Sara Ramirez, who is bisexual and played a bisexual surgeon on Greys Anatomy, had a bone to pick with The Real ONeals.

The actress blasted the sitcom Thursday over a Jan. 17 episode in which a gay character played by Noah Galvin likened bisexuality to having webbed toes or money problems, several outlets noted.

The 41-year-old actor, who came out last October, implored network ABC and The Real ONeals on Twitter to own and address the issue and empower LGBTQ youth with accurate positive reflections.

Ramirez said shes disappointed in the network for which she worked for 10 years on the doctor drama. She left the show in May. I will invest my brand where Im respected, she wrote.

Rodin Eckenroth via Getty Images

Galvin and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, known as PFLAG and which partnered with The Real ONeals on the episode, issued apologieslast month for causing offense, the New York Daily News reported. A PFLAG spokeswoman said that the group blew it for not catching the comment earlier.

But in another tweet Ramirez called for a network response.

The actress also encouraged followers to sign a change.org petition protesting the show.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Star Rips 'The Real O'Neals' For Bisexual Joke - Huffington Post

ABC

If Grey's Anatomy fans didn't like Eliza Minnick before tonight, they probably hate her now.

The brash doctor (played by Marika Dominczyk) brought in to overhaul Grey-Sloan Memorial's teaching program went full throttle with her plans by placing particular surgeries in the unprepared hands of attendings, leaving the residents to simply observe and guide. Because this is Shondaland, the results were calamitous, resulting in Edwards (Jerrika Hinton) accidentally killing one of Arizona's (Jessica Capshaw) pediatric patients when she misses the fact that the kid's bleeding internally. Making matters even worse, when a distraught Edwards looked to her budding mentor for guidance, Eliza just abandoned her in the hallway to go have a meltdown of her own.

In short, it was not her finest moment.

But it just might be the thing needed to change her aloof and abrasive ways, Dominczyk told E! News."It was such a big event for her to reflect on herself and think about, you know, maybe her approach isn't the best," she admitted. "And I think it makes her take a moment to reflect on who she is, what she really wants, the good that she wants to do and how to do that without making things bad. It knocks her down. It definitely knocks her down a lot of pegs and she has to build herself up again and push through it and, in a way, still be confident and not let it ruin her. Because it's such a huge thing that happened that she didn't foreshadow. She didn't see it coming at all."

Another thing she didn't see coming? Just how much her failure to react properly would push Edwardsone of Minnick's biggest supporters among the attendings up until that momentback into Webber's (James Pickens Jr.) arms (literally) as she was looking for guidance.

"I think that after Eliza deals with how it makes her feel as a doctor and how it affects her, so she can get over that huge hurdle, then she can look around at the damage that it's caused around. And I think that sheit's not like she was building momentum in a good way, anyway," Dominczyk added. "It's kind of like maybe starting from ground zero and doing it over, but maybe with kinder hands, maybe gentler. Being more socially aware of how she comes off when she does stuff like that, you know? I think that initially when she blows off Edwards, it doesn't have anything to do with Edwards, which is the main mistake, right? She's supposed to be the teacher and help, but she's so consumed with what happened that she can't even see. She can't even see it yet. I think it hits her when Richard gives her that look. It crushes her because she looks up to Richard and she respects him so much and she wants to be accepted, but still hold her ground and come off as strong. So, it's a balancing act."

ABC

So, could a kinder, gentler Minnick be just the thing to stop this civil war before it consumes the hospital? It couldn't hurt, Dominczyk admitted, but don't expect a miracle."I would say that it makes people take a long hard look at what they're doing and the repercussions of certain actions," she said about how Grey-Sloan moves forward from here. "To slow down a bit and try to do what's best for everybody and not just best for one person. Because at the end of the day, they all want the same thing. They all want the hospital to be the best hospital it could be, and they all want all the attendings to learn everything the proper way and be good doctors. So, it might bring everything together, but not like a 'Kumbaya, we all love Minnick now.' That definitely, unfortunately, doesn't happennot overnight. But it's a step in the right direction."

