In Response to Kristen Begin

If people realize JC Penney is making more of an effort to go green...should the company expect a revenue larger than that of their 2010 catalog sales? What are some other reasons that would convince JC Penney to get rid of a $454 million dollar sales opportunity? Do you think this was a wise decision made by JC Penney administrators?

Kristen asked if JCP will see an increase in revenue because of their new efforts to go green and whether JCP chose to pass up a sales opportunity or not. I think that you have to consider how people feel right now financially and whether or not they are going to purchase because they need something or because they're reminded that they "need" something.

Also, how big of an impact is "going green" these days? It feels to me more like green-washing sometimes when companies market their efforts to be green. On the other hand, it is obviously more green to skip the catalogs, but it's also a cost-saving effort. Maybe corporate felt that individual stores would survive without the extra marketing efforts, so they're cutting back to save some cash for marketing once people are ready to buy again.

I always believe that cutting down on mailers is important, not just because it saves the company money, but it's one less thing that customers receiving the mailers throw away. How many of them are actually recycled? Why do they even really need to exist in the first place? I don't think I've ever seen a JCP mailer...

What other companies are doing this? It seems like some companies are set in their ways (who doesn't get a weekly victoria's secret catalog??) and others are changing. Does this affect your purchasing decisions?

How Much Can PR Cover?

I get a weekly update in politics and business from The Economist, and I happened to notice a story at the very bottom of it. Typically, I like The Economist because it seems pretty close to an unbiased source of news. This is the last part of the weekly update:

Out of fashion

John Galliano was sacked as Christian Dior’s lead designer for professional misconduct. This came after a video surfaced of Mr Galliano apparently making anti-Semitic remarks to customers in a Paris restaurant and declaring “I love Hitler”. Mr Galliano was admitted to the French Legion of Honour in 2009.

When I read this, I was shocked! When I hear about anti-Semitism, I think about Kramer from Seinfeld a few years back, and before that, not much.

I question how much help PR can be for this person of status. How will this affect him in the long run? Public Relations nightmares can be really long lasting. He's been fired, but how much damage will he have to deal with at this point?