Marketing Tactics

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods has deployed cutting-edge technology in its Times Square flagship to welcome Super Bowl XLVIII fans. The sporting goods retailer has installed a virtual image of CEO Mitchell Modell to personally greet customers. The image is provided via Tensator’s “Virtual Assistant” digital signage solution, which creates the illusion of a real person.
 

In celebration of seven straight years winning "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores" in the J.D. Power Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study, Ace Hardware is kicking off its first-ever J.D. Power Award Neighborhood Tour across the country.

Lands' End is looking to further its position as a lifestyle brand by entering the body care category with the launch of its Coastal Living Body Care Collection.   

The body care collection includes lavender and honey blossom scented body lotion, hand cream and body wash, and is available at landsend.com.

Washington, D.C. -- Retailers overwhelmingly agree mobile must be the number one priority for their digital business in 2014, according to the 2014 Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc. State of Retailing Online survey. More than half (53%) marked mobile efforts as a top priority, identifying responsive design, mobile site optimization, and tablet redesign among key focus areas.

Retailer and CPG companies’ usage of Facebook to engage with customers helped propel the 10-year-old social media platform to record levels of usage, sales and profitability in the fourth quarter.

Facebook said its daily active users increased 22% to 757 million while mobile daily active users increased 49% to 556 million. Those who used Facebook on a monthly basis increased 16% to 1.23 billion and those who did so monthly via a mobile device totaled 945 million.

Herman G. Rowland Sr., Chairman of the Board for Jelly Belly Candy Co., is the recipient of the first ISM Lifetime Achievement Award.

ISM, a trade show of confectionery and snack products, honored Rowland with the show's first award to kick off this year's show.

Plans for the fragrance division of Marc Jacobs to open a pop-up in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood are not terribly unusual. But the type of currency the shop will accept is.

The Daisy Marc Jacobs Tweet Shop, which will be open during New York Fashion Week, from Feb. 7 to 9, will trade in social currency instead of money.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Shopping Center development in Chicagoland has improved significantly in recent years. Activity showed a 98.7% increase in total sq. ft. from 2012 to 1013, according to the “Chicagoland 2014 Shopping Center Report” just issued by Mid-America Real Estate Corp.

In 2013, owners developed approximately 2.26 million sq. ft., compared to 1.14 million sq. ft. in 2012.