Sears breaks Christmas-themed mobile campaigns to influence holiday shopping behavior

By Dan Butcher

December 9, 2010

The holidays are a make-or-break time of year for retailers such as Sears

Sears Holdings Corp. is running Christmas-themed mobile advertising campaigns to stay top of mind throughout the holiday shopping season and influence consumer purchase behavior.

The two holiday campaigns are “Guaranteed White Christmas” and “Be the Santa You Want to Be,” both of which consist of mobile banner ads driving consumers to campaign-specific landing pages on the mobile Web. They launched Nov. 8 and will end Dec. 31.

“Overall, at Sears Holdings, our strategy is to further our long-standing commitment to provide choice and convenience to our customers,” said Miles Kirkpatrick, digital manager at Sears Holdings, Hoffman Estates, IL. “The Guaranteed White Christmas mobile site furthers increases awareness of our mobile apps and sites.”

Sears is using multiple mobile channels in addition to mobile advertising, from commerce-enabled mobile Web sites and applications to QR codes, to enhance its multichannel holiday marketing strategy and drive sales (see story).

Mobile ads influence holiday shoppers
Mr. Kirkpatrick said that due to the competitive nature of the retail industry, Sears does not publicly share which agencies, publishers and ad networks the retailer works with.

Sears consumers can be the Santa they want to be...and find the closest Sears

Given the wide range of products it sells, Sears’ mobile ad push is not targeting specific demographics. Rather, the retailer wants to cast as wide a net as possible.

“We strive to empower all types of customers by offering them choice in everything, from product selection to the way they interact with our brand,” Mr. Kirkpatrick said.

“Whether they’re moms shopping for apparel online, dads browsing for household items in-store or tech-savvy young adults looking for the latest in consumer electronics on their mobile device, we want to reach all customers,” he said.

Sears has added QR codes to its multichannel marketing mix

Appearing in a variety of mobile sites and applications, including those from The Weather Channel,  the “Guaranteed White Christmas presented by Sears” banners redirect to a mobile landing page asking consumers to enter a sweepstakes.

The copy reads “Dreaming of a White Christmas and $15,000? This Christmas Day, one lucky winner will wake up to their very own White Christmas, courtesy of The Weather Channel.”

Sections on the landing page include contest details, options to watch videos, information on holiday travel, holiday recipes and a link to visit Sears.com.

Sears’ "Be the Santa" mobile ads redirect consumers to the mobile Web site at http://campaigns.celtra.com/sears, which works in conjunction with the White Christmas program.

“The goal of this site is to support our holiday ‘Be The Santa You Want to Be’ campaign,” Mr. Kirkpatrick said. “The secondary goal is to introduce relevant products to consumers who identify with a particular Santa personality, whether they are the ‘savvysanta,’ ‘santamzing,’ ‘powersanta,’ ‘santabulous’ or ‘procrastisanta.’

“We measure success through many different metrics, including CTRs, time spent and page views on branded Web sites,” he said. “Overall, customers have been responsive to this program and we’re pleased with the results.”

Final Take
"Be the Santa Rap"