HO HO HO…that started in October? Well, hang on to your elves and reindeer because here we go! Kmart and Sears jumped on board and others are sure to follow this new tradition of pre-Thanksgiving holiday campaigns. Smart? You bet. Let me tell you why.
Kmart, and parent company Sears, are both taking an anticipatory approach to what could be a very red holiday season—and I’m not talking about decorations. They are facing the economic worries of their customers head on and coming up with proactive solutions. They understand the timelines involved in their sales process and have timed the campaigns perfectly to let shoppers follow the advice and plan spelled out in the marketing messages.
In case you haven’t seen these commercials yet, they started running a few weeks back and have similar messaging. “We know you don’t have any money to shop this holiday season, and that’s OK because there’s layaway.”
These retailers know their customers, both established and prospective. They understand that the specific demographic most likely to shop their stores is going to have a hard time making large purchases. So, rather than sacrificing profits, Sears and Kmart have come up with a marketing strategy that portrays them as customer-friendly and customer-sympathetic. At the end of the day, they will still get the sale.
The lesson for all marketers in this campaign is a valuable one. Get to know—really know—your best customers. What could potentially stop them from buying your products/services in this economy? What could you be doing right now from a marketing standpoint to let them know that you get their pain and are coming up with ways to make it easy for them to still stay active buyers.
Really knowing your core customer gives you power. It lets you devise relevant messaging that inspires action from loyal followers as well as those who bought from a competitor, or who are on the fence.
If you know every detail about your best customers you can model that profile to select prospecting lists that are far more likely to work. You know who you need to look for, and that is half the battle in finding them accurately.
Another lesson is that Sears and Kmart have introduced their right hands to their left hands. The marketing matches the actual sales process. They have figured out the dollar amount of an average holiday season sale and how long its average layaway customer might take to pay for it. The marketing campaign has been laid out to give customers a chance to take advantage of the program.
Store signage and store personnel understand the marketing push, and other marketing efforts such as newspaper ads, e-mail and direct mail are also supporting the overall campaign. It is a strong, smart, relevant, well-timed campaign from every angle.
As we gear up and start heading towards that holiday season marketing starting line, at the end of the season it will be the wise marketers who win by examining their sales message from new angles not just a re-do of years past. Understanding what you can do for your customers—not just what they can buy from you—will be the key to having a very merry fourth quarter.
Carol Lustig is marketing director for Sonny’s Enterprises, a direct marketer of automotive aftermarket products.
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