J.C. Penney has seen an opportunity in the expiring contract between the Liz Claiborne fashion line and Macy’s and has taken it. The women’s line of clothing will now be sold exclusively at J.C. Penney stores throughout the country.

In a 10 year deal between JCP and Liz Claiborne, JCP will have exclusive rights to sell the brand along with Liz&Co as well as Concepts (all Liz Claiborne brands). The Concepts and Liz&Co brands have been sold and launched exclusively through J.C. Penney.

The hit to Macy’s isn’t as hard as some may think. Spokesman for Macy’s Jim Sluzewski had this to say about the brand and it’s poor sales at Macy’s stores, “As a result [of the poor sales], we could not justify expending it at Macy’s. Customers have been confused between various brands carrying the Liz name, and the management of Liz Claiborne needed to take corrective action. We support their decision.”

The contract that will be headed to JCP is really no sweat off Macy’s back because the department store chain just recently signed Ellen Tracy, another well known designer, to design exclusively for its stores.

Macy’s not only runs the Macy’s stores, but also the Bloomingdale’s stores.

There was no comment from management from Liz Claiborne.

Fashion lines are a big deal at department stores simply because there are customers that will shop exclusively with one store or another due to the brands that store has. There are customers who will walk into a store and actually ask where the store brand is. Many department stores offer lines that are cater exclusively to one target market. This method works.

When Liz Claiborne leaves the Macy’s stores, even though the representative said that the line didn’t sell well, the customers who have come to know the brand and like the quality and fit will be moving on to J.C. Penney. Either that, or they will have to find another brand that they like because they won’t shop at JCP.

Source

This is an assignment that I had to do for my advanced campaign class. The assignment called for the following sections: To define Street Team Marketing, decide whether the use of street team marketing is increasing or decreasing, and find one or two companies that specialize in this tool and provide contact information.

What I gathered from researching street team marketing is that it is a style of viral marketing that is done in person rather than on the internet. It relies heavily on word of mouth.

Street team marketing, as defined by Brand Marketers, LLC, is a marketing method that utilized “a team of marketers, conducting street-level operations, reaching consumers where they live, work, and play.” Used primarily in the music industry by music groups with little funding for advertising, street teams are a promotional tool to reach the target market in a guerrilla style.

Street team marketing has been used to promote musical acts. Recently, the independent record label Fueled by Ramen has implemented a street team to promote acts such as Paramore, Gym Class Heroes, and Cute is What We Aim For.

The magazine Alternative Press also has a street team to promote its magazine and events. The members of the street team are not paid, instead are rewarded with free concert tickets and merchandise. Tasks that the street team members will be asked to perform include setting up booths at Alternative Press sponsored events, passing out flyers, promoting the magazine at school, talking about Alternative Press on social websites like MySpace and Facebook, and posting videos of Alternative Press events on YouTube.

Other than the music industry, PETA2, the youth program began by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has created a street team in conjunction with its Facebook and MySpace pages. With the PETA2 street team, potential members can sign up for “actions” (things they can do to help animals) or report on activities they have done to help animals and they will receive points. These points can be used toward “street team goods.”

The street team marketing tool, like other buzz marketing promotion techniques is increasing. The reason for the increase in is that many customers are finding ways to avoid advertisements. Marketers need to come up with new and different ways to advertise to those customers.

Other than in the music industry street team marketing is an overlooked marketing style. However, many companies are starting to see the benefit to this guerilla style marketing plan. The promotions attract attention. It is hard to turn away from an eye catching group of people doing a promotion in a fun way; it breaks the monotony of everyday life.

Alt Terrain

While many companies begin their own street team marketing program, the company Alt Terrain specializes in providing staff for events for clients that requires the street team promotional tool. Alt Terrain is a company that provides ad agencies with street team promotion. According to their about us section Alt Terrain’s goal is designed “to implement successful Engagement Media, Brand Experience, and Consumer Involvement initiatives that uniquely connect with people, ignite word-of mouth, and are embraced by popular culture.”

They have three main offices in Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The contact information for these offices:
Boston – 1127 Harrison Avenue, Boston MA (617)445-9848
Chicago – 1821 W. Hubbard Street, STE 304, Chicago, IL (312) 226-5435
Los Angeles – 6725 Sunset Blvd., STE 270, Los Angeles, CA (323)493-5643

Some of the companies Alt Terrain has done work for:

Porterscope Worldwide, Arnold Worldwide, GSD&M, Deutsch, Peppercom, JWT, Octa8on, Mullen, and The Bravo Group.

Alt Terrain worked with Microsoft in 2002 by creating a word of mouth marketing plan by putting 16,000 window-cling butterflies around Manhattan. The campaign gave the company recognition in the BusinessWeek article “Advertising Goes Guerrilla.”

Brand Marketers, LLC

Brand Marketers, LLC has worked with Toyota’s Scion brand, MSNBC, Sprite, Hewlett Packard, CNN, and Sprint-Nextel. Brand Marketers is a “non-traditional campaign design and execution agency.”

It is located at 701 7th Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10036. Its phone number is (212) 719 – 2110 and new business can contact them at info@brandmarketers.com

Brand Marketers currently recruits street team members from the website for Brand Ambassadors. Recruits come from all over the United States including these major cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, and Detroit