SEARS STORE: BACK TO SCHOOL

The advert titled BACK TO SCHOOL was done by Media Contacts advertising agency for SEARS RETAIL STORE (SEARS company) in USA. It was released in the June 2009. Business sector is Retail stores & rental companies.

Credits:

• Type of Entry: Product & Service
  Category: Retail And E-Commerce, including Restaurants
  Title: BACK TO SCHOOL
  Advertiser/Client: SEARS
  Product/Service: RETAIL STORE
  Entrant Company: MEDIA CONTACTS Boston, USA
  Advertising Agency: MPG Boston, USA
  Media Agency: MEDIA CONTACTS Boston, USA
  Creative Credits
  Name Company Position
  Tom Penque Media Contacts Vice President/Group Account Director
  Mike Nuzzo Media Contacts Account Director
  Brian Coulombe Media Contacts Supervisor
  Marcy Freedman Media Contacts Planner/Buyer
  Mike Searles Media Contacts Planner/Buyer
  Alyssa Bonetti Media Contacts Assistant Planner/Buyer
  Cori Roberts Media Contacts Assistant Planner/Buyer
  Phuc Truong Mobext Managing Director
  Christine Look Media Contacts Insights Analyst
  Vanessa Watts MPG Vice President/Group Account Director
  Jim Reath Y & R Chief Marketing Officer
  Details
  Results and Effectiveness:
  Teens arrived at school in style and our communication trends continued well past the BTS season, with online garnering: • 5.1million Sears-themed games played • 4.5 minutes of player/brand interaction per game • 1 million YouTube views • CTR outperformed benchmark 350% • Standard units CTR 10 times the benchmark • Virtual world - 1.8 million store visits - 3.5 million articles purchased/used - 3.9 million event attendances • An AdInsights study confirmed we connected with – and persuaded – teens - “Sears is a store I would consider when shopping” up 7% - “Intention to shop at Sears for back to school items” up 5%
  Creative Execution:
  We leveraged three pivotal everyday teenage components: peers, role models and technology, and provided teens assets to stay connected with friends online/offline through social media, playground currency and virtual worlds. A partnership with Vanessa Hudgens (VH) from High School Musical – the teenage movie phenomena –generated excitement and secured the ultimate BTS reference. “Arrive Lounge”: The engaging BTS bespoke microsite featured: VH behind-the-scenes footage, Sears-themed games, content, opt-in mobile offer alerts, downloads and tools (video/music mash-up, social network apps). Visitors registered for VIP access and a scavenger-type sweepstakes. Weekly emails/SMS contained clues with online/in-store Sears-exclusive items. When found, VIPs texted keywords for a chance to win a Vanessa concert at their school. Virtual Worlds: “Arrive Lounge” within virtual worlds contained custom content, videos, freebies and games. In Sears’ virtual boutiques, avatars tried on clothes, attended parties/fashion events and entered catwalk contests. Movie: Sears integration into MTV movie, “American Mall,” starring VH.
  Insights, Strategy and the Idea:
  For Sears, the Back-To-School (BTS) season is the only time the retailer directly targets and involves younger shoppers. However, Sears is not considered a “hip” BTS destination because of their specialty hardware and appliance departments. Sears needed to prove to teens that their apparel and styles will help them “arrive” at school. Our challenge was to change perceptions and make Sears relevant to teens returning to school and kick-start an on-going conversation with them, engaging teenagers throughout the year. Teens look at back-to-school as the time to revitalize their wardrobe. The first day of school is the first appearance after months away from friends, and teens want to make a good impression. If they believe they look good, they feel good. In order to gain credibility we needed to sew Sears into the fabric of their world, in a non-intrusive way and add value to generate infectious conversations with teens