Stealing Share

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Figuratively, who is Sears? What do they represent? Where do we place them in terms of their brand and when do we think of them in terms of a destination? These are brand questions because they reflect back on the personality of the brand.

If a brand can be seen as a human being, then it has attributes, weaknesses, characteristics and personality.

Sears has built its business at the expense of its brand for far too long. It did not define the brand in terms of the changing customer, or if it did, it did not reflect that understanding in their stores, merchandising or locations.

Shoppers have changed but Sears has not. The Blue Team is a strategy, not a tactic, which means Sears is in big trouble. It could be saved (and we have plenty of ideas as to how to do that), but to all appearances, it is a floundering giant.

What Happened To Sears?

When we state Sears invested too heavily in the business and were lax about the brand, we know we are open to some intense criticism. But success, when taken for granted (as Sears enjoyed for decades), can cause a company to mistake current success as a given or a sign they are headed for long-term success.

Consider how the Sears business environment has changed over the years and how the customer has changed.

Sears used to have a large segment of the automotive repair business. Today, customers rely more heavily on dealerships for warranty maintenance and, much to the displeasure of auto repair shops, cars have become more reliable. They no longer require tune-ups and they seem to run for 100K miles without a problem. Even an oil change no longer drives the repair business. The Jiffy Lubes of the world have seen to that.

There was a time when families waited in anticipation of thee Sears catalog. It enabled customers in rural areas to also purchase products that Sears offered. In many ways, the Sears catalog was the forerunner to online shopping.

Not Changing With The Consumer

Sadly, Sears can’t even claim that any longer. This is just another example of Sears not changing with the times. At one time, they were in the position to own a large part of the current online shopping segment.

Sears also used to be a main source of tires sales. No more. Today, Goodyear, Firestone and discount retailers own that market and use their own retail locations to sell tires. They do it better and cheaper.

There was also a time when many shopped for paint at Sears. No more. Sherwin-Williams or the home improvement big boxes, such as Home Depot or Loews, has taken on that role. Behr has replaced Weatherbeater as the store brand of choice and top of mind recall.

Speaking of Home Depot, the home improvement stores have now become the top-of-mind destination for tools. Craftsman, still a respected brand, is no longer the dominant draw. New and established brand names such as Stanley, Porter Cable, Dewalt and Rigid now have preference. Sears is no longer the hardware destination of choice.

There was a time when Sears owned household appliances. Time was they only sold their own private label brand, Kenmore. Competition forced them to add major brand labels such as Whirlpool and Maytag to their offering, but it was too little too late. Habits and preference had changed and Lowes, Home Depot and the HR Greggs of the world have laid claim to that business as well.

At one time, Sears was even a shop of choice for clothing. Now, they compete for the crumbs on the floor.

Life Magazine Syndrome

What you understand when you look at Sears is that they suffered from the LIFE magazine syndrome: the fall of the generalist and the added value of the specialist. Sears was the mall of its day.

In many ways, Kmart, the sister problem to the larger one, suffers from the very same malady. Sears is an outdated model with no current reason to be important.

In fact, most retailers today, Target and Macy’s included, do not really understand their brands in a way that would ensure success in stealing share. Once again, fixing the problem is dependent on the probability of finding the real problem.

Sears has equities to build on. Understanding these values and intensities requires the kind of anthropological brand process we do because it lays bare, not just usage and attitudes, but beliefs and values.

One should never throw out the baby with the bath water but there is a lot of bath water to be chucked when it comes to Sears. Identifying the core brand and the customer it needs to influence, that is the task at hand.