Sears Bows 'Blue Crew' Push For CE

BY ALAN WOLF

Hoffman Estates, Ill. — Sears is creating an electronics department equivalent of its Blue Appliance Crew concept, and has enlisted NFL star Brett Favre to help promote it.

The blue-shirted team of sales and support personnel was first introduced last fall in a series of humorous TV spots designed to demonstrate Sears' superiority in white-goods.

Sears later carried the concept into stores by dressing its appliance department sales staff in the signature blue polo shirts, which are also associated with Best Buy's “Blue Shirt” sales associates.

Sears' Blue Crew equivalent for CE will debut in stores in late August, and a TV spot featuring the former Jets and Vikings quarterback is set to air in early September. In it, Favre agonizes over the selection of an LED TV, as a member of the Blue Electronics Crew, played by Second City actor Brad Morris, cites Sears' various sales tools for indecisive customers.

“This commercial uses humor to communicate messages about what differentiates Sears and the Sears Blue Electronics Crew from the competition,” including real-time price checks, a wide selection of top brands, expert sales consultants, financing options and installation, said Karen Austin, Sears' home electronics president. “And Brett is a terrific sport in having fun with the topic of choosing a TV. Brett embodies the excitement and passion that our customers feel as they anticipate the start of football season, and that comes through in the commercial.”

Sears similarly recruited N.Y. Giants quarterback Eli Manning to promote its appliance business at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show (K/BIS) in May.

The Blue Electronics Crew effort will also include new training for CE sales staffers, plus print advertising, events marketing, social media and public relations campaigns.