eBay Fashion : the branded stores from eBay

eBay told analysts in February, it would launch branded outlet stores on eBay.com later this year, and it provided more information about the shops on Thursday. eBay will launch the Outlet Stores on September 19 and will include Neiman Marcus Last Call, William Rast, Spanx, Fila, Timberland, Brooks Brothers, Bluefly and Custo Barcelona.

eBay said it is working with designers, brands, and retailers "to bring an incredible selection of authentic merchandise to the world's largest online marketplace at compelling price points typically found in bricks and mortar outlet centers."

The eBay Fashion Outlet will be housed in a hub with all of the participating brands and will have its own experience. Shoppers will be able to shop across brands (via "Browse by Brand" box). Via the fashion outlet search results pages, you will be shop across merchandise categories.

Consumer will still be able to search for brands in the main search box even if they are not searching in the outlet hub, according to an eBay spokesperson.

eBay said the outlets would offer a differentiated shopping experience leveraging eBay Creative Director Andrea Linett's trend expertise and personal shopping guidance to editorialize and evolve the consumer experience.

eBay's spokesperson explained that within the Outlet environment, there will be editorial curation similar to how eBay currently editorializes its Fashion homepage. "We are making sure to feature the brands who are on board and offer styling inspiration and tips through our creative director, Andrea Linett."

eBay pitched large brands on the outlets, telling them they could use eBay Outlets to drive incremental sales and extend their reach to outlet shoppers.

The eBay Fashion Outlet will feature both women and men's merchandise, including apparel, handbags, denim and shoes, with a target audience of 25-44 year old female shopping enthusiasts.

eBay launched its UK fashion Outlet in April 2010, which now hosts over 30 high street brands, including Superdry, Ted Baker, Karen Millen, L.K. Bennett, House of Fraser, Schuh, Dune, Office and Kookai. eBay Germany has 26 branded apparel shops featuring merchandise of nearly 120 brands, including Eastpak, Fila, Speedo and Triumph.

Equinox new acquisition

Equinox and The Sports Club Company, each a brand leader in the fitness and healthy lifestyle categories, have announced that Equinox plans to acquire the assets of The Sports Club Company and its four trophy The Sports Club/LA properties located in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Orange County and New York's Rockefeller Center. The Sports Club/LA clubs in Boston, Miami, San Francisco, New York on the Upper East Side and Washington D.C., as well as Reebok Sports Club/NY are not affected by this acquisition and continue to be owned and operated by Millennium Partners Sports Club Management as they have since 2006.  With the addition of these four prestigious The Sports Club/LA properties, Equinox will operate 56 clubs in the top eight US markets.

Equinox and The Sports Club Company share similar visions of providing their members with a world-class fitness lifestyle experience.  Both companies are known for their commitment to lifestyle, service, and fitness programming, and have a passionate following among dedicated upscale consumers. The companies' respective members have similar demographic and psychographic profiles and both foster fiercely loyal clientele who are passionate about their brands.

This planned acquisition will result in an expanded footprint in the two largest Equinox markets, New York and Los Angeles.  The Sports Club Company has built a significant business by creating and fostering a service-driven company targeted at high-end and discerning clientele.  Equinox will leverage its expertise in design, innovation, programming and operations to evolve The Sports Club Company offering while maintaining the strong service heritage of the brand.  

"Equinox is excited to be acquiring these four prestigious clubs to further grow our portfolio of trophy properties in LA and New York," says Harvey Spevak, CEO, Equinox. "Since its inception 20 years ago, Equinox has been widely recognized for being an industry innovator and for delivering an unparalleled member experience. We see natural synergies as a result of this planned acquisition and are looking forward to integrating our two companies to better serve our respective members."

As part of the acquisition, Equinox will transition these clubs to the Equinox brand over the next six months and plans to enhance all four clubs with a multi-million dollar investment.  

ZARA founder step down as chairman

Amancio Ortega, the richest man in Spain and founder of Zara, is stepping down from his post as Chairman of Zara’s parent company Inditex, as announced at a company meeting this week, according to The Guardian. He founded the company with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera in the early 1970s and has been at the helm ever since. Though Zara is Inditex’s most recognizable brand, the corporation owns over 100 textile companies.

Ortega is definitely seen as the tough powerhouse behind the world’s biggest retailer – and his modest background on the ground floor of retail has definitely helped shape that. Ortega dropped out of school at 13, sold shirts in a store, then starting selling his own bathrobes, and eventually began selling his wife’s designs in a store that started the Zara empire.

