Gotta Love the Cube

And I do. But my fondness for the department is soooooo (* quintessential teen/young adult speak. It takes a little bit of practice.) outweighed by my adoration for the microsite.

Here are a couple of shots from the site, www.marshallscube.com

(Design by Sara Rubinow)

Fall Web Madness!

Mm, okay, maybe not madness. More like, say, fall web refresh. Here are some screen grabs of our ladies', men's and home department pages.

(Design by Sara Rubinow, Michelle Carlson and Emily Taylor)
(And thanks to Pope Carlos for teaching me the joys of the apple-shift-4 screen grab image selection.)

What's More Terrifying Than Halloween?

Paying too much for your costume.

Or, at least, that's what we on the Marshalls creative team would like you to believe. Here's a look at one of my favorite iterations of this year's Halloween DM. It changed to a different look and feel as the direction from brand changed, but this was some copy I was sad to see go - especially the Halloween 2007 tag line on the back.

(Design by Pope Carlos)

Huzzah for New Campaigns!

Oh Marshalls Laws, I hardly knew ye...would be a lie. I knew you only too well. I've know the agony of fitting in an event message, a savings message and a cute little quip into eight words or less. Again and again and again. You paid my bills for a long time, but there's a new game in town and we're giving you the boot.

Enter the "Shop On" campaign (as created by Mullen Advertising). It's an empowered yet playful call to shoppers of the world, encouraging them to revel in the delight of shopping and celebrate the spectacular savings at Marshalls.

To that end, here are some pages from our Men's Fall DM. It's actually much longer than this, but I've pulled out some of my favorite lines. The piece is aimed at women who need to shop for fall clothes for their husbands, boyfriends or sons. (Or all three. I'm not here to judge.) Take a little peak and don't miss the first line of the last page. A personal favorite that went over big with the brand, as well.
(Design by Pope Carlos)

Fall Fashion by Way of the British Isles

One of our concepts for the fall package this year involved shooting in London and infusing British elements into the designs for institutional signage, web, direct mail, newspaper, consumer print and tv.

Alas, said campaign was not chosen, but here are a couple of signage elements for your viewing pleasure:


















(Designs by Pope Carlos)

SXSW Interactive Conference

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this year, but I have to recommend wading through the podcasts at http://2007.sxsw.com/coverage/podcasts/ There's some excellent information up there about many of the new innovations available for advertising and marketing (see the social media and mobile podcasts) as well as the challenges they encompass (check out bridging the cultural devide.) I definitely mean to head out there next year.

Much thanks to friend and colleague Sara Rubinow, who presented an intriguing summary.

Summertime Shopping Enticement

So, here in the retail world, we live many months into the future. You are living mid-spring and we are living back to school and fall. "What's happening in the future," you ask? Tunics again. And cures for all debilitating diseases.


I'll return for a moment, though, to your time and share with you a few pages of the oh-so-lovely summer direct mail piece, as designed by the talented Miss Melody Olbrych. Bask in the glow and then give in to the urge to buy sandals. (Digression: have you actually been in to a Marshalls Shoe MegaShop, speaking of sandals? Divine. And this is coming from someone who usually has a hard time with the whole "joy of the hunt" paradigm.) Without further ado: