Marketing Tactics

The timing of Walmart’s new ad campaign couldn’t be better with Easter a week away, and a considerable amount of sales volume associated with that holiday still in play. Walmart should be able to get its share of that spending as the heavy rotation of ads reminds shoppers of its everyday low prices on the broadest assortment in the land and an easy price match guarantee.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. --Staples announced that it will be selling Barnes & Noble's Nook Color tablet e-reader, making it the first office superstore to offer the device. The Nook will be available at Staples stores nationwide and at Staples.com for $249, beginning May 1.

By John Bajorek, [email protected]

FORT WORTH, Texas -- RadioShack announced that it is giving customers the chance to win the new eco-friendly Nissan Leaf simply by trading in their used electronics devices.

From April 17 to 23, customers can bring in eligible working products and accessories into any participating RadioShack store and enter to win a Nissan LEAF, the only 100% electric, zero-emissions vehicle available in the mass market. 

CINCINNATI and BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Walmart and Procter & Gamble's Family Movie Night initiative is celebrating one year, and the companies plan to continue their partnership with the addition of five more movies in 2011.

The nation’s leading retail and restaurant chains came together to share ideas, discuss opportunities and find new solutions at Chain Store Age’s 47th annual SPECS conference, in Grapevine, Texas. Reflecting a renewed sense of optimism in the industry, overall attendance was up significantly, among retailers as well as exhibitors. All segments of the industry were in attendance, from discounters and specialty stores to supermarkets and home-improvement outlets to casual-dining restaurants.

CHICAGO — Walgreens' chief marketing officer Kim Feil was inducted into the In-Store Marketing Institute Hall of Fame Thursday morning in Chicago.

Feil was a seasoned consumer packaged goods marketer when she joined Walgreens in fall 2008, and as company CEO Greg Wasson recently noted, she propelled Walgreens from being a good advertiser to a world class marketing organization.

New York City -- Survey results released Thursday showed that, for the first time since 2006, small business owners are shifting their focuses from just surviving to plotting growth.

According to the 2011 American Express OPEN Spring Small Business Monitor, entrepreneurs say they are expecting to hire and make necessary capital investments in their firms, signaling signs of an economic recovery.