2012 is the 50th anniversary of the space-age animated sitcom, The Jetsons. For those young enough to be blissfully ignorant of Hanna-Barbera’s sister sitcom to The Flintsones, it centred on the exploits of an average family living in the mid-21st century. It was known for its fantastic and whimsical inventions, and while we’re not all [...]

As retail commentators around the world gaze into their crystal balls for a peek at 2012, the overriding image I get is…one big blur. On the one hand it’s a blur of speed, as the pace of change continues to ramp up and customer attention spans shorten. On the other hand it’s a blurring of [...]

In the retail “School of Hard Knocks” from which I (and most people in this industry) graduated, I was always taught the importance of the “runway to Christmas”. The idea was that during November you’d launch a strong promotion into the market to bring forward as many sales as possible. This would lift the sales [...]

Most retail ads scream, “Buy me”. (The whole point is to sell stuff, right?) But this Black Friday in the US, a full-page ad appeared in the New York Times with the headline “Don’t buy this jacket”. The ad was for outdoor outfitter Patagonia, a company known for its environmental and social conscience. The company [...]

More than ever this Christmas, there’s an emotional tug-of-war going on between “price” and “feel-good” advertising. Many retailers will tell you categorically that 2011 will be a “value Christmas”. Others will counter that, while sharp deals are important in the current climate, there’s a place for Santa as well as Scrooge. I’ve been keeping tabs [...]

This is a simple idea. Rather than shoe-horning Chrismas messages onto tiny gift tags, jcpenny are encouraging people to use QR code enabled gift tags this year, which allow gift givers to record personalised messages for gift receivers. It is an interesting concept which delivers a valuable benefit to shoppers by adding more emotion / [...]

eBay have teamed up with toy retailer Toys for Tots to develop an innovative ‘Give a Toy’ charity this Christmas. The ‘Give a Toy Store’ is an interactive virtual store through which shoppers can easily select gifts between $2 and $25 to donate to kids in need. The virtual store exists as a website, mobile [...]

Starbucks have developed an innovative campaign for the holiday season called ‘Starbucks Cup Magic’. Starbucks have embedded augmented reality codes into their cups, packaged coffee and posters in-store. Customers who download the free Starbucks app can scan the artwork with their smartphones to unlock an engaging world of augmented reality characters. As well as adding [...]

Target USA is back with their crazy Christmas Champ campaign it launched in 2009. The campaign, which features comedian Maria Bamford, was a hit on viral charts last year and with 33 short videos produced for 2011 it seems they are trying for another big viral splash. The question in my mind is whether the [...]

The Christmas promotional period has well and truly begun and we will be keeping an eye out for the key campaigns and innovations here on New Retail Blog. To kick things off, here is this year’s Christmas commercial from Marks & Spencer, in which they continue their tradition of featuring celebrities in their holiday campaign. [...]