Marketing Tactics

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.

Columbus, Ohio -- Chute Gerdeman has announced four team member promotions, including the appointment of Mary Lynn Waite, formerly senior designer, brand communications, to creative director.

In other promotions:

• Steve Boreman, previously senior designer, brand communications, has been named design director, brand communications.  

• Kevin Worden has been promoted to director of digital integration, information technology.  

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.

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%.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores posted disappointing results for its first quarter, with earnings down 5% as harsh winter weather kept shoppers away. The company also gave a weak earnings forecast for its current quarter that fell short of analysts' estimates.

For the period ended April 30, Wal-Mart earned $3.59 billion, compared with $3.78 billion a year ago, less than analysts expected. In addition to the unusually harsh winter weather, a higher-than-expected tax rate also hurt earnings, the retailer said.

Walmart continues to envision flat same store sales at its U.S. stores after reporting weaker than expected profits on weak U.S. sales results that were negatively affected by a winter that wouldn’t end.

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.

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.

Marc Jacobs Beauty has launched an e-commerce website featuring more than 150 products in the Marc Jacobs Beauty collection, as well as exclusive access to limited-edition product offerings.

The site was developed with responsive design, and showcases a modern, center navigation, high-definition product shots with zoom capability, and true-to-life product swatches.

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.