FREE ESSAY ON SEARS AND ROEBUCK COMPANY

SEARS AND ROEBUCK COMPANY

Business Marketing Term Paper
Sears and Roebuck Company
For this paper I will be looking at an old established company, that has re-addressed its
target market. To increase penetration in the market and expand in new markets, Sears has
refocused its market concept. In the past Sears was where your grandparents shopped for
quality product. As they sat back and enjoyed the comfort of their brand name and reaped
the benefits, other companies sliced away at the market with new concepts in advertising
until about five years ago when Sears woke up to a lagging profit margin. 
Sears began a recovery to regain market shares lost through complacency. To do this they
gathered their staff and commenced to focus on new innovative techniques to cater to the
needs of their consumers. First they looked at the production which was well established
but could be streamlined. Some items could be eliminated or replaced by other brand name
products to give the consumer a broader choice of items. For example they sold the
Advantis computer branch to IBM when the projected competition would limit revenues in
this area. They also negotiated lucrative contracts with brand name companies for the
exclusive retailing rights for their product, an example of this is the Nordic Track home
fitness equipment in January of this year. They targeted school age children with the new
styles, which they refer to as the "Relaxed Uniformity" which increased sales in July of
1998. This helped bring in the younger and health conscious consumers who did not feel
that the Sears brand name was right for them. This stream lining effort would include
shutting down some of the lagging catalog sales offices. This allowed them to establish
more competitive prices in the market and better returns for their shareholders. This led
to an increase in domestic revenues by 4.2 percent in 1998.
The next areas they looked at were the location of their stores and the placement of the
products in their stores. Some of the older stores which did not have a profit margin
that warranted the expense of their upkeep where eliminated to cut overhead expenses. In
addition, using trend analysis focusing on consumer habits, they took a hard look at the
layout of the stores to see if they could improve sales through a better display or more
efficient floor plans. Sears decided to set up displays, which bring the consumer walking
by into the store and the product that has the return buyer's interest in the back of
store. With this in mind they revamped the floor plans and placed the items they knew the
patron would search out to the back of the stores which forced the customer to pass by
other product they did not realize was stocked by Sears. The placement of other products,
which had lagged in the past, in high traffic areas, increased the sales of those items.
Last but not least, once Sears had the company market strategy drawn out; they needed to
inform the public of the changes they had made and figure out how they could meet the
consumers needs. Sears re-launched its successful Softer Side of Sears advertising
campaign that helped the company's turnaround by highlighting its renewed focus on
women's apparel. The new version of the Softer Side campaign, which included print and
broadcast ads, invited customers to Take Another Look at the fashions available at
Sears.
The Softer Side of Sears" campaign achieves the key marketing objectives. It changes
customers' perception of Sears, drives traffic into the stores, and demonstrates Sears'
commitment to offering customers stylish and relevant women's apparel, said Arthur C.
Martinez, chairman and chief executive officer of Sears. Now the challenge is to build
greater loyalty with our customer and reinforce Sears position as a destination place for
apparel that fits her lifestyle.
Reinforcing Sears' commitment to serving its primary customer, a woman age 25 to 54 with
a moderate household income, family and home. This campaign builds upon and personalizes
Sears' invitation to Come See the Softer Side of Sears by illustrating that Sears has
more than fashionable apparel; it has the right apparel for her. 
The original Softer Side campaign, Developed by Young & Rubicam New York, created new
ads, three 30 second spots, that premiered during the Emmy Awards on Sunday, September
13. The first print ads appeared in October issues of women's general interest
publications and fashion magazines to increase public awareness. This very successful
campaign was the turning point for Sears as publicly stated. Our customers have told us
they identify with 'The Softer Side of Sears' as a brand in itself, one they trust for
quality and strong values, said John H. Costello, senior executive vice president of
marketing at Sears. By enticing customers to take another look, we're re-energizing the
message that Sears is constantly changing, always updating, and continuing to surprise
the customer.
The new advertising enables Sears to maximize the impact of the Softer Side success and
demonstrate the company's ongoing efforts to reinvent and transform its apparel program
to stay relevant with the customer. During the last five years, Sears has aggressively
pursued strong national brands and has also developed private apparel brands that
differentiate Sears from its competitors. Since turning its focus to apparel, Sears has
signed on national brands such as Vanity Fair, Trifari, Sag Harbor, and Leslie Fay. New
private brands that have driven significant incremental sales for the company includes
Classic Elements casual wear, Apostrophe and Laura Scott career wear and Crossroads
casual apparel. In addition, Sears began offering several national brands sold
exclusively at Sears, including First Issue, a Liz Claiborne company, a line of updated
career wear for women, and Circle of Beauty cosmetics.
Sears has continued to advance into new target groups by recruiting celebrities that
represent those groups to advertise for them. One of these is Gloria Estefan to open up
the growing Hispanic market. It also launched the Internet web site, which is in English
and Spanish for their products. This innovative style of advertising is why Sears,
Roebuck and Co. are a leading U.S. retailer of apparel, home and automotive products and
related services.
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