Despite the disaster of a day, Minnick did find herself in the arms of a sympathetic Arizona out in the parking lot, who reinforces the notion that Eliza could make things easier on herself with everyone if only she'd try. Is romance on the horizon for these two? And how will the other docs respond to Arizona's flirting with the enemy?I think they are drawn to each other and they are cautious, for the right reasons, with how much they let people know because I don't think they know themselves where this is going or what's going to happen," Dominczyk teased."You're just going to have to watch and see this cautious circling. They're only human, so people do slip up sometimes."

This being Grey's Anatomy, expect the slip up sooner rather than later.

Where do you stand on Minnick after her big screw-up? Let us know in the comments below.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

E! Online - Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows!

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Grey's Anatomy's Civil War Just Took on Collateral Damage & Eliza Will Never Be the Same - E! Online

These are chaotic times for Americans. The nationwide cheese recall, I mean. (What did you think I was talking about?)

Several well-known cheese brandsincluding Sargento, Meijer, Santino, Amish Classics, Country Fresh, and Guggisberghave issued recalls of Colby, pepper jack, shredded taco, and cheddar cheeses among concerns about listeria contamination at a cheese factory in Indiana. No illnesses have yet been reported.

Listeriosis, the foodborne illness that the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria causes, is a particular danger for those with weakened immune systems. In pregnant women, listeria can cause premature labor, miscarriages, and stillbirth. Listeria is an especially resilient bacteriaunlike many other germs, it can keep growing in a cool fridge.

The danger of an infection is part of why cheese sellers have voluntarily recalled their products in this case. But, as is often the case, the recalls have trickled out over the course of the past week. The timing raises questions about how food safety is handled and discussed among manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and regulatorsand further questions still about how long it takes for consumers to be notified of possible contamination.

For cheese eaters, the questions are straightforward: Where did the contaminated cheese come from? And how do I know if the cheese I have in my refrigerator is safe to eat?

The answers arent always easy to find.

This recall began with Deutsch Kase Haus, a cheesemaker in Indiana that sells cheese to various companies which then package the cheese under different brand names. Deutsch Kase Haus issued a voluntary recall for products made at its factory between September 1, 2016 and January 27, 2017.

But we are a business-to-business provider, so we do not label anything under our brand, Mark Hubbard, a spokesman for Deutsch Kase Haus told me, which means we have a number of customers that fall under that productand each of those customers are the ones that actually initiate their own recalls that are put up on the FDA website.

In other words, its up to Deutsch Kase to notify its customers, like Sargento, of the possible contaminationthen its up to those brands to communicate next steps to the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the public. ( The FDA is inspecting the plant as part of a coordinated effort with the Indiana Board of Animal Health on the investigation, Peter Cassell, a spokesman for the FDA, told me.)

In some cases, brand-name companies will expand the recall to other products of theirs, in case the contamination spreads from, say, compromised cheese, to other products processed or packaged in the same facility. Once a food recall is issued, each company that's been affected has to then look at how contamination may have spread through its own plant. So more and more products may be pulled into the recall over time. And since each company has its own protocols to follow, they end up issuing their recalls on different timelines. Thats why its important for consumers to periodically check back to the FDA website to see how recalls change in scope, Hubbard told me.

All of this becomes more complicated still as supply chains grow longer and longer, and as agriculture and food companies consolidate. The globalization of food supply chains makes widespread outbreaks more likely, and in some ways more difficult to track. Already there are nearly 50 million foodborne infections in the United States each yearand they cause about 250,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to a 2012 paper published by the Institute of Medicine. Changes in the globalization of the food trade have important implications for food safety, the papers authors wrote. Mitigating the increased risks associated with a longer, globalized supply-chain will require robust capacity for public-health surveillance.

Such surveillance could involve cheap sensors, smart labels, real-time database sharing, temperature-reading packaging, and other tools to change the way people are notified of spoiled or recalled food.

The current cheese recall was initiated, Hubbard told me, out of an abundance of caution. Its still possible, officials hope, that no illnesses will occur as a result. For now, operations at Deutsch Kase are suspended entirely, while the FDA investigates, Hubbard said.

