• A new tagline? That’ll change everything!

    Posted on February 14th, 2007 by and currently 7 commenting.

    AdPulp reports that the WSJ (asinine paid subscription required) reports that JC Penny in unveiling a new marketing campaign with a shiny new tagline: Every Day Matters

    J.C. Penney Co. today will unveil a new marketing campaign centered around the slogan “Every Day Matters,” the latest step in its long-running push to update its image to reflect more stylish offerings. The new campaign comes just a few months after J.C. Penney abruptly switched its account to Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, ending a six-year relationship with Omnicom Group’s DDB Worldwide. “We needed a rallying cry that would resonate with our customers,” says Mr. Ullman, who adds that he hopes the new slogan will be as powerful as Nike’s “Just do it.”

    Quit it. Seriously. Stop it. I so wish that people would stop trying to be the ‘next’ anything. The next Google. The next Nike. The next big thing. Walk your own walk. And talk to your own. Focus on what you have, not your have-nots.

    A rallying cry is great. But a remarkable experience is even better. It transcends tag lines and advertising. (And when you have a great name, you might not even need a tagline because your name says it all.)

    Creating a new tagline won’t change anything. Try starting with the culture. The experience. The people inside your company.

    And I say that to say this: The Dallas Morning News (give it up for my hometown paper) is reporting that JC Penny is, in fact, including their people in the new effort.

    ‘Meanwhile, training materials have gone out to its 1,033 stores, and Penney managers are briefing sales associates on the new branding and why they’re the key to the process.’

    Bravo. It’s a start.

    We’ll be keeping an eye on this one.

  • http://www.split-bamboo.com David

    The tag line is still attached to JC Penney… “JC Penney” speaks volumes over any new tag line.

  • http://www.churchofthecustomer.com Jackie Huba

    You are so right on, Spike. We seem to see this type of “marketing makeover” over and over. It is like putting lipstick on a pig by just changing the tagline or renaming the company (like AT&T doing away with the Cingular name).

    It doesn’t change the fact that it is what is underneath it (aka the product or experience) that customers care about. And whether that pig is pretty or just plain smelly is the key.

  • http://prblog.typepad.com Kevin Dugan

    Spike – You’re right. I cannot tell you how many people came to my old agency and always said they wanted to be like “Intel Inside.” We always told them they did not have the tens of millions of dollars Intel spent to gain that ubiquity.

    But at the same time, I wonder if they’re coming up with this comparison during the early planning stages or just before the promotional launch.

    If a client was in the final stages before unveiling the new campaign and came up with a comparison so people would get what they’re trying to accomplish? I’d be somewhat forgiving if that’s the case.

    It probably never happens, but thought I’d serve up the possibility.

  • http://www.brainsonfire.com Mr. Steve

    And here’s why JC Penney’s is wrong: “Just Do It” came out of a Nike board meeting…it wasn’t something they decided to live by, it was something they already lived by.

    Here’s where JC Penney’s may be right: They’re involving their employees. Now, hopefully this doesn’t end up as one of those “You’re going to help the brand by staying underpaid, overworked and underappreciated, but don’t forget to smile and say all kinds of nice things that we’d never say to you, because the customer is the only important part of the retail equation” speech that EVERY retailer gives their employees.

    Sorry, was that bitter? Either way, to me, this whole thing sounds like an old-fashioned ad agency has pulled the wool over JC Penney’s eyes…Score one for the old guard.

    Now let’s see if anything actually changes. My money’s on “no”.

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