Though he’s stepping down, Ortega still retains 59.3 percent of the company’s shares – which is how he’s worth an estimated $31 billion, making him the 7th wealthiest person in the world. His ex-wife Mera still owns 7 percent, so she’s worth a cool $3 billion herself. Pablo Isla, a 47-year-old managing director at Inditex since 2005, is taking over Ortega’s job.

Why’s Ortega stepping down? Well, for one, he’s 75. Two, he’s obsessed with keeping out of the public eye – he’s never given an official interview to the media. In that case, it looks like our only way to understand Ortega’s departure is to guess.

David Jones new brand campaign

David Jones has revealed a new positioning strap line to underpin a campaign to promote 60 new labels joining its stores from August 1.

The new brand campaign is anchored on the strap line: Was. Is. Always. David Jones.

The company said in a statement the phrase is an extension of the Company's 'Home of Brands' strategy and its position "as the premier department store in Australia".

"In other words," explains the company, "David Jones: Was like no other. Is like no other. Always will be like no other store."

The campaign, shot in Palm Springs, "is designed to entice consumers with freshness and newness".

The campaign also includes footage from the best of David Jones' archives, which leverages David Jones' heritage and positioning as the fashion authority in Australian retailing.
To support the new campaign and to further enhance David Jones' world class brand portfolio, the Company is introducing 60 new brands into its business. These brands are a combination of Australian and international designers and brands across the company's most popular categories and are in addition to the 30 new brands announced by David Jones in January 2011.

Read the full list of brands here.

Said CEO Paul Zahra said: "Our focus is on introducing freshness and newness into our business. Given current consumer sentiment, this season is the perfect time to inspire customers to shop with us by investing in our brand and our brand portfolio.

"Australian consumers are fashion savvy and online technology has enabled greater and faster brand awareness. This is a great opportunity for us to reinforce David Jones' position as Australia's fashion authority through our new brand campaign and by continually updating our brand portfolio to ensure we offer the best national and international brands. I am pleased to report that we have introduced 90 new and exciting brands into our business this year alone."

The new brand campaign and the 60 new brands coincides with David Jones' Spring/Summer 2011 Collections launch next Wednesday 3 August which sees the return of Miranda
Kerr on the runway and features the trends, colours and styles for the new season.

David Jones group executive fashion and beauty Sacha Laing said: "The new brands announced today are particularly exciting because they range across our most popular categories and will collectively appeal to a broad spectrum of our customers.

"We will launch iconic international brands Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, Hugo Boss Women, Hackett London, GUCCI jewellery, YSL jewellery and new international designer brands such as Victoria Beckham, Lucy in Disguise by Lilly Allen and Kardashian Kollection.

We are also launching premium Australian designer brands such as Lover, Bassike, Carl Kapp, Flannel, Little Joe, Megan Park, Rachel Ruddick, Lucette and other notable Australian brands such as Dosh, Cheddar Pocket, Status Anxiety and Curtis Stone Cookware," Laing said.

The new David Jones branding campaign will be unveiled at David Jones' Spring Summer 2011 Fashion launch on August 3. The campaign will then launch across the month in print, online and outdoor media.

David Jones has revealed a new positioning strap line to underpin a campaign to promote 60 new labels joining its stores from August 1.

The new brand campaign is anchored on the strap line: Was. Is. Always. David Jones.

The company said in a statement the phrase is an extension of the Company's 'Home of Brands' strategy and its position "as the premier department store in Australia".

"In other words," explains the company, "David Jones: Was like no other. Is like no other. Always will be like no other store."

The campaign, shot in Palm Springs, "is designed to entice consumers with freshness and newness".

The campaign also includes footage from the best of David Jones' archives, which leverages David Jones' heritage and positioning as the fashion authority in Australian retailing.
To support the new campaign and to further enhance David Jones' world class brand portfolio, the Company is introducing 60 new brands into its business. These brands are a combination of Australian and international designers and brands across the company's most popular categories and are in addition to the 30 new brands announced by David Jones in January 2011.

Read the full list of brands here.

Said CEO Paul Zahra said: "Our focus is on introducing freshness and newness into our business. Given current consumer sentiment, this season is the perfect time to inspire customers to shop with us by investing in our brand and our brand portfolio.

