Sears Club Relaunch

 

 

The situation.

The Sears Club had been launched in the 80's, but with little marketing support, the loyalty program had languished with about 3 million members. While seemingly an impressive number, that 3 million was less than 25% of the Sears credit card holders in Canada.

In the fall of 1990, Sears went to 5 agencies, and asked them to pitch the Sears Club business. They wanted a full-blown, multi-media campaign that spoke, not just to customers, but to employees as well.

4 of the agencies were mid-sized to large Canadian agencies, but the fifth was a small, 10 person agency called Franklin Dallas, at that point known primarily for its smart, stylish print work.

 

The response.

I worked as a freelance member of the team with art director Peter Holmes and account director John Lee, and we came up with a campaign that positioned the Sears Club within the context of the many other clubs that can be found across Canada.

The traditional, the quirky and the just plain weird.

Using real clubs, real people and real locations allowed us to present Sears and its loyalty program with an unassuming small town warmth and humour that reflected Sears' values and those of its employees and customers.

 

The results.

Sears management fell in love with the idea and awarded the business to Franklin Dallas. They increased the budget from $1.5 million to $9 million seeing the strength of the campaign as a piece of corporate communications in addition to retail advertising.

Sears later extended the campaign to launch their participation in the Air Miles rewards program, and even used it for specific sale/event advertising.

Customers also fell in love with the campaign. Sears and the agency got a steady stream of calls and letters from people volunteering their clubs to be in the next commercials.

And most importantly, Sears Club membership increased from 3 million to 9 million.

Which meant that, by the end of 1991, 1 out of every 3 Canadians was a member of the Sears Club.