Sears has launched a back-to-school integrated marketing campaign aimed at tweens to drive in-store sales.
The campaign, called “Crush Your Style — The Search for America’s Top Style Crush,” straddles digital, mobile, television and print circulars. The retailer worked with Y&R Chicago, its advertising AOR, as well as digital agency DesignKitchen on the effort.
The campaign, launched July 28, includes a microsite, CrushYourStyle.com, where tween consumers can create their own fashion style and enter to win prizes.
Sears will issue new challenges throughout the next five weeks to determine the best tween stylist. The grand prize winner will be named “Sears Style Maker,” and win $50,000 and a family trip to a global fashion destination of his or her choice. The retailer will also select one finalist each week to win a family vacation for four, valued at $10,000. Consumers can also enter the contest via mobile device.
Melanie Henson, CMO for Sears Apparel, said one of the campaign’s primary goals is to drive tweens and moms to Sears retail stores.
“We also want them to come back to the digital space and share [their experiences] with us,” she said.
The 8-to-12-year-old age group is the campaign’s main target demographic, though teens up to age 16 are also being targeted.
The microsite will also host a video-based “style room,” where the weekly challenges will appear, as well as an interface for girls to submit their photos and videos to the competition, pending their parent or guardian’s approval.
Henson said Sears will measure the success of the campaign by generated in-store sales, as well as the number of participants.
The effort also includes the Sears.com/CrushYourStyle portal, which targets mothers who will shop for their children through the back-to-school season, Henson said.
Henson noted that the initiative does not include data collection in order to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
