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United States
Danni Santana offers years of business reporting experience covering industries like retail, sports, restaurants, and more.
He is based out of New York City, where he is currently a retail editor at Business Insider.
A lover of all things video games, sneakers, and sports, Danni is also an alum of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and CUNY York College.
FAVORITE STORIES I'VE EDITED
In spring 2020, days after the murder of George Floyd, a high-level Lululemon manager told a team of designers and copywriters she wanted to put "all lives matter" at the top of Lululemon's website.
Lady Gaga's beauty brand launched on Amazon in July 2019, a first for a high-end makeup line. Former employees say the brand was rushed to market, disappointing customers.
Nike staff will return to office two days after its 50th company anniversary. Employee reactions are mixed.
For most new DTC brands, starting to work with wholesalers is a matter of "when," not "if."
Restaurants can be slow to adapt to new technologies, as transitioning is expensive and can be complex. The tech might also seem impersonal — like the antithesis of hospitality. But those trends are changing quickly, in part because of the pandemic, which proved that the most agile and digital-ready brands will survive.
These are the 34 retail-technology power players revolutionizing how brands operate and customers buy.
MY CLIPS BY INDUSTRY — STARTING WITH RETAIL
Nike knows it could lose some of its best customers because of dissatisfaction with its SNKRS app. On Monday, CEO John Donahoe unveiled Nike's "dedication score," which rewards top customers. Job descriptions also show that Nike is ramping up the fight against bots that jump virtual lines.
Some sneakerheads want Nike to change how it treats customers who have shoes stolen. Shipments normally feature Nike's "Just Do It" slogan on black tape that can attract bad actors. Solutions from sneakerheads include changing its packaging and offering "golden tickets."
Buyk is doubling down on its private-label products, which the startup believes can help it boost margins and stand out in the crowded ultrafast-delivery space.
SPORTS BUSINESS
Brands begin to plan for condensed seasons once live games return. In the meantime, existing marketing dollars are repurposed to spread messages of unity amid the coronavirus.
Ad inventory would help make up a percentage of revenue lost from game ticket sales. Nielsen also said to be working with multiple teams and leagues on generating extra ad revenue from 'new concepts.'
ESPN will receive more than 100 different feeds from the homes of talent, NFL personnel, and top prospects at its headquarters in Bristol, Conn. Even if the tech prevails, storytelling becomes the real concern.
Not every fan was able to make it to the Super Bowl LIV in Miami. However, spectators watching at home still got a chance to share in the Kansas City Chiefs’ triumph post-game.
OTT service to stream all 32,000 shots from TPC Sawgrass to NBC Sports Gold subscribers. The one-time experiment will be expanded to more tournaments next year.
Two marque matches are featured on Monday nights for the first time ever this season.
ESPN+ will add a Spanish-language broadcast option for up to 70 additional live sporting events streamed each month on its service.
WWE has quadrupled its total revenue on brand partnerships dating back to 2011, according to the company.
Brands spent an estimated $652 million in TV advertising during the 2019 MLB playoffs. according to iSpot.tv. More than 40% of those funds were earmarked for the World Series.
HOSPITALITY
Dominican Republic's tourism industry has been rocked to its core in 2019, following the high-profile deaths of at least 10 U.S. citizens. Global hospitality brands, however, haven't lost sight of the opportunity at hand in the country, particularly in the all-inclusive space.
Operating a hotel in New York City has never been more expensive, thanks to higher labor costs, ballooning property taxes, and hotels' growing reliance on online travel agencies to boost occupancy.
Marriott International watched one all-inclusive hotel after another open in Latin America and the Caribbean over the past decade without so much as an invitation.
Oyo Hotels & Homes may be racking up the investment dollars to expand quickly outside of its home market of India. But the secret behind the company's growth strategy in the U.S. is data science.
Hyatt's acquisition of the Two Roads Hospitality in December intends to both fill a gap in underpenetrated foreign markets and offer loyalty members more variety in options to stay as they earn points.
Hilton will enact phase two of its "Expect Better, Expect Hilton" marketing campaign beginning next week, with a greater emphasis on social media than its previous advertising blitz last fall.
The TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport was one of the most-anticipated hotel property openings of the year. Yet it has received mixed reviews since opening - perhaps too early.
RESTAURANTS
Third-party food delivery business services are becoming a topic of concern for independent restaurants and mid-sized chains looking to grow their nascent off-premise segments as they team up with the likes of Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash.
Fortressing is a smart way for Domino's to grow its store footprint and shorten delivery times, but at the same time it puts a lot of pressure on franchisees to find territory to build.
Restaurants are very reliant on location data and personally identifiable information (PII) to offer customers a wide range of services.
The pressure on restaurant chains to hire technology specialists is at an all-time high, as operators work to improve experiences in the front and back of house for the benefit of franchisees and diners alike.
The fortunes of Uber Eats, the fastest growing part of Uber right now, are tied to its reliance on a handful of partnerships with big chains that include Starbucks and McDonald's, Uber's IPO filing documents show.
The biggest battle on Super Bowl Sunday won't involve the New England Patriots or the Los Angeles Rams. It actually pits the country's largest pizza chains against each other in a war for order counts.
Starbucks is taking on delivery in the U.S. and China with the help of Uber Eats and Alibaba Group. Some unexpected obstacles have come up in the company's home market.
INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
Insurers spent much of the first half of 2017 focused on transforming the industry with digital innovation. And in late summer, many of those investments were put to massive real-world tests in one of the most remarkable and memorable catastrophe seasons ever for the property and casualty insurance industry.
Insurance customer expectations have skyrocketed in recent years due to the simple online experiences provided by organizations in banking and retail. As a result, carriers are looking for new partners and digital technologies to meet this changing demand, and are finding a range of opportunities from an eager insurtech cohort.
Insurance companies recognize that today’s digital consumers have their own views of what a great customer experience should look like. But what exactly is achievable in today's age?
Insurance companies are working tirelessly to transform a once stagnant industry. As such, carriers are exploring several avenues to spur innovation, including the launch of in-house labs.
The insurance industry is the in middle of a seismic technology shift, with carriers adopting an abundance of new tools to drive insights on decades of customer data at their disposal.