The founder of Walmart, Sam Walton, once expressed envy at
how a discount retailer called Kmart was so successful. Fast forward to 2018
and there are only 360 Kmarts left, which are eating Walmart’s dust. What
happened? Well, our story begins in 1962, when Sebastian Spering Kresge opened
his very first Kmart. In 1899, he had the brilliant idea of selling goods for
either a nickel or a dime (how I wish that could still be today.) and, by the
1960s realized that people in the US were shifting to the suburban areas of
cities and, decided to set up his first discount store, which he called Kmart
in 1962.
In 1965, Kmart pioneered a revolutionary marketing tactic
that gave customers a symbolic value to the company. When goods had to be sold
fast, a flashing blue light would be placed at that particular department and
an announcement would be heard, “Attention Kmart Shoppers, for the next 5
minutes(specific product) will be discounted from $70 to $15”(for example). So
iconic was the Blue Light Special that the phrase “Attention Kmart Shoppers”
made it into movies such as “Beetlejuice” in 1988.
People felt an emotional
attachment and community when they heard that phrase. Community bonding which
sadly Kmart did not capitalize on in the Social Media age.
Classic line from the memorable 1988 film, Rain Man, about Kmart's decline. Coincidentally, 1988 was when the movie "Beetlejuice" with the iconic "Attention Kmart Shoppers" line came out.
But then, Walmart which was started just four months after
Kmart, found ways to make their deliveries efficient, enabling them to offer
low prices. If Walmart offered low prices, then what was Kmart?
Kmart has thus lost its value to consumers. It tried
partnering with Yahoo in the late 90s for their website but, that did not go
well. Kmart has occasionally made a buzz on the Youtube community by
reintroducing the blue light special in 2015 (Kmart strangely took that away in
1991) and, having creative light blue shirt with pop culture references but, it
may be too late. In October 2018, Kmart filed for bankruptcy protection.
One way I can see them bouncing back is if they start using
an infomediary business model, where they could pay Facebook to give them
information about potential customers. Another way is Kmart doing a viral
marketing campaign where all the stores can have the blue light special at the
same time. The video can be posted on Facebook and Youtube, rather than
Instagram or Twitter because, the most number of people are leaving Instagram
and Twitter. Posting a viral video on Youtube would also help get media
richness, which simply means that a video about a blue light special will be
easier to understand than, a text about the Blue Light Special. Bouncing back is not impossible, as shown by this Kmart that was forced to close due to a flood. It is now one of the best Kmarts after it re opened.
But, what are your thoughts? Comment below with other
digital marketing suggestions to let me know how you think the internet age can
save a fallen Blue Light. Note that Kmart in Australia and New Zealand are no longer affiliated to American Kmart and, are doing extremely well.
