Consumer Affairs & Relations

Social media may be a popular platform for ad delivery, but that doesn't mean it is a trusted one.   Despite listing social media as the source of the second-highest volume of ad messages they receive — behind only television — consumers ranked social media last among their most trusted channels, according to a study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council. Consumers ranked friends, television, search engines and newspapers as more trusted sources.  

The clear signal sent by these first quarter numbers is that J. Crew is a company in trouble. As much as the business is used to decline, the accelerated pace of deterioration, as evidenced by the 6.3% drop in overall sales and the 12% fall in J. Crew comparables, is worrying. That this weakness comes off the back of negative prior year numbers suggests that the company has not yet reached rock bottom.