Marketing mistake: JC Penny pulls t-shirt for pretty (but dumb) girls
September 2, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Ooops.
According to Deborah Belgum, senior editor for California Apparel News, and Ellie Krupnik at The Huffington Post, JC Penney just made a big marketing mistake with a little t-shirt.
The garment in question, which was taken off the retailer’s website 8/31/2011, was a long-sleeve white tee. This message was woven in between heart and flower graphics on the front:
“I’m too pretty to do my homework so my brother has to do it for me.”
JC Penney got a lot of bad publicity via social media tools like Facebook and twitter for trying to sell the shirt. Not surprising.
The negative chatter resulted in J.C. Penney pulling the product and inserting this text:
“We are sorry, but this product is not available at this time.”
Since pulling the t-shirt from its online catalog, the company gave this statement to the Village Voice:
“J.C. Penney is committed to being America’s destination for great style and great value for the whole family. We agree that the ‘Too pretty’ t-shirt does not deliver an appropriate message, and we have immediately discontinued its sale. Our merchandise is intended to appeal to a broad customer base, not to offend them. We would like to apologize to our customers and are taking action to ensure that we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise that they have come to expect.”
God for JC Penney for acting quickly to address this issue and taking responsibility.
Here’s an idea: Next time, JC Penney could put that second statement online so people see it immediately when they try to search for the shirt. And since everyone who is interested in this story is going to search online for more details, the company could truly “own” it by creating a small box on its homepage and link to content listing all of the facts, explaining their side of the story and including corporate PR contact info. Help people easily find the issue and what you’re doing about it – as told by you.
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Storyteller App Turns Facebook Posts Into Sponsored Stories [PICS]
September 2, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Social brand marketing service Wildfire has launched a Facebook App focused on creating better content for Facebook’s Sponsored Stories.
Facebook launched Sponsored Stories in January and pitched it as a more social and engaging ad format. Brands can turn user activity such as checkins, wall posts and likes into a small advertisement that appears to the right of the Newsfeed. If your friend checks into a Starbucks via Facebook, his or her checkin could make an appearance as a sponsored post the next time you open up your Facebook account.
We’ve heard good things about Sponsored Stories, but it does come with issues. The biggest one is that advertisers don’t control the content that appears in an advertisement. The problem is that most Sponsored Stories are boring. Seeing someone “like” the Starbucks Facebook Page is far less engaging than a Facebook status update talking about how much he or she loves the Starbucks Chai Tea Latte.
We suspect that’s why Facebook asked Wildfire to develop an app to make Sponsored Stories more engaging. The result is is the Wildfire Storyteller App, a Facebook application focused on turning user feedback and opinions into not just Newsfeed stories, but Sponsored Stories as well.
The application allows brands to add a new tab to their Facebook Pages. On this tab, brands can ask their fans to answer a question or provide an opinion (e.g. What’s your favorite thing about Mashable?). Users can then share those answers with their Facebook friends and post it onto their walls. These wall posts can be customized to include images, videos and descriptions the brand wants to include. A film would be able to share a promotional poster and a description in every single wall post generated from the app.
That’s not what makes this app special, though. The app’s real purpose is to generate engaging Sponsored Stories ads from all of those user responses. By asking the right question, brands can create far more engaging social ads. My friends are more likely to click on a Starbucks Sponsored Stories ad if it says “I love the Starbucks Chai Tea Latte!” than if it just says I checked into my local Starbucks franchise. Storyteller also comes with filtering options so negative comments don’t appear in Facebook ads.
Wildfire Interactive CEO Victoria Ransom says that ads generated via the Storyteller app are four times more effective than traditional Sponsored Stories. While the traditional Facebook had has a 3.3% conversion rate, Storyteller-generated ads have a 17% conversion rate. Ransom warns that Sponsored Stories are more effective with larger brands, since smaller brands simply don’t have the reach to make Sponsored Stories effective.
What do you think of Wildfire’s new Storyteller app? Is it something your company would use? Let us know your opinions in the comments.
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