Creative

Kiehl's, the skincare and haircare retailer, sent a custom Captain America comic book to Wall Street Journal subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on Thursday as part of a content marketing effort meant to help the company better connect with men. Marketers in general have increasingly been trying to win consumers’ attention and interest with branded content. PepsiCo Americas Beverages, in another example, hired Complex Media earlier this year to build a site at Green-Label.com and pack it with content for the coming year.

Staples is not a name synonymous with home décor and specifically wall art, but the office products company is looking to change that with the launch of its Sports & Art Photo Gallery. Customers in Staples stores will be able to

An online campaign is attempting to "rebrand" Abercrombie & Fitch by donating the company's clothes to the homeless, after an author alleged that company CEO Mike Jeffries "doesn't want larger people shopping in his store." The comments, made by Robin Lewis, were included in a Business Insider article published earlier this month. The piece also referenced, and breathed new life into, a 2006 Salon article in which Jeffries admits that A&F markets to "cool kids," while excluding those who are unattractive or overweight.

Memorable family photos a thing of the past as Sears closes studios for good.

As it usually does, the eTail West conference in Palm Desert, Calif., from which I've just returned, didn't disappoint.  While a bunch of themes emerged from the show — big data, analytics, social media personalization, customer engagement, conversion and mobile apps, to name a few — two stuck out that I'd like to discuss here

Attention, unemployed copyeditors: Macy's may soon have a job opening for you. The department store giant mailed a catalog to customers earlier this month which mistakenly offered a $1,500 sterling silver and 14-karat gold necklace for just $47. The heading: "SUPER BUY." The actual sale price was supposed to be $479, but Macy's printed the 44-page circular without the "9."

With so many consumers now shopping online across all of their devices, merchants who want to stay ahead of the commerce curve (and their competition!) need to consider all of the ways a shopper may interact with their brand over the course of a single sale. Proper planning is a must. In our first in a series of e-commerce infographics, we map out what an average sale in today's multidevice world might look like.

People wearing Google's glasses are transported to a strange new world in which the internet is always in their line of sight. But for people looking at the people wearing those glasses, the view is even stranger — someone wearing a computer processor, a battery and a tiny screen on their face. In a sign of how acute the challenge is for Google, the company is negotiating with Warby Parker, an e-commerce startup that sells trendy eyeglasses, to help it design more fashionable frames, according to two people briefed on the negotiations who weren't authorized to speak publicly.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the Goldman Sachs investor conference that Apple plans to close 20 of its retail locations in order to relocate and enlarge the stores — a move he said was to accommodate the influx of Apple customers shopping at the brand's brick-and-mortar locations. Cook added that Apple stores were a competitive advantage for the company, and that it's becoming clear that its retail model isn't easy for everyone to replicate. 

Guitar Center has teamed up with Eric Clapton to launch the new Eric Clapton Crossroads guitar, a collection inspired by guitars the musician has used throughout his iconic career. The limited-edition collection features two tribute replica guitars and three new signature guitars that will launch in conjunction with Clapton's upcoming U.S. tour and Crossroads Guitar Festival.