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Case Study: JC Penney & Ellen DeGeneresEunice HurhUniversity of North TexasCase Study: JC Penney & Ellen DeGeneresBackground Information: JC PenneyIn 1902, James Cash Penny opened J. C. Penney Company, Inc. with the sole purpose of selling merchandise and services to consumers internationally at a profit (Funding universe, 2012). With over 1,200 stores, JC Penney Company, Inc. is the largest department-store retailer and catalog merchant in the United States (Funding universe, 2012). The company rocketed in its early days because it sold all goods at "one fair price" and brought stylish goods from the East to more isolated areas (Funding universe, 2012). However, the company struggled through the 1970s, as companies like WalMart and Sears gave JC Penney threatening competition within the hardware and appliance departments (Funding universe, 2012). Private label brands became a principle for the eminence of JC Penney. Customers liked them because of controlled quality and cheaper prices than brand names; Penney liked them because he could control the price and make a higher profit margin (Funding universe, 2012). Belle Isle, Ramona, Honor Brand, and Nation Wide were private label names for piece goods, and Big Mac, Waverly, and Lady Lyke were labels on work shirts, men's caps, and lingerie, respectively (Funding universe).In the following few years, the company's growth flourished. As Penney's personal wealth increased, so did his charity: He founded Penney Farms, established the JC Penney Foundation, and the Memorial Home Community (Funding universe, 2012). By JC Penney’s 50th anniversary in 1952, its sales reached up to $1 billion (Funding universe, 2012). JC Penney was different from many of its competitors with its late entry into the catalog mail-order business; other big retailers started in mail order and then launched into retail stores (Funding universe, 2012).Then, in 1975, JC Penney’s directors decided the company needed extensive revamping. The company expanded the fashion programs in men's, women's and children's departments, and the company divided its stores into two categories, metropolitan (based in regional shopping centers) and geographic (based in smaller communities) (Funding universe, 2012). Moreover, apparel, home furnishings, and leisure lines would be emphasized, and auto service, hard line appliances, paint, hardware, lawn and garden merchandise, and fabrics were phased out; its big mass merchant competitors, Montgomery Ward and Sears, continued in these lines (Funding universe, 2012). Additionally, J.C. Penney's continued concentration on women—who accounted for 80 percent of apparel sales and on whose behalf each store now allocated up to 41 percent of its space—was paying off (Funding universe, 2012).Unfortunately, in 1995, JC Penney's recovery lost its momentum, falling short of both its own and analysts' expectations (Funding universe, 2012). Retail sales increased only 0.9 percent for the year ($20.6 billion vs. $20.4 billion), income fell from 1994's outstanding $1 billion to $838 million, and comparative store sales experienced a 1.4 percent drop (Funding universe, 2012). With its stock value falling, JC Penney announced in 1999 it would sell 20% of Eckerd in the form of a tracking stock, but it postponed the IPO three times (Hoovers, 2012). That year it also sold its private-label credit card operations to GE Capital and sold its store in Chile to department store chain Almacenas Paris (Hoovers, 2012). Eventually in 2000, JC Penney closed about 50 department stores and 300 Eckerd drugstores (Hoovers, 2012). Sadly, JC Penny continued to close more and more department stores.2001 the company shuttered about 50 more department stores and drugstores. The possibility of JC Penney disappearing from the department store industry was becoming a sad and slow reality.Perhaps JC Penney needed to revamp its company through the use of a celebrity endorsement to create a sustainable competitive edge and emotional hedonic connections with its consumers.Background Information: Ellen DeGeneresEllen DeGeneres, born on January 26, 1958,is an American stand-up comedienne, television host, actress, author, and celebrity spokesperson (Biography, 2012). She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show and has also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002 (Biography, 2012). During the fourth season of Ellen in 1997, DeGeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The?Oprah Winfrey?Show (Biography, 2012). When she was growing up she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but she gave up the idea because she was "not book smart” (Biography, 2012). Reportedly, Ellen DeGeneres worked at a Louisiana-based JC Penney (Wong, 2012). Following her employment at various jobs, Ellen discovered she was funny and amazing at stand-up comedy. DeGeneres was invited onto?The Tonight Show?and earned the distinction of being the only female comic to be invited by?Johnny Carson?to sit on the famed "couch" during her first visit (Biography, 2012). She then began making regular appearances on the talk show circuit, including performances on?The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,?The Oprah Winfrey Show,?Later with Greg Kinnear,?Larry King