Marketing Tactics

By Evan Gold, VP of client services, Planalytics

The winter of 2014 brought record cold and snow throughout North America and its impact on business and consumer spending were widespread and significant. How impactful was it? Well, for the S&P 500 companies, the word “weather” was mentioned in almost 200 earnings calls from January through March, which is a 81% increase compared to last year.

Golfer Blayne Barber will partner with C9 by Champion, Target’s exclusive line of activewear, while competing on the Web.com Tour this season. The 24-year-old Lake City, Fla., native joins a roster of 12 other athletes supported through Target’s athlete program, and is the first to represent the C9 by Champion brand.

Skechers USA has signed hall-of-fame quarterback legend Joe Namath to represent the high-performing men’s Relaxed Fit from Skechers footwear line. A new advertising campaign featuring Namath will begin in the fall.

“Broadway” Joe’s campaign launches with a new television commercial utilizing the same humorous tone set by spots for Relaxed Fit footwear featuring Joe Montana and Mark Cuban. The campaign will extend across all media with Namath appearing in print, outdoor, online and point-of-sale materials through 2015.

H-E-B and men's grooming brand Axe have partnered with the X Games to launch an innovative shopper marketing promotion that will reward consumers with an exclusive performance by X Games athletes at local H-E-B stores.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Corp. missed Wall Street expectations for profits, revenue and same-store sales during a difficult first quarter. Net income, which had been expected to rise slightly, fell 15% to $125 million, from $147 million.

In addition, net sales declined 3% to $4.07 billion from $4.2 billion, while analysts had expected them to rise to $4.22 billion. Same-store sales, also expected to increase, fell 3.4%.

Phoenix -- PetSmart has partnered with the City of Detroit and the non-profit community organization Detroit Dog Park to open a portable, pop-up dog park to a vacant lot in Detroit.

Budweiser's limited-edition red, white and blue cans and bottles have started arriving on store shelves just in time for Memorial Day. The packaging also marks the brand's commitment to assisting military families: Budweiser and its wholesaler family will donate more than $3 million to the Folds of Honor Foundation.

Retailers are really taking notice of how valuable pop-up shops are as a marketing tool, including PetSmart, which has partnered with the City of Detroit and the nonprofit community organization Detroit Dog Park to set up a portable, pop-up dog park in a vacant lot in Detroit.