No, I’m not a woman. But I do shop for women’s clothing. Huh? Let me clarify. My wife hates to shop. She simply refuses to buy things for herself (weird, I know). I, on the other hand, love to shop, especially for clothes (even weirder). So I end up doing all the shopping for her. […]
“Big Data” is a buzzword these days. More importantly, under the hood there have been new data emerging from so many sources, we are all scrambling to keep up. As new media channels have been born during the past decade, so have new databases that serve as repositories for all the new data. In some […]
For most merchants, online marketing offers a more favorable return on investment than offline marketing. In addition, it is much easier to track, analyze and plan for. If that is not enough, online marketing also happens in real time or close to it. On the other hand, offline marketing feels like watching grass grow in […]
Every brand, regardless if they’re B-to-C or B-to-B, big or small, old or new, has a unique story to tell. Unfortunately, most brands don’t tell theirs very well. Many have forgotten where they came from, what made them special, or have drifted so far from their roots that they’ve lost track of who they are. […]
Thousands of advertisers clamor for consumers’ precious time each day. These messages bombard their eyes and ears, each screaming for a few sacred seconds of attention. Catalogs compete for the same consideration, scattered amidst omnipresent television commercials, the Internet and whatever pops up on their smartphones. Once we get a catalog into their hands, how […]
Almost every marketer introduced a QR code, or at least toyed with the idea, in 2011. But have these two-dimensional Quick Response codes really moved the needle in terms of customer engagement? They are certainly easy and inexpensive to create, but merchants—in their rush to adopt the newest tactic—may be missing opportunities to acquire new […]
J.C. Penney is joining the ranks of legacy brands that have gone stale but willing to change the rules rather than follow the pack. Like a gecko changing the way people think about insurance or Apple changing the way we think about music, J.C. Penney is changing the way customers think about pricing. Keeping it […]
We all know that consumer behavior is changing rapidly. Yet, when reviewing their prior season, many merchants continue to look at the same metrics year after year. In addition, merchants look at these metrics the exact same way every year. Merchants may be missing opportunities as customers have definitely changed their way of interacting with […]
As we all know, it is imperative to stop consumers and get their attention before we can influence their behavior patterns. The good news is that for customer retention, you have a real advantage with your customers. Your brand itself gives you a head start over the competition. As long as you nurture this critical […]