You have to be very careful, and you have to go beyond what you think could be happening, Hubbard said. Its good that word is getting out. We want people to be cautious.

More:
Anatomy of a Cheese Recall - The Atlantic

NAGPUR: Various issues on revision of anatomy syllabus, including assessment of manpower and duration of teaching, came up for discussion during a conclave organized by the department of anatomy of NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre recently.

The topic of the conclave was 'Challenges in anatomy curriculum and way ahead.' Dr DD Ksheersagar was the organizing secretary. Ninety-two delegates from Central India participated in the continuing medical education (CME) programme and discussed various issues on revision of the syllabus of anatomy that also highlighted modification in theory, practical examination, curricular reforms for histology, embryology, gross anatomy and genetics.

Dr Mangala Kohli, head of the anatomy department, Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College, New Delhi, was the chief guest. Dr MD Huddar introduced Dr Kohli. Dr Ksheersagar welcomed the chief guest and other dignitaries and explained the purpose of holding the CME. Dr Kohli stressed the need for reforms in anatomy curriculum and improving job opportunities for anatomists. Ranjeet Deshmukh, chairman of VSPMAHE, congratulated Dr Ksheersagar for organizing the CME.

Original post:
Doctors call for revising syllabus of anatomy - Times of India

Islamic State (Isis) has ordered its followers to kill three Sydney imams: the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed (pictured); Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman; and Sheikh Ahmed Abdo. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Ive been called many things in my time working for the Muslim community in Sydney, but there is a recurring name that has stuck: sell out. Although often associated with musical acts that move from indie niche to mainstream success, abandoning their fans and values in the meantime, it has come to mean something slightly different to Muslims.

To Muslims, selling out refers to making a compromise on your beliefs and is often associated with engagement with power structures. On the surface, this logic is based on the idea that engagement with these structures, especially in the west, can never be genuine and can never be on Muslim terms.

It is upon this logic that Islamic State (Isis) has ordered its followers to kill three Sydney imams: the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed; Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman; and Sheikh Ahmed Abdo. All three are known for their work in engaging different communities and working with government, policing agencies or with other faith groups.

By trying to excommunicate these sheikhs and essentially branding them as sell outs, Isis is seeking to justify its call to violence against them. The use of such inflammatory rhetoric, as a form of propaganda, is neither new nor exclusive to Isis, and has been used time and again by groups from across the political spectrum. However, it is vital to note that what lies beneath the rhetoric from all sides is an important point on engagement.

Its important to state (although it has been said in a variety of ways, ad infinitum), that the violence of Isis is abhorrent and unacceptable. The best way to thumb our collective nose at their desire to be part of a discussion about faith and engagement would be to have that conversation without their input or presence.

The term sell out is used as a counter to a power imbalance, as a means of expressing distrust in the avenues for engagement between Muslim communities and state power structures. And it is here where the conversation must begin when discussing the reasons for branding such individuals in this way.

Engagement in and of itself must be underscored by a power balance between the participating parties. Without this balance, what will result is a skewed conversation, one that is almost theatre in the way it follows a pre-determined script. What is not to be spoken about is ignored, what is focused upon is the symbolism and platitudes that are used to maintain the status quo.

By taking part in these so-called conversations without the ability to frame the discussion or the ability to have it on our terms, Muslims become complicit in our own silence. Moreover, we are also complicit in the injustices eked out under that silence, having been unable to break the cycle of violence and enforced obliviousness.

The wounds and trauma of the Syrian civil war, the Iraq war, the invasion of Afghanistan, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the Lebanese civil war, and the current violence in Yemen all of these conflicts are partly the result of the interference of western powers, both recent and long-standing. Colonisation continues to deeply affect communities, with the trauma lasting generations as the entire region seeks to reconcile its history with its present, and its people with the interests of foreign powers.

These scars, fresh or deep, are at the forefront of any conversation on power and politics, no matter the level or relevance. Conversations at all levels must be framed by these injustices, by a global, historical, political context that would seek to be guided by a need to recognise and right those injustices.

