Kmart embracing social media in a unique way

Dec
3

Ok, honestly, I didn’t even think Kmart was still in business. All the department stores here in Santa Clara are closed; and with Target and Walmart growing their market share and building new stores, that was the only conclusion that I came up with.

In fact, as I write this post, I am reminded of my childhood. My grandmother was a HUGE fanatic of Kmart’s Blue Light Special in the 1980’s. She would drag me along with her and we would literally hang out in the store for hours upon hours waiting for that annoying blue light to start shining, usually near the jewelry section. I usually spent my time in the toy aisle wishing I had money to buy more GI Joe action figures (with the action grip and rotating swivel arm, no doubt). And, of course, if I ever ran into other kids from school, we were sworn to secrecy that we didn’t see each other at Kmart. It just wasn’t cool to shop there when I was kid. Obviously, things have changed.

Kmart and Izea (A social media marketing firm) have teamed up to launch a pretty cool social media program. Basically, they gave very influential, very hip and very cool bloggers a $500 gift card to Kmart. Each of them will write a post detailing their shopping experience. Participating bloggers include Chris Brogan, Loren Feldman, Michelle Madhok, Jeremy Schoemaker, Julie Roy and Wendy Piersall. To take it one step further, those who leave comments on any of their posts or tweet the post are entered to win another $500 Kmart gift card, chosen at random.

I wonder if any of them ran into each other while shopping; and did they swear to secrecy?

Author: Michael Brito

Michael Brito is a Vice President of Social Media at Edelman Digital. All thoughts and opinions on this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer or clients; neither past or present. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.

scotty

Mike
People have been paid to promote brands since the beginning of time. Telemarketers do it, TV does it, the movies do it, people in the street passing out leaflets do it. I do not see it as unethical: simply another form of the sales process.
Mike

They are paying people to give them "good word of mouth" basically. Isn't this poor business ethics? You should acquire good reviews based on how well your business is, not based on how much you pay someone off.
jules

i think that kmart needs to make a bold move to boost its earnings...
Alec

I completely agree with Angela, after getting 500 $ gift card, a bunch of good, influential bloggers will write biased reviews.They will write in such a way that 500 $ gift card is nothing for them, and they are writing good reviews just because they have very good experience.Lets see, how is it going to affect blogging atmosphere.
Allan Tyler

I am glad to see that bloggers have started gaining some attention and importance. I still remember that era when bloggers and webmasters were just helpless and they were just waiting their PPC checks. It's a cool idea and I hope that they will get some good business by this type of activity.
Scott

Hi Michael

Great article.

It certainly brings back memories. The 80's were my favorite decade, and I also remember KMart as being an embarrassing place to enter. But its image has changed down here (New Zealand). It's actually the flashest, cleanest store in the mall where one can get bargains on nice stuff. It makes sense for KMart to embrace social media. That will make them even hipper. And they will be yet another corporate to prove to the skeptical SEO client that social media optimization truly gets a return on investment!

Regards
Scott
Chris Brogan...

As one of the test monkeys in question, I'll tell you that the easiest way to see what we said about the experience is to visit the post.

I basically explained what I did, what I saw, what I thought. I disclosed in the title of the post, at the beginning and end of the post, that it was sponsored. In the middle, I gave my personal thoughts about the experience.

Simple, easy, and I'm hoping a bit more effective than a crappy ad with some models pointing at something they bought with wonder in their eyes.
JoeSales

Michael,

This is a great post! Thanks for noticing our hard work!

Joe V
Michael Brito

LOL, i think Mervyn's is still in business but I completely get you point. thanks again for your comments.
Michael Brito

Hi Angela -- I personally know a few of the bloggers and I am pretty confident that they will be completely honest with their experience; and I believe that all of them FULLY DISCLOSED that they were paid or that it was a sponsored post.

Thank you for analysis though. I really appreciate it.

Michael
Angela Pallatto

I'm confident as well. I meant to say that few bloggers would cover it up as people will stop visiting their blogs if their authority is compromised, but then I got so caught up in Kmart's image problem that I forgot to remedy it.

I for one would like to see Kmart succeed as I believe variety in the marketplace is important. It would be sad to see it go the way of Mervyn's.
Angela Pallatto

I just wonder how honest these bloggers are going to be about their experiences? Will the financial inducement color their experiences and how they describe them? Is there such a thing as ethical blogging? Not so much because blogging is self-promotion at its finest.

NBC news has to mention that they are associated with General Electric everytime they do a story about them.

Of course few of the bloggers are going to hide that they received money from KMart. It's a brilliant marketing scheme whether they say negative or positive things as discussion alone will create higher awareness on the web and increased traffic to their site.

However, awareness is not really Kmart's problem. Nearly every American has fond childhood memories of Kmart. Unfortunately Kmart's image in the marketplace has long headed downhill. When you think of Kmart, you think that the store isn't as good as it used to be and pales in comparison to its competitors.

Engaging bloggers may modernize Kmart's marketing approach, but more needs to be done to directly confront their competitors and let me tell you that animated blue light isn't doing the job.

Kmart marketing executives have a tough job. Target has cornered the market on affordable design and Walmart has cornered the market on the lowest prices message.

It seems lately that Kmart's been relying on its many brands to sell themselves, featuring Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer. However these brands are not appealing to the blogging market that they're courting. Few young bloggers know who Jaclyn Smith is and why she was famous in the first place. Joe Boxer's relevancy ended more than a decade ago.

Kmart needs to create and publicize new brands specialized for the market they're targeting. Speaking of Target, they have been successful at this for years, employing big name designers to design for them. Of course, looking at their brandlist: http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/sbi_10151_10104_Brand_Clothing#M
they do have a lot of brands that would appeal. Adidas, DC Comics, Nickelodeon and more. The true question is why aren't they using them.