This is good stuff. Hat tip to reader Christopher for the find. Note the success of the appliance division. Three consecutive quarters of market share growth.
Bill Kiss, the divisional vice president of marketing planning and program development at Sears Holdings talks about today’s challenges.
PROMO: How have you positioned the Sears brand to deal with this economy?
KISS: We really think we struck a chord with the new tag line by being very mindful of the economic condition, but in an inspiring way. We think the tag line builds off our brand equities. Even in today’s economy, people have dreams for a better life. We think that’s where we can intersect and not just be the low priced guy out there.
P: What is the most effective type of promotion you use to get people into stores?
K: It’s getting at that value proposition within the different categories and understanding what that customer driver is and making sure we deliver against it to get customers in the door. At the end of the day we think that’s the richer way of getting people in stores.
P: Can you offer an example?
K: In home appliances we’re price matching and we have brag statements. We just bought Bosch and their line of refrigerators and we’re doing a presale online before it hits the store. We’re using multiple executions against that, but TV is probably one of the most powerful ways of getting that message out there.P: How has you Blue Appliance Crew campaign working?
K: About the time the Blue Appliance Crew TV spots began, we started seeing results and we have reported our third consecutive quarter where we have taken market share. It’s beyond just what is the price and what is the product. It’s a more engaging story told in an interesting way to get people to engage in the experience.P: What is the most effective type of promotion you use to drive people online?
K: Static banner ads are yesterday. Coming up with engaging interesting things in digital advertising is the most compelling way to draw people into the franchise. We test multiple messages and that’s the beauty of online. On one end of the spectrum we may go with a price and product static ad and at the other end something very visually stimulating, like the Sears Blue Appliance Crew waving you in or rich video that was part of the commercial campaign. Something disruptive to catch your eye, then pull you in and then draw out the proof points of the campaign. That’s an emerging best practices of ours we think works.P: What are your top methods for determining marketing ROI?
K: It does depend on the vehicle. When you have direct mail, we know who you are and can track you in a wide range from voice of customer to actual results. When we do research or when we get customer feedback we take that into consideration. Everything comes down to how she behaves and how does that translate into sales in store and online.P: Have the demographics of the audience you target changed at all?
K: We have a clear understanding of who our target is, but we’re describing them as today’s American family, whose focus is on home and family. Being able to articulate that with a robust description that the entire organization can rally around we think is power. It hasn’t changed all that significantly, but this is our way of expressing our customer.P: What is Sears’ position on social marketing?
K: We do have an appetite for the social marketing space because it’s customer centric. There’s great conversation out there and we’re looking for meaningful ways to engage. We have the Sears2go capability that allows people to buy off their mobile phones and then pick up at the store. All these things are what customers are showing us. If they’re on the phone, how can we be there too?P: When talking about marketing the Sears brand today, what have been the biggest challenges?
K: It is really about how do we adapt and be nimble and quick. That’s been the challenge. How do we listen and react in our messages and promotions to make sure we are really relevant.P: What keeps you up at night?
K: If you really want to stay in lockstep with your customer, it’s about understanding our customer and how do we move fast enough to respond. It’s read and react. If there’s something that’s pressuring them, how do we as an organization respond? During the last holiday season, Kmart had a phenomenal success with layaway. Part of the strategy was we came out with it early and based on that success we knew that something had broken through with the customer. We quickly adapted that program at Sears and brought it to life. What’s the next mouse trap? That’s what keeps us up at night as marketing leadership.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):