"Australian consumers are fashion savvy and online technology has enabled greater and faster brand awareness. This is a great opportunity for us to reinforce David Jones' position as Australia's fashion authority through our new brand campaign and by continually updating our brand portfolio to ensure we offer the best national and international brands. I am pleased to report that we have introduced 90 new and exciting brands into our business this year alone."

The new brand campaign and the 60 new brands coincides with David Jones' Spring/Summer 2011 Collections launch next Wednesday 3 August which sees the return of Miranda
Kerr on the runway and features the trends, colours and styles for the new season.

David Jones group executive fashion and beauty Sacha Laing said: "The new brands announced today are particularly exciting because they range across our most popular categories and will collectively appeal to a broad spectrum of our customers.

"We will launch iconic international brands Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, Hugo Boss Women, Hackett London, GUCCI jewellery, YSL jewellery and new international designer brands such as Victoria Beckham, Lucy in Disguise by Lilly Allen and Kardashian Kollection.

We are also launching premium Australian designer brands such as Lover, Bassike, Carl Kapp, Flannel, Little Joe, Megan Park, Rachel Ruddick, Lucette and other notable Australian brands such as Dosh, Cheddar Pocket, Status Anxiety and Curtis Stone Cookware," Laing said.

The new David Jones branding campaign will be unveiled at David Jones' Spring Summer 2011 Fashion launch on August 3. The campaign will then launch across the month in print, online and outdoor media.

English politician against Julia Roberts

Member of English parliament are increasing pressure on the advertising watchdog to ban campaigns featuring airbrushed images if they are found to be ’socially irresponsible’, after two L’Oreal ads were withdrawn for using ’misleading’ images of model Christy Turlington and actress Julia Roberts.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the ads for the L’Oreal owned Maybelline and Lancome make-up brands should not run in future after receiving complaints from Jo Swinson MP.

Swinson was acting on behalf of the anti-airbrushing ’Campaign for Body Confidence’, which she co-founded last year with fellow Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone, who has since become equalities minister.

The ASA agreed with Swinson that both ads misled consumers on the effects of the foundation make-up products they were promoting because the images of Turlington, for Maybelline, and Roberts, for Lancome, had been ’digitally manipulated’.

“This ruling demonstrates that the advertising regulator is acknowledging the dishonest and misleading nature of excessive retouching,” says Swinson.

“Excessive airbrushing and digital manipulation techniques have become the norm, but both Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts are naturally beautiful women who don’t need retouching to look great. This ban sends a powerful message to advertisers - let’s get back to reality,” she adds.

In its defence, L’Oreal admitted that the Maybelline ad did use “post production techniques” but the image “accurately illustrated the results the product could achieve”.

The campaign, which has broad support from experts and organsiations including feminist academic and writer Dr Susie Orbach and online community Mumsnet, has given a dossier of evidence to the ASA which it claims prove links between airbrushed ideal images of men and women and mental health disorders such as depression and anorexia, particularly among young people.

However, a spokesman for advertising rules CAP and BCAP says the evidence of a causal link has not yet been proven.

The ASA issued guidance to brands on the use of airbrushing in April. L’Oreal has had previous ads banned for airbrushing including a 2007 campaign starring Penelope Cruz.


YouGov Insight:
Health and Beauty Retailers

• Boots has the highest purchase penetration in healthcare (48%), toiletries (43%) and cosmetics, fragrance and skincare (29%), confirming its dominant presence in these categories.
• Superdrug achieves its highest purchase penetration in toiletries (28%) and is relatively strong in cosmetics, fragrance and skincare (12%)
• Multiple and independent chemists are relatively strong in healthcare as both achieve 20% purchase penetration, but both are weak in toiletries and cosmetics, fragrance and skincare
• 10% of adults buy cosmetics, fragrances and skincare from beauty specialists.

Wal-Mart offers video streaming

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is now renting and streaming movies online, many the same day they come out on DVD, in a second bid for a share of popular movie rental and streaming website Netflix Inc.'s business.

The world's largest retailer bought video-streaming service Vudu.com 18 months ago and Tuesday started offering 20,000 titles that can be viewed on almost any device with Internet access, from PCs to televisions to Sony's PlayStation3 and other Blu-Ray disc players.

Movies are available at Walmart.com to rent for $1 to $5.99 or to purchase for $4.99 and up.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has tested the movie-rental waters before. It previously offered a DVD-by-mail service but it stopped that service in February 2010.

