I had an opportunity to interview Rob Harles, VP Social Media and Community at Sears Holdings, and ask him about this social media phenomenon that is not only winning awards but building tremendous customer loyalty.

MM:  Thanks for joining us, Rob.  When did you launch MySears?

RH: The MySears community had a soft launch in June 2008 under the Web site sk-YOU.com, which quickly attracted a large and growing membership of more than 200,000.

In May 2009, Sears Holdings officially announced the launch of the MySears community, allowing customers to share their insights, experiences and product reviews by creating a two-way dialogue between the retailers and their customers through discussion forums, blog entries, ratings, reviews, polls and surveys, and an exciting new idea suggestion area and platform to leave comments.

MM: What was your original mission for the website? Has it changed?

RH: Whether it’s improving how customers shop online, in-store, through mobile applications, or finding ways to enhance Sears’ offerings and learn more from customers, our mission has always been to empower customers to shop how they want, when they want and where they want, and helping them better manage their lives.

The MySears community launch supports Sears’ belief in the power of community and in creating new and better ways to engage its customers, associates and vendors who are invited to register, create a profile, upload photos, share their personal experiences and ideas, and connect with each other.

This ability to engage and interact with our customers via the MySears community is an important part of our goal to improve the shopping experience for everyone.

MM: What are a couple of the most important things you’ve learned about your customers through MySears?

RH: Since the launch of the MySears community, we’ve learned more about our customers and what they like from us. One of the key learnings is that our customers really want us to succeed. Our most engaged customers want to share their ideas and thoughts about how we can accomplish that, and we’re open to input and ways to make our customers’ lives better.

One of the other big lessons learned is that we need to do more than just listen, so Sears absorbed the information and worked to make customers’ suggestions come to fruition.

MM: Do you know what percentage of MySears members are women?

RH: A little more than half of the membership is women, and that has shifted over time as we have broadened our outreach and appeal.

MM: Do you find that women use the site differently from men?

RH: From interacting and engaging with customers frequently, Sears learned that women in the MySears community do tend to be very vocal and offer more suggestions compared to male members.

In addition, we asked our members how they use the site and if they were heavily engaged in social networking during the initial launch. The response was interesting as many were not comfortable with Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, but they were comfortable on MySears rating and reviewing products, sharing experiences and meeting people who were more like themselves.

We capitalized on that initially by not pushing the social elements of the experience until people got comfortable. That too, has begun to shift as the mix of members has changed balancing the sexes and pulling in younger age groups.

MM: Any future plans for MySears?

RH: The MySears community will continue to evolve with the help of our customers. We have said that the community essentially belongs to its members, so we will continuously engage with them to make it a place that aligns with their needs. The future of social media is constantly changing, and Sears will do its best to learn and incorporate features and tools to benefit the lives of our customers over the next few years. As long as our customers keep talking to us, we will have a community.

Thanks again, Rob.  It will be exciting to see where MySears goes from here.

If you are interested in building a community like MySears for your business, I suggest you sign up for a free membership on MySears.com.  There are dozens of lessons to be learned from what the site is doing, and by pulling just one or two ideas from their strategy, you can build a powerful online community no matter what the size of your company.

If you’ve made the wrong choice, it could be costing you a truckload of customers.

Research results issued by Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the University of Illinois at Chicago indicate that gender difference plays a role in the “thinking vs. feeling” debate.

In two different studies, participants were asked to rate which ads they found to be most persuasive.  The basic information of each ad was the same; it was just framed in different ways.

Take, for example, blood donations:

… one message, entitled “My Feelings About Blood Donation,” started with, “I feel that donating blood is one of the most important contributions I can make to society.” It went on to include several more arguments framed in terms of the source’s feelings — for example, “I feel that blood donation is the most fantastic thing I can do with 30 minutes of my free time.”

In a different condition, the message was entitled “My Thoughts About Blood Donation,” and opened with, “I think donating blood is one of the most important contributions I can make to society,” and went on to frame the exact same arguments in terms of the source’s thoughts — “I think blood donation is the most fantastic thing I can do with 30 minutes of my free time.”

Aside from the use of the word “feel” or “think” throughout the message, the content of the arguments was identical, yet those more emotionally oriented were more impressed with (and persuaded by) the “feel” arguments, while those more cognitively oriented liked the “think” arguments better.”

Another study used movie advertising to measure the reactions of participants.  Women were more influenced by reviews that began with, “I feel…”; men were more influenced by reviews that began, “I think…”

Yet another reason Burger King may want to be careful with its next advertising campaign. A woman may think your ad is creative, edgy, and funny, but will she feel good enough about you to be persuaded into purchasing your product?

It’s a slim distinction that makes all the difference in successfully marketing to women.

For a while now, Burger King has proclaimed the “superfan” to be young males that frequent fast-food restaurants on a super-regular basis (9-10 times per month).  And over the past year, they ramped up their advertising with controversial campaigns like SpongeBob SquareButt and the one I wrote about in detail, the Super Seven Incher.

Burger King said it was all about males, ages 18-34.

Now, they’re thinking a little differently – mainly because their sales have been riding a slippery slope in the downward direction.

According to an article in this week’s AdAge, John Chidsey, BK CEO, re-defined “superfans” for investors:

To clarify, it’s not just 18-to-34-year-old males, it’s all ages and all household demographics, with over half of them having children.

And interestingly, over 29% are 50 years of age or older.”

In other words, their marketing was all screwed up.  They spent a great deