Trying to figure out what’s on sale when and then waiting for the next sale to buy particular items can be frustrating to consumers so J.C. Penney Co. — in its first major overhaul of its retail arm since former Apple exec Ron Johnson took over as CEO in November — is attempting to make things much easier.

The company this week announced that its stores are doing away with having seven kazillion different items on different sales simultaneously and just “marking down all of its merchandise by at least 40% so shoppers will no longer have to wait for a sale to get the lowest prices in its stores.”

The move, including the repositioning commercial above, comes as jcpenney, as the chain rebranded itself at the 2011 Oscars, is re-rebranding with a new logo — following the previous year's rebrand at the 2010 Oscars (check out the logo progression below). What was that about trying to avoid consumer confusion?Continue reading...

Eastman Kodak Company’s filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it reorganizes its business raises “the specter that the 132-year-old trailblazer could become the most storied casualty of a digital age that has whipped up a maelstrom of economic, social and technological change,” as the Associated Press (via Time.com) puts it.

“Kodak played a role in pretty much everyone’s life in the 20th century because it was the company we entrusted our most treasured possession to – our memories,” said Robert Burley, a photography professor at Toronto's Ryerson University, to the AP.

And now those memories have been co-opted by the likes of Facebook’s Timeline (which just added 60 new apps) and other online memory-keepers in an age where the business of photography has moved to digital. 

Although Kodak’s press release says, “The Company has made pioneering investments in digital and materials deposition technologies in recent years, generating approximately 75% of its revenue from digital businesses in 2011,” it was not enough to keep the venerable brand solvent.Continue reading...

The CES announcements, the patent lawsuits against Apple, HTC, Samsung and Fujifilm, the restructuring of its business operations, have all been a precursor to this: as expected, Eastman Kodak and its U.S. subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"After considering the advantages of chapter 11 at this time, the Board of Directors and the entire senior management team unanimously believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak," Kodak chairman and CEO Antonio Perez stated. "Our goal is to maximize value for stakeholders, including our employees, retirees, creditors, and pension trustees. We are also committed to working with our valued customers.

"Chapter 11 gives us the best opportunities to maximize the value in two critical parts of our technology portfolio: our digital capture patents, which are essential for a wide range of mobile and other consumer electronic devices that capture digital images and have generated over $3 billion of licensing revenues since 2003; and our breakthrough printing and deposition technologies, which give Kodak a competitive advantage in our growing digital businesses."

Kodak's restructuring website reassures consumers that it will be business as usual during the reorganization process, for which it has secured $950 million from Citigroup to maintain operations. The 131-year-old film pioneer, founded in 1880 by George Eastman, expects to complete its U.S. restructuring in 2013, while legal challenges loom over pensions in the U.K. Read the full press release below.Continue reading...

Following botched holiday web orders and a scathing media critique about the brand's strategy posted Monday on Forbes.com (title: "Why Best Buy is Going Out of Business Gradually"), Best Buy has been feeling the heat lately.

The consumer electronics retailer's CEO, Brian Dunn, today posted a frank (and rare) response on the company blog to address critics and reassure employees. Dunn apologized for the web ordering errors ("We worked to make amends with customers whose holidays were made less happy because of our mistake, and we're working diligently to make sure it doesn't happen again") and defended the company's strategy, including the need to create a seamless customer experience between physical and digital transactions.

He concluded, "we fully expect to receive our share of criticism – we’re a big company and we don’t always get everything right. But this is one of those times when I felt it was necessary not only to acknowledge our shortcomings, but to set the record straight on issues where facts are being obscured by rhetoric."

Read the embattled CEO's full letter and the responses here and tell us: Good move? Does Dunn come off as transparent or defensive?

Chattanooga is like Wolfsburg West today, with Volkswagen AG executives swarming the company’s new state-of-the-art, eco-forward assembly plant in Tennessee to celebrate the grand opening of its first assembly facility in the United States in two decades. VW is starting to make a significantly improved new Passat mid-size sedan at the plant and will begin selling the car this fall.

But the Volkswagen executives in Tennessee — and at the company’s kick-off of a new partnership with the Museum of Modern Art in New York City yesterday —also have been talking about something else that is essential to lifting their paltry 3-percent market share in the United States: a clarification and strengthening of their brand.Continue reading...

What is it worth to a Fortune 10 brand to come back off the mat in just a few years, with industry-leading brand equity, untouchable marketplace momentum and, arguably, a best-in-class product line?

Alan Mulally is about to find out. Reports are that, when Ford finally reveals its CEO’s 2010 compensation in the coming weeks, it will far exceed the industry’s previous record of $73 million, set for 1998 by then-Ford CEO Alex Trotman.Continue reading...