STORES Magazine - January 2009 - (Page 22)

trEnDS fullprice/markdown Beware the Doghouse A VIRAL marketing campaign from J.C. Penney’s marketing team may LL FU E have saved a slew of well-intentioned RIC P but clueless men from being put out as the result of “bad gifting” this holiday season. The fully integrated campaign, called “Beware of the Doghouse,” included print ads, online banners, an online film, a Facebook link and blogs. Created by New Yorkbased Saatchi & Saatchi and digital agency Razorfish, the campaign invited viewers to send a warning or put their spouses or partners in the proverbial “doghouse” by providing the person’s name and e-mail address. Victims received a “You’re in the doghouse” e-mail directing them to www.bewareofthedoghouse.com. The website featured a short, comical film featuring a clueless husband who suffers a Dantean fate for having given his wife a dual-bag vacuum cleaner as an anniversary gift. He’s banished to the doghouse, where he joins other star-crossed men serving penance by perpetually folding laundry or learning to express their feelings. The men bemoan their bad gift choices and plot their escape. The “best” way to extricate oneself from the doghouse, according to this campaign, is to purchase jewelry. Does it have to be diamonds? No, but a word to the wise: if it needs to be plugged in, think twice. & RETAIL HITS MISSES based financial literacy program, and empowering employees in this way is a terrific message to send in today’s troubled economic environment. E-mail Hoax Targets Gift Cards AS IF retailers didn’t have enough challenges during the holiday selling season, the shopping RK MA N W Grinch arrived by way of two e-mails that manDO aged to raise concerns among consumers and dampen shoppers’ spirits. One of the e-mails warned recipients against buying gift cards from some 30 retail chains it alleged were going out of business. Among the retailers caught in this deceit were Circuit City, AnnTaylor, J.Jill and Eddie Bauer. While Circuit City recently filed bankruptcy protection and is shuttering a large number of stores, Chapter 11 indicates the reorganization of a business – not its ultimate demise. J.Jill, a Talbots division, was recently put on the selling block, but is not closing its doors. Worried about buyer confidence, most of the retailers cited in the e-mail posted notices on their websites in an attempt to clear concerns about their financial stability and encourage customers to continue purchasing gift cards Then as if to add insult to injury, another scam began to populate e-mail inboxes shortly thereafter . . . Bogus Bar-Code Banter IN THIS case, consumers were misled by a viral eRK mail that stated — erroneously — that the first MA N three digits of a product’s bar code “always” indiDOW Money Management 101 A HECK of a lot of people are in the dark when it comes to budgeting and investing. McDonald’s LL FU E USA recently launched a program intended to RIC P help its more than 500,000 unit-level employees become more proficient at money management. In partnership with Visa, the quick-serve giant is offering the “McDonald’s Practical Money Skills” program. Employees receive a budgeting guide to track expenses and access to an instructional video and an online resource center. The materials are based on Visa’s “Practical Money Skills for Life” financial education program, which has helped millions of Americans master the fundamentals of budgeting, saving and the wise use of credit since it was introduced more than a decade ago. The size and scope of the McDonalds’ program makes it the country’s largest employer22 STORES / JANUARY 2009 cate the product’s country of origin. Intended to shape shoppers’ buying decisions, the e-mail created more than its share of confusion — and may have resulted in lost sales for U.S. companies that consumers would otherwise have chosen to support. According to GS1 US, the administrator and sole source of Universal Product Code (UPC) bar-code prefixes in the United States, consumers were misled. “Although the first few digits of a bar code can indicate the country in which a bar code was issued, it tells you nothing about where the product was made,” says Bob Noe, chief customer officer for GS1 US. Funny how Mom’s advice to “take it with a grain of salt” rings true, regardless of the sophistication of the technology. WWW.STORES.ORG http://www.bewareofthedoghouse.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - January 2009

STORES Magazine - Jauary 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Mechanical Marvel P&G Invests in Ocado Now I Remember What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Breaking the Monotony Multi-Channel Concept2Watch E-Commerce Analytics Category Management IT Systems In-Store Technology IT Systems Communications Website Strategy Communications SOA Energy Video Surveillance Employee Theft Online Fraud Industry Perspective Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword End Cap

STORES Magazine - January 2009

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