J.C. Penney is doubling down on its commitment to working families for the holidays with a marketing strategy centered around in-person shopping experiences, high-profile partnerships and “Really Big Deal Reveals.” The retailer’s plans, unveiled Thursday, also focus on its revamped loyalty program.
J.C. Penney detailed its Q4 strategy at a virtual briefing hosted by CEO Marc Rosen and Chief Merchandising and Supply Chain Officer Michelle Wlazlo. Guiding the seasonal playbook is a $1 billion turnaround plan implemented last September that introduced a “Make It Count” brand positioning around affordability, loyalty, community and positivity.
“J.C. Penney is in the business of bringing more joy by helping our customers make every dollar count this holiday season,” said Rosen. “We’re a little bit more than a year into our billion-dollar reinvestment into the business, and we’ve made great progress on our transformation with the goal of meeting our customers at the eye level across every interaction.”
For the holidays, J.C. Penney is leaning further into a “Really Big Deal Reveals” campaign running on Amazon Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football.” During each game through Dec. 26, the retailer will announce a new weekly deal or exclusive offer for viewers. Ad spots feature a swath of celebrities, including Shaquille O’Neal and Martha Stewart.
Every weekly deal that is part of the campaign has so far exceeded J.C. Penney’s sales forecast by almost 50% since the September rollout. For the inaugural promotion, the retailer sold a towel every 3.2 seconds, leading to almost 1 million towels sold. The effort is also driving a record number of new customers into stores and online, according to Rosen.
“This progress has put us in an excellent position to meet customers exactly where they need us this holiday season as we round the corner, to reinvigorate the emotional connection between our customers and the J.C. Penney brand,” Rosen said.
J.C. Penney is supporting its deals-focused campaign with social media, online video, email and in-store signage. Spanish-language ads will appear on other streaming services. A focus on savings this season mirrors last year’s marketing from the brand, which included video ads promoting its ability to make “every hard-earned dollar count.”
Making it count
In addition to touting its everyday sales pricing, J.C. Penney will offer early Black Friday access deals from Nov. 8 to Nov. 10. A slew of other deals will also be available from Nov. 22 to Dec. 1. For Black Friday, the retailer will be offering one-day-only deals and in-store giveaways that will drop at 5 a.m., 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. and feature items like the Golden Tote, which offers additional savings throughout the holiday season.
A focus on affordability could help the embattled department store overcome ongoing business struggles. J.C. Penney reported a 9.2% year-over-year decline in total revenue to $1.5 billion in the second quarter.
To bolster its turnaround, J.C. Penney earlier this month named Marisa Thalberg as consulting chief marketing officer. The executive shared the news in a LinkedIn post, describing the 122-year-old department store as “ripe for reinvigoration.” Around other aspects of its transformation, the company has completed about 133 store refreshes so far, Rosen shared.
“We’re finding that completed stores are trending three to five points higher in terms of net promoter scores based on recent surveys, so strong results from our remodeled stores,” Rosen said.
Additionally, J.C. Penney in April launched its revamped J.C. Penney Rewards and Credit Program, which it said could deliver half a billion dollars to its consumers. The retailer is doubling down on loyalty for the holidays by touting its rewards benefits, like the ability to earn at least one CashPass point for every dollar spent. The relaunch of the J.C. Penney Rewards and Credit Program also doubled the rate at which rewards members earn points. Over the last year, the brand has seen a 25% increase in rewards enrollment, Rosen said.
“This value proposition will be front and center through initiatives across the season,” Rosen said.
Mixing nostalgia, partnership
J.C. Penney is also nodding to its past by bringing back the J.C. Penney Snow Globe giveaway for the first time since 2015. The collectible miniature, which became something of a tradition among families in its prior iterations, will be available in-stores beginning at 5 a.m. on Black Friday and this year nods to the movie “Elf.”
High-profile partnerships round out the Q4 strategy. Notably, the retailer is expanding its partnership with Martha Stewart for The Martha Stewart Holiday Collection, which is available now in-stores and online. J.C. Penney is also the only U.S. retailer carrying soccer icon Lionel Messi’s first fragrance, and a gift set will be available throughout the season.
Elsewhere on the partnership front, the brand has teamed with candymaker Haribo for a clothing line dropping Nov. 7 online and in select stores for young adults, teens and kids. Additional seasonal fashions will be available with J.C. Penney and celebrity costume designer Johnny Wujek’s “Celebrate” collection, which is available Nov. 1.
Along with Black Friday shopping experiences, J.C. Penney is vying for more foot traffic via its beauty category through a partnership with hairstylist Larry Sims for a SimStyled experience. Available in select salon locations beginning Nov. 18, the experience offers a styling menu of texture hair looks for consumers that will change seasonally.
While in-store is in focus, J.C. Penney is also shoring up its online presence, Rosen said, a strategy informed by market share data indicating that today’s customers are looking to off-price items and are shopping more online. Together, the company’s omnichannel strategy is intended to ensure consumers are met where they are, from both a location and value standpoint, the exec explained.
“When you think about the areas that we’ve invested, that’s why we made a significant investment in jcp.com, and we’ve seen good growth there, and it’s also why we’re making sure that we have the best value,” Rosen said. “That we’re always in stock and we’re using our tools to make sure we have the right product in the right places for the right customer.”
