I’ve come across a press releasing from JCPenney, announcing the release of a new downloaded desktop application called JCPToday. From their press release:
AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Skinkers, T3 and WTG have collaborated on the development of a unique desktop application that is helping one of America’s largest retailers, JCPenney, reach customers in a whole new way. The application, JCPToday, is designed to enhance relationships between JCPenney and its customers by delivering sales offers, new product announcements and in-depth features directly to a computer’s desktop. The application can be downloaded from www.jcptoday.com.
In essence, they’ve created a desktop calendar that allows you to keep track of things that you have to do while being reminded of upcoming sales and seeing some of the products JCP offers.
The press release intrigued me enough to download the application, but I can’t say that I’m impressed. While I appluad JCPenney for looking for different ways to reach their customer, this application seems outdated, stinks like spyware, and is short sighted in scope.
First, the good things about it:
1. I applaud retailers when they look for non-traditional ways to reach their customers. Using any sort of technology to market a retailer is a good step, since most retailers are still relying on traditional means of print, radio, and television advertising.
2. JCPenney is trying to establish a connection with the customer, reminding them to shop the entire store. As such, the application seems to not focus on any one area of the store and really tries to drive the store home, rather than individual products. Sure, there are individual products listed here, but click around and the customer gets a feel for the range of products that the store carries.
Now, my problems with this:
1. A downloadable application? What is this, 1998? In 2007, who is still trying to reach consumers with downloadable applications. Recent report states that 1 in 5 people in the world have high speed internet access. In an age of user distrust due to adware and spyware, I can’t imagine that many people are going to jump at the chance to download another application that will sit in the background of their computer and potentially hog resources and send private information to someone else. Whether or not the application actually does this is irrelevent, this is what a lot of people would think a downloadable application like this would do.
(Note: No matter how many times they put on the website that no private data is being shared or that the application isn’t spyware, how much trust do people have in corporations to actually be honest? Probably not that much. I don’t think I’m the only person to feel this way. In fact, Angelo Mandato had to develop his own uninstall application to completely get this application off of his mom’s computer. While it may not be spyware, making it hard for a user to uninstall an application is not cool.)
2. Using PUSH-technology to send information is, literally, a one way street. We PUSH the information to you that we want you to see. In an age of web 2.0, consumer-centric communities and interactive technology, people want to interact and share information. They don’t want to be spoon fed information.
3. 1 (the downfalls of a downloadable application) + 2 (the one-way communication of said application) = 3: the people who are likely going to take the time to actually download, install, and use the program are going to be consumers who are already enthusiastic about the JCP brand. This application is going to reach out to the already converted, but won’t do much to convert new people to the JCP brand. This goes back to relying on traditional advertising methods to market the retailer.
I hate to say it, but I think that this application is a failure. I do think they have a good concept for what they want to do, but I wish they would have executed it differently. How I would have done it:
1. JCP: retailer and desktop software publisher? Instead of using the time and the resources to create a new calendanr application, I would have reached out to already existing applications in order to create a co-branded service. There’s a myriad of organizational and calendar applications, and now JCP is competiting with them. In addition to already existing desktop applications such as Outlook, iCal, and Sunbird, there are plenty of web-based services, like those developed by Google and Yahoo, as well as others like 30 Boxes, Spongecell, and Remember the Milk. JCP should have reached out and attempted to integrate their marketing message into a pre-existing service.
2. Let’s say JCP reached out to everyone and no one wanted to integrate JCP branding into their service: I still wouldn’t have gone the downloable application route. Integrate the calendar application into JCP.com and brand it there. You are keeping the user on your own site and will have so many more opportunities to make the sale than by having the user in another window in a desktop application. Make it easy for the user to purchase what they want.
3. By keeping things on the web, JCP would have an opportunity to create a real interactive user community. The other day I laid out some ideas for ways Gap Inc. could integrate their sites together, and most of them apply here. Use a blog to showcase new fashion and reach out to the customer. JCP is expanding their stores and enhancing the in-store shopping experience – but not in my area. I’d love to see more about these new features and a blog would be a great area to show things like this.
But the key to the blog is interaction. With the application JCP has created, they’re able to feature items and trends but they’re not soliciting feedback and allowing the user to create their own connection to the JCP brand. This one way communication isn’t going to fly with today’s consumer. By building a community around the blog and calendanr, they would keep people coming back and, in turn, keep people coming back to their own website.
AdWeek has an article about the launch of this application with some quotes from people behind it. They seem to see this application as a way to reach already existing customers. While I have already pointed that out and agree with that, I think that they could have easily done this in a way that could really reach out to other people who don’t already shop at JCP.
I really wanted this application to be good, but I think JCP has missed the mark. If JCP had taken the concept and altered it, only slightly, they could have a real smash hit on their hands; something that would have enhanced their brand and something that other retailers would use a case study. But instead, they have an application that will most likely be thought of as intrusive spyware and will soon be forgotten.
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