For lovers of American football, there is no bigger event than the annual championship game called the Super Bowl.

But this isn’t just the biggest annual sporting event in the US – it’s also become the biggest platform for companies and their advertisers to show off their brands and their skills.

This year, a 30-second advertising spot during the Super Bowl coverage will cost around $3.5 million. A

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In many companies, working on customer accounts is a crucial part of the business. This means that account management is of the utmost importance to ensure you deliver a consistently high level of service to your customers and are also able to make sure your business is going in the right direction based on the response of those customers to your marketing and other activities.

CRM solutions can assist you in your account management processes in a variety of ways. One of these ways is by enabling you to store vital account information in a secure, single place. Get full info…

The votes are in. The jury has decided. The teenage scribblers in the City have opined and pronounced. And what they’ve announced is that John Lewis and M&S had a good Christmas. Their Christmas season sales growth of 28% and 22% respectively was deemed to be a success. A sign of supreme ecommerce talent.

On the other hand whilst Next was seen to be treading water at 17% growth, the sales performance of tescos with a mere 14% increase in internet sales was seen as nothing short of the end of an era. The headlines screamed about the eclipse of Britain’s favourite place to shop.

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A screen inside a New Town Builders net-zero home displays energy use and costs. Homeowners can expect to pay nothing in electric and natural gas bills when averaged over a year because their houses’ rooftop solar panels will generate enough extra power to offset utility costs. Get full info…

QBE Insurance Group has been placed in a trading halt with reports suggesting the halt is due to an investigation by US authorities into one of the company’s subsidiaries, Balboa.

The halt will remain in place until either an announcement from the company is made, or trading resumes on January 16.

Reports indicate that the investigation will focus on excessive fees for policies that include some of the largest banks in the United States.

QBE has said it will make an announcement today “regarding topics such as preliminary 2011 results and 2012 worldwide reinsurance protections”.

Shares open flat after weak overseas leads

The Australian sharemarket has opened flat this morning after weak results from international markets, which have been subdued over renewed fears over the European debt crisis.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 3.3 points or 0.1% to 4190.8 at 12.00 AEST, while the Australian dollar rose slightly to $US1.02c.

ANZ shares rose 0.33% to $21.15 as Commonwealth Bank shares rose 0.24% to $50.06. Westp

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