When you’re having a mid-life crisis, it’s best not to advertise the
fact. Yet that is precisely what David Jones decided to do on the weekend.
The distinguished department store, now a sprightly 178 years of age, is
publicly flirting with the bright young thing in the office, the adolescent and
extremely attractive creature known as online retail; current darling of the
tabloids. Clearly infatuated, DJ’s has expressed its desire to make whoopee
together, beginning with a mea culpa that profits are plummeting and hinting
that the jilted missus, the dreary old women in black, are to blame for not
offering the services expected of them. Adding to the embarrassment came
Saturday’s list of seven promises, with David Jones sounding like an errant
husband at a counseling session.
Whether these promises carry any more weight than a Labor Party
pre-election commitment remains to be seen, but they don’t offer any enthralling
insights. Condensed into one simple sentence, the copy might just as well read:
“our promise is to be all things to all people because we don’t know who we are.”
Even Miranda Kerr looks like she’s not quite sure what the point of the ad is.
“Do you want sexy, or serious?” you can almost hear her saying to the hapless
creatives. Even her choice of wardrobe (one shoulder covered, the other bare)
hints at compromise.
Which is not surprising. David Jones’ real problem isn’t anything to do
with online retail and better in-store service – these things are taken for
granted by today’s consumers – but rather a crisis of identity that department
stores the world over have confronted in a variety of ways. David Jones have no
idea what their positioning should be, as is evidenced by their tag-line; the quasi-existentialist
“Is.Was.Always” – a phrase devoid of allure, excitement, purpose or creativity.
This is a planner’s phrase, cobbled together the morning after a depressing focus
group: “oh, we musn’t forget our heritage, but we’ve also got to be up-to-date,
oh, and, er future focused as well.”
Compare it to “there’s no other store like David Jones,” a slogan that
apart from scanning well to a pretty tune was full of promise and a sense of
magic and occasion. Why on earth they ditched it (let me guess – they changed
ad agency?) is beyond me. Or was it simply because the old boy, seduced by the
exotic allure of the internet, realized that “there’s no other omni channel
retailer like David Jones” didn’t quite work.
“Omni channel retailer” is the ominous-sounding concept CEO Paul Zahra
is currently spruiking. The term, much like the navel-gazing strapline, is an
advertising planner’s wet dream; all things to all people. Based on the U.S.
retailer Nordstrom’s strategy, it offers an accountants way out of the current
problems rather than a creative one.
David Jones problem is simple. They need to attract lots more people
into their stores. To do so, they have to generate excitement about what’s in
there. Get that right – Zahra himself admitted that online works best when there’s
a store nearby - and everything else will fall into place, with or without the
“promises.”
David Jones needs to get creative. In their marketing and in their
stores. Being creative means being single-minded and taking risks by breaking
new ground.
House of Fraser, Harvey Nichols and even Selfridges in London are all
similar department stores to David Jones (in one way or another), and all have
boldly tackled the same problems.
Last year, House of Fraser challenged Mary Portas – a celebrity “secret
shopper” and harsh critic of department stores in general - to create her ideal
store and gave her an entire floor to do with as she pleased; turning it into a
reality TV show at the same time. “There's only one
rule in my shop: it's not for girls, it's for women," she announced in a
move that would terrify the timid marketers of David Jones. (“Bye bye Miranda?
Never!”)
Harvey Nichols went in the opposite direction, releasing a
controversial TV ad that highlighted the “walk of shame” – when girls come home
in the clothes they wore out the night before. In other words: “Keen on
promiscuity, hedonism and guilt-free shagging? Are we the shop for you!” Now
that’s an insight guaranteed to stimulate the target audience. Meanwhile, the
faceless board of David Jones, when confronted with their own headline-grabbing
real-life sexual assault case, ran like nervous nellies and hid under the
bedclothes.
Selfridges, who have remained masters of the ever-evolving
department store, have grabbed the “heritage” tag and done something genuinely
creative with it; a new “Downton Abbey” - era TV drama called Mr. Selfridge is
currently in production.
David Jones needs to get over it’s mid-life crisis and get
creative. Quickly.
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