Matt Wilson on Marathon Holiday Shopping Trend

SBC Advertising's Senior Executive and General Manager, Matt Wilson was quoted in Sunday’s issue of The Columbus Dispatch regarding the trend of increased holiday shopping hours. Click here to read the article: http://bit.ly/JzKirR

Why Twitter's IPO Wins Over Facebook's

Krista Hazen, SBC's PR Account Director, comments on the Forbes article "Ten Ways Twitter's IPO Didn't Turn Out To Be Like Facebook's IPO."

"In Good to Great, author Jim Collins introduces business professionals to the hedgehog concept which in its simplest terms states that successful companies rely on doing one thing and doing it really well. Twitter has done just that from its launch to its IPO," says Hazen.

"Sure, the 140-character communication has evolved from asking the question, 'what’s happening' to letting users communicate anything from pithy insights to personal locations, but the company hasn’t abandoned what it’s good at: allowing for social interaction with others. What the successful IPO will do is allow Twitter to continue to evolve it platform by adding embedded visuals and videos-all within 140 characters. #Twitterwins"

Click here to read the Forbes article.

“You are not going to believe that the new Value City furniture… is Value City Furniture.”

That’s VCF’s new campaign tagline. Visit one of their locations and you’ll discover new and unexpected finds all across the store including new brand names. The rebirth of the furniture retailer is spearheaded by Jonathan Schottenstein, President of VCF, who challenged his merchants to up the style factor while maintaining the same great prices that VCF is known for. “Big changes are happening at VCF, but our commitment to you is and will always be our first priority,” said Jonathan.

Click here to watch the commercials that showcase VCF’s new direction:

Furniture should be fun: http://youtu.be/pLt_F1p4VVE

Furniture should unite:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IW7rvv2E8 

SBC's Matt Wilson shares his thoughts on The Limited and their new CEO

After six months without a CEO, The Limited announced that Diane Ellis, the former Brooks Bros. President and Chief Operating Officer will take over as CEO on August 26. SBC’s Matt Wilson stated that Ellis has “a bulletproof resume and experience in consumer products and specialty retail.” Wilson stated “She knows both sides of the house from operations and finance to merchandise assortment and marketing.  She’ll work with a similar footprint with The Limited at 259 stores; Brooks Brothers has about 300 stores in the U.S. and internationally, plus a vibrant online and catalogue business.” Ellis is joining the Limited after they recently announced their plans for expansion in both traditional and outlet stores.

Click here to read the entire article: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2013/08/07/the-limited-names-new-ceo.html

OMNI-CHANNEL PART 2: A Frictionless Customer Experience

By Kaylyn Bredon, Sr Mgr, Interactive Creative/UX

In Part 1 of this series, we focused on how the marketing realm has evolved and the importance of creating a seamless customer experience. Continuing this discussion, we’ll now focus on how consumers expect retailers to provide more contextually relevant, personalized information that is carefully tuned to a frequency that suits each individual's liking.

Amazing opportunities present themselves when retailers thoroughly align consumer data with an approach that has context, personalization and a manageable frequency. In doing so, they can provide customers with solutions that make everyday tasks easier while making the shopping experience more enjoyable.

Multiple tactics and some example technologies are listed below serving as areas of opportunity. In no way is it a one-size-fits-all prescription — retailers should identify consumer needs and implement accordingly.