Marketing Tactics

The Joseph Abboud brand has launched an exclusive new collection at JosephAbbound.com and in early 2015 the brand plans to open its first physical store thanks to parent company Men’s Wearhouse.

At a time when physical books are becoming an alien concept for younger consumer, Barnes & Noble has introduced a new ad campaign that positions books as, “a gift like no other.”

The Walmart Foundation increased to $10 million its investment in an educational program on track to provide training to 60,000 women in 150 factories.

The increased funding commitment to the Women in Factories program begun in 2011 was announced in Beijing by Scott Price, CEO of Walmart Asia at the 2014 APEC CEO Summit. The Women in Factories program has already provided training to 40,000 female factory workers and by the end of 2016 the figure is expected to increase to 60,000 women at factories in India, Bangladesh, China, El Salvador, and Honduras.

Teen specialty retailer Rue21 has launched a new juniors plus size division called Rue+ the company said its customers have been asking for.

The Rue+ division is intended to serve as a destination for trendy yet affordable plus size apparel and accessories that will inspire and empower plus sized girls to feel confident in how they look, according to the company. The product offering will be available at Rue21.com and in 22 of the company’s 1,100 stores nationwide.

For the second year in a row, Sports Authority said most of its stores would open at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

Customers at Target are being given expanded opportunities to engage with the retailer this holiday season thanks to extended hours and early access to promotional offers.

Recently, I participated in a strategic conference that included several sessions on how to effectively use advertising and promotion to reach moms, millennials, multiculturals and other shopper segments. Not surprisingly, significant emphasis was placed on the use of emerging digital and mobile media. But each session also reinforced that traditional media including television, radio, retail feature ads, and Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupons should not be undervalued.