Merchandising
October 20, 2011
Walt Disney apologized to customers after demand for limited editions of its princess dolls crashed the Disney Store website. More than 1,200 Facebook users posted comments when the company acknowledged that the site was “extremely busy” and that it “won’t allow such high volume to check out simultaneously.”
The furor erupted when the company put the last five models in its Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection for sale on its website for $59.50 each. All of the dolls — the characters Tiana, Jasmine, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Pocahontas — sold out the same day, the company said.
October 17, 2011
Can you up the ante on any of your products’ amusement factors? Is there some ho-hum aspect of your product that could benefit from a bit of unexpected playfulness? Why not ThinkAbout that today and see where it leads you?
October 13, 2011
Rally Squirrel merchandise outlets are finding it difficult to keep up with fan demand. Cardinal Glennon Hospital initially shipped out thousands of items to retailers on Oct. 11, but those retailers sold out within 45 minutes. No need to fret though. More Rally Squirrel merchandise is on the way.
October 13, 2011
I recently returned from an enlightening branding walkabout in Australia for one of my clients. In this deep cultural immersion, I visited eight cities all across the country in eight weeks and met with over 60 of their brand stakeholders. We talked openly about the challenges facing this company’s existing product line, its present pricing structure, its future competitive arena and how it could adapt to the particulars of this niche Australian marketplace to be more customer centric.
October 10, 2011
Minnesota company St. Croix, which makes the mock black turtlenecks that Steve Jobs famously wore, had a banner sales week. Sales more than doubled the day after Jobs' death, according to the Minnesota Business Journal, and some stores have run out of them.
October 4, 2011
The NBA lockout, despite all the talk that “no one cares,” is going to be more like the gigantic asteroid effect from an economic standpoint in a lot of areas. There are cities that depend on the revenue created by game nights for bars, restaurants, shopping.
September 29, 2011
Office-supply chain Staples has teamed with Martha Stewart — whose home decorating empire includes a talk show, magazine and books — to create a new line of designer office supplies for the home office, the retailer said today.
September 26, 2011
Pigskin, nachos, beer and cupcake decorating? With a newly launched site, Party Collection, and expanded women's fashion line, the NFL is hoping to make "homegating" as popular as tailgating and team-name purses as widespread as jerseys. The party collection, branded with NFL team logos of choice, runs the gamut from cheese boards to coasters to side tables.
September 15, 2011
More than 20,000 Missoni for Target items have been posted for sale on eBay less than 24 hours since becoming available. Some of the most expensive items to turn up on the internet auction site were the Missoni bike, a tea set, and a comforter/sham set.
September 15, 2011
Topman is the latest to join the "Awful T-Shirt Club." One of the new shirts reads: "Nice new girlfriend — what breed is she?" The second, and arguably worse culprit is the "I'm So Sorry" shirt for the men who want to not-so-subtly let the world know they suck — either because they caused a fight or, as one may infer, violent.
