Welcome to the KPC blog! Here you’ll find fresh commentary on all things marketing and research, from historical anecdotes on marketing and research to the latest in advertising today. If it strikes our fancy, we’ll be blogging.

Holiday Retail Round-Up

Ad Age summarizes the holiday sales activity at a bunch of general big-box and department store retailers, most notably the famous giants: Wal-Mart and Target.

When I read the article's headline, which explains that Wal-Mart's December was weak as compared to more design-happy Target and niche retailers, such as Abercrombie and American Eage, my heart did a little dance. Yes, I thought, the rest of the American public agrees with me that style matters!

My joy waned a bit in the next paragraph, though, as retail experts opined that much of Wal-Mart's relative poor showing was due to their reachy, semi-upscale "Home for the Holidays" ad campaign, as opposed to their usual strategy of "we're cheaper." Those same experts stated that macroeconomic forces, such as rising gas prices, hit the poorest consumers - those most amenable to Wal-Mart's low-price strategies - hardest, keeping their holiday spending low. Regular Target shoppers are a little more high-end, and thus aren't hit as hard. Damn it. I can't be happy about the poor getting poorer.

That said, those very same retail experts also said that, though the Home for the Holidays campaign was a relative bust this season, it's just the beginning of a necessary shift for Wal-Mart - towards the style light, and away from the loss-leading strategy of always being cheaper, if junkier. Ads alone, however, aren't enough...which by now everybody in retail should know (though occasionally, when I'm in the mall, I wonder.) The next generation of Wal-Mart will include a store revamp, but it'll take a while. And it'll cost us, I'm sure.

But is my impression of Wal-Mart as junky and crowded and not worth the hassle now too ingrained to change? Only time will tell.

For Posterity

If I happen to find myself in Kansas City, Missouri sometime in 2007 or later (which, admittedly, is not very likely, as I've never found myself in KC before) I know I'll have at least one fun stop on my itinerary.

Because 2007 is the slated opening date for the Advertising Icon Museum, a place dedicated to remembering the great icons of advertising past, and to preserving icons of today and tomorrow. Personally, I think it sounds like a fantastic idea. Advertising in general, and icons specifically, play a vital role in pop culture - which in today's society, is more important to overall culture than ever.

(And I am not just saying this to justify my involvement in advertising. Though it helps.)

Sounds like a very cool place.