The Need for Change in Retail Marketing Strategy
J.C. Penney is a good, if extreme, example of a company in the midst of reinvention, shifting its focus from price only (via coupons and sales) to a more transparent pricing policy. CEO Ron Johnson, who has gotten a lot of press as the guy who made the Apple retail stores what they are, has a lot more work to do. Right now there are lots of eyes on Johnson and his "Fair and Square" pricing program. Changing the go-to-market, while risky, was the easy part.
Next comes the hard part: getting the 156,000 employees at the chain's 1,100 stores to buy into the new strategy and live it with customers. It's clear that Johnson has a vision. What isn't clear is how accepting current employees will be of the changes coming, and how long it will take to truly transform J.C. Penney.
While the J.C. Penney example may be an extreme one, it's readily apparent that shifting from a "low price" strategy to anything else takes vision, tenacity and commitment over the long term. In short, it's not easy, but in the new world of price transparency, not changing really isn't an option.
Jeff Weidauer is vice president of marketing and strategy for Vestcom International, a Little Rock, Ark.-based provider of integrated shopper marketing solutions. Jeff can be reached at jweidauer@vestcom.com.
