Kmart has unveiled an “integrated big-bang approach” through its latest campaign, with its biggest investment in above-the-line channels for several years.
The campaign includes targeting its key message around ‘low prices for life’ as Australia faces rising inflation and cost-of-living.
Speaking with Ragtrader, Kmart head of marketing Rennie Freer (pictured) said the new campaign is set to “reinvigorate” Kmart’s commitments across all touchpoints.
“The timing of the launch, which was officially from the 28th of August, was also key given the record low levels of consumer confidence and the rising cost of living.
“The reset was key as well – to reset the foundation of the brand – to set us up for storytelling beyond price.”
The bulk of its marketing spend was through screens, followed by out-of-home and radio.
“We kicked off with screens on TV and in all digital channels on Sunday the 28th,” Freer said, “and then radio on our home kicked off on the Monday.
“We were out of TV for several years, with the exclusion of a couple of key Christmas moments.
“We know, as a brand, we're absolutely brilliant at bringing that message to life in TV, and of course, now in digital broadcast channels and video on demand.
“We’re also investing in socials, [which is] a huge part of our brand.
Freer said Kmart has driven success through Instagram and Facebook, but the company is strategically investing more in Pinterest, Snapchat and TikTok.
Kmart also launched its new campaign through its pay mail subscriber group of over 2.5 million customers.
“So it's a fairly integrated big-bang approach that we're going for," Freer continued. “We're really committed to this; putting the brand back at the top of consumers awareness and customer awareness, and also for our teams.
“We want to be highly visible for a period of time, and what you're seeing will continue to evolve right through to Christmas.”
Freer said the campaign was launched as a reaction to low levels of consumer confidence, increasing inflation, and “increasingly aggressive price competition.”
“We identified a strategic opportunity several months ago to extend Kmart leadership price position,” Freer said.
“We know that owning 'lowest prices' in the minds of our customers is critical, both to protect our brand as well as support sustainable sales growth.
“’Low prices for life’ is so much more than a tagline for our brand; it's absolutely ingrained in the ethos of our business. It's a commitment we take seriously.
Freer said that she worked with her leadership team to realign her department to focus on brand strategy development, customer needs and ensuring channel and content innovation
“Fundamentally, we were realigning around how we bring that focus on low prices to life.
“We built out for the global business framework - a north star as such - as to how we make sure that we can deliver that key message to every single customer touchpoint.”
A year of change
Freer joined Kmart as head of marketing across AU NZ 10 months ago, inheriting a team of 46 people.
“From day one, we really embarked on the journey as to how we were going to move forward as a team.
“We did some work resetting the foundation of the department, making sure that our culture was focused on collaboration and the customer.
“It was key that I gave the team a safe place to reflect on the work we were doing, and also to innovate cross functionally.
Since joining the Kmart marketing team, Freer has headed its ‘Low Prices For Life’ campaign, with the launch being a career highlight.
“When we launched the national campaign in our office in Melbourne, we set up an entire global celebration across the business, where we all got together and watched the screening of the first TVC,” Freer said.
For the future, Freer is aiming to focus on promoting Kmart’s apparel range, which she noted the company has been quiet on “for several years.”
“One will be in October; a beautiful dress campaign we're bringing to market,” Freer said.
“Equally, we've got some exciting projects that are actually starting to be live now, but we've been quite quiet about them.
“One of which is the launch of our app. So we're going to start talking to customers about that.”
Another area that Kmart will focus on is improving customer experience and touchpoints, including click-and-collect
“We’re really building out choice in the customer experience,” Freer said. “We've got other ways to shop with us, we've got a chatbot online that's now available in 13 languages, click-and-collect, extended trading hours.
“Black Friday is going to be another massive focus for us this year. It's our fourth year, and it's another way we can really bring extraordinary value to the lives of our customers.
In the lead-up to Christmas, Freer said that Kmart will also celebrate 35 years of the Kmart Wishing Tree appeal.
Kmart’s latest brand campaign is expected to remain ongoing, and will be key to the company’s future, as Freer noted.
“I joined Kmart roughly 10 months ago, after a period of significant and sustained change for the brand.
“It became really apparent very quickly that it was critical that I strategically reset who we are as a brand, and that we do that at pace to safeguard our leadership position as Australia's most loved discount department store.”