Simplicity may be the secret to creating a powerful brand and a strong workforce. Howard Belk, Co-CEO and Chief Creative Officer at Siegel+Gale, a brand strategy firm, was with us to share best practices for becoming a brand champion.
Uber is one company that could use some advice to help clean up its public image. Belk says the company's breakdown was that the C-Suite didn't act in a way that was consistent with the values they preached. He says it will be hard for Uber to pull off an image revamp if the company isn't clearer about its mission and values.
Snap is another brand struggling to express its mission. Belk says the problem isn't technology or leadership. Instead, he believes it is an issue of creating value. If your higher purpose doesn't make the register ring, Belk says, then you need to go back to the drawing table and re-work at the whole business model.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
