Marketing

According to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the European division of Philadelphia-based company Urban Outfitters was guilty of "irresponsible and harmful" advertising for using an image of an "unhealthily thin" model. Following an anonymous complaint, the ASA reviewed the

Emails leaked in the recent hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment have revealed some new information about Snapchat's vision for the platform. Namely, that Snapchat is looking to serve users more location-specific media, specifically with an eye toward retail, according to advertising execs who have been reading the emails like tea leaves. Snapchat also plans to infiltrate the digital music industry, according to the emails. Sony Pictures's CEO Michael Lynton doubles as a Snapchat board member, and has apparently used his Sony email to keep tabs on the messaging app.

The retail industry had some great moments in 2014 — Apple Pay, gains in mobile commerce — however, there were some forgettable decisions made as well. Here's my take on retail's most cringeworthy moments of the year:

Gap's new tagline, introduced a few months back, is "Dress normal." But the retailer knows your family is anything but — particularly at the holidays. Having launched the new positioning with David Fincher in August, Gap moves on to another Hollywood director, Sofia Coppola, for a stylish and quirky holiday campaign from Wieden + Kennedy in New York. The four ads are endearingly weird, with storytelling that's more about momentary glimpses into the charms and foibles of family life than traditional plots.

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If you’re a skeptic like me, all of the talk of beacons in retail stores sounds a little too pie-in-the-sky. Beacons, as you probably know by now, are devices that communicate with shoppers’ smartphones in the hopes of improving their in-store shopping experiences. When placed in-store, beacons use Bluetooth technology to detect nearby smartphones and send them ads, coupons or supplementary product information.

Lauren Croke, director of web and e-commerce at luxury fashion brand Eileen Fisher, pointed to her company's collaborative atmosphere as the driver of its omnichannel success during a panel at Luxury Interactive yesterday in New York City.

Zulily was founded in January 2010 by two retail veterans, Darrell Cavens and Mark Vadon, both of whom at that time were at a point in their lives where discussions about kids — whether their own or their friends’ — dominated the conversation. So the two decided to create a unique online retail business that would better serve them and others like them. Cavens gave a keynote presentation this week at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Seattle detailing how the company has grown from online startup into one of the hottest brands in the retail industry — and how customers are driving that success.

It's back-to-school season, which means another article about Ikea's fall catalog. Since the Swedish furniture retailer's catalog was first introduced in 1951, consumers have eagerly awaited the beautifully designed book/catalog, showcasing the brand's unique and well-designed products.