Branding

The world of marketing has exploded with opportunities to capture the heart of both customers and prospects alike. Whether it's online or offline, marketers bombard consumers with a cacophony of messages that overload the senses and create confusion. Therefore, it's more important than ever to present a simple, compelling directive to guide prospects to a desired action. While a "call to action" isn't a new concept, it's imperative you understand how to take advantage of this powerful tool. Here are seven tips to creating strong calls to action that will resonate and encourage consumers to take the next step of engagement.

Costco shoppers who have been limited for years to American Express credit cards may be able to pluck a new option from their wallets or purses next year after an exclusivity deal between the companies expires. American Express said Thursday that it hasn't been able to come to an agreement with Costco on renewal terms. The current agreement covers U.S. stores and dates back 16 years. It will end March 31, 2016. 

From Net-a-Porter's quarterly print magazine Porter to Shopbop's digital editorials that star the likes of Nicole Richie and Rachel Zoe, shoppable publications have become another way for retailers to tell their stories, give customers a look behind the scenes and give their buys a bit more context. Barneys New York has gradually been amping up the original content on its own online editorial site, The Window, and for spring 2015, the world-famous store has announced that it's launching a print edition inspired by the popular web destination of the same name.

Gap is dropping its small Piperlime online brand so the apparel maker and retailer can focus on fixing the problems bedeviling its much bigger namesake and Banana Republic brands. Piperlime, which Gap founded in 2006 as a rival to Amazon.com's Zappos.com, sold shoes, clothing and accessories via e-commerce and through a store in New York's SoHo district. But it never caught on with a wide audience beyond its core, dedicated customers, and its revenues never topped $100 million, a drop in the bucket for a company with annual sales exceeding $16 billion.

Adidas said it will sell the Rockport shoe business to a company formed jointly by competitor New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. as it takes the first steps toward a revival. New Balance has teamed with private-equity firm Berkshire Partners LLC to acquire the footwear maker for $280 million, Adidas said in a statement. Rockport will become part of a new company, which will also include New Balance's Drydock business.

At first glance, Westfield San Francisco Centre appears to be a typical American shopping mall with the usual rotation of mass-market retailers, a food court and a movie theater. But perched on the top level is an office most shoppers probably don't know about that's designing the next generation of retail, bearing little resemblance to the current setup. A row of glass windows tucked into the side of the mall houses Westfields Labs — the digital arm of Westfield Group, which owns and operates more than 40 shopping malls globally. The lab is tasked with rethinking how today's consumers shop.

With product names such as "All Nighter," "Full Frontal," "Naked" and "Perversion," Urban Decay has been promoting its notion of "beauty with an edge" for almost 20 years. Launched in 1996, the cosmetics line offered an alternative to premium makeup's sweet standards of pink, red and beige. Urban Decay's colors — and the brand's overall attitude — were inspired by cityscapes and an electric underground vibe. So it may come as something of a surprise that Urban Decay's first brick-and-mortar store is set to open Monday at an upscale shopping mall overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach, Calif.

The term omnichannel is thrown around so much in the retail industry these days that it begins to become just noise in some respects. In a session yesterday at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Seattle titled Defining Omnichannel for Your Brand: Setting Priorities to Meet Customer Expectations, it was interesting that Troy Brown, executive vice president of e-commerce and omnichannel at Zumiez, the youth culture fashion retailer, said that the term is rarely if ever used at the company.

Home furnishings and housewares retailer Williams-Sonoma is enjoying profitable growth in a competitive marketplace. What's its secret? Pat Connolly, chief strategy and business development officer for the San Francisco-based company, provided some insight into that question for the audience at NEMOA's directXchange Fall Conference in Groton, Conn. yesterday. Specifically, Connolly outlined six beliefs that Williams-Sonoma holds as integral to its success.

Our marketing experts will discuss key online and offline merchandising best practices and strategies.