The JCPenney rebrand is officially being called a flop. It seems that the public has not yet embraced the everyday low pricing for fashion and household goods that JCP is offering. The financial market freaked, and so the company freaked and fired its President.

I am a social marketer who uses social media. If that statement confuses you, then read on. I’ve found that working in the realm of social marketing many people don’t quite understand what it is and generally think it is the same thing as social media.

We've been super busy the last few weeks with little time to venture out of the office, so we've been eating a lot of takeout. Breakfast, lunch, dinner – no matter what it tastes like, we devour it. That said, all of this eating out has made us quite the connoisseurs and we have a growing list of favorites who are receiving hundreds of dollars in repeat business.

In case you mentioned Tim's article in okcBIZ this month. Here it is!

The sales of ‘green’ products have been shrinking during the latter half of 2010. In 2008, marketers scrambled to add some element of environmentalism to their products. Most did it with packaging (recycled, less product, etc.), while others addressed manufacturing methods that claimed a smaller carbon footprint. Other products that truly were more inherently environmental sprang up and have created a niche industry. Example: Method cleaning products.

One of my favorite episodes of the Office is when Michael Scott quits and then returns to the company. Upon his return, he reinstates Casual Friday. Because the employees have been without Casual Friday while Charles was in charge (pun intended), they

Wal-Mart has decided to invite over 300 branded products back onto its shelves after it saw its market share fall in the packaged goods segment. Last year, the retail giant replaced several well-known brands with its private labeled Great Value products.

The Snickers commercial with Betty White that debuted during the Super Bowl was the most liked spot according to Nielsen IAG. It was also our most liked, but for other reasons than its mere humor. Because over half of those viewing consider the ads part of the entertainment, marketers have gone to great lengths to get noticed and make the favorites lists.

I suppose we have to address Tiger Woods in this issue. Not Tiger the man, but Tiger the billion-dollar brand. In the corporate marketing world, his transgressions are not considered to be bad enough to drop him from the endorsement roster, provided that the story doesn't get much deeper.

When the recession began, we encouraged all marketers to continue to promote the benefits of their brand. Realizing that the panic and doom would eventually end, we suggested that strong brands survive in any market. Here's some recent support for our claim.

One of our employees recently asked me if we’d be willing to change our thinking about working in a particular industry that we decided was at odds with our philosophy, given the nature of the economy.  No, we’re not going to compromise.

You may recall from our November ’07 issue of Good Vibrations that we suggested that Braum’s could drastically improve their sales by merely providing better customer service. Here’s validation to that sentiment: