• WSJ (paid subscription required), Tuesday, February 7, 2006 12 PM

Retailer J.C. Penney is embarking on one of the most extensive (and expensive) marketing campaigns in the company's 103-year-history.  The lynchpin of the effort is a 15,000-square-foot temporary store in New York's Times Square that will highlight the store's new apparel and home-furnishing brands.  A new advertising campaign is also planned that will make its debut on the Academy Awards telecast in early March. The TV spots will be available for Web replay on America Online and Yahoo, where users will be able to click and buy the merchandise shown in the ads. In addition, a print campaign will follow in April issues of several magazines, including Vogue and Cosmopolitan. With the new campaign, "we're trying to motivate new customers, and show that we're now more relevant," says Penney Chief Executive Myron "Mike" Ullman. "If you haven't been here in a while, we want you to know that something's changed."

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