Marketing Tactics

New York -- Walmart announced in a post on its corporate blog that its store-brand MasterCard holders can expect to receive a new chip-enabled card in the "next few weeks." The discounter said it is among the first retailers to implement chip technology as a more secure payment means for cardholders. It also noted in the post that Sam's CLub introduced a chip-enabled MasterCard in June. Both cards prompt customers not to swipe – but to insert and briefly leave the card in the payment terminal, so the card’s embedded chip can be accessed.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – ShopYourWay, the digital loyalty, marketing and shopping platform of Sears and Kmart, is partnering with YouTube celebrities Ricky Dillon and Jenn McCallister. The two social media stars will serve as “curators of cool” on the Shop Your Way site.

Dillon and McCalister collaborated with Shop Your Way to deliver their first semester fashion picks, creating catalogs members can like, follow and share. They have nearly 10 million fans combined on social media networks such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

Walldorf, Germany – Retailers should consider waiting until August to launch back-to-school promotions and focus them heavily on online shoppers. According to new data from SAP, consumer sentiment toward back-to-school advertising doesn’t become positive till the end of July.

Columbus, Ohio – Express Inc. will be using Rich Media Messaging (RMM) technology from Iris Mobile to drive the fashion retailer’s seasonal “Back-to-Business” sweepstakes campaign with GQ Magazine. A combination of both a participant-based sweepstakes and a voting-based contest, this campaign will award one emerging startup entrepreneur with a grant from Express based on public votes.

New York -- Instagram is making itself more advertising-friendly, adding a new suite of business tools for its advertisers that will help the brands better control their campaigns and will allow them to gauge the success of their efforts.

The roll-out of the new features, which include an “account insights” tool that will allow marketers to track the performance of their ads in real-time using typical brand metrics such as impressions, reach, and engagement, will occur over the coming weeks and months, the photo-sharing giant said.

New York -- Foot Locker on Friday turned in another winning performance, posting sales and income for the second quarter that topped analysts’ estimates.

Net income for the quarter increased to $92 million, from $66 million in the year-ago period.

Total sales increased 12.9%, to $1.64 billion, compared with $1.45 billion for the corresponding prior-year period. Excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, total sales for the second quarter increased 11.7%.  

The Italian luxury brand Fendi gets social in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, opening a pop-up whose brick walls are adorned with neon hash tag signs.   

The 630-sq.-ft. shop, dubbed #fendisoho, combines sophisticated touches — leather and velvet — with a playful, arcade-themed décor that includes custom vending machines, where products dangle from mechanical claws.   

New York -- Teen apparel retailer PacSun is partnering with content creators from YouTube in a fun back-to-school marketing campaign. The campaign will feature YouTube stars from StyleHaul, an online community of YouTube subscribers dedicated to women’s fashion and beauty, AdWeek reported.