Baltimore ad firm TBC creates holiday campaign for Sears Canada

Sears Canada Inc. is not related to Sears in the U.S., but the Canadian retailer has a Baltimore connection nonetheless.

The retailer's newly launched holiday campaign, "For Everything Under the Tree, There's Sears," was created in Fells Point at the headquarters of ad firm TBC Inc.

A 30-second TV spot was filmed at TBC's in-house studio and at locations in Roland Park and Wiltondale. And lyrics for the jingle were co-written by TBC's chairman and creative director, Allan Charles. Charles worked on the lyrics with Joey Levine, the singer-songwriter who also wrote Chevrolet's "Heartbeat of America," Diet Coke's "Just for the Taste of it" and Anheuser-Busch's "This Bud's for You."

TBC President Howe Burch called landing the account in October "a very big opportunity and win for TBC."

The ad agency is helping re-brand one of Canada's largest retailers, viewed as a more elevated brand than its U.S. counterpart, as it refocuses with two specific consumer types in mind. There's "Linda," who represents the lifelong Sears shopper, likely 55-to-65 years old with grown children, and "Amy," a busy suburban mom in the 35-to-50 range with school-age children who hasn't been in a Sears store in a while.

The department store company is trying to maintain and grow its relationship with that core customer, while attracting younger women.

"Sears is uniquely positioned right now to be the go to for 'Amy,' with the departure of Target" from the Canadian market, said Nichole Baccala, a co-president at TBC who is leading the Sears campaign.

The holiday campaign, the first of several TBC will create for the brand, aims to convince shoppers they can find the hot toys and fashion brands and everything else on their gift lists at Sears. It opens with a young girl getting a first glimpse at the "Wish Book" catalog, first published in 1953, and follows families preparing for the holidays.

"The message is straightforward. Canadians can find the gifts they need for their families and friends all under one roof: Sears," said the company, operator of 166 corporate stores and 177 Hometown stores, in announcing the campaign.

It will air on TV — Food Network, HGTV, Bravo! and others - and have a presence on the radio, online, in print and in stores. Because this is Sears Canada, ads are both in English and French.

lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com