Amid resignation, Susan G. Komen's CEO 'still doesn't get it'

The departure of founder Nancy Brinker, along with the president and two board members, doesn't undo any damage. It adds to its seemingly never-ending PR nightmare.

She still doesn't get it. I am talking about Nancy Brinker who finally announced her resignation as CEO of the Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Also departing are the breast cancer foundation's president and two board members.

Why doesn't she get it? Because she says these resignations had nothing to do with the controversy earlier this year when Komen announced it would cut funding of Planned Parenthood. Under immense pressure, it reversed its decision.

But the damage was done. The Wall Street Journal reports that fundraising is down across the country. Certainly, a lot has to do with the way Komen mishandled the crisis.
Among other things, it did not respond to criticism, wasn't proactive in getting the good side of its story out, appeared to ignore the damage it caused, and never issued a heartfelt apology. Even now, Ragan's PR Daily reported that Komen is not addressing the leadership shakeup on its Facebook page or Twitter feeds.

So now that she is leaving, why does Brinker still not get it? It has to do with the timing of the resignation and how she is leaving.
In terms of timing, given the constant criticism over the last six months, it should have happened a long time ago. The longer she stayed, the more we were reminded of Komen's poor decision and how it was mishandled. Related to the timing, The Wall Street Journal reported, "Ms. Brinker said the changes had nothing to do with the Planned Parenthood firestorm."

Yeah, right. Four key people leave at the same time and you want us to believe it's a coincidence?
She continues to mess up Komen's image even as she leaves. Or is she really leaving? Sure, she is leaving her CEO post, but says she will assume a new position there after leadership roles are filled. Like what? Will her influence as founder hamper the new leadership?

This is a key factor for the new president and CEO to consider. If they remain in the shadow, or under the influence of Brinker, they may be doomed to failure. However, if the new officers are autonomous and Brinker stays away, they have a chance, over time, to get Komen back to its once revered status.
It will take new policies, effective outreach, organizational transparency, and an acknowledgement of past misdeeds. Only then might the replacements succeed and the true mission of Komen be realized.
The best thing Brinker can do for the organization she founded is make a clean break.

As to how she is leaving, The Wall Street Journal article noted, "Ms. Brinker said she isn't making the transition for personal reasons or at the urging of the board of directors.
"This is a time when I need to be, particularly, as visionary as possible and as outreaching as possible to people," she said.

What does she mean to be a visionary? Why does she plan on being "as outreaching as possible" (whatever that means)?

The fact that she fails to acknowledge the damage done this year is amazing.
I feel sorry for Brinker. She started a great organization for a wonderful cause, but somewhere she got lost. Unfortunately, she still hasn't found her way back.




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JC Penney Looks to Newspapers in Revamped Marketing Push

In the wake of bleak second-quarter results, JC Penney says it is shifting its marketing from brand building to business building.

During a meeting with analysts to discuss second-quarter results, CEO Ron Johnson detailed the marketing shifts that have taken place since its chief marketer and merchandiser, President Michael Francis, abruptly departed after just eight months. JC Penney "went dark" in mid-June -- the same time Mr. Francis departed -- turning off TV ads, canceling the July catalog that was already printed and scrapping July newspaper inserts, Mr. Johnson said.

The upbeat, colorful marketing--(see the spot below)--rolled out during Mr. Francis' tenure made people rethink JC Penney and was entertaining, Mr. Johnson admitted, but it didn't reach the core customer and didn't build the business. Mr. Johnson also believes the brand was spending too much money on TV and not enough on print.


"In many ways we were trying to build the brand ahead of its time, when we really needed to build the business," Mr. Johnson said.

Now, JC Penney is investing heavily in what Mr. Johnson calls "traditional traffic-driving means." The retailer has 30 newspaper inserts planned for the back half, including eight in August alone. By comparison, it ran just 11 inserts during the spring season. To free up money for those investments, the retailer is cutting back on TV.

The tone of its TV ads has also shifted, with a focus on brands, products and pricing, rather than lifestyle. For example, back-to-school themed ads highlight a variety of denim brands, as well as free haircuts for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade. Mr. Johnson called the effort a "great brand deposit" and said the retailer has already given 500,000 haircuts.

At the same time, Mr. Johnson has done away with the confusing three-tiered pricing strategy in favor of a two-tiered system that consists of everyday low prices and clearance items. That strategy has tested well in focus groups in the last 30 days. September TV spots will highlight the changes.
Already, the new marketing and pricing are having an impact, Mr. Johnson says. In the past two quarters, when JC Penney cycled highly promotional time periods, traffic dipped between 14% and 20%. In the first 10 days the new marketing approach was in effect, traffic was down 7%, a "dramatic" improvement, Mr. Johnson said.

