Sears Unveils New Marketing Campaign

Hoffman Estates, IL, May 8, 2007--Sears is hoping a new marketing approach that focuses on making an emotional connection with shoppers will help turn around its beleaguered business.The campaign, whose details were announced Monday, has the tag line: "Sears. Where it begins" and evokes the company's heritage by using the visual image of a catalog in television ads, circulars, its in-store signage and on the Sears.com Web site.

The TV ad campaign was launched this past Sunday, while the Web site will bear the new message this coming Sunday. The company's circulars won't be revamped until the winter holiday season, though the circular's front page now has the feel of a shopping book and is less cluttered, according to Gail Lavielle, a company spokeswoman.

The company decided to use the image of a catalog to recall Sears' heritage while creating a more story-like presentation, according to Maureen McGuire, chief marketing officer of Sears Holdings Corp., which operates Sears, Roebuck and Co as a wholly owned subsidiary.

McGuire told reporters that retailers have to not "only think like merchants but also think like customers." By focusing less on items and more on telling stories, surrounding such themes as laundry time and family night, Sears is hoping to get customers excited about buying that dryer or flat-screen TV at its stores.

Sears is joining a number of retailers like J.C. Penney Co. that are focusing less on pushing items and prices in ad campaigns and more on touting experiences. But the stakes are higher for Sears, as it faces mounting pressure from investors to turn around its declining sales amid fierce competition.

Last week, Sears Holdings announced that in its first quarter ended May 5, same-store sales are down at both Kmart and Sears stores due to low volumes and impacts from the slow U.S. housing market. Same-store sales are sales at stores opened at least a year and are considered the best gauge of a consumer

Sears domestic same-store sales fell 2.4 percent, primarily due to low home appliances sales. The company attributes a loss in this category to a slower U.S. housing market and increased competition.

Kmart same-store sales decreased by 4.7 percent, due to low transaction volumes in a majority of stores, according to the company.

Meanwhile the Kmart brand is getting a new mascot -- a talking light bulb called "Mr. Blue Light."

McGuire acknowledged that it is going to take a lot more than an ad campaign to bring back Sears; it requires improved merchandising assortment and customer experiences. But she said that Sears' advantage is that it already had a long-lasting relationship with its customers. Sears just has to reignite it, McGuire said.