Live, and?Good Morning, America; Ellen was also profiled in detail on ABC's?PrimeTime Live (Biography, 2012). In 1994, DeGeneres achieved her goal of becoming an actress with her own prime-time sitcom: Ellen (Biography, 2012). This show faced strong condemnation when, in April 1997, DeGeneres' character became the first lead in sitcom history to openly reveal her homosexuality on air (Biography, 2012). Affiliates and sponsors began pulling out from contracts with Ellen in response to the spurred controversy. Despite all the negative reactions, the show also received rounds of applause from gay-friendly activists—including DeGeneres' mother, Betty DeGeneres, who appeared on copious talk shows in support of her daughter (Biography, 2012). Nonetheless, even though Ellen had loyal viewers; an Emmy Award for the coming-out episode; and the show's pioneering place in television history;?the show got canceled in 1998 (Biography, 2012).In 2003, Ellen DeGeneres revisited the television and became a success with her talk show,?Ellen. Ellen has won an Emmy, nearly a dozen Daytime Emmy Awards, and numerous People's Choice Awards (Biography, 2012). In continuation of her lesbian profile, DeGeneres married de Rossi on August 16, 2008, in what was perhaps the highest-profile gay marriage after California legalized the unions (Biography, 2012). Looking at the amount of success Ellen DeGeneres achieved in her lifetime thus far, it is clear that she would be a prime candidate for being a spoke person, as she already is for Cover Girl cosmetics.JC Penney & Ellen DeGeneresOn January 25, 2012, JC Penney announced that it was getting a new logo and completely revamping its pricing, branding, promotions, as well as refreshing its stores (Palmer, 2012). An additional part of this plan included Ellen DeGeneres as JC Penney’s brand partner (Palmer, 2012). Although this was just one element of the company’s revamping plan, many were not thrilled and several issues arose for JC Penney’s loyal customers. A division of the American Family Association, One Million Moms, called for DeGeneres to be replaced because she is a lesbian (Wong, 2012). "Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families," the group?wroe on its website (Wong, 2012). Additionally, One Million Moms stated, "DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there and the small percentage of customers they are attempting to satisfy will not offset their loss in sales." (Wong, 2012) The group's statement concludes: "By jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon, JC Penney is attempting to gain a new target market and in the process will lose customers with traditional values that have been faithful to them over all these years." (Wong, 2012)The company's CEO, former Apple executive Ron Johnson,?explained why the company chose DeGeneres to the Associated Press: "I think Ellen is someone we all trust. She's lovable, likable, honest and funny, but at her soul, we trust her," he said.?(Wong, 2012) When JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson spoke to CBS News, he called it a "no-brainer" and dismissed any debate (Wooledge, 2012). Johnson said, "[W]e stand squarely behind Ellen as our spokesperson, and that's a great thing. Because she shares the same values that we do in our company. Our company was founded 110 years ago on The Golden Rule, which is about treating people fair and square, just like you would like to be treated yourself." (Wooledge, 2012) Eventually, Ellen herself spoke on the debate, and she got the opportunity to address the One Million Moms’ condemnation of her "values” (Wooledge, 2012). She said, "Here are the values I stand for: I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you'd want to be treated, and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That's what I stand for." (Wooledge, 2012). Her loyal followers positively agreed with her statement. How can JC Penny keep its partnership with Ellen DeGeneres without losing its current, loyal, and traditional customers?Solutions For JC Penney’s Brand ImagePricing StrategyThe lynchpin of J.C. Penney's revitalization is a new "Fair and Square Every Day" pricing strategy (Mohammed, 2012). In contrast to J.C. Penny’s plan, Burberry underwent pricing changes and streamlined its products to a higher price point (Moon, 2004). Instead of using deep discount sales to attract customers, J.C. Penney will offer three simple price categories of “Every Day”, “Month Long Value”, and “Best Prices” (Mohammed, 2012). Additionally, prices also now end in "0" instead of "99" with only once price listed on the tag (Mohammed, 2012). However, displaying a "previously sold at $99" on the price tag helps to validate this price mentally (Mohammed, 2012). J.C. Penney’s absence of differentiation in making this pricing strategy successful, might lead to its pitfall. Generally speaking, J.C. Penney's products are fairly homogenous (Mohammed, 2012). When selling a relatively undifferentiated product, the only lever to generate higher sales is discounts; even worse, if competitors drop prices on comparable products, J.C. Penney's hands are tied (Mohammed, 2012). Since, the J.C. Penney shopping experience hasn't reached the "loyalty-inspiring" stage, like Nordstrom's, which can protects it from price competition (Mohammed, 2012). Also, prices ending in “0” are interpreted as a premium offering, while those ending in “9” convey value (Mohammed, 2012). Advertising, Logo, SloganCompanies like Benetton, American Apparel and Dolce & Gabbana used “shock advertising” as a way to gain publicity, attract consumers, and higher profit margins (Ganesan & Thota, 2003). For J.C. Penney, the advertising included a new Beginning August 1st, J.C. Penny brought a different meaning to the word “Clearance” for its customers. In collaboration with its new pricing strategy, J.C. Penny tweaked its advertising to better communicate its strategy to the customers (Anderson, 2012). In April, the J.C. Penney rolled out an ad campaign titled “Do the Math,” which was intended to showcase its current system presenting prices that are cheaper than combining coupons and sales (Tuttle, 2012). J.C. Penney will also have a "Town Square" offering courtesy services to customers as well as promotions such as free hot dogs and ice cream in July (Mohammed, 2012).Continue Partnership with Ellen DeGeneresSince the announcement of brand alliance between Ellen DeGeneres and J.C. Penney, there have been positive and negative reactions. Parallel to Benetton Group’s evolution of its communication strategies, J.C. Penney was well-aware of the flack they would receive from those not ready for this type of partnership (Ganesan & Thota, 2003). The organization, One Million Moms, was adamant on the extraction of Ellen DeGeneres as spokes person for J.C. Penney. The organization even called for a boycott until J.C. Penney responded with the wanted result. However, One Million Moms inevitably backed off on the boycott and deleted its Facebook page due to the insurmountable amount of backlash and lack of support (Levon, 2012). Its recent disappearance from the social network is indicative of how powerful society can be once it unites to conquer (Levon, 2012). On March 8, 2012, One Million Mom’ director Monica Cole stated that this disappearance and dropped boycott was due to other issues requiring her group’s attention (Adam, 2012).Recommended SolutionThe combination of innovative advertising and continued collaboration with Ellen DeGeneres will yield the highest profit margin for J.C. Penney. Because Ellen holds high regard in the mass public for positive popularity, J.C. Penney should remain with her and take advantage of her status. Once J.C. Penney achieves its long-term retail vision — which is exciting and groundbreaking on many levels — it will have both the product and shopping experience mojo to make its Fair and Square pricing strategy a success (Mohammed, 2012). This ultimately ties together all three solutions into a fancy bow. However, given its current "I've got something similar" product mix and very price-sensitive customer base, its rollout seems premature (Mohammed, 2012). Advertising the company through the partnership with Ellen will project a brand image of social responsibility regarding the LBGT community. Moreover, holding events that create conversation and publicity will aide in this movement. Thus, all the good that DeGeneres draws is probably the reason JC Penney hired her in the first place to help the retailer become “America’s favorite store” (Baranaukas, 2012). For the current year, the company projected per-share earnings of $2 to $2.10 on total sales growth in the low-single digits on a percentage basis (Talley & Stynes, 2011). Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast a profit of $1.75 a share and revenue growth of 2% (Talley & Stynes, 2011).ReferencesAnderson, M. (2012, July 26). J.C. Penney brings back the word ‘clearance’ amid customer confusion. Huffington Post. Retrieved from true story. (2012). Ellen DeGeneres. Retrieved from Baranaukas. (2012, February 2). Ellen DeGeneres and the suddenly cool J.C. Penny. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from universe. (2012). History of JC Penney Company, Inc. Retrieved from , S & Thota, V. (2003). Benetton group: Evolution of communication strategy. ICRAI Knowledge Center. Retrieved from . (2012). JC Penney Corporation, Inc. Retrieved from , W. (2012, June 4). One million moms take aim at J.C. Penney, but disappear from Facebook. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from , Y. (2004). Burberry. Harvard Business School. Retrieved from Mohammed. (2012, January 30). Understanding J.C. Penney’s risky new pricing strategy. [Blog post]. Retrieved from , A. (2012, January 25). JC Penney overhauls marketing, promo strategy. Digital Marketing News. Retrieved from Adam. (2012, March 8). You did it! ‘One million moms’ abandons call for Ellen to be fired, says group is “moving on”. [Blog post] Retrieved from Wooledge. (2012, February 13). A round of applause for the ‘million moms’ and their anti-gay campaign…seriously. [Blog post] Retrieved from , K. & Stynes, T. (2011, February 25). J.C. Penney’s profit rises 36%. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from , B. (2012, June 19). More troubles for J.C. Penny: Top executive departs amid sales slump. Time Moneyland. Retrieved from , C. M. (2012, February 1). Ellen DeGeneres’ JC Penney partnership slammed by anti-gay group one million moms. Huffington Post. Retrieved from ................
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