Marketing

American Apparel Responds to Sexy Ad Bans
April 12, 2013

This week, yet another sexy American Apparel ad was banned by Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). It's the third time this year, begging the question: Who is picking the fight here, the ASA or American Apparel? According to American Apparel, it ain't them. An anonymous source from AA's corporate team told us they think the ASA is looking for publicity by singling the brand out.

The Illogical Song: What Makes Sense vs. What Works
April 8, 2013

It's official: J.C. Penney scrapped its every-day-low-price strategy for the rollercoaster world of markups and markdowns. Merchants, marketers and graphic artists waited with bated breath, hoping J.C. Penney could make this strategy work. Imagine the time it would save! Price changes and errors would be a thing of the past.

Target Apologizes for ‘Manatee Gray’ Label on Plus-Size Dress
April 5, 2013

Shoppers at a Target store in Brooklyn say a label that listed the color of a plus-size dress as "manatee gray" was insulting. The label for the same dress in smaller sizes described it as "dark heather gray." Target apologized for the label. Michelle Ho, shopping at the store at Atlantic Terminal Mall, told the New York Post that Target was "putting down one set of people over another" with the different labels.

10 of Our Favorite April Fool's Day Fashion Pranks
April 2, 2013

Yesterday was April Fool's Day, which meant that practically the whole internet was abuzz with pranks. We rounded up a couple of the best fashion and beauty pranks from around the web, including

Destination XL Focuses Marketing Efforts With Hyperpersonalized Email
April 2, 2013

Big and tall men's retailer Destination XL Group is using CQuotient's advanced machine learning and predictive algorithms to create email campaigns tailored to individual shoppers at its physical stores and e-commerce sites. According to a recent survey of shoppers in the US and UK, 48 percent of respondents listed email as their communication channel of choice. Recognizing this preference among its own shoppers, Destination XL Group has teamed up with CQuotient to augment the benefits of its existing email marketing campaigns by taking a hyper-personalized approach.

J.C. Penney Brings Back ‘Mark Up, Mark Down’ Retail Strategy
March 27, 2013

In a move aimed at protecting profit margins and luring back its bargain-conscious customers, J.C. Penney has resumed a strategy of increasing prices on its own brands and then discounting them. Reuters reported that the retailer began changing price tags earlier this month.  

Backlash Mounts Against Victoria's Secret's ‘Sexy’ Teen Underwear Line
March 27, 2013

Victoria's Secret's growing Pink line is aimed at a younger audience than the main Victoria's Secret brand. Over the past several years, the brand has expanded Pink a lot, so the line is now sold in dedicated Pink stores and showcased in a special segment of the annual nationally broadcast Victoria's Secret fashion show. Business Insider reported earlier this month that a Limited Brands executive confirmed the "Bright Young Things" line was for even younger girls than the main Pink line, which targets college students.

Shop Spray on Jeans, Courtesy of American Eagle (Sort of NSFW)
March 22, 2013

When was the last time American Eagle Outfitters did something kind of cool with their ads? Answer: We're blanking. But it looks like the retailer's higher-ups decided to hire an ad agency that's in touch with kids these days: Welcome, America's favorite mall staple, to the ironic viral video method. In the psuedo-commercial, you'll find good looking teens saying stock quotes about individuality in the name of really, really tight (spray on) jeans. The tagline? "Lookin' tight," which is pretty hilarious.

Ace Brings Back Jingle, Returns To Neighborhood Roots
March 22, 2013

With America ready to start its annual rain-gutter cleaning and shrub-pruning spree, Ace Hardware is going back to its roots with a new marketing campaign, resurrecting a 15-year-old jingle and a tone that is just a tad more neighborly. Ace - a retailer-owned hardware cooperative that has long positioned itself as the more helpful alternative to rivals Lowe's and Home Depot -- is introducing "Meet the Aces," which replaces the two-year-old "Take back your weekend" campaign.