Have you seen the news SEARS ad campaign yet? The series has a new tag line "SEARS: Where it begins" and the commercials are cool. "Chapters" features a woman in her kitchen trying to decide what she wants it to look like. She gazes intently at an appliance then turns its corner, and viola! As simply as turning the page of a book, she has a new appliance. It's like her kitchen is one big catalog.
And then there are the commercials that feature ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky". These spots make us want to run right out and buy new appliances. The visual is terrific, but it's the music that hooks us in. Us and every other Gen Xer and Baby Boomer -- Google "Sears new commercials" and you'll see. Everyone wants to know the name of that song.
It's all about nostalgia, baby.
In 1992 we fell in love with the "Softer Side of SEARS" campaign, a campaign that hugely increased store sales. The sad thing about this campaign was that SEARS didn't carry the "___________ Side of SEARS" theme over into all parts of their advertising; there were still too many different kinds of ads and it was confusing. To create top of the mind awareness consumers need to see a consist message.
That's important to remember: every, single thing that represents your store MUST tell the same message. Take a hard look at your ads, store decor; signing, website, bag stuffers, associate attire, etc. and make sure they all tell the same story -- YOUR story. You probably do not have the professional ad agency, time and deep pockets to test big campaigns like SEARS. You only have you and sometimes that's all you need.
