MarketingInsideOut.com

Lessons learned the hard way…

1) Email lives forever.
2) When you tangle with a company that hires lawyers by the dozen, be prepared to get bit.

According to a story in the New York Times, Wal-Mart asserted in court filings that Julie Roehm and Sean Womack engaged in a sexual relationship during the agency review process and extended their visits with DraftFCB to spend more personal time together and to promote themselves to the agency as job candidates.

Wal-Mart backed up its assertions with what it said were e-mail messages sent by Ms. Roehm and Mr. Womack, both married, from their work and private accounts.

“I hate not being able to call you or write you,” Ms. Roehm wrote early last fall, according to an e-mail message Mr. Womack’s wife provided to Wal-Mart. “I think about us together all the time. Little moments like watching your face when you kiss me.”

…Wal-Mart said in the filing that Ms. Roehm and Mr. Womack had lengthy career discussions with Tony Weisman, then the global growth officer of Draft FCB, and that those discussions had tainted the agency review process. Wal-Mart also asserted that Ms. Roehm shared internal company e-mail messages with Mr. Weisman and Mr. Draft, the chief executive of Draft FCB.

Mr. Womack wrote e-mail messages to Mr. Weisman signing them “Sean and Julie” that discussed the two leaving Wal-Mart to work in a venture with Draft FCB, Wal-Mart said in its filing. In one message cited, he said they would want an equity stake and discussed timing: “What do the next 60-360 days look like for your guys? When will it be too late?” he wrote in August.

According to a Wal-Mart’s spokeswoman, the company didn’t initially intend to release all the gory details, but when Roehm sued them, all bets were off. And to make matters worse, Interpublic (the parent of DraftFCB) got pulled into it by having to provide copies of e-mail messages to Wal-Mart for the inquiry

This whole thing is embarrassing for everyone involved.

I managed to somehow wrench my back and because the only comfortable place I’ve found is my husband’s recliner, I’ve found myself watching more TV than normal. As I watched this amazing spot for the first time last night, I assumed it was for IKEA or some hip retailer.

But no. It was JCPenney. My mind raced. What? JCPenney…of the polyester Penneys? My mind could not reconcile the beautiful imagery, music and sophisticated concept of this spot in connection to the JCPenney I knew growing up.

Turns out I’m behind. I flipped back and forth during the Oscars so I never saw the new spots unveiled that evening. And I completely missed the stories about JCPenney’s rebranding efforts. Plus, since I haven’t stepped foot in a Penneys for over 20 years, I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to any news about them.

But, the spot is striking. Gorgeous. As are the other ones I found in the new “Every Day Matters” campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi…like this and this.

The new spots are magnificent. But obviously, if the shopping experience doesn’t live up to the sophisticated image portrayed in the spots, it won’t work. Or fool anyone. As AdAge’s Bob Garfield pointed out:

The hard part is having customers walk into their Anytown Mall JC Penney stores and not feel as if they’ve been totally suckered. It’s all well and good to mystify the relationship between consumers and goods with romantic imagery, but that all backfires if the mystique is instantly obliterated at point of sale. This requires more than upgrading the chain’s merchandise; it means simultaneously softening and energizing the JC Penney shopping experience — a miracle far beyond the capacity of an ad campaign.

But if indeed, they have made substantial changes in the merchandise and store experience, this campaign just might work to get shoppers to try JCPenney again.