Sears: A HERO'S SONG

Credits & Description:

Category: Corporate Responsibility

Advertiser: SEARS HOLDINGS CORPORATION

Product/Service: SEARS HEROES AT HOME

Agency: EURO RSCG WORLDWIDE PR

Executive Vice President: Ana (Nennig)

Vice President: Jody (Sunna)

Account Supervisor: Sarah (Yansura)

Senior Account Executive: Morgan (Calef)

Account Executive: Kelly (Hall)

Media placement: Press Release Announcing Kickoff To Heroes At Home Spring Donation Drive - Yahoo! Finance, BusinessWeek.com, TheStreet.com - May 9, 2011

Media placement: Radio Media Tour With Josh Gracin Launching “Portraits Of Heroes” Contest - Military.com, Country-Music.Matters.com, USA Radio Network, CRN Radio Network - May 17, 2011

Media placement: Exclusive Song Recording Of “Can’t Say Goodbye” With Josh Gracin - AP Broadcast, CMT.com - June 25, 2011

Media placement: Interview With Josh Gracin - Great American Country (GAC) - September 9, 2011

Media placement: Chicago Veteran Rebuild - WMAQ-TV (NBC, Chicago), WFLD-TV (FOX, Chicago), WGN-TV (CW, Chicago), Chicago Tribune - September 22, 2011

Media placement: 1,000th Rebuild With Rebuilding Together - NBC Nightly News, Pentagon Channel, Washington Post, CBSNews.com, Associated Press - October 17, 2011

Media placement: Custom CD Mailer Outreach & Radio Interviews With Josh - WSKR-FM, WDNB-FM, WCOW-FM, WTNR-FM, KATC-FM, MilitaryAve.com - October 24 – November 11, 2011

Media placement: Launch Of Josh Gracin’s Album “Redemption” - Billboard.com, AmericanIdol.com, CountryMusicLove.com, MusicNewsNashville.com - November 8, 2011

Media placement: Veterans Day NASDAQ Opening Bell Ceremony And Interviews With Josh - Fox News, Westwood One Radio, WCHS-FM, CNBC “Squawk On The Street”, CNN Newsroom - November 11, 2011

Media placement: Press Release Announcing Total Donations Raised For Military Families - DallasNews.com, WSJ.com, Markets.CBS.News.com - December 5, 2011



Summary of the Campaign

A Hero's Song



Challenge

Remember our veterans, despite facing donor fatigue from recent natural disasters. We needed to create a breakthrough PR initiative for Sears' Heroes at Home, which helps rebuild veterans' homes, to increase awareness and drive donations.



Objectives

• Showcase Sears' commitment to military families

• Gain national attention and ongoing media coverage throughout the campaign

• Create an emotionally compelling narrative to drive awareness and contributions



Strategy

We created the 'Portraits of Heroes' song contest to humanise real service members and show consumers the people Sears' program serves daily. We secured former Marine and country music star Josh Gracin to transform the winning story into song.



Execution

Contest winner Seana Arrechaga met Gracin in Nashville for the recording session of 'Can't Say Goodbye' and a videographer captured footage. We posted the music video on YouTube and distributed it to traditional and social media. We also conducted media outreach surrounding the song's live debut and later produced a free benefit concert and SMT. Throughout 2011, we leveraged events to keep awareness of the cause high.



Outcome

Our platform created newsworthy content to promote the cause, and generated more than $3m for Heroes at Home from the spring donation campaign alone.



The Situation

"If my story can make one person feel like they aren't alone, then I've done a good thing." That's what Seana Arrechaga said after she won the song contest that our agency created for Sears.



Our client challenged us to develop a breakthrough PR initiative for its 4-year-old Heroes at Home program, which helps rebuild veterans' homes and gives servicepeople holiday gift cards.



Often, the needs of veterans and military-based charities get forgotten, especially after major events such as natural disasters in Japan and Haiti, so we aimed to heighten awareness and create a new urgency for giving.



The Goal

Specifically, for the fourth annual Sears Heroes at Home program, we sought to:



• Create an emotionally compelling narrative around Heroes at Home to drive awareness

• Showcase Sears' commitment to military families and convey to consumers that the company is passionate about veterans and does more than any other retailer to give back to America's heroes

• Gain national attention and ongoing media coverage throughout the campaign

• Increase donations to Heroes at Home to support veterans and military families



The Strategy

To bring the spotlight back to our heroes and resonate with Sears' customers, we sought to humanise the real service members that the retailer supports every day. Our agency developed the national "Portraits of Heroes" song contest to find a story to transform into song, honoring one hero in particular but all other members of our military in the process. We launched right before Memorial Day 2011 and unveiled the song around Independence Day.



Our research led to the perfect songwriter and spokesperson: country music star, Josh Gracin. A former U.S. Marine, Josh resonates with the military community. And talk about synergy: During his deployment at Camp Pendleton, Gracin worked nights at Sears to help make ends meet for his family. To leverage the support of the military community and Gracin's fan base, we strategised to target military websites and blogs, and country music radio and television.



Execution

The winning contest entry, from Seana Arrechaga, a young widow who shared a heart-wrenching tribute to her fallen husband, Sgt Ofren Arrechaga, was told in song by Gracin. Seana came to Nashville for the recording session, and a videographer captured footage. She also provided personal footage and family photos, which we included in the full-length music video of the song, 'Can't Say Goodbye'; we posted it on YouTube and distributed it to traditional and social media.



In addition, we conducted media outreach surrounding the song's live debut at the annual 'Rockin' for the Troops' concert in Wheaton, Illinois. In September, we produced a free Heroes at Home benefit concert and SMT with Gracin at the Sears store in Oak Brook, Ill. Throughout 2011, we leveraged events, including a live performance of the song by Gracin at NASDAQ on Veterans Day, to keep the momentum going.



Documented Results



Through "Portraits of Heroes" (2011 budget: $268,000), we developed a platform that created newsworthy content to promote the cause, reinforced Sears' commitment to military families, and provided a strong emotional imprint with consumers and media.



The music video has received 90,000+ views on YouTube alone. Because of its popularity, Gracin's record label even halted production of his latest album to add the track.



Media impressions are 87m, and growing, with placements in publications including 'Chicago Tribune', 'Army Times Off Duty', 'Bloomberg Businessweek', AP Broadcast, GAC, CMT.com, the Huffington Post, Semper Fidelis Radio, and dozens of diverse websites, blogs, and local TV and radio stations. The CPM, based on budget and impressions, was $3.08.



Most important, Heroes at Home donations have increased. Not including iTunes downloads (all proceeds go to the cause) and pending album royalties, Heroes at Home's spring donation campaign alone generated more than $3m.