Retail Marketing

    Innovation is not a label.

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    J.C. Penny has hired Ron Johnson, Apple’s head of retail, as its new CEO. The goal is to capture some or Apple’s retail magic in s bottle and pour it on the top floor of J.C. Penny stores and hope it dribbles down the escalators to the main floor. Past the jewelry counters, bread mixers, faux leather jackets and J.C. Penny house brand jeans. Don’t get me wrong, I am an optimist by nature.  Brand planning is all about positivity and change.  Even heavy Domino’s Pizza type lifting, but this one feels like it will need Microsoft money to accomplish.

    Michael Dell who also practiced his marketing ju-ju in Plano, TX, but has had a hard time of late, would agree.  A J.C. Penny retail makeover is quite a challenge. The articles about Mr. Johnson’s hire talk about innovation…but innovation is not a word that can be slapped on a product label. Apple’s innovation began in R&D, in the labs, in the culture and resulted in some fine-ass products.  Penny’s innovation can’t come from pricing, or salespeople, or the merchandise sets – it has to come from something much deeper.  I suspect Mr. Johnson, as excited and smart as he is, may be the wrong tool for this job.  I hope he proves me wrong, because it would be exciting to watch.

    A while ago I suggested Sears reposition and become El Sears, catering to the Spanish and Latin communities. (They didn’t listen. Give them 7 years.) J.C. Penny needs to focus on innovation it has a stomach for…and its consumers have a stomach for.  This move may actually be “the idea to have an idea,” but not the idea itself.  RIP Dick Kerr. Peace!

    Facial Recognition is Buggin’.

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    I watch a bit of TV and one of the technologies that pops up from time to time is facial recognition.  A digital recorder scans the face of an unsuspecting villain comparing facial features to a database  generating a “hit” which ties the person to an abundance of data.    

    Does the technology sound expensive?  Sure. Is it?  Probably not.   

    As mobile and GPS technologies become more common and applied commercially – always in an opt-in fashion, of course – do you think facial recognition apps are far behind?  Let’s say they start out as a security thing, confirming that your credit or debit card is really yours.  Not so bad. But how about if you walk into a store and are recognized as a big spender by the software, and an special customer care alert goes out to the sales dept?  Smart from the store’s viewpoint.  If a NYer who spends $10,000 a year at Macy’s visits a branch in Chicago, wouldn’t the store want a heads up before check out?

    It sounds intrusive, yes. But let’s face it.  We’re bugging ourselves in lots of ways. EasyPass records where our cars have driven. ATM’s track us. Credit card transactions track us. Traffic cams record our car license plates. Soon our smart phones will know more about us than we do.  (Mr. Poppe, you are listing to port.)

    I for one, think facial recognition will provide neat commercial possibilities. Time will tell. Peace!

    Marshalls and Recent Grads.

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    My daughter, freshly graduated from college and about a month into her first full-time job, loves Marshalls.  Marshalls is a department store chain with a very nice selection and great prices.  Apparently, she and her friend would shop there every day if they could.   They have a little jing in their pocketbooks and for the first time have the flexibility to shop on demand. That’s not to say they buy something every time they’re there but they look around (enjoy the air conditioning) and feel the power of consumerism.

    A club?

    Stores like Marshalls have been advertising and mailing to my daughter for years. Perhaps it has worked, perhaps not, but why not take advantage of recent graduates new found status by create a tailored marketing plan and in-store experience for them; one that might just make lifelong customers of them.  How about taking some of that hundred thousand square feet of retail space and turning it into a college graduate corner. Display clothes, apartment furnishings, some appropriate books, maybe some free coffee and a financial advisor. Put up some PC stations with access to Facebook. Create a Foursquare check in incentive. Cookies? (The kind with raisins.)  Celebrate these young ladies as they enter a scary part of their lives.  Help them cope. Let them commune. Test it out Marshalls!  Peace.