Mobile Marketing

Toronto – Canadian Tire Corp. is rallying around a flag that contains no controversy with a new omnichannel promotional campaign. To celebrate the upcoming July 1 Canada Day holiday, Canadian Tire has posted a promotional video on YouTube using the hashtag #FlyYourCdnFlag.

Canadian Tire is encouraging consumers to post photos and videos on social networks such as Twitter, YouTube and Instagram using the #FlyYourCdnFlag hashtag.

Talk about a perfect storm. As if the role of the CMO isn’t changing fast enough in all industries, the retail industry itself is undergoing major disruption and rapid transformation. As a result, retail CMOs certainly have their work cut out for themselves.

While by no means a comprehensive action plan, this article addresses five key imperatives that sit squarely in the eye of this storm.

Grapevine, Texas – GameStop Corp. is giving gamers a chance to share stories of how video games have enhanced their personal lives via social media in a five-week contest running through July 27. The contest, called #SummerAtGameStop, encompasses five themed weeks of Never Met, Romance, Reunited, Game Night, and Rematch.

New York -- The world’s largest online retailer will soon be driving around and selling product out of a truck — a truck that looks like a giant Amazon package.

Amazon.com has come up with another new and exciting way to keep its brand out in front of potential customers.

The e-commerce giant has put a so-called Treasure Truck on the streets of Seattle. Each day the “Treasure Truck cruises to different neighborhoods loaded to the gills with one amazing item you won’t want to miss,” the company says. Photos on social media show the truck has a sign that says, "What's on the truck today?"

North Plainfield, N. J. -- Nearly one-third (31.1% ) of retailers report that their companies have opened or will open new stores this year, according to a survey by retail real estate management firm Levin Management. It is the highest mid-year percentage in the four years for which comparative Levin survey data is available.

Digital media company Catalina is launching a new solution that personalizes the deals found in weekly retail ad circulars. 

The program, called My Favorite Deals, is designed to increase ROI in a major area of marketing spend for U.S. retailers.

All good things must come to end — including, after nearly four years, my contributions to this column. “Retail Rap” will soon be forging on without me. This is the first of two final columns I’ll be contributing, and I’ll beg your indulgence if I wax nostalgic at times in this, column number 99, and in my last submission two weeks from now, Retail Rap number 100.