Marketing Tactics

New York -- Discounters reported strong-than-expected sales for August, fueled by back-to-school shopping, promotions and cooler weather in the Northeast.

Costco Wholesale Corp.'s same-store sales in August rose 6%, beating the 4.5% rise analysts had projected.

Target Corp. reported a 4.2% increase in same-store sales, better than the 3.1% increase that analysts had expected.

KENNEBUNK, Maine — Tom's of Maine, a maker of natural oral and personal care products, has partnered with TerraCycle, a recycling and upcycling company, to give a second life to product packaging with the launch of the Tom's of Maine Natural Care Brigade.

Believe in the brand and don’t take on too many partnerships is the advice Olympic gold medalist and long time Target partner Shaun White offered to fellow Olympians enjoying new found celebrity in the wake of the summer games.

NEW YORK — Barneys New York and The Walt Disney Company are teaming up on Barneys’ 2012 holiday campaign at Barneys stores in a campaign called Electric Holiday.

The multi-platform initiative will combine fashion and fantasy, merging the creativity and magic of Disney with the wit and surprise of the legendary Barneys New York annual holiday campaign.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is bringing Americans some much-wanted relief at the pump this fall and winter with the return of its "Great Gas Rollback" program.

Shoppers are hungry for convenience and value and Target continues to deliver both.

Mountain View, Calif. -- Best Buy tops a list of the most effective back-to-school advertisers, according to Ace Metrix, which provides television and video analytics. An ad promoting free kids’ haircuts at J.C. Penney also was a top perfomer.

Dallas  -- J.C. Penney Co.  has unveiled details of its three newest brand shops.
 
The shop will debut September 1, in nearly 700 stores nationwide. , They feature dedicated in-store environments for Liz Claiborne, Izod, and  a new private-label line of fashion basics line called jcp.

For a video tour, click here.
 

Schaumburg, Ill. -- Consumers focus on savings when they log in to their digital devices to shop for groceries, according to a new study from Nielsen. The top weekly U.S. activities related to grocery shopping on a connected device, ranging from a mobile phone to  tablet, included reading online grocery circulars (62%), looking for coupons online (55%) and browsing a manufacturer’s website for a grocery category (55%).
 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart will offer holders of its gift cards, credit cards and prepaid debit cards a discount on gasoline of up to 15 cents a gallon until Dec. 24, 2012.
 
The program will offer shoppers using a Walmart gift card a 10-cents-per-gallon discount. Those who use a Walmart MoneyCard or Walmart credit card will save 15 cents per gallon. The discounts will be available at more than 1,000 Murphy USA and Wal-Mart gas stations in 20 states.