Case - PRICING & MARKETING PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

Required Reading/Resources

Reingold, J., Jones, M., & Kramer, S. (2014). How to fail in business while really, really trying. Fortune, 169 (5), 80.

Lublin, J. S., & Mattioli, D. (2013, Apr 09). Penney CEO out, old boss back in. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from ProQuest.

Glazer, E., Lublin, J. S., & Mattioli, D. (2013, Apr 9). Penney backfires on ackman. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from ProQuest.

D'Innocenzio, A. (2012, January 27). J.C. Penney slashing prices on all merchandise. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-01-25/penneys-price-overhaul/52787388/1

Reingold, J. (2012, March 19). Retail's new radical. Fortune. Retrieved from http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/07/jc-penney-ron-johnson/

Mattioli, D. (2012, January 26). J.C. Penney chief thinks different. Wall Street Journal.

Mattioli, D. (2012, January 25). How J.C. Penney was minted. Wall Street Journal.

There's a lot going on at J.C. Penney these days. With a new CEO, Penney, confronted with pressing competition up, down, and sideways in the department store wars, is reinventing itself in terms of merchandising, supply, and pricing strategies. Here we will concentrate only on the pricing aspects of these new directions. However, this is ultimately about positioning; trying to find a space that is responsive to potential customers as well as differentiating the Penney brand from Target, Kohl's, Wal-Mart, and Macy's.

These articles shed additional light on the implications of Penney's new direction:

Berfield, S. (2012, May 24), Remaking J.C. Penney Without Coupons. Bloomfield Business Week.

Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-24/remaking-j-dot-c-dot-penney-without-coupons

Conte, C. (2012, March 8). Stein Mart reducing coupon use, lowering prices, Jacksonville Business Journal.

Retrieved from

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/2012/03/stein-mart-reducing-coupon-use.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_jacksonville+%28Jacksonville+Business+Journal%29
Stein Mart plans to reduce its dependence on coupons and return to the everyday low-pricing strategy it became known for, with plans to cut prices between 5% and 10% on much of its merchandise.

"We don't want our customers to think they have to use a coupon to get a better price at Stein Mart," said Jay Stein, chairman of the board and interim CEO. Girard, K. (2012, March 5). Is J.C. Penney's makeover the future of retailing? Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6944.html

Halkias, M. (2011, December 7). J.C. Penney buys stake in Martha Stewart's company. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved from http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/20111207-j.c.-penney-buys-stake-in-martha-stewarts-company.ece

Should Martha Stewart target markets or mass merchandise?

Talley, K. (2012,, January 27). Penney CEO says profits won't suffer. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204573704577184951220641144

Timberlake, C., & Townsend, M. (2012, February 28). Macy's says Martha's dance card is too full.Business Week. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-28/macys-says-martha-stewarts-dance-card-is-too-full

Case Assignment

A well-written report should have a brief introduction, headings or subheadings, and a brief concluding comment. Note that you should use some keywords as headings or subheadings such as "Johnson's pricing strategy," instead of a sentence or a question. Read and cite article listed above, supplemented with any other articles related to J.C. Penney, and develop a report addressing following issues.

1. Briefly describe Johnson's pricing strategy, also providing background on the company and department store industry.

2. Explain why Johnson's pricing strategy did not work. Support your position in terms of environmental factors such as economy, the competition, and changing consumer behavior.

3. What do you think Johnson could have done better? Take into account J.C. Penney's segmentation, positioning, and branding strategies to explain this issue.

4. Compare J.C. Penney's current pricing strategy and Johnson's pricing strategy, based on your research on the most recent situation of J.C. Penney. How do you think J.C. Penney would perform in the next five years?

Take into consideration the relationships between pricing and other aspects of the marketing effort such as a change in merchandising, logo, atmospherics, use of celebrity spokespersons, and so on.