[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Those who have been reading these articles for the past 14 months know that I have been anything but sympathetic to the trials and downward trends in the department store category. As we get ready for another Holiday Selling Season where Wal-Mart has already taken off the price gloves, (why do they have to make those announcements to tip off the competition anyway?) it\u2019s obvious that branding will once again take a back seat to promotion. Of course, this will show that these retailers really mean business to get their sales trends back on track. On the other hand, recent monthly sales reports once again show that one chain, JC Penney with an 8.1% comp increase, continues its remarkable recovery as the pacesetter in this category.<\/p>\n
Recently, I was fortunate to be with fellow RAMA board member and JCP CMO, Mike Boylson at a seminar in Columbus. While there, Mike described Penney\u2019s strategy and efforts in righting that ship and increasing its stock price by some ten times over the past five years or so. Now, I have not been a big fan of the Penney organization since it dismantled my long-term employer, Eckerd Drugs, and basically made one of the strongest brands disintegrate before our eyes in order to fuel the department store\u2019s recovery. However, you have to hand it to the company and Mike\u2019s marketing efforts in making the stores not only exciting to shop, but also one of the most creative branding voices in the marketplace. Penney\u2019s advertising efforts have been consistently on target and freshly creative, but more importantly, the store has moved into marketing venues to elevate a strong brand (with the mature customers anyway) into a higher state of excitement.<\/p>\n
Its pop-up store in Times Square was exciting and a great vehicle to say that this is not your father\u2019s Oldsmobile anymore. It\u2019s tie in with MTV with the VMA\u2019s, its JAM after school promotion, and its ongoing sponsorship of high profile media events like the Academy Awards continue to build it\u2019s brand. The strong commitment to its own brands, like Arizona Jeans Company, show a packaged good mentality works or as Doner CEO Alan Kalter says \u201cThink like a brand, act like a store.\u201d Penney\u2019s new agreement with Sephora is going to separate them from all the other stores who sell cosmetics and fragrance. Facing stiff competition from Kohl\u2019s and other specialty retailers, Penney\u2019s is now looking at free-standing sites which, in my opinion, will generate more traffic and a lot of customers who don\u2019t think the malls offer anything exciting.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not an easy journey. As Mike told me, the brand has a long way to go before it wins over the Gen X and Gen Y customers without losing its mature customers who still believe in the quality of the JC Penney experience. What impressed me is that Mike and JCP know that building and re-building the brand that James Cash Penney started over a hundred years ago is an ongoing and long-term commitment that must touch all areas of the store and its communications. Compare this to Sears who can\u2019t quite figure out if it should sell washing machines or washed jeans. Or Dillard\u2019s whose advertising looks like it\u2019s right out Vogue magazine (a 1965 issue, that is). Penney\u2019s realizes that it must get its brand positioned in vehicles and media in an innovative, unique way. The customers don\u2019t want more of the same and they won\u2019t reject the stores that don\u2019t change. In fact, they simply won\u2019t even consider them. Penney\u2019s may not have won over everyone yet, but you got to give them credit for making the brand more relevant and positioning it to warrant more of the customer\u2019s cash.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe friendly smile, the word of greeting, are certainly something fleeting and seemingly insubstantial. You can\u2019t take them with you. But they work for good beyond your power to measure their influence.\u201d \u2014 James Cash Penney<\/em><\/p>\n A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR YOUR STAFF<\/p>\n Give the expertise of 17 marketing experts plus one guy who writes this blog every month! Marketing Magic is an easy read and more than just a retail marketing book. It\u2019s packed with great thinking and insights on how to maximize the Magic of Marketing in your business or your clients.<\/p>\n Special holiday prices of $9.95\u2028Cover price $19.95\u2028Buy 10 and get an additional 20% off.<\/p>\n Visit www.kenbanks.com to order<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] Those who have been reading these articles for the past 14 months know that I have been anything but sympathetic to the trials and downward trends in the department store category. As we get ready for another Holiday Selling Season where Wal-Mart has already taken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":512,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions\/512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}