Tag Heuer : Now at Las Vegas

Leading Swiss luxury watch brand TAG Heuer just celebrated the opening of its first North American lifestyle boutique, located within Las Vegas' most prestigious shopping destination, Crystals at CityCenter. Bringing all TAG Heuer-branded products together under one stylish roof, the opening marks the first freestanding retail foray in the U.S. for the firm, which has more than 100 freestanding boutiques in major cities around the world, including Sydney, Melbourne, Shanghai, Prague, Kuala Lampur and Paris.

The chic, modern 800-square-foot space’s main offering is of course timepieces, including boutique-exclusive and limited-edition product not available anywhere else in the U.S. It also houses TAG Heuer fashion items ranging from beautifully crafted, vintage stainless steel cufflinks to the brand's technologically advanced eyewear and fine leathergoods. The boutique was designed by renowned architect Eric Carlson.

Below is the interior of the shop.

TAG Heuer recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. Its origins go back to a Swiss shoemaker's son named Edouard Heuer who made the decision to "turn his life over to the conquest and calibration of the passing hours, minutes, seconds and fractions of seconds; marking their passage with the tiny incremental movements of the blued steel hand of a chronograph against the crisp white enamel dial of the pocket watch." In 1882 Heuer introduced his first chronograph, setting a benchmark for extreme accuracy.

A Wal-Mart Brand for the Ages

So, do you fancy yourself as an expert on branding? You should have no problem with the following question, then. What's the biggest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand in America?

The answer isn't Coke, Gillette or J&J - it's Great Value, Wal-Mart's own-label range. Thanks to its presence in every one of Wal-Mart's 4100 US stores, and the fact that more than 5000 stock-keeping units are sold under the Great Value label, it is the biggest grocery brand in the US by both sales and volume.

And it's about to get a lot better.

Wal-Mart has announced the conclusion of a year-long project to improve the appeal of its own-label line. The world's biggest retailer doesn't do anything on a small scale, and has conducted 2700 consumer tests to guide the overhaul. The result is a range of product introductions, improved formulations and fresh packaging.

It's a massive strategic operation, but one that was long overdue. Own-label success has never been one of the items on Wal-Mart's astonishing list of achievements. Currently, only 16% of its sales come from this area. That's well behind other US food retailers such as Krogers and Safeway, which attribute about a quarter of their sales to own-label products. It's even punier when contrasted with Tesco, which earns half its sales from own-label, and Aldi, where the figure is 94%.

That's why Wal-Mart, which typically hires from within, went outside the company and country last year to recruit Jack Sinclair, a Scottish marketer with Safeway and Tesco experience, to oversee the overhaul.

Traditionally, US consumers have exhibited greater manufacturer-brand loyalty than Europeans. Own-label sales in the US have consequently been limited to a national penetration of less than 20%. However, a slew of recent data now suggests that the global credit crunch is eroding US brand relationships in favour of own-label goods. According to market research group GfK, three out of 10 US shoppers are now 'buying more store-brand products' than they did a year ago, and 75% cite 'current economic conditions' as playing a big role in this decision. Nielsen says sales of own-label goods rose by 10% in 2008, a trend likely to increase this year.

Wal-Mart is also now better placed to offer a strong own-label line thanks to the recent successful revitalisation of its corporate brand. After years of exclusively communicating its low prices to consumers, the retailer has changed emphasis onto what those prices enable the US family to achieve. This subtle shift in positioning has enabled Wal-Mart to offer Great Value as more than simply a range of cheap, commodity products - they are equivalent-quality products which represent Wal-Mart's commitment to helping families.

Aside from brand differentiation, an improved Great Value also carries the more traditional own-label benefits. Despite lower prices, the reduced production costs and zero marketing expense of Great Value mean it will always deliver more profit per unit to Wal-Mart than the equivalent manufacturer brands. And as the penetration and market share of Great Value increase, the space and sales available to manufacturer brands are reduced, and Wal-Mart's already legendary bargaining position with suppliers is strengthened.

Too many people incorrectly call the past decade the 'age of private label'. The one that's coming will make that seem a very gentle introduction, and Wal-Mart will be in the vanguard of the 'great value decade' ahead.

Microsoft to Open Retail Stores in Fall

Microsoft confirmed Tuesday that the company had signed two leases, where Microsoft will open retail stores this fall, reported CNET.Microsoft will be opening the new stores around the same time that the company releases its new operating system, Microsoft 7, which is due out on October 22, reported CNET. The company said that retail stores would open in close proximity to Apple stores, in an