What do JC Penney and Target have in Common?

I have told anyone who would listen how impressed I have been with the way JC Penney has repositioned itself in the market.  After all, I'm a sale shopper and Penney's recent ads have portrayed, among other things, how crazy it is to get up at 4 a.m. to get in line for a sale that doesn't start until 9 a.m.  Their television commercial delivers the message, stay in bed and sleep, prices are the same low price at JC Penney every day. The fair and square campaign certainly has my attention.

Who doesn't love Target?  Before ad agency Peterson Miller Hooks (PMH) took the reigns twenty years ago, probably not many people knew anything about Target, much less loved them. PMH delivered one great campaign after another, but it all started with 1999's Sign of the Times campaign.  You started seeing the bulls-eye everywhere, especially on the white dog!

Last May, PMH and Target parted ways.  Target CMO Michael Francis ended up at JC Penney.  What's the first thing Mr. Francis did?  Hired PMH of course!  So, what do JC Penney and Target have in common?  Ad agency Peterson Miller Hooks.  If the current JC Penney advertistements are any indication of what's to come, it looks as though JC Penney's repositioning will be every bit as successful as the repositioning of Target in the late 90's.