Sam's Enlists Debi Lilly in Plan to Boost Summer Sales

Sam's Club is taking the summer seriously, building on a membership initiative with a marketing campaign devoted to helping members get the most from the season.

Sam's launched its 100 Days of Summer program as a $15 Memorial Day to Labor Day membership for consumer and small business customers. Unlike many recent Sam's initiatives, though, this one is more consumer focused and demonstrates that the club still is seeking the right balance between serving business, which the chain is trying to establish as the core point of difference between it and other warehouse clubs, and the general public. Evidence for the consumer-centric nature of the effort comes in the form of club events, the first of which -- a burger tasting that ran from May 21 to 23 -- played out more like a neighborhood barbecue than a business proposal. The marketing effort launched in support of the 100 Days of Summer also has a consumer flavor. Sam's drafted renowned event planner Debi Lilly in a public relations and social network campaign that provides easy-to-accomplish, low-cost entertaining tips for outdoor gatherings this summer. Those tips fall under three categories, at least in their initial offering. The first encourages consumers to Pair Old with New by adding fresh elements and accessories to update existing outdoor furnishings. Next comes Go Organic by, in one example, serving sorbet desserts in cups made of hollowed citrus, and, finally, an appeal to Be Bright, Be Bold with elements such as richly colored serving wear and tumblers. Lilly's outdoor gathering tips were presented in a press release that also included a video version.

To take its campaign directly to consumers, Sam's took the additional step of posting the outdoor gathering tips presentation on Yahoo! Video. Lilly appears on Sam's Facebook page as well, providing suggestions for summer road trips that, naturally, discusses car navigation gear, activities and food that can be purchased at Sam's Club. The Lilly push also links to a microsite, samsclub.com/summer, that offers more tips, discusses meal plans and makes lots of purchase recommendations.