• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

JCPenney -- still struggling to shape its financial comeback -- keeps finding unexpected ways to bring the “Yes, JCPenney” campaign to life, from Amazon’s "Thursday Night Football" to an ambitious fashion push on Substack.

Teachers -- who make up about 10% of the retailer’s customer base -- are the key ingredient.

Themed "Everyone deserves a better deal," the ads continue to push the brand identity the department store has been building for the last two years. First, style should belong to everyone. Second, JCPenney’s style is way better than most of us remember.

Teachers aren’t just likable. JCPenney recognizes that they are making fast gains as influencers, especially the sassy ones. “English teachers would never judge a book by its cover,” one spot notes. “But shoes are another story.”

The new push will also involve new layers of custom, community-centered content.   

And while a fashion/football connection might seem like a leap, it’s based on solid metrics. Marketing investments in the sport last season delivered double the return on ad spending, and the company says exposed audiences visited JCPenney at a rate about 38% higher than matched control audiences.

The "Thursday Night Football" engagement builds on last week’s introduction of “The Other September Issue,” another effort to democratize fashion. The shoppable catalog stars five educators, all from San Marcos, Texas.

Anyone expecting frump-to-fabulous makeover stories will be disappointed. Instead, the ads focus on the educators as fashion experts in their own right, using JCPenney to find clothes that express who they are, how they look at work, and how they manage plenty of pizzazz on a teacher’s salary.

The company says people can shop the entire campaign -- all eight looks, including statement sweaters and elevated athleisure -- for under $3,000.

The company is exploring the teachers’ approach to style with its first-ever pop-up Substack, no subscription required, written by fashion critic and stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson of Brain Matter.

“At JCPenney we firmly believe everyone deserves a better deal. The double meaning in that expression is intentional,” said Marisa Thalberg, executive vice president and chief customer and marketing officer at Catalyst Brands, in the announcement.

“Through this latest expression of ‘Yes, JCPenney,’ we are spotlighting some of the communities we admire most and who also exemplify our customers: teachers. We happen to think they deserve to be the cover models of magazines that inspire others... not to mention be the style icons of the classrooms they dress for every day."

The campaign will expand to other occupations. And with the launch of the “Yes Collective,” the retailer’s upcoming affiliate program, which will include associates, it’s hoping to redefine influence.

“We’re putting ‘yes’ back into people’s hands, and after years of so many people having to say, ‘no,’ we think that’s pretty powerful,” Thalberg added.

It may not be powerful enough. While some evidence suggests the “Yes, JCPenney” vibe is boosting sales in some departments, overall results are discouraging.

Retail Dive reports that JCPenney's net sales fell 8% in the second quarter, slipping to $1.3 billion, with net income tumbling 50%. But store traffic and ecommerce sales both improved.

Enrollment in its credit card and loyalty programs both saw double-digit gains. Activewear, home, jewelry, beauty and salon were strongest, it reports, with weakness in some apparel segments.