J.C. Penney's Latest Ad: "You've Come Back to Us...Thank You"
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J.C. Penney is continuing its manners campaign with a new ad thanking customers as it works to recover from a $4.3 billion drop in revenue last year. The new spot, uploaded to YouTube last night, follows an ad released earlier this month apologizing to customers for a disastrous year of changes.
The department-store chain, which fired former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson as CEO last month and replaced him with predecessor Myron Ullman, last week said that sales in the first quarter slid 16%, following a 20% drop last year.
J.C. Penney in the new ad flatters and appreciates customers, saying:
"At J.C. Penney, we never stop being amazed by you. How you work so hard without looking like you do. How you make every dollar stretch so far and keep your family so close. So we brought back the things you like about J.C. Penney, gave you new things to explore and now, we're happy to say, you've come back to us. We're speechless, except for two little words. Thank you."
More than 1,000 people have "liked" the spot on the retailer's Facebook page.
J.C. Penney's "thank you" might be slightly premature — there's still a lot of work for the retailer to do to regain the 25% in sales that evaporated in 2012 under Johnson. Johnson alienated the retailer's core customers by taking away sales and coupons, slashing print ads and reducing the selection of mainstay J.C. Penney brands such as St. John's Bay.
The company will report full results for the quarter on May 16, when management may provide more insight as to whether this thank-you is merited.
