The endless Sears Holdings review finally came to a close last fall when the company sent its Kmart and Sears accounts to Havas Chicago and Publicis New York, respectively.
Both chains have been relatively quiet since the decision was made, with mcgarrybowen creating Sears’ holiday “Bring the Sleigh” campaign. Havas has, however, been working on Kmart for a while. The agency’s first ad went live over the holidays. “Floating Present” was a pretty tame spot playing on the fact that every kid wanted a drone last Christmas (hoverboards are already over thanks to the industry’s lax approach to safety regulations).
The new trio of ads began airing on TV, digital and Kmart’s YouTube page last month, but they didn’t get a press push until now, which is probably because the client was waiting to see how they performed.
“Ultimate, Ultimate Game Party” offers a day-after overview of a Super Bowl whose own host doesn’t seem to remember what went down. She does remember that she got all her supplies at Kmart, though.
The Chicago office’s next spot was the Valentine’s Day-themed “Love Rocks,” which plays on a very specific demographic (read: moms) and its’ members fondness for the hair bands of their childhoods along with some cheap jewelry.
The most recent effort focuses on the chain’s bedding offerings via a silent conversation between a homeowner and her equally lazy dog.
There’s no effort to create another “Ship My Pants” here, but that campaign (which we still find funny) couldn’t quite resolve the chain’s ongoing financial struggles. Sears Holdings announced earlier this month that it would close 50 Sears and Kmart stores across the country due to lagging holiday sales totals.
Interestingly, Kmart in particular does seem to have a new approach: purchasing merchandise from companies that have been liquidated in order to sell it for less and compete with on-the-cheap retailers like Big Lots and Ollie’s.
You should check out the copywriting in the press release, which tells us that Kmart will “make shopping fun again” by offering “Truly Brag-Worthy Deals Through New Sourcing Initiative.”
That last part is the headline.
These ads were helmed by comedic director Dax Martinez-Vargas of m ss ng p eces, who has worked on campaigns for Mentos, Hershey’s, Newcastle and more.
Now let’s see what Publicis can do for Sears.
CREATIVE AGENCY: Havas Chicago
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Jason Peterson
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Carlos Fernandez
COPYWRITER: Bob Howe
ART DIRECTOR: Andrea Keelble
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Drew Donatelle
GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Chrissy Bouyea
HEAD OF CONTENT PRODUCTION: Dave Evans
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Joe Hwalek
PROJECT MANAGER: (Sr.) Otto Linwood III
SENIOR BUSINESS MANAGER: Ellen Kuratnik
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Addhemar Sierralta
INTEGRATED PRODUCER: Catherine Hudon
MUSIC AND SOUND
SOUND ENGINEER: Todd Beee
COMPOSER: Dax Martinez
OFFLINE
PRODUCER: Lauren Connolly
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Kristen Branstetter
EDITOR: Brian Gannon: Aftermath and Sleep Like a Dog / Dan Zabinski: Ballad
EDIT COMPANY: Whitehouse Post
POST PRODUCTION / VFX
COLOURIST: Fred Keller @ Filmworkers
PRODUCTION COMPANY
PRODUCTION COMPANY: m ss ing p eces
LINE PRODUCER: Brooke Gaston Herstein
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Brian Latt
DOP: Michael Pescasio
DIRECTOR: Dax Martinez
HEAD OF PRODUCTION: Dave Saltzman