Shove over, George Jetson. Make room for the new Kmart “animated characters” called “the BlueLights” as part of their national advertising campaign promoting reduced prices on 30,000 items, as the company tries to create a better price position compared to bigger rival, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is about 5 times larger than Kmart today, and it appears that Kmart wants to borrow a couple of little words from Wal-Mart’s vocabulary: “Always”, and “everyday”. Wal-Mart for a number of years now has relied on the word “Always” in describing its everyday low pricing (EDLP). Now Kmart wants to get the same words, literally, out to consumers, by associating “Always” with their brand prices also. Here is the PR newswire report on Kmart’s latest move to imitate its big competitor that begins this week: “Building upon the successful reintroduction of the BlueLight Special, Kmart Corporation today announced another component of its popular BlueLight value brand — BlueLight Always — aimed to ensure competitive everyday prices on those items most important to American consumers. The company is supporting this initiative with a national advertising campaign, a redesigned circular, a new in-store counter emphasizing BlueLight Always values and as of this week, the lowering of prices on more than 30,000 items. Kmart’s BlueLight brand is an umbrella marketing strategy that stands for values on the brands and products that really matter to Mom and her family. Since April, the company has been reducing prices in its more than 2,100 stores through the BlueLight Always everyday value campaign, hitting a total of more than 30,000 items this week. To emphasize these competitive everyday prices, a BlueLight Always display counter will be positioned strategically near the entrance of each store. This will allow consumers to see the savings themselves, as they compare the old prices with the new lower ones. “The introduction of BlueLight Always marks the official launch of Kmart’s comprehensive strategy to be competitive every day on the items families buy most often,” said Chuck Conaway, Chairman and CEO, Kmart.”Through value- based, customer-centric BlueLight programs such as these, we are rewarding the consumer, thus increasing traffic and driving frequency.”
This pathetic imitation of Wal-Mart “buzz words” indicates just how desperate these companies are to follow the industry leaders. “BlueLight Always’, complete with cartoon characters, is supposed to make Mom shop more often at Kmart, maybe “always” at Kmart. But, Mom, maybe you’d like to give Kmart your comments on their derivative, vacuuous campaign to win your heart. You can tell Kmart what you think of their “everyday Always” campaign, by contacting Dave Karraker at [email protected]. Tell Kmart that until the company agrees to listen to the voices of local residents who don’t want superstores in their communities, that you will “always” choose to shop somewhere else than Kmart. Rather than always taking your business to the stores that are destroying the central business districts of our communities, always take your money somewhere other than Wal-Mart or Kmart. And if you want animated characters, stick with the Flinstones. Wilma Rubble never shopped at Kmart!
