Marketing Tactics

New York City -- Total retail sales (excluding autos) grew by 5.5% year-over-year, on par with December’s growth rate, and slightly higher than November’s, according to MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse. SpendingPulse reports on national retail and services sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for all other payment forms

NEW YORK -- BrandSpark International, along with Better Homes and Gardens, released the top shopper trends from the third annual Best New Product Award (BNPA) American Shopper Study, which surveyed more than 63,000 Americans.

This coming Sunday will be a big weekend for brand impressions as the Target Bullseye takes to the track at the Daytona 500 on the hood of the Earnhardt Ganassi with Felix Sabates number 42 Target Chevrolet driven by Juan Pablo Montoya. The race is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Fox and kicks off a NASCAR season that will last until November. Montoya has been an average performer so far during the championship series known as the Spring Cup, but his chances of success and exposure for Target will be determined as much by luck as driving skill.

By Akhilesh Srivastava, [email protected]
According to NRF Retail Horizons Benchmark Report, two key initiatives to keep retailers competitive in 2010 were optimization and streamlining of their internal operations to reduce operating costs and improving their customer centricity to win the share of wallet.

Five limited-edition General Mills brand products hit the cereal aisle at Target stores this week as part of limited duration promotion that features package designs from the 50’s, 60’s and 80’s.

Brands and the year of the featured packaged design include Cheerios 1956, Trix 1968, Honey Nut Cheerios 1984, Cinnamon Toast Crunch 1984 and Lucky Charms 1989. The package designs were chosen based on a national survey conducted by General Mills.

IRVING, Texas -- Michaels announced that it has updated its wedding section with hundreds of products including guestbooks, flower girl baskets, place cards, cake toppers and tabletop decor.

"DIY is the best way for a couple to create a ceremony and reception that expresses their unique style on any budget," said Michaels chief marketing officer Paula Puleo. "Michaels offers inspiration, ideas and one-stop shopping for everything needed to create a personalized, affordable wedding celebration unlike any other."

Wow! Did you catch Lady Gaga at the Grammy Awards Sunday night? She received the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album just days after Target announced an exclusive deal that allows fans to download the first single of her new album, “Born This Way,” scheduled for release on May 23. Gaga fans were able to pre-order the new album beginning last Friday through Feb. 26 at www.Target.com/gaga. Target’s exclusive deluxe edition includes three additional studio songs and five remixes, and will be available at stores nationwide and on Target.com.

Target took it to some leading brands in its weekly ad on Sunday where it devoted a full page to a side-by-side price comparison between its Up&Up brand and leaders of their respective categories such as Clorox, Similac, Reynolds Wrap, Tums, Jergens and Nyquil. It was the second week in a row Target has promoted Up&Up in its weekly circular except last week, the brand was featured on the cover with a reminder that Up&Up offers “unbeatable prices on over 900 quality products every day.”

In the price comparison from this past week, featured brands included: