BRANDING UNBOUND

JC Penney Hopes to "Haul" Viral Videos, Mobile & More for Back-to-School

  JC Penney wants to have a word with your teenager - no matter where your teen can be found.

Word's out today that Penney's back-to-school marketing blitz includes viral video, mobile, TV, and store-based promotions, social media and more.

Among the elements, according to Internet Retailer: Those so-called "haul" videos where consumers post videos talking about what they just bought where. Mobile ads on iPhones and iPads. And even some virtual reality.

“Using an array of innovative interactive and user-generated content, our back-to-school marketing encourages teens to take control and discover our extensive assortment of exciting styles and brands at affordable prices,” J.C. Penney executive vice president and chief marketing officer Mike Boylson, tells the pub. 

The virtual reality component seems to include a co-promotion with Seventeen magazine that gives shoppers the ability to overlay images of products into real-world environments, enabling shoppers to virtually try them on and then link to JCP for a purchase. 

Mobile efforts include a mobile site that includes TV spots, those haul videos, and weekly offers via text message, and the ability to upload their own styles to share and vote on among friends.

I'm actually not clear on how the haul videos will work here. Apparently, they're going to be featured on JCP.com, but by law the posters have to reveal if they received products from JC Penney for free - and it's unclear just how authentic the whole scenario can be if JC Penney is recruiting the haulers. So that part is unclear at this point.

What is clear is that Penney is building on digital efforts that over the last few years have included a branded offers widget; a web/TV/print and mobile campaign that seemed to used contrasting archtypes from the 1985 teen angst movie "The Breakfast Club" to illustrate the broad range of selections that Penny pitches; and more.

Time will tell if this new effort will bombs - or if it really does spark a mountain of new haul videos.

Read more here.

 

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"... AN ESSENTIAL READ ..."

“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"

Jordan Atlas
Vice President, Group Creative Director
Digitas

 

 

 

 

 

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BrandChannel Names 'The On-Demand Brand' Its 'Featured Book of the Month'

Very cool: BrandChannel has selected THE ON-DEMAND BRAND as its "Featured Book of The Month" for July.

In making the selection, BrandChannel writes, "Brand marketers will value [this book] for the detailed case studies, such as how Burger King, Coca-Cola and Axe Deodorant are using advergames; how Showtime, MasterCard and NBC are redefining viral video; and how Fanta, GE, Papa John's and Topps are leveraging augmented reality."

Check it out here.

Learn more about the book here - and order your own copy here (available everywhere books are sold).

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>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

"... AN ESSENTIAL READ ..."

“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"

Jordan Atlas
Vice President, Group Creative Director
Digitas

>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

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eMarketer: Big Potential for In-Store Mobile Marketing (And Who's Doing It Right, Now)

  But that's only if you're doing it right.

According to a new eMarketer report titled "Mobile Shopping from In-Store: A Potential Game-Changer," such things as access to branded mobile product reviews could make a big difference for retailers. I say branded because you don't want to end up, as eMarketer puts it, "a showroom for online pure plays like Amazon."

In my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, I look at how brands like Sephora are taking a proactive approach, creating mobile apps for in-store shoppers to read product reviews from other customers, right at the point of consideration.

How retail brands like Bloomingdales are actively connecting shoppers with shoppers' personal social networks to facilitate that "does this make me look fat or fab?" conversation in the store instead of long after they've left.

And how m-commerce is about to enter the equation in a major new way.

As I recently told the Global Retail Executive Counsel at CTIA last fall, mobile will define the retail winners and losers of the next decade, whether they recognize it today or not.

Read more about the eMarketer report here.

And read more about the book here.

FOLLOW RICK ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK

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>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

"... WITTY, INSIGHTFUL, DYNAMIC ..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO

 

 

 

 

 

 

>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

 

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