Sears...on its way up in the world!

Bad news...Sears has had a bad rap for a while in the retail world and is not doing well. Good news...through several different ways Sears is working on rebranding itself - having Disney's Selena Gomez promote a Sears Band Casting Call, including Cotton Inc. in the brand mix of clothing, & with a greater social media appearance on Facebook.

In hopes of re-branding itself, Brandweek describes Sears connection with Wizards of Waverly Place star, Selena Gomez and her role with the Sears Air Band Casting Call. Check out the website and see for yourself how interactive and fun it looks for a kid to apply to this exciting opportunity at the Sears Arrive Lounge.

Cotton Inc. has been working its way back to the marketplace like through the Disney movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, in which many of the clothing worn was made of cotton. Many cotton items are on display at Sears nationwide and there are many promo events coming up to promote the benefits of wearing this breathable, natural fabric.

Promo Magazine describes Sears' next step to made it's Facebook page more interactive. The neatest thing about this app is that you are able to put together a virtual college dorm room, making it easy to visualize what products go well together before you head out to shop for them. Great idea to use social media in a more innovative way to engage the customer. From this, you can create a wish list & have friends and family members contribute by purchasing specific items. Next step might be to have a printout sheet pop out of the printer for specific items or an iPhone app to let you take your list with you to the store. (Especially considering that you will most likely need to purchase a lot of these college-items yourself.) Now THAT would be cool!

With all these great additions, will Sears make it and improve its status in the retail world or continue to sink a heavy ship?

Cause-marketing becoming more "sexy" less "caring"

I like Will Ferrell as much as the next person...but seriously? Cone Inc. of Boston (an agency that specializes in cause-marketing) describes the buzz-kill of so many cause-related campaigns. One of these trends is described as cause-lite in which "recession-weary consumers are becoming somewhat less receptive to activist messages, no matter how good the cause". With orgs like College for Cancer (the one Will Ferrell represents on the sunscreen bottle to the left), Twitter for Sh-tters, & Wherever the Need makes consumers even less likely to feel the need to buy a cause-product or a product that endorses an unrecognizable cause. Not to say that any of these causes are worthless...just pointing out that they aren't quite as recognizable as say...American Cancer Society or Susan G. Komen.

Mediaspot highlights a positive note of how recognizable causes are standing out through creative ads. Check out the 3 ads available on YouTube for the Blood Center of Central Texas - elevator, shopping cart, & burger to see my point. The outside-the-box stuff is actually working too! There's been an increase in 20% more blood since the campaign started...so get out there and "Redeem Yourself"!

do A-list celebs always create A-list lines?

Recently was browsing recent retail trends and found some interesting thoughts in the Tribune Review

Throughout the article many successful celebs with their retail lines are described. Then the reasoning behind the successes of these brands is explained because of the marketing that takes place to promote the clothes - for example, in magazines like Allure. What most consumers don't think about is how well celebs "know" their brands. Sure, you can endorse a brand but how well you know the fabrics/essence of the scents/tastes of the food lines are what make your product sell.

"Talent and popularity don't necessarily translate to retail A-list status" says
Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of the consulting firm Strategic Resource Group in New York. Makes you wonder the next time you consider that glamorous perfume or even paying up for Rachel Ray's gourmet dog food…how well does that celeb know his/her line?