So, when the Muslim community is in conversation with government agencies or police, on any particular issue, whether it be criminality, socio-economic challenges, obstacles to education and so on, the coordinates of that conversation need to be reset.

Unfortunately, when discussing something apparently irrelevant to international politics or history, respectability politics plays a huge role, with nobody wanting to appear rude or inconsiderate. However, it is essential we shelve such considerations in the face of a growing need to reshape the way we think about engagement with government and police.

And its here where the notion of the sell out remerges, because without its global or historical context these conversations will continue to exclude and alienate any group or party seeking to have their scars recognised and healed.

Without it, genuine progress will be hampered by the notion of the sell out, both in conversations with institutions of power, and with a community continuously sidelined and dismissed.

At the end of the day, its not that I dont want people to call me a sell out, its that I want to see the roots of that notion no longer dismissed as just a rhetorical tool used by fringe groups. There are genuine problems with the way we, as a community and as a nation, see engagement, and until we fix that, the issues we face will never be addressed.

View post:
Anatomy of a sell out: why Isis targets scholars for working with the government - The Guardian

Sara Ramirez is calling out her old network.

The 41-year-old actress, who starred for 10 years on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, took to Twitter on Thursday to slam the network for a joke about bisexual people that aired during a recent episode of The Real O'Neals.

WATCH: 'Grey's Anatomy' Star Sara Ramirez Comes Out as Bisexual

On the episode in question, which aired on Jan. 17, Noah Galvin's openly gay character, Kenny, compared being bisexual to having "webbed toes" or "money problems."

Ramirez, who played bisexual character Callie Torres on Grey's, and identifies as bisexual herself, said that she was "truly disheartened and disappointed" by the joke, and that she would "invest my brand where I'm respected."

The actress addressed ABC and The Real O'Neals in her tweet, encouraging them to "own" and "address" the mistake, to "empower our #Queer and #Bisexual youth & community w/accurate positive reflections." She also asked fans to sign a Change.org petition imploring ABC to "end biphobia and bi-erasure" on the comedy.

WATCH: Shocker! 'Grey's Anatomy' Star Sara Ramirez Exits Show After 10 Seasons

In another tweet, Ramirez reacted to Galvin's response to the joke, saying it "wasn't enough for me."

RELATED: 'Real O'Neals' Star Noah Galvin Slams Colton Haynes, Eric Stonestreet & More, Immediately Apologizes for 'Hurtful' Comments

The Real O'Neals star, who found himself surrounded by controversy last year after slamming Eric Stonestreet's portrayal of a gay man on Modern Family and mocking Colton Haynes' decision to come out as gay, addressed the joke last month on Twitter.

The 22-year-old actor said he "respects and loves the bi community," though defended the joke, saying it represented "a panicky teen expressing his 'deepest fear' which was his boyfriend leaving him for a girl." "I'm sorry if we offended anyone. I hope you know our show fights for visibility and inclusivity and we will do better in the future. BUT, we also have to remember, it's a comedy."

WATCH: 'Greys Anatomy' Boss Addresses Sara Ramirez's Exit: 'I Had a Different Plan'

Excerpt from:
'Grey's Anatomy' Star Sara Ramirez Calls Out ABC for 'Biphobia ... - Entertainment Tonight

Even the Daily Mail is splashing business rates on its front page. What has this most unglamorous of taxes done to deserve that?

For many businesses, rates are a bigger headache than corporation tax. After all, they only have to pay the latter if they are profitable. There is no such escape from rates. The trouble is the way they are levied. To figure out how much it owes, a business first needs to know the theoretical amount that someone would pay to rent the premises it occupies. This rateable value is determined during a periodic exercise by the valuation office agency. The business has to pay roughly half of the rateable value as a tax each year. It doesnt matter if the business is doing well or seriously struggling, it still has to cough up.

At the best of times, the tax is unfair in the way that it hits some kinds of trade harder than others. A bookshop in the High Street of a pretty country town might not make much money. But it has to pay business rates that reflect the gentrified area in which it is located. Conversely, a small office in an out-of-town development might contain a few highly paid executives for whom the business rates are not a significant cost.

