Agency

Manny Gonzalez has been named Managing Director of Hill Holiday’s Hispanic division called abece.

He replaces Jose Lopez Varella.

Every sales organization has at least one. A salesperson who consistently fails to meet his numbers, or goofs off on the ‘Net when he’s supposed to be calling, or makes lots of appointments but can’t seem to close anything. Low performers. If you’re a sales manager, these “weak links” are no doubt making you (and everyone else) miserable. There’s always one who seems to keep you wringing your hands–but for a variety of reasons you keep giving him one more chance.

For some telecom and credit card companies, call centers account for more than half of all new revenues.

But a fear of putting service customers off with sales pitches and an ignorance of how much value is at stake have made many retail banks slow to implement a service-to-sales program.

The Harris Poll has been measuring attitudes toward the Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion ever since it was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973. During the 33 years since then, Harris Polls found majorities, between 52 and 65 percent of all U.S. adults, in favor of Roe vs. Wade. Now, a new Harris Poll finds that Roe vs. Wade is supported only by a slender 49 percent to 47 percent plurality. In other words, support and opposition are almost equal.

A new Harris Poll finds that about half of all U.S. adults think it is likely or very likely that there will be a major new war involving many American soldiers (52%) a major terrorist attack like 9/11 in the United States (49%) in the next 10 years. Slightly fewer adults (45%) think that it is likely or very likely that Social Security benefits will be eliminated or sharply reduced, while slightly more than one-third (35%) think it likely or very likely that we will see a woman become president.

The Internet’s greatest impact on shopping is assisting consumers in the decision-making process, regardless of whether purchases are made online or at retail stores, according to a study released by leading global Internet company Yahoo! Inc. and worldwide media communications specialist OMD.

Anheuser-Busch announced its continued partnership with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) as the official beer of the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup tournaments. The brand also serves as the official beer sponsor of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany this summer.

More people trust the media than their governments, especially in developing countries, according to a ten-country opinion poll for the BBC, Reuters, and The Media Center.

Media is trusted by an average of 61 percent compared to 52 percent for governments across the countries polled. But the US bucked the trend — with government ahead of media on trust (67% vs 59%) along with Britain (51% vs 47%).

A McKinsey Global Institute study of US labor productivity finds that more sectors are contributing to growth now than in the late 1990s and that service industries are among the fastest growing. These facts bode well for the US economy.