Shoestring Shopping: Marshalls gets a brand new bag (er, tagline)

As a former erstwhile copywriter for an off-price retailer, I always get a kick out of other people's ad campaigns targeting products as "the look for less," "discount designer," or "high style at a low price."

Mostly, especially these days, it's a farcical equation: traditionally mid-priced or high-end brands trying to make themselves seem Everyman in light of the current economy, or low-end, exclusively-made-in-China retailers trying to make themselves seem chic, classy, and a great value (both of which force me to either spit up in my mouth a little and immediately change the channel, if they're egregiously fake, or, if benign, just chuckle to myself and skip, via the magic of DVR, to the continuation of my regularly scheduled mind candy programming).

Which is why I tonight was so singularly impressed with Marshalls' new campaign and tagline. Seemingly capitalizing on the transparency trend, Marshalls' creative team (or the agency they hired) has nailed in a nutshell the actual process of how true designer goods find themselves in the off-price, highly discounted market.

Here's the script of the commercial (I'll post video later if I can find it online):

[At fashion show, hard focus on thirtysomething female in the front row.]

"This is Lynn. She's a buyer for a posh shoe boutique. She wants to be the first to discover the next hot trend. So, when other buyers started eyeing this designer shoe [zoom to gold lame leather peep-toe booties with 2 1/2 " heel and trendy pleats on the vamp], she ordered more, causing them to do the same, causing Lynn to go completely overboard. Marshalls will take those expensive shoes off her hands at a ridiculously low price for their new Shoe Megashop. Her competitive nature is now your Shopportunity. It pays to be Shamelessly Shopportunistic.TM"

Now, the real truth is that the process highlighted in this 20-second spot generally takes about 18 months to come full circle in the real world, meaning that it used to be impossible (or relatively so, outside of competitive NYC and LA warehouse sample sales) to get in-style, in-season looks at real people prices. But, that's all changing, like everything else, due to technology and the speed of internet time.

Check back in mid-October for the Shoestring launch issue and our in-depth feature article on the burgeoning trend of online sample sale sites.

Until then, shop for discount designer shoe trends at Marshalls' Shoe MegaShop and enter the Marshalls "Love Affair of the Sole" $1,000 shopping spree sweepstakes.

I don't know how Kate Newlin, author of 2006's Shopportunity!, feels about the new branding, but I do know that every good Bargainista could always use another pair of shoes—especially when they're wearing that sexy red price tag emblazoned with my favorite four letter word: SALE.