Battle of the Brands

Features

Coffee bars' marketing plans use stale email tactics

Americans love good coffee -- but who has the fresher marketing strategy, Peet's or The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf?

Features

Vegas casinos fail at direct and online marketing

MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment on the Vegas strip are in the business of getting you to have fun, let loose and spend.

Multichannel Retail/E-commerce

Pizza heavyweights build brand affinity and vie for customer loyalty

No matter how you slice it, the experience of ordering and consuming a pizza should be fun, fast, easy and, of course, tasty. How do Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut rate?

Features

Teenage apparel retailers struggle to integrate across marketing channels

Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters use diverse direct marketing approaches to sell similarly priced apparel to teenagers and young adults.

Multichannel Retail/E-commerce

Customer loyalty strategies determine the department store champion

In addition to long-standing tenure in the retail space, Wal-Mart Stores and Sears Holdings Corp. apply a similar approach to direct marketing, including direct mail, email, social media outreach, loyalty rewards and extensive e-commerce platforms.

Multichannel Retail/E-commerce

Office supply chains apply integrated  strategies to stoke sluggish sales

Office supply chains Staples and Office Depot started the year in equally disappointing fashion.

Multichannel Retail/E-commerce

Theater titans unleash multichannel  strategies to fill seats

As the holiday movie season gears up, so do the marketing programs of theater operators AMC Entertainment and  Regal Entertainment Group — marketing strategies that have come to rely upon online sales of tickets and partnerships with online ticket vendors.

Multichannel Retail/E-commerce

Cola giants scurry to attract younger  consumers in decades-long turf war

At first glance, the marketing strategies of Coke and Pepsi — the two ubiquitous, global players that have dominated the soft drink market for decades — might appear more similar than different.

Multichannel Retail/E-commerce

Athletic apparel and equipment chains  blend digital and traditional channels

A wholly integrated approach to direct marketing and  e-commerce has elevated Sports Authority and Dick's Sporting Goods to the top of the athletic equipment leader board. Both brands offer similar multichannel approaches that include on- and offline circulars, email newsletters, social media and an e-commerce platform.

Multichannel Retail/E-commerce

Furniture titans face off with multichannel  tactics

Because of the housing crisis, it's been a challenging couple of years for home-furnishings retailers such as Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. However, business is looking up, particularly online.