In short, business rates are oppressive for a retailer which has to locate close to its customers. One result is that charity shops, that get an automatic 80% rebate, have colonised high streets where regular stores are priced out. The Government periodically promises a review of business rates but the chance of serious reform founders on the need to raise the same amount of money after any changes. Nonetheless, there are plenty of exemptions and reliefs, such as those for village shops and pubs, which mean everyone else has to pay even more.

Make sure you're not missing out on your free, daily Per Diem email & Iain Martin's weekly letter.

The current hullabaloo, reflected in the Daily Mail and other papers, is simply the regular revaluation exercise intended to keep rates fair. Although the total amount to be raised isnt increasing much, there are, inevitably, winners and losers. The winners, which allegedly include Amazons warehouses, are quietly satisfied. The losers, comprising popular brands and small shops, are outraged. Numerically, it also looks like the losers may outnumber the winners, further increasing the volume of their complaints. The Government itself has made matters worse. The revaluation was supposed to happen in 2015 but, since it did not want the resulting controversy to hit just before a general election, it postponed the changes until this year. As a result, many ratepayers are seeing much bigger revaluations than they would have done had the exercise taken place two years ago as scheduled.

In some ways, business rates are the commercial equivalent of council tax. Like with council tax, the revenue raised goes to fund local government. A total of 26 billion a year is collected and, through a complicated formula, it is redistributed to local authorities. Unlike council tax, business rates are not automatically spent in the same area in which they are collected. My local authority of Tunbridge Wells, being quite a wealthy borough, keeps a tiny proportion of the rates it collects. Councils dont even get much say on what the level of rates should be. Since the 1980s that has be set by central government. Going forward, local authorities will get to keep increases in the money raised from business rates in their patch, but conversely they are on the hook if they do not manage to collect enough.

The Government will be very keen to face down the current resistance. Assuaging those seeing increases in their rates will cost money that it does not have. David Gauke, Financial Secretary to the Treasury and a politician who radiates seriousness, has been dispatched to calm things down. Number 10 will be hopeful that when Article 50 is debated by the House of Lords next week, public attention will be distracted from business rates (that most people know nothing about) and the Daily Mail will come back onside.

However, all this could merely be a dress rehearsal for what would happen if there was ever a council tax revaluation. Council tax is calculated from the value of our homes in 1991, which is now hopelessly out of date. But given the regular angst caused by business rates changes, it is no surprise that ministers have repeatedly refused to countenance a revamp of residential property taxes. That would just be asking for trouble.

James Hannam is the author of What Everyone Needs to Know about Tax, to be published by Wiley on Budget day.

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Business rates: the anatomy of a tax controversy - Reaction

Winder-Barrow (Winder, Ga.) forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa is the top ranked player in the ESPN HoopGurlz 100 for 2018 and has everyone from Connecticut to South Carolina to Maryland and many others all giving chase. Now Nelson-Ododa has agreed to give USA TODAY exclusive access into her world by chronicling everything from intimate details about her recruitment to her everyday life in a blog.

Hi world!

This is Olivia with my first blog so I hope you guys like it.

Sadly, Im done playing for the year.

I had a knee injury on Jan. 31 and its been tough to sit out for sure.

Right now we know that its not anything major like MCL or ACL, but I have an appointment this week so well know more about recovery time and things like that.

Im just working on staying positive and being there for my team as we go into the playoffs.

I feel like I was playing really well this year and I was excited about the playoffs coming up. I was working on the weaknesses in my game and I felt like everything was growing in a positive direction then the injury happened.

Like I said, Im just trying to stay positive because I know that Ill be back.

Im definitely excited about summer ball.

I try not to pay a lot of attention to rankings, but being No. 1, Im really motivated to stay there. I know that other players are hungry and theyre coming for that so I use that as motivation to work on my skills and fix any holes I feel that I have in my game.

I want to be the best and even though Im ranked No. 1 I work like Im not.

My recruitment is going pretty well right now, Ive got offers from UConn, Stanford, South Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Maryland, UCLA and a lot of other schools.

Right now Im focusing on developing relationships with coaches and trying to get out to see some of the schools.

