Sears Canada has tapped Toronto-based public relations firm NKPR to lead its trends communications strategy for fashion apparel and housewares.
Natasha Koifman
“The product line is strong. Our job is to encourage people to look at Sears as a destination for fashion and for fashionable housewares that are on-trend, and that’s really what they’re looking for from us,” Natasha Koifman, president of NKPR told Marketing.
The department store chain hosted a formal review process, and asked that NKPR pitch. The call came during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September, a particularly busy time for the boutique PR firm, which hosts an annual celebrity gifting lounge.
NKPR was the last agency to present to the team at Sears and was notified of the win only seven days after the pitch, said Koifman.
“We clicked with them right away,” she said. “We talked about editorializing their content more and really curating the collection of products that they have both from a fashion perspective and a housewares perspective.”
NKPR is spearheading the debut of Sears 2014 spring collection for men, women and kids that includes a preview event later this month and an editorialized press kit to “make it easier for editors,” said Koifman.
Traditionally, Sears would first host its spring preview and then provide a press kit to media a couple weeks later. NKPR encouraged Sears to delay the preview so that the new press kit would be in the hands of editors in attendance.
“They’re an amazing partner,” Koifman said. “I give them a lot of credit. They’re open-minded, they’re progressive thinkers and they’re giving us the opportunity to do what we do well.”
Sears is the latest in a string of wins for NKPR, which added Thyme Maternity, Zwilling, J.A. Henckels, Green Shield Canada, Basis, Rachel Roy, Boohoo.com, Anne Klein and Active for Life to its client roster this year.
