JCPenney: Digital transformations

With the growth of mobile technology and social media, JCPenney has experienced a number of digital transformations. But they have also dealt with their fair share of digital hiccups, especially in the last year. Chapter 9 of Branded! by Bernie Brennan and Lori Schafer provides an in-depth case study of the digital strides JCPenney has made within the past decade.

JCPenney has always been viewed as a dependable, fashion-forward, traditional retailer. Before 2008, the brand was also well-known for their "big book" paper catalogs and weekly newspaper inserts. The company made the cost-effective decision to discontinue the production of their "big book" and cut back on their number of printed newspaper inserts in order to make a shift toward digital communication. As a result, the company became a leader in digital retailing through interactive websites, social customer service and mobile e-commerce applications.

However, since these rebranding efforts, JCPenney has faced a few digital challenges. For example, in 2012, new CEO Ron Johnson chose to target wealthier consumers and abandon the store's regular sales and coupons, which resulted in a loss of nearly one-third of the retailer's customers and a lot of social media backlash. For a company that had previously been so focused on improving their customers' shopping experiences, they lost sight of what was important to their customers and their brand's success.

When they realized how upset many of their customers were, JCPenney brought back previous CEO Mike Ullman and launched a new advertising and social media campaign:

The company plastered #jcplistens all over their social platforms in an effort to reassure customers that JCPenney was listening to what they had to say. The company owned up to their mistakes and welcomed customers back into the store they had known and loved for so long. Some customers were receptive to the advertisement and accepted the retailer's public apology, but many felt that the damage could not be undone.

The retailer experienced another social media setback during the 2014 Super Bowl. The brand's real-time marketing attempt involved sending out a number of misspelled tweets, leaving many Twitter users wondering if JCPenney's social media director was drunk or ill. Twitter followers responded to the tweets puzzled, but eventually the brand issued their big reveal:

#TweetingWithMittens was not as clever as the brand had hoped. The stunt lacked clarity and appeared to be more of a crisis than a marketing scheme.

At the time Branded! was written, JCPenney was widely respected as a leader in digital communication among retail brands. However, recent social media challenges have tarnished JCPenney's digital brand, and I think it will take time, commitment and innovation from the company to restore the digital image they once had.