But the best part for me is just talking to them and getting to know them away from the court.

Like I bonded with the coach from FSU over our love for dogs. I have a black lab, a mini-pit bull and a German Shepherd so she wanted to see pics of the dog and all that.

I thought that was cool.

Sometimes it can get stressful dealing with all of the coaches, but I tell myself, Youd rather have to put up with all of this than to not have any schools calling.

One thing I do is use Sunday as my family day, so Im not calling any coaches on that day. Thats been good for me.

Since Im so close Ill occasionally go and see Georgia Tech and Georgia games. I went to South Carolina last month to see the game against Alabama. I dont have any visits planned now, but I want to get out to see more schools now that I have more time.

School is going pretty well. I started my second semester and even though classes are challenging theyre definitely a lot less stressful than last semester so thats a positive.

My favorite subjects are English, Social Studies and Science; my least favorite would be Math.

I do have to tell everyone that I just started watching Greys Anatomy on Netflix and Im loving it! I know Im really late with that, but if you havent seen it go check it out!

OK guys thanks for reading my first blog.

Stay tuned for the next one. Ill be back again soon.

Dont forget to follow Olivia Nelson-Ododa:

Twitter:@OliviaKNelson

Instagram: olivianelson_17

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The Olivia Nelson-Ododa Blog: Season-ending injury, staying positive, Grey's Anatomy and more - USA TODAY High School Sports

Hain Celestial (NASDAQ:HAIN)seemed like a perfectly positioned company. As consumers learned more and more about where their food came from, the organic movement only became more powerful.

That's why, in November 2014, I invested my own money in the stock. But as I did more research on the company, I became wary of a narrowing moat. When I sold my shares in January 2016, it was long before accounting issues and an SEC investigation were brought to light, sinking the stock even further this week.

Image source: Getty Images.

As I gained more experience as an investor, I began to look very skeptically at the growth-via-acquisition strategy. While there are certainly success stories,the graveyard of value-destroying acquisitions is constantly growing.

Hain is the poster child for this strategy. Under the leadership of founder and CEO Irwin Simon, the company has grown by buying up popular organic brands that had made a name for themselves independently. With the cash and scale that Hain could provide, the thinking went, these brands could flourish on a national and international platform that would otherwise take decades to accomplish.

The problem is, you have to have an excellent system in place to manage all of the disparate businesses, and it seems Simon did not have such an infrastructure. One review by a former employee on Glassdoor.com offered a detailed warning back in October 2015:

Having a young, natural product brand adhere to a strict corporate budget can be detrimental to its survival. On several acquisitions, Hain failed to achieve continued rates of growth on behalf of the acquired brand mostly because it could not fund new projects... Hain's current acquisition model essentially operates on limiting up front costs as much as possible; they slim down an acquired brand's team to the bare minimum, which only allows for the brand to sustain rather than grow its market segment.

That's crucial, because if the brands that Hain is acquiring don't produce the type of growth that the company expects, it means that it likely overpaid for them in the first place. This eventually leads to significant goodwill writedowns.

As you can see below, the company's goodwill -- and long-term debt -- has been growing steadily over the past six years.

Data source: Hain Celestial annual and quarterly reports.

With that as the context, we can fast-forward to last summer. As investors were preparing to review the company's annual report, Hain said it would not be able to file in a timely manner. At the time, the company's statement seemed benign: "the Company identified concessions that were granted to certain distributors in the United States," and it simply needed to clear up the matter.

Indeed, in November, it appeared it might be in the clear. A release stated that the company "found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing in connection with the Company's financial statements."

The problem, however, is that quarterly filings have been besieged by delay after delay. It has been over 285 days since the company last published financial statements, over 180 days since the accounting issues were first disclosed, and 90 days since an apparent "all clear" was issued, signaling no intentional wrongdoing.

That's a long time with absolutely no information for investors to digest. And this week, things seemed to worsen. The company saidin a post-market Friday news dump that the scope of its own investigation was widening and that it wouldn't be providing the missing quarterly reports promptly. It also said that the SEC had opened a formal investigation, though when it started is not certain.

So what are we left with? It's impossible to value the business based on traditional metrics. We have no idea how accurate the numbers from the past are, and we have absolutely no data to go on over the past three quarters.

Using the last four quarters that we do have, the company now trades at 17 times earnings and 21 times free cash flow. If it turns out that there's nothing nefarious about what it's been doing and the brands are stronger than I'm giving them credit for, it would make today's prices seem pretty fair. However, with uncertainty reaching a fever pitch, investors need to accept that this is as much a guessing game right now as anything else. Proceed with caution.

Brian Stoffel has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Hain Celestial. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Link:
The Anatomy of Hain Celestial Group's Drop and Why You Should Proceed With Caution - Motley Fool

Luxury car drivers do not behave the same way as drivers in other segments when they are off the road, according to a study released Feb. 15.

One surprising statistic was that luxury car shoppers were 55% more likely to frequent Costco than non-luxury car shoppers," says Jon Schulz, CMO of Viant. Conventional wisdom might lead folks to assume that non-luxury car shoppers would have a higher penetration at a warehouse discount store like Costco.Retail habits can often surprise even the most seasoned advertising professional.It definitely pays to do your homework here.

Viants "Anatomy of an Auto Shopper" explores the unique characteristics of four key shopper segments: luxury car, non-luxury car, utility vehicles (CUV/SUV), and truck.

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The report covers everything from make/model/brand affinities by ethnic groups to how these preferences impact shopping habits (CPG products and retail location).

The utility segment is surging as the car segment continues to hover near historic lows.Eighty-two percent of respondents age 35+ are utility drivers, compared to 67% of car drivers and 69% of truck drivers. Nearly two-thirds of these customers prefer domestic brands, which spells opportunity for some and a challenge for others.Given the rapid growth, this is clearly a group that auto marketers want to get much more familiar with, Schulz tells Marketing Daily.

Since they are migrating from non-luxury car, they share some traits, but also have some very unique characteristics which make them a bit more challenging to pinpoint, he adds.

The top utility vehicle choice among African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics is the Ford Explorer, whileAsians favor the Honda Odyssey.For the luxury car segment, the top choice for Asians, Caucasians, and Hispanics is the BMW 3-Series, whileAfrican Americans prefer the Cadillac CTS.The Honda Accord is the most prevalent non-luxury car for all ethnicities.

Marketers are already sold on the accuracy and targeting of people-based marketing, but thats only been available within a few walled gardens. Giving them the ability to now target like this across the open Web, where people are spending the majority of their time, will help move the needle for marketers, Schulz says.

For example, understanding grocery product or retailer preferences, and actual transactional datacan inform partnership opportunities and/or cross-promotion, Schulz says. Certainly, TV viewing habits of targeted shoppers can inform media plans and better align spending not only on TVbut across all channels, to the actual behaviors of desired customer segments. There is still an art to advertising, but adding deterministic data into the mix makes approaches more scientific and measurable.

One automaker that appears to already be mindful of these findings is Nissan.

We cited a Nissan example in the study around their efforts to grow share with the Hispanic auto buying market, Schulz said. These types of highly targeted campaigns with custom creative drive measurable results. It is definitely easier to simply run a few different creative messages to everyone, it just doesnt provide the same impact.Audience segments can behave very differently and require custom approaches.

There is a definitive shift among consumers away from traditional broadcast and cable television consumption to streaming services, OTT and online video.

Our study reinforces the shift to live sports and news programming and away from more traditional prime-time programming for both better audiences and to minimize the DVR impact, Schulz says. TV still commands a large pool of advertising dollars despite falling ratings and high cost per point.

Big television platforms like the Super Bowl have experienced declining viewership over the last two years, yet the cost of a 30-second ad has gone up over 10% in that time period.

You see similar patterns where programs are getting fewer viewers, yet the cost is increasing, Schulz says. This will not last, as more advertisers are focused on ROI from their advertising spend and thus are starting to shift to mobile and other platforms where the users are spending their time.

Read more from the original source:
Study Explores 'Anatomy Of An Auto Shopper' - MediaPost Communications