Marketing Tactics

Big Lots is looking to get a piece of the $1 billion pet products pie with a new and exclusive partnership with the American Kennel Club.

The retailer has announced that it plans to launch AKC®Select, an exclusive line of pet products featuring the American Kennel Club brand. This new premium line of merchandise, along with Big Lots' current pet product offerings, will provide dog owners with an exceptional value, the company said.

Camp Hill, Pa. - Rite Aid Corp. has launched a new integrated marketing campaign in support of its wellness+ loyalty program with the new Plenti coalition program from American Express. As a part of Plenti, The new campaign features a 30-second TV spot and includes direct mail, in-store signage, circular and multi-platform digital activation with six online videos, email, search, display, pre-roll and social media strategies.

A British charity has brought its highly successful fundraising event across the pond, with a lot of help from Walgreens.

Valhalla, N.Y. – Footwear brand Candie’s Inc., which is exclusively sold through Kohl’s in the U.S., is reportedly focusing on Instagram as a key platform for its spring/summer marketing campaign. According to MediaPost, Candies will post images of fashion blogger Shea Marie on Instagram.

New York – Shake Shack Inc. is reopening its original Madison Square Park flagship restaurant in New York on May 20. The new and improved Shake Shack store has the exact same look and feel, rebuilt to last for many years to come.

Framingham, Mass. - Staples Inc. has selected The NPD Group, Inc. as its data services provider for market sizing, share measurement, and vendor collaboration for the office supplies and technology industries. The service tracks sales through retail, e-commerce, and commercial channels.

Elmsford, N.Y. – Party City Holdco Inc. had something to celebrate in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, shrinking net loss to $8.52 million from $19.91 million the same period a year earlier. In addition, total revenues rose 7% to $462.1 million, from $432.99 million.

Brand same-store sales increased by 5.2% aided by the shift of the Easter selling season to the first quarter, which contributed 1.5% to the increase.

Costco is trying to increase its membership base in Canada with an innovative social media campaign.

The warehouse club retailer has launched a customer referral program twinned with social media that uses technology from a firm called Buyapowa.

The campaign launched this week in partnership with Proctor & Gamble and will allow Costco members to win $20 of P&G Goods for every friend they refer to Costco to become a member. All successful referrers will be shown on a leaderboard, with additional P&G prizes awarded to those when the promotion ends.