Markets

NY Fashion Week Flub: Kmart's Concierge Effort

By Lydia Dishman

Updated on: February 17, 2011 / 4:10 PM EST / MoneyWatch

File this one in the department of dubious initiatives: Kmart (SHLD) unleashed a cadre of "concierges" to provide survival kits to those in the trenches of Fashion Week in New York. The program sent stylish delivery people around to dispatch essentials (think breath mints and sewing kits) to show attendees who tweeted distress signals to Kmart's new @KmartFashion feed on Twitter. It's certainly a nice gesture, but will it pull in new customers?

Kmart initially chose "a select group of top influencers" to receive a Fashion Week survival kit along with an invitation to participate in the concierge program. Each kit was to pair the latest Kmart Fashions with sundries, all of which are for sale nationwide at Kmart. The chosen fashionistas also got an invitation to tweet the concierge and order menu items similar to their survival kit stash during the week as needed.

The concierge program looks like Kmart's latest strategy to boost its fashion cred -- and apparel sales. It coincided with the launch of (another) new fashion site: KmartFashion.com and its social brand channels on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. They're all vehicles to promote Kmart's video and blog series featuring fashion industry leaders. There's even a place to sign up to receive location-based mobile incentives and rewards.

So far so good, right? Not exactly.

Department of redundancy department

Kmart Fashion is just the latest addition to the discount chain's mushrooming portfolio of social media sites. Kmart Design's slick site launched last fall, filled with similar text and video dish about what's hot and how to snag it. Kmart Design has its own Twitter and Facebook profiles, each of which boast over 10,000 followers. There's also a Twitter feed for Kmart Apparel.

Yet none of these outlets have seen fit to mention Kmart Fashion or the concierge service. It's mystifying, especially since the sites already features captive audiences. Kmart Fashion, by contrast, currently has only 314 followers.

Starting (too) small

Kmart's concierge initiative is probably pinned on the hope that the initial smallish pool of insiders will have a big ripple effect. But what exactly are they planning to sell?

I exchanged emails with two recipients of Kmart's service. Carrie Goldberg, a freelance stylist, heard about the service directly from the Kmart Fashion blogger (they've worked together in the past). Goldberg confirmed she received the survival kit containing an assortment of such essentials as coconut water, tissues, stain remover, and almonds -- but not clothing as the company originally stated in its press release. In fact, Goldberg told me, "The service is not really influencing my opinion on the store's apparel assortment as it has nothing to do with what they carry in-store fashion-wise."

Christen Rochon, creative director and owner of the fashion/tech community www.DivasandDorks.com, says she wasn't a Kmart shopper before, but did use the service to snag a pair of Dr. Scholl's Fast Flats among other sundries. For her it reinforced the notion that Kmart had "nice fashionable apparel and convenience items."

Perhaps Kmart Fashion is banking on bigger fish the likes of Wendy Lam, founder of the fashion site Nitro:licious. Lam tweeted, "didn't get a chance 2 rqst during the wk, need DrScholls flats & DrScholls heel pain orthotics. Feet is killin [sic] #KmartConcierge." However, unless her 9,000+ followers are looking directly at her stream (or following Kmart Fashion themselves) they would have missed that 140-character endorsement. And once her feet feel better, she's not likely to keep tweeting to make sure all her devotees know the source of her aid.

Exclusive vs. inclusive

I wish I could tell you that a Kmart spokesperson clarified the company's business objective with the new social media channels and the concierge initiative. No one responded to my request for further information. Perhaps they were too busy delivering fashionistas from foot pain.

As a branding exercise, it seems like a lot of effort for very little recognition or loyalty. No one in Nebraska is going to care that Wendy Lam's feet were saved by a gal in a red coat armed with Dr. Scholl's pads. And no one in NYC is going to truck from the tents at Lincoln Center down to Kmart's only Manhattan locations at 34^th Street or (worse) to lower Broadway to snap up a tube of toothpaste much less a lace t-shirt.

However if all Kmart wanted to do was cozy up to the fashion cognoscenti for some warm and fuzzy vibes, you could call it a minor success. Goldberg says,

It was nice to see an awareness on Kmart's part of who truly is responsible for driving sales in luxury and mass market retail and a willingness to cater to them. As a stylist and writer myself, I was happy to see that they clearly realize that freelance writers, stylists and bloggers do not come to the tents with drivers and assistants to do their bidding and at times, are in need of a little help and support during a grueling fashion week schedule.

Image via Kmart Fashion

Related: