Marketing Magazine Feature
Last year around this time, I made the cover of Marketing with my point of view on the Bay. People I hadn't heard from in years wrote with their Bay stories (and to say they liked my jacket). For the most part, there was an expression of hope and a desire to see the Bay succeed and be relevant again. I also got a call from the Bay's president Michael Rousseau who wanted to get together to exchange ideas. He was realistic about the goals, the challenges, and the measures of success. The promise of not settling for the status quo came through loud and clear from Rousseau. Change for the better is coming, he told me. Let me be clear. I was one of those people hoping that the new Bay would prosper. BrainStorm's clients like Jones New York, Elizabeth Arden, Anne Klein and Kenneth Cole all have a vested interest in seeing the Bay grow. And so last month, when I toured a Bay store and spoke with HBC's Patrick Dickinson, I liked what I saw and I really liked what I heard. To begin, one must walk through the Bay to see how much cleaner the stores look. Gone are the huge piles of marked-down end of season goods. Clearance racks no longer distract from the fresh goods, which are extremely well merchandised. The aisles are clearer and cleaner. Dickinson told me end of season inventory was lower by about 5% than last year at this time. There is still not an overabundance of staff, but those that are there are more communicative and easy to recognize. Last year I was critical of the Bay's brand strategy that promoted house brands like Mantles and ToGo. That too has changed with the launch of its new in-house brand Baia, which is priced closer to Holt's house brand and is expected to pull that customer back to the Bay. More than focusing on getting the right mix of house and better brands, the Bay's "big insight" is probably the significant change in how they see themselves and how they will come to the consumer in future marketing and communications. The Bay, according to Dickinson, realizes that its competition is not just Sears. That in itself is huge. The competition is all those specialty stores that focus on core competencies and execute extremely well. The Bay is striving to become everything those specialty stores represent but all under one roof. Think of Williams Sonoma, Zara, Pottery Barn and Victoria's Secret. Now think of them, minus their brand names, as departments in the Bay. There you have it. The Bay's new strategy. So what should you expect as we cruise through summer and toward that important back to school season? With the help of new ad agency John St., don't expect the story to be about back to school. That will be covered off in the flyers and support ads that will continue to be the bedrock of the Bay's advertising. Instead, expect dominant communication campaigns that let you say and feel that "The Bay gets it," and reflects your lifestyle choices; campaigns that talk to your inner shopper and get you to feel that there is a reason to come back to the Bay. Without alienating their existing customers, the Bay is about to tell you that they aren't your father's Buick. And more importantly, prove it when you come to the store. |
Getting Back to The Bay