Sears::: Back to school

BRAND OWNER:Sears
CATEGORY:Accessories/ Clothing/ Footwear
REGION:USA
DATE:Jun 2008 - Sep 2008


For Sears, the back-to-school (BTS) season is the only promotional period the retailer directly targets and involves younger shoppers.

Among teens Sears is rarely considered cool, so the challenge was to prove to teens that Sears had the apparel and styles to help them really "arrive" back at school.

This was to be part of a continued dialogue throughout the year, as Sears realised that you can't just talk to teens once a year and expect them to care about your brand.

Sears understood that the BTS season was incredibly important to kids, they would be seeing their friends for the first time in months and needed to make the right impression.

To generate excitement about Sears product offering and build an aspirational relationship, Sears aligned with Vanessa Hudgens, star of teen phenomenon High School Musical.

With Vanessa as brand ambassador, the strategy positioned Sears as the reference provider of the BTS looks and playground currency to impress.

Vanessa, dressed in Sears, starred in a TV commercial; series set as a musical, wearing the winning look for the 'first day' of school in the final act.

Sears' Arrive Lounge microsite was created, featuring Vaness Hudgens behind-the-scenes footage, content, opt-in mobile offer alerts, downloads and tools (video/music mash-up tool, apps to link to social networks).

Visitors registered for VIP Access Card and entered a sweepstakes to win a concert at their school with Vanessa. Card holders received weekly emails/SMS giving clues to hot items only to be found at Sears stores. When items were found, keywords were texted for a sweepstakes to get a Vanessa concert at your school.

A cross-channel sponsorship of MTV movie, “American Mall”, integrated product and aligned Sears’ partnership with Hudgens, the lead actress.

To drive traffic to “Arrive Lounge” Sears teamed up with highly trusted teen social networks and destinations: Facebook, MySpace, Seventeen, CosmoGirl, Addicting Games, FunBrain and Neopets to be part of and add value to their own customizable virtual worlds: Integrated “Arrive Lounge” into custom virtual worlds with exclusive content, videos, freebies and bespoke games for each environment; Sears virtual boutiques offering clothing, backgrounds, and animations to get ready for the new school year; Parties, Fashion events, Catwalk contests where users interact and celebrate the best of BTS fashion and Sears virtual stores offering exclusive apparel for their avatars, with online trading currency. "Intention to shop at Sears for BTS items" was up 5% among tested audience.