"Clearly, our new marketing, our new message is getting through," Mr. Johnson said. "We have more traffic in our stores. People are buying more, and we're encouraged by that."
The retailer reported a second-quarter loss of $147 million, which compares with net income of $14 million a year ago. Sales slid 23% to $3 billion, the lowest quarterly sales since at least 1989, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Comparable-store sales fell 22% in the quarter while internet sales plummeted 33% to $220 million. Mr. Johnson told analysts gathered in New York this morning that the retailer would not meet its profit forecast for 2012. The retailer did not provide a new projection.
Despite the poor results, Mr. Johnson sought to put a positive spin on the news, telling analysts he is "completely convinced" the transformation is on track.
"It's very clear that withdrawing from our promotional model to a more everyday model has been harder than we anticipated," Mr. Johnson said. "But it doesn't change our conviction that the promotional model had run its course, and that we have a far better path forward."
Mr. Johnson also spent time discussing his plans for becoming a specialty department store, an "entirely new class of department store that doesn't exist today." He outlined plans to overhaul the retailer's technology platforms, as well as introduce a new store design.

Within a month, all stores will have Wi-Fi networks, and all stores will have some level of mobile point-of-sale this fall. By spring 2013, all employees on the floor will carry an iPad used to check out customers, view stock information and store layouts. Next spring, the retailer also plans to roll out self check-out.

A new store prototype is expected in fall 2013. Mr. Johnson said the site has already been selected and his team is working with the developer. The store will mimic a traditional mall with 100 shops, including branded shops and category-specific shops. It will also include The Street and The Square.

Mr. Johnson called the pair a "new retail interface." He envisions The Street as a place to relax and refresh, featuring places to eat and drink, as well as tables with built-in iPads for surfing the internet. The Square will be a seasonal space, featuring holiday decor and Santa during the Christmas season, for example.

"As I learned from Steve [Jobs] at Apple,the way you change the customer experience, it all starts with the interface," Mr. Johnson said.

Magazines Sell More Digital Copies But Tumble Again at Newsstands

Magazines' single-copy sales in the first half of 2012 fell 9.6% from a year earlier, according to the latest semi-annual circulation report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Every Day With Rachael Ray fell short of its guarantee to advertisers.

That's roughly equivalent to magazines' performance in the second half of last year, when single-copy sales dropped 10%, and continues a lengthy series of downbeat reports from one of magazines' main fronts with consumers.

Many publishers likely made up for the lost circulation by pouring cheap subscription offers into the mail, hurting their bottom lines in the short term at a minimum. And indeed, magazines' overall paid and verified circulation wound up holding steady in the first six months of this year -- slipping 0.1% from the first half of 2011 -- as paid subscriptions rose 1.1%, according to the audit bureau's report.
Subscriptions are the largest component of magazine circulation. Digital sales continued to grow quickly in the first half but remain the smallest piece of magazines' business by far: about 1.7% of total circulation now, up from less than 1% a year earlier, the audit bureau said.

Some magazines are succeeding at newsstands. Hearst's Food Network Magazine, for example, increased its single-copy sales by 17.8% from the first half of 2011, according to its report with the audit bureau. Rodale's Prevention grew single-copy sales 7% in the half, the magazine's second consecutive period of newsstand growth. And Conde Nast's Bon Appetit increased average newsstand sales by 20.5% from the period a year ago.

And there were other signs of improvement for others. Glamour's single-copy sales declined 8% across the first half but grew 5% in the period from March through June, Glamour said, after a redesign that arrived with the March issue.

Newsstand atrophy, however, was common in the first half. Single-copy sales fell 32% at Money magazine and by more than 20% at magazines including Shape, Parents, Every Day With Rachael Ray, Brides, Weight Watchers, Penthouse, ESPN The Magazine, Elle, Maxim and The Economist.
Every Day With Rachael Ray, which Meredith bought from Reader's Digest Association last year, fell short on some issues of the overall circulation it promised advertisers. Meredith said it has only recently begun "fine-tuning" the editorial product under new Editor-in-Chief Lauren Purcell, who began on Jan. 9. "We are already seeing good response to new direct-mail efforts reflecting enhanced editorial," a company spokesman said.

Conde Nast saw newsstand sales fall 12.1% but held overall paid circulation steady, notching a 0.5% gain, according to the company. Hearst's newsstand sales fell 8.7% while overall circulation -- excluding the fledgling, growing HGTV magazine -- slipped just 0.8%. At Rodale, single-copy sales declined 5.6% and total paid and verified circulation grew 1.5%.