Best Buy Zeroes in on Wal-Mart

Now that Circuit City is gone, Best Buy has another target for dominance in the consumer-electronics space. Except this time it’s Wal-Mart.

A new Best Buy ad campaign features a customer calling one of its stores about details on a television. The person is calling from a Wal-Mart. Says the Best Buy representative on the phone: “You’re obviously calling us because we’re knowledgeable. We’ve got the price match guarantee, so why don’t you come on in?”

Does Marketing Help or Hurt in a Downturn?

Two apparel retailers, Coldwater Creek and Men’s Wearhouse, have marketing strategies going forward that are as different as the clothes they sell. But both of them are putting those initiatives in place to attack a tough economic environment.

Coldwater Creek, the Sandpoint, ID-based retailer that targets women over 35, plans to cut advertising by 70%, according to this article. “We’re not going to market our way to greatness,” says Daniel Griesemer, the company’s president and CEO, stressing that Coldwater needs to focus more on fashion. “It’s got to come from an incredible product.”

Houston-based suit-seller Men’s Wearhouse is going the other route. The company is stepping up its efforts “to not only bring in new customers but to strengthen the brand as well,” said Chairman George Zimmer during a conference call.