Sears Canada has launched a Pinterest contest centred on its popular Wish Book, which has been in Canada for more than 60 years.
The “Wishlist Wonderland” contest asks customers to create their own Sears Wishlist board and pin or re-pin at least one item they would like to receive for Christmas, using the hashtag #SearsWishlist. Three winners will each receive a $1,000 Sears gift card so they can buy what’s on their wishlist.
The retailer, which also ran the contest last year, saw a great fit between Pinterest and its Wish Book.
“Pinterest is a channel for discovery and creating lists, and what people are doing with the Wish Book is basically creating their wish lists before the holiday,” said Idan Driman, director of digital marketing and production at Sears Canada.
Sears’ objectives for the contest are to engage current fans and followers, as well as increase awareness about the Wish Book. “Sometimes even if people are aware of Wish Book, they don’t realize what great things are in [it], so we’re reaching new customers and new potential followers,” said Driman.
The contest is being promoted on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook, as well as through email newsletters and in-store signage.
Driman said one of the reasons Pinterest is a key social media platform for Sears is the fit between Pinterest and its customers. “Pinterest is known to be more female-oriented, from the ages of 30 to 45, so that would be our target,” he said. “But the Wish Book goes from grandmas all the way to kids today.”
Vince Power, VP of corporate affairs and communications at Sears Canada, added that in general, the retailer is focused on finding out how customers want to communicate with the company, and connect with them that way.
“We have customers who span various ages and demographics, so there’s still the customer that responds to the weekly flyer. There’s still the customer who responds to a catalogue. And we still have contests for those who visit us in store,” said Power. “But now in social media, a lot of our customers want to connect with us that way.”
“We’re continuously working on ways to stay relevant, certainly throughout the year but in a special way at Christmas with all our customers, no matter how they choose to shop,” he added.
