Filed under: Marketing and advertising

To say that American Apparel (AMEX: APP) is a unique company is like saying that Tiger Woods is a talented athlete: you’ve a CEO who receives oral sex from employees during interviews, tells reporters that his company’s CFO is a “complete loser,” and the company has taken out ads promoting its controversial views on immigrations laws. Then, just for fun, the company is being sued by Woody Allen.

But when you get past all the weirdness, you have a company that reported comparable store sales growth of 25% for July, in one of the toughest environments for retailers in recent memory.

Portfolio reports that American Apparel is making significant investments in advertising on MySpace and Facebook — social networking sites that target the young, hip demographic that is the company’s stronghold. According to comScore’s data for April, American Apparel put 483 million internet display ads — more than apparel giant Nike!

Many companies have been wary of social networking sites as outlets for ads because, as cool as the users might be, they also tend to be broke. But it’s hard to argue with 25% same store sales growth.

Shares of American Apparel are down more than 50% from where they traded as recently as December — it seems that the market just doesn’t have an appetite for a hot retail play right now.

Once you strip the kinkiness out of the American Apparel story, the stock looks cheap — the question is, how much of the market’s skepticism is justified?

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Filed under: Marketing and advertising, Walt Disney (DIS)

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about the Mouse House below in the comments.

Anyone who has ever wondered about the term “Mouse House” need only consult the slanguage dictionary of the show business bible Variety, which defines it this way: “the Walt Disney Co. or any division thereof, a reference to the company’s most famous animated character, Mickey Mouse.” Variety also refers to Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) simply as the “Mouse.”

I’ve recently rediscovered Mickey because of my nearly two-year-old son Jacob, and I’ll say that the old rodent looks pretty good. I mean he’s not in his Fantasia form, but he has the ability to still deliver the goods for the toddler crowd. Jacob probably is confused by many of the same things about Mickey and his gang as I was, such as why Donald Duck wears no pants and what sort of animal is Goofy. Those mysteries will endure until we fulfill our promise to take our son to visit Mickey’s home in Florida.

Disney deserves credit for keeping Mickey Mouse relevant for today’s children because it realizes that the character remains vital to the brand of the world’s second-largest media company. The company remains the best-run company in the sector and the only stock worth owning.

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Filed under: Industry, Consumer experience, Marketing and advertising

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Bloomies below in the comments.

If Macy’s (NYSE: M) is the crossroads of all department stores, then Bloomingdale’s is the Eastside hub of the cosmopolitan individual. At one time the old slogan, “All automobiles transfer to Bloomingdale’s,” beat Macy’s to the chase as New York City’s 58th Street subway station on the Lexington Avenue line was built in its basement in 1913.

The flagship store is located at 59th and Lex, where the surrounding affluent neighborhood used to supply most of its shoppers, particularly in the early 1970s. Even today, the fashion bonanza exhibited in its store windows draws a crowd while the gleaming black and white art deco interior lures shoppers in the door.

The department store chain has long since spread around the country, but Bloomingdale’s has remained a draw for younger professionals seeking exciting new fashion trends. It’s not surprising that at some point its hip, young clientele started affectionately calling it “Bloomies.”

The chain embraced its nickname officially in 1973 with the launching of a new intimate apparel line that featured panties branded “Bloomies.”

Growing up in the city in the 1980s, my mom and her friends would call Bloomies in advance to ask when their furniture showrooms had changed before heading downtown for ideas. My brother’s girlfriend would go to Bloomies first to learn about fashions before searching for inexpensive alternatives elsewhere.

It wasn’t until I came of shopping age that I learned that Bloomingdale’s was actually the full, official name of the store. But it will always be “Bloomies” to me.

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Filed under: Consumer experience, Television, Competitive strategy, Marketing and advertising, CBS Corp ‘B’ (CBS)

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about the Tiffany Network below in the comments.

If CBS Corp.’s (NYSE:CBS) nickname The Tiffany Network were newly coined, I’d speculate that it referred to the long history of Tiffany’s, and how the current CBS viewing public had probably begun shopping there back in the ’20s. If the company has a more recently gained nickname, it would be the silver (-haired) network, due to the skewing of its viewership toward the geezer crowd.

In reality, the Tiffany moniker hearkens back to the CBS of radio’s heyday and the early days of TV. With the likes of Edward R. Murrow reporting from London during the Blitz, Orson Wells scaring the bejebus out of listeners with his broadcast of The War of the Worlds, the hit multi-cultural comedy I Love Lucy, and the iconic western Gunsmoke, the network’s reputation for quality was once as glittering as one of Tiffany’s diamond-pavéd bracelets.

How the mighty have fallen. CBS, with debacles such as the Katie Couric news anchor stint, now lags behind Fox in weekly ratings.

The Tiffany Network is part of a large entertainment company with fingers in TV (66% of revenues), radio (remember radio?) (12%), outdoor advertising (16%), and publishing (6%). Yes, those are all very 20th century businesses. The question troubling current investors is just how the company will move into the 21st century without swapping all its diamonds for rhinestones?

The stock has bled heavily in the past year, losing around half its value, and a reduced projection for the rest of 2008 due to softening advertising sales has not inspired the market. The company continues to sell off properties such as The Sundance Channel in order to purchase back stocks and bolster its share price.

One encouraging move might be its recent acquisition of CNet Networks, a web-based media company that boasts 145 million one-of-a-kind visitors per month. However, I’d have to see more headway in 21st century initiatives before I’d jump on the CBS bandwagon. At the moment, that iconic eye looks bloodshot and presbyopic. The network that once earned Tiffany-like respect now looks more like the guy hawking “gold” necklaces from a swath of velvet laying on the sidewalk at his feet.

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Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Marketing and advertising, Whole Foods Market (WFMI)

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Whole Paycheck below in the comments.

Having long shopped at overpriced gourmet foods markets, I’ll admit to having rolled my eyes a bit — maybe even scoffed — when I first heard the beloved nickname for Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), “Whole Paycheck.” Of course, this was also when I was single and living on a dot-com boom-style income.

Today, I rarely shop at Whole Foods; there isn’t one in my neighborhood, and it’s true: it’s not difficult to spend upwards of $100 on ingredients for one meal. While there are choices on the lower end of the price spectrum, especially in the company’s 365 home brand line and seasonal produce, the grocery chain has long prided itself on providing a wide range of organic and gourmet ingredients; and if its customers demand star fruit from Brazil, stinky cheeses from around the globe, and sushi-quality tuna, by all means, Whole Foods will provide it, and won’t bat an eye about charging for its hard work.

Not surprisingly, the company is chagrined about its pricey moniker, especially in an atmosphere of rising food costs and growing discontent amongst consumers. In a current New York Times article, co-president Walter Robb was quoted as saying, “I’m getting a little exhausted of that tag around our neck. We’re a lot more competitive than people give us credit for. We challenge anyone on like items.” Whole Foods the economic choice? But what about the “Whole Paycheck” nickname? We people love our affectionate diminutives, how can we let ‘em go?

Maybe you won’t have to. After all, with prices rising all over the grocery spectrum, it could take a whole paycheck to shop just about anywhere. Walter, et al.: embrace your nickname! You’d rather have your customers signing over their paychecks to you than WalMart, wouldn’t you?

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