Marketing Tactics

The opportunity to be discovered and appear in a national TV ad later this year are being used to entice Kohl’s shoppers to submit videos singing the hit song “Let it Go” from the Disney movie Frozen.

Kohl’s and Disney created the digital campaign called Sing Your Heart Out and are giving fans of the movie Frozen until September 29 to submit videos of themselves singing the song Let it Go for a chance to be included in a Kohls holiday commercial that will air during the 2014 American Music Awards.

Trendy teen retailer Hot Topic is banking on the popularity of the upcoming animated movie The Book of Life to drive sales of an exclusive merchandise offering inspired by the 20th Century Fox and Reel FX Animation Studios film.

The movie arrives in theaters October 17 and Hot Topic in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products has introduced a graphically-stunning limited-edition collection of fashion apparel inspired by the fantasy-adventure film.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us and specialty retailer Claire’s have entered into a global partnership to open nearly 100 Claire’s in-store shops in Toys “R” Us locations across Europe, along with 12 U.S. locations, by year-end. The shops will feature an assortment of jewelry, headbands, hair and fashion accessories, jewelry holders, legwear, seasonal items and more. The rollout follows a successful pilot program in Europe.  

Plug and Play, a business accelerator that specializes in tech startups, is holding its quarterly pitch competition event on its campus in Sunnyvale, California, on Thursday, September 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. PDT. The Plug and Play Fall Expo 2014 will feature 40-plus startup pitches, panel discussions and corporate networking. Chain Store Age will be in attendance — watch for a recap in the next edition of Customer Disruption!

The worldwide introduction of 250 new items in the couldn’t help General Mills overcome other challenges that caused sales and profits to decline during the company’s first quarter.

Total company sales during the quarter ended August 24 declined 2% to $4.27 billion and earnings per share fell to 55 cents from 70 cents last year with the U.S. retail climate causing much of the company’s difficulties.

As more retail promotions migrate online, RetailMeNot has introduced two new products poised to disrupt the traditional print circular.

The new offerings are branded as RetailMeNot Circulars and RetailMeNot Showcase and are part of the company’s portfolio of solutions designed to help retailers and brands increase sales and grow awareness.

Leading accessories retailer Claire’s plans to open 100 of its distinctive branded shops with thousands of products within Toys “R” Us stores worldwide by year end and alluded to the possibility of more locations to come.

Philadelphia -- The Mills announced plans for a multimillion dollar renovation of Franklin Mills, the largest outlet and value retail shopping destination in the Philadelphia region. The redevelopment will transform the center into a completely new shopping experience, and the name of the property has been changed to Philadelphia Mills to herald the transformation.