Lagarde, 55, would be the first woman — and first non-economist — to run the male-dominated fund. Her appointment could help alter the institution’s culture after Dominque Strauss-Kahn, the previous managing director and presumptive Socialist Party presidential candidate, was forced to resign this month after being charged with sexual assault.

Washington Post

We heard rumors about this a few months ago, but now it’s really happening. Salma Hayek is officially launching Nuance, her 100-piece, multi-category beauty line which will be sold exclusively at CVS, WWD is reporting. Starting in August, the line will appear in 7,000 CVS stores and online. This is the first time a celeb has ever launched a full-line beauty label for a mass retailer.

It’s been a huge project for the actress. She told WWD that she took three years off from her acting career to work on the line, and that it’s been something she’s been conceptualizing for a decade. The line is inspired by her grandmother, who was a Vichy Lab-trained cosmetologist and incorporated Native American and Mayan ingredients into her treatments. Salma also told the paper that at 45, she’s never had any injections in her enviably youthful face–she relies solely on products.

Salma was hands-on throughout the whole development process, even visiting multiple labs throughout the world and tracking down unusual ingredients, like prickly pear and tepezcohuite. She did have to compromise, however, and mentioned that Nuance was not her first choice of names for the line.

The products, which include hair care, skin care, color, and body, will retail for $7.99 to $19.99, so it’s definitely on the higher end of drugstore brands.

So while you may not be able to get Salma’s killer body, you can at least share her beauty secrets.

WWD

Many employers are already using either branding or talent management as a recruitment tool in trying to establish an external image as a good place to work, but these efforts are not nearly enough.  If a new employee does not experience what the recruiter promised, he or she is likely to be one of the 50% who change employers within the first three years of employment and will not be a positive spokesperson for the organization’s brand.  In addition, many current high performing employees are ready to seek other employment opportunities once they feel economic conditions are more stable.  Sleekstone was formed to address these issues with newer employees and those that are ready to leave.  We integrate our branding and talent management skills to engage, align, and inspire the workforce.

Sleekstone assists employers in this process, specifically by:

• Identifying employers’ current corporate culture and workplace brand
• Determining whether they are the desired culture and brand
• Helping the employer move to the desired culture and brand, if applicable,
• Aligning the employer’s compensation, benefits, and other human resource elements with the desired brand, and
• Measuring employee attitudes, in real time, toward these changes and other employer initiatives.

Sleekstone has assembled experienced professionals who are leaders in their fields.  These leaders, identified by practice area, include:

• Branding
  • Ray Baird
  • Brent Scarcliff
• Compensation and Rewards
  • Steve Mendelsohn
  • Deb Thobe
• Culture Assessment and Talent Management
  • Ron Komers
  • Jasmin Loi
• Organization Development and Strategy
  • Barry Thomas
• Financial Planning
  • Rick Weiss
• Health, Welfare, and Retirement Benefits
  • Don Absey
  • John Garner
  • Art Kagan
• Operations
  • Georgi Johnson

For biographies and more information, please visit www.sleekstone.com.

The company that owns the Thomas’ brand says that only seven people know how the muffins get their trademark tracery of air pockets — marketed as nooks and crannies — and it has gone to court to keep a tight lid on the secret.

…

Some bakery experts were skeptical about Bimbo’s claims of top-secret processes, saying the mythology surrounding Thomas’ muffins was more about smart product branding than proprietary baking. The basic techniques for making an English muffin were widely known, they said: English muffin dough is very watery and when it is cooked at high heat the water evaporates quickly and leaves large air pockets.

New York Times

• Psychology

Business Disciplines

• Positioning

Central Metaphors

• The Moat
• The Niche

Theoretical Framework

• Mindshare

Deliverables

• Category Name
• Formal Positioning Statement
• Informal Positioning Statement
• Brand Line

• Rhetoric

Business Disciplines

• Sales

Central Metaphors

• The Case

Theoretical Framework

• Ethos | Moral Center
• Pathos | Empathy
• Logos | Reason
• Kairos | Opportune Moment

Deliverables

• Sales Strategy
• Sales Guide
• Sales Kit
• Sales Training

• Economics

Business Disciplines

• Marketing
• Merchandising

Central Metaphors

• The Marketplace

Theoretical Framework

• Product
• Place
• Price
• Promotion

Deliverables

• Product Design
• Pricing Strategy
• Promotional Strategy
• Unique Selling Proposition

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

Martin Luther King, Jr., American Civil Rights Leader, in Strength To Love

“A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world.”

Charles Dickens (as Scrooge), English Author, in A Christmas Carol

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