When I think of Sears, I think mostly of tools and appliances, but the creative team with the company has come up with a way to reach an underserved market: the living dead.

As a strategic PR tactic, sears.com created a unique and unexpected category page humorously targeted toward zombie customers. The goal was to grab the attention of a younger crowd that would find this type of edgy content greatly appealing.

Sears.com recognized a unique opportunity to take advantage of a popular, yet under saturated holiday like Halloween to implement a surprising campaign and drive significant buzz. Sears.com planted strategic viral seeds to grow conversations in social media communities. The next step was to ride the wave of social buzz with traditional media outreach to drive program results.

Planning for the zombie campaign began in early summer 2010. To begin, the sears.com user experience team gathered to conceptualize page design and creative direction. It had to be shocking, gruesome and unexpected yet mirror an
actual sears.com page. Building of the zombie site stretched through the summer.

The final result was launched in time for Halloween 2010, but remains in operation today. You can see the page for yourself at http://www.sears.com/zombie