Strategic Marketing Plan - Section One








Integrated Strategic Marketing Plan: Section One
TaShannah Crippen, Diana Gilbert, Marla Bernal, and Trevor Bremer
Marketing Strategy and Design
Professor Harry Derderian
Baker College Online
05, April, 2017



Integrated Strategic Marketing Plan: Section One
Product Overview
Introduction
JC Penney is a large chain of publicly traded department stores with a history dating back to the early 1900’s.  There have been over 1000 physical stores opened within the United States and Puerto Rico.  These popular department stores offer one stop shopping including, optometry, portrait studios, clothing, accessories, shoes, fine jewelry and more for all ages and genders.  Gaining a lot of customer loyalty with the baby boomer generation for the quality of their Kenmore brand of household appliances and the JC Penney catalog which launched in the 1960’s, the JC Penney brand is probably one of most well-known companies in America. They were also the first national corporation to get on board with e-commerce by launching jcpenney.com in 1994.
Problem Statement and Issues
The problem is that what JC Penney did in the past to lead the industry is no longer working for them.  The company is suffering a decrease in sales and planning to close 140 stores in the near future. With the increase of competition and online shopping, the physical stores are just not bringing in the sales they used to.  Although JC Penney used to be the go to place for all of a family’s needs, that is not the case today.  They may have led the market in being the first to offer online shopping, the image and brand has yet to attract the newer generation of shoppers.  The millennials are very savvy about online shopping, have the ability to comparison shop and prefer to buy from more edgy and trendy brands.
Advertising/Marketing Objectives
Main objectives for marketing and advertising in this campaign are redeveloping the brand to a younger demographic and promoting new product lines that align with achieving the brand redevelopment. Reaching the new target market through an increased social media presence and increasing sales revenues as a result are additional objectives.
Campaign Aims
Brand Recognition - Increase brand recognition of new clothing lines by creating a television advertisement showcasing them and focusing efforts on highly popular social media networks to reach the new campaign target market of millennials; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Sales Growth / Increase Sales - During the quarter, JC Penney only reached $3.96 billion in revenue (Gustafson, 2017). One of JC Penney’s main competitors, Target, reached $20.69 billion in revenue (Gustafson, 2017). Increasing JC Penney’s revenue share to at least $8 billion by 2019 and $16 billion by 2020 is a campaign aim. In 2007, shares reached $85 but are now only holding steady at $8 since 2015 (Tribune Media Wire, 2016). Increasing sales more than would be considered “just slightly” is a campaign aim; a growth to $16 a share by 2019 and $32 a share by 2020 is the initial revenue aims.
Increase Online Visibility - In order to increase revenues, there needs to be more marketing focus on the new target market and reaching them where they spend a lot of their time. A campaign aim is to increase online visibility; this means making sure there is a strong JC Penney presence on as many social media networks as possible and the company website is well developed with efficient optimization, including search engine optimization.
Strengthen Social Media Presence - Showcase the new product lines on social media networks and run some promotional events that will get the target market interacting and talking about the changes being made; run a social media competition for best JC Penney look, start a fitness group of people wearing Ivy Park, etc. Creating more attractive display pictures and account features will also be a part of this aim.
Product Profile
JC Penney offers merchandise from multiple product categories. They also provide multiple services tailored to each store location per their consumer geographic such as optometry, photography, wedding registries, and home décor consultation.
Over half of their product offerings are private labels. JC Penney’s private label brands generate gross profit margins that are three-to-five percent higher than national brands. These brands are sold under various brands such as JC Penney, JCP, Liz Claiborne, Okie Dokie, Worthington, a.n.a, St. John’s Bay, Arizona Jean Company, Ambrielle Decree, Stafford, J. Ferrer, JC Penney Home Collection, Monet, Xesion, and Total Girl.  With the recent decline of sales, we as a company are looking to expand our potential customers by bringing in a private label that could possibly appeal to Millennials.
Product Name
Ivy Park is an active wear clothing line that was created in 2016 and was a joint venture between Beyoncé who is a recording artist and actress and Topshop which operates under the company Parkwood Topshop Athletic.  The main goal of this product is to push the boundaries of athletic wear that helps women feel comfortable in their body, which shows beauty is more important than appearance.
Product Classification & Product Characteristic
Ivy Park is an active wear brand for woman that is very fashion forward with designs that contain technical innovations.  This brand is a new edgy kind of performance wear that has notes of modern essentials for both on and off the field.
Distribution
JC Penney will distribute their products and clothing lines across physical stores and online stores. The new and previous clothing lines will be widely available through every store with a variety of selections. The additional clothing lines will be delivered to each store in a timely manner, and they will be available online as quick as possible.  The online store will ship both nationwide and worldwide, with faster shipping within the United States.
Product Life Cycle
At JC Penney we keep a variety of clothing lines that will cycle at certain times during their sales lifespan. Some items will be seasonal specific and have limited availability through clothing lines like Ivy Park. These times can vary, and should not be expected to be similar to previous lines, as they will change on their own basis from the main distributer.
The Brand
JC Penney is looking forward to this newly renovated brand as a whole. Bringing in new clothing lines like Ivy Park will be hold a new opportunity to strengthen the brand and aim for a target audience of millennials. With these changes, JC Penney will stay true to their values (loyal, passion, courage and service). Everything at our core has been kept the same, but product lines and target audiences have been enhanced and rethought.

References
Future Voices - Topshop USA. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://us.topshop.com/en/tsus/category/future-voices-6102850/home?TS=1479721456374&intcmpid=W_FOOTER_%20FUTUREVOICES
Gustafson, K. (2017, February 24). JCPenney shuttering up to 140 stores as sales weaken, more
sluggish growth seen ahead. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/24/jc-penney-earnings-q4-2016.html
Gustafson, K. (2017, February 28). Target shares plunge on earnings shortfall and weak outlook
on sales. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/28/target-earnings-q4-2016.html
Ivy Park - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Park
JCPenney. About us. Retrieved from
http://www.jcpenney.com/jsp/browse/marketing/promotion.jsp?&pageId=pg4003600001
JC Penney. (2017). Company Information. Retrieved from
           http://www.jcpenney.com/jsp/browse/marketing/promotion.jsp?&pageId=pg40036000011
JC Penney Company Inc. (JCP) Company Profile | Reuters.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=JCP
Tribune Media Wire. (2016, June 07). 30 companies that might disappear in 2017. Retrieved
from http://wgntv.com/2016/06/07/30-companies-that-might-disappear-in-2017/

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