• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 31, 2022

After months of enduring attacks on its performance from an activist investor, Kohl’s is fighting back. It’s just sent a letter to shareholders urging them to reject the “empty agenda” of Macellum Advisors, which seeks control of the retailer's board of directors.

The retailer says Macellum is looking to muscle in “with an inexperienced, unqualified slate. Six of ten nominees have never served on a public company board, and none have served on a retail company board of comparable size to Kohl’s,” it says.

Kohl’s  riticizes the investor group’s “ever-changing narrative, misinformed claims, and value-destructive proposals, all of which reveal a reckless and short-term approach that is not in the interest of driving long-term, sustainable value.”

What few ideas the investor group has presented, the retailer insists, aren’t new but are “short-term focused and likely to destroy significant value.”

Much of the letter defends the chain’s performance record. It refutes Macellum’s assertion that 2021 was a “lost year,” pointing out that the company achieved record earnings-per-share.

But while the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based retailer is playing hardball in the boardroom, the marketing team is thinking spring with a breezy, sunny new campaign.

Ads focus on updated spring looks and fanciful dresses, which the company says are meant to channel the energy and excitement of spring. The campaign, created by Yard NYC, is running on TV and digital.

The company says the spring effort is a bit of a departure, with shorter ads focused more on styles. It also uses social a little differently, with a new Pinterest Creator Lookbook. Because it believes its millennial and Gen Z customers pay close attention to fashion influencers, it’s working with such notables as Alex Michael May, Joy Green and Dacey Cash, highlighting various outfit occasions.

The company recently hosted its annual Investor Day. Greg Revelle, chief marketing officer, explained how the department store modernizes its marketing strategy and seeks new ways to engage its 65 million customers. Many of the new plans center on its loyalty program, including amped-up rewards and plans for a new co-branded credit card.

He also said the company's new Kohls Media Network, a platform for third-party ads, will be a significant revenue driver.