Sears to Start Holiday Ads By Sole-Sponsoring ‘E.T.’
Sears, Roebuck & Co., hoping to capitalize on the popularity of a diminutive, prune-faced alien, will launch its holiday retailing season by sponsoring “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” when it airs on network television next month, the retailing company announced Thursday.
Sears is betting its sole sponsorship of the high-grossing science-fiction movie on CBS will help draw customers to its stores after “E.T.” airs Thanksgiving night, which signals the start of an all-important selling season that continues until Christmas.
Gerald Buldak, a Sears spokesman, said the retailer’s ads aired during the movie will serve to kick off other promotions in the stores that also use the E.T. character.
Indicating that this venture may be the first of several such advertising efforts for Sears, Scott Harding, the company’s national advertising manager, said Sears is looking for other opportunities to be sole sponsor of television specials.
The coming holiday retail season is particularly important to many retailers, including Sears, which hopes that consumer spending will revive sluggish sales brought on by the recession.
In August, for example, Sears reported lackluster sales: Same-store revenue fell 2.9% and overall sales slipped 2.5%.
Sears Chairman Edward A. Brennan said the slow pace of the economy was hampering his company’s sales, which rely heavily on merchandise such as refrigerators and washing machines--the retail segment hit hardest by the recession.
Retail analysts applauded Sears’ promotional move, saying its image and product advertisements will fix the retailer in the minds of millions of viewers as they gear up for holiday shopping.
“Sears will benefit from the tie-in and sponsorship,” said retail and entertainment analyst David Leibowitz, senior vice president of American Securities Corp. in New York. But he cautioned: “Until the cash registers start ringing on Thanksgiving weekend--perhaps the key weekend of the entire holiday retail season--there is no way to prejudge whether Sears made a good deal for themselves or not.”
Miles Turpin, chairman and chief executive of the western division of Grey Advertising in Los Angeles, said he believed that with the promotional venture, “Sears is positioning itself as a family store” with something for everyone.
Along with Sears officials, many other retailers will watch “very hard and deep” how successful this venture is for Sears, Leibowitz said. He said he believed that many other retailers, willing to try new advertising ventures, “would jump on the bandwagon” if they determine that Sears’ sponsorship led to increased sales.
Wall Street was unphased Thursday by the Sears announcement. The retailer’s stock on the New York Stock Exchange didn’t move, closing at $39.875.
