Marketing Tactics

Grapevine, Texas – The GameStop Technology Institute (GTI) business unit of GameStop has entered into strategic partnerships with iBeacon solution providers Shelfbucks and BestFit Mobile, as well as social media hub provider Dynamic Signal. The partnership with Shelfbucks and BestFit will bring Shelfbucks’ iBeacon platform and BestFit Mobile’s ProxDK solution into to its brick-and-mortar retail locations.

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods plans to expand its loyalty, marketing and home delivery programs. In a conference call with investors, co-CEO Walter Robb said Whole Foods will launch its first national marketing campaign in fall 2014, with a focus on how the retailer is better and different than its competitors.

E-commerce site Rakuten is expanding its corporate social responsibility efforts with several scholarship opportunities in Japan and around the world.

The cornerstone of its new efforts is its Global Citizens Summit, which will bring together 24 students from around the world at Boston’s Harvard Faculty Club from Aug. 2 to 9. The summit is being hosted with assistance from nonprofit Global Citizens Initiative, which works to build leaders among students, and the participants will meet throughout the week to discuss global issues.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - Dollar General, in partnership with Coupons.com, completed the successful rollout of its new DG Digital Coupons program to its more than 11,300 stores across the 40 states the retailer serves. To use the DG Digital Coupon Program, customers may sign up either online or in stores using a numeric identification number, which is typically their telephone number.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Wet Seal Inc. has named Iris Mobile as its mobile messaging agency. Iris Mobile will support the brand's mobile marketing programs with Rich Media Messaging (RMM) to help the retailer strengthen its presence and connect more personally with its mobile customers.

Walmart kicked off its back-to-school promotional effort the way it does every seasonal selling initiative – with a big emphasis on low prices – but added a stronger digital component this year.

The retailer sought to bring a bit of Black Friday and Cyber Monday magic to its back-to-school efforts with a series of price cuts and limited duration offerings designed to generate sales and drive traffic to its stores and Web site.

New York – Old Navy is launching a back-to-school promotion on the YouTube video platform. The retailer is releasing a video of a new back-to-school anthem, “Unlimited,” featuring cameos by stars of the youth multichannel network AwesomenessTV.

Electronics company Vizio has kicked off a back-to-school contest for college students that will furnish a winner with electronics and $2,000 toward tuition and books.

The company is encouraging students to upload videos of themselves explaining a story of determination to Vizio’s website through Aug. 19.