Marketing Tactics

Birmingham, Ala. — Online meal planning service eMeals is offering retailer-specific make-at-home menus of 500 calories or less per serving as part of its new Low Calorie Menu Plan. Consumers can specify a store such as Aldi, Kroger, Publix, Safeway, Target, Walmart or Whole Foods to take advantage of sale prices that help shape eMeals' weekly menus.

By Rich Thompson, managing director of supply chain & logistics solutions for the Americas at Jones Lang LaSalle

New York -- Macy’s and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia have reached a confidential settlement in their ongoing legal dispute over whether Martha Stewart breached a contract by selling certain goods at J.C. Penney Co.

Martha Stewart and Macy’s both said the terms of the settlement aren’t material to their businesses. In a separate statement, Macy's said that the settlement did not affect its outstanding claim against Penney.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples is changing its logo by removing the bent staple that forms the “L” in “Staples.” Initially, Staples is excluding the bent staple in its logo in a number of places, including its e-commerce site and the company's social channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and the easyBlog.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market’s Local Producer Loan Program has reached the initial goal of funding $10 million in low-interest loans to local and independent food businesses, and has now committed up to $25 million in funding. The Local Producer Loan Program (LPLP) has provided 184 loans to 155 companies since its inception in 2007.

Plano, Texas -- Pizza Hut will offer 50% off any medium or large pizza ordered online from Jan. 1-10. The online promotion marks the 20th anniversary of Pizza Hut offering online ordering via its “PizzaNet” digital ordering hub.

Participants will also join the brand's "Hut Lovers" program, which provides members with other exclusive deals. Pizza Hut is launching a YouTube ad featuring 1990s pop artists Ace of Base as part of the promotion.

A decade after Staples made the phrase, “that was easy,” part of the American lexicon, the company is changing how it communicates with consumers and revising its brand logo.

OnlyLeggings.com is borrowing a page from the playbook of Costco and Amazon to create a membership-based program to appeal to those who regularly purchase leg wear.

CINCINNATI — Leaving the iconic Times Square clean and sparkling is a huge job, but somebody's got to do it. A 25-person "Mr. Clean Team" worked alongside the New York City Department of Sanitation and the Times Square Alliance on Jan. 1 to give the area a thorough scrub down following the massive New Year's celebration and they had some help thanks to one of Procter & Gamble's newest products. 

Digital coupons may get all the publicity, but SmartSource isn’t buying the hype as evidenced by what it said was a record-setting coupon drop on Sunday, January 5.

Parent company News America Marketing said the Sunday, January 5 edition of its SmartSource publication was the largest in its history with up to three inserts required in some markets to deliver up to 136 pages of coupons.