our global expansion was a relatively easy decision," said Greg Boser, President of Services and Products for BlueGlass Interactive. "It was fueled by a growing need for marketing services on the Australian continent, a strong, stable economy and an amazing partner on the continent that shared our vision for where online marketing services are going."

Becoming a truly global agency is a must in today's environment where companies find their customer base being citizens of the world and not one geographical region. The move also allows BlueGlass to bring competitive marketing tools to regional markets that are completely underserviced.

International Expansion: EABG acquires rights to another US brand

EABG makes another international expansion possible. 

Frederick's of Hollywood Group Inc. announced that it has entered into an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Associated Business Group (EABG) to build and operate Frederick's of Hollywood retail stores in the Middle East.

The agreement provides for EABG to open at least 10 Frederick's of Hollywood retail stores in six Middle Eastern countries over the next three years, with additional store openings based on a mutually agreed upon expansion plan. In addition, a flagship store in Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open in April 2011.

Thomas Lynch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Frederick's of Hollywood Group Inc., stated, "Frederick's of Hollywood is known as a fun, sexy brand for women around the world; however, we currently only sell our products in North America. The agreement with EABG to open stores in multiple Middle Eastern countries is an exciting first step for Frederick's of Hollywood in our strategy to extend our customer reach to new parts of the world. By utilizing licensing agreements to enter new geographic markets, we can cost effectively and quickly grow our business, while also benefiting from our partners' knowledge, presence and experience in these new retail environments."

Raid Abu Hudra, Chief Executive Officer of EABG, stated, "We believe that the Frederick's of Hollywood brand's fun and luxurious image will successfully carry over to the Middle East and will be a hit among young Middle Eastern women. As such, we have an aggressive strategy in place to open Frederick's of Hollywood retail stores across the area, with our flagship retail location slated to open in Abu Dhabi next month. We are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with Frederick's of Hollywood."

Qatar Airways continues international expansion including to Oslo Norway

Qatar Airways Wednesday announced that three cities will join its rapidly growing global network during the second half of 2011, part of a continued international expansion strategy focused on new routes and capacity increases, paylessbg.com reported.

India, Norway and Bulgaria have been earmarked for new route development as the airline spelled out its ongoing commitment to international growth, targeting both popular and underserved markets in Europe, Middle East, North America and Asia, from its Doha hub.

Beginning October 5, Qatar Airways builds on its successful operations in Scandinavia with the start of five-flights-a-week to Norway s capital city of Oslo. The airline already operates scheduled services to the Swedish capital Stockholm and Denmark s capital city of Copenhagen.

With Oslo set to be part of our network, Qatar Airways will strengthen its presence in Scandinavia as the biggest Gulf-based airline flying to the region.

No longer the world’s largest fast-food chain?

Both McDonald's and Subway have been pursuing aggressive international expansion, and Subway, in terms of locations, has finally caught up with its arch rival. But this is really comparing apples and oranges, because the number of units is a poor measure of success. Rather, one should look at market share and profitability, which are both dominated by McDonald's, both on the corporate and franchisee side. 

Here's the latest from (Crain's) — McDonald’s Corp. is no longer the world’s largest fast-food chain — at least, in the number of restaurants.

Subway sandwich shops outnumbered Golden Arches worldwide at the end of 2010, with 33,749, compared with 32,737 McDonald’s outlets, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Subway has been gaining on McDonald's for a while. In 2009, McDonald’s had just 402 restaurants more than Subway, according to Chicago-based Technomic Inc.

In the U.S., Subway has long been more ubiquitous than McDonald’s, surpassing the Oak Brook-based fast-food giant in 2002. The sub chain is owned by Doctor’s Associates Inc. of Milford, Conn.

In 2009 — the most recent figures available from restaurant industry tracker Technomic — McDonald's had 13,980 U.S. restaurants to Subway's 23,034.