Marketing Tactics

Mars Petcare has opened a state-of-the-art, Gold-LEED certified $110 million global innovation center in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. The new campus is the third Mars Petcare innovation center and first in the United States.

The company selected the location in Thompson's Station in part because Tennessee is home to Mars facilities in Cleveland, Chattanooga, Lebanon and Franklin (two locations).

New York -- Authentic Brands Group, a global brand development and licensing company, announced an agreement with Reliance Brands Limited (Reliance) to bring casual luxury lifestyle brand Juicy Couture to India in fall 2015.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open two new stores in North Florida on Oct. 11. The stores are located in the Lakeland Park Center in Lakeland and Forest Lakes Plaza in Oldsmar.  

These new openings are part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

PowerReviews, a leading provider of ratings, reviews and question-and-answer technology, is partnering with Olapic, a visual commerce platform for collecting, curating and sharing customer photos and videos on e-commerce sites.

The companies believe their strategic partnership can help brands and retailers create more authentic and compelling e-commerce experiences by capturing and embedding user-generated content such as ratings, reviews, images and video directly into the purchase path.

New Orleans - Smoothie King Franchises Inc. has signed a five-store development agreement for Missouri with new franchisee Jackie Floyd. The smoothie chain currently has 21 locations in the state, including more than a dozen in the St. Louis area, with three additional stores planned to open in the market in 2014.

Staples has kicked off a nationwide tour called "Refresh. Recharge. Refuel." The tour aims to encourage office workers across the country to take a break from the daily grind by visiting a large-scale, popup break room stocked with free snacks, coffee and other beverages.

As part of the tour, Staples will host public break room events in 10 major U.S. cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, San Diego and Los Angeles.

Los Angeles - Mobile shopping app provider Ibotta Inc. has partnered with Roximity, a provider of location-based mobile technology to deliver iBeacon-based mobile messages to shoppers within store aisles across the U.S. Roximity will enhance Ibotta’s ability to engage millions of shoppers, by providing detailed and relevant information about leading consumer products and rebates available to them in stores, while they shop.