My wife and I were watching tv tonight when a commercial came up for what could only be some retailer. It was hip. It was fun, attention grabbing, different and we could not turn away from it. You could not tell from the start which store it was for but my wife immediately said: "It must be for Target/"
Her response tells you a lot. Which retailer has positioned itself as hip, innovative, stylish, fun? Target. The store so many people playfully call "Targhey..." with a French accent.
No. It was for JCPenny. She said: "wow!" And I said: "I guess they don't want to be the next Sears anymore."
It seems that Penny's has been the "next Sears" from the day they opened for business. The two were almost indistinguishable. For many years that worked out just fine. Lately, we could all see that it was a recipe for foreclosure.
So JCPenny is changing its brand. A new logo, and a new attitude in its commercials, and a new style of advertising. It better not end there. Too many companies have traveled down that road and stopped right there. It does not work that way.
If they're changing their brand, their image, their promise to their customer (that's a brand, right?) it better go much further. I should be able to "feel" the new brand when I walk into their stores. I should "feel" it when I speak with their sales associates. I should "feel the new brand when I visit them online, or through mobile. I should "feel" it when I open the bill for my credit account with them. And I intentionally use the word "feel." I should "feel" it when I casually meet someone who works for them. All this and more. And I should again NEVER "feel" like they are Sears wannabes.
I should also never feel like they are Target wannabes. They better have thought this through.
I am going to be very interested to see how this all develops. Aren't you?
Her response tells you a lot. Which retailer has positioned itself as hip, innovative, stylish, fun? Target. The store so many people playfully call "Targhey..." with a French accent.
No. It was for JCPenny. She said: "wow!" And I said: "I guess they don't want to be the next Sears anymore."
It seems that Penny's has been the "next Sears" from the day they opened for business. The two were almost indistinguishable. For many years that worked out just fine. Lately, we could all see that it was a recipe for foreclosure.
So JCPenny is changing its brand. A new logo, and a new attitude in its commercials, and a new style of advertising. It better not end there. Too many companies have traveled down that road and stopped right there. It does not work that way.
If they're changing their brand, their image, their promise to their customer (that's a brand, right?) it better go much further. I should be able to "feel" the new brand when I walk into their stores. I should "feel" it when I speak with their sales associates. I should "feel the new brand when I visit them online, or through mobile. I should "feel" it when I open the bill for my credit account with them. And I intentionally use the word "feel." I should "feel" it when I casually meet someone who works for them. All this and more. And I should again NEVER "feel" like they are Sears wannabes.
I should also never feel like they are Target wannabes. They better have thought this through.
I am going to be very interested to see how this all develops. Aren't you?
No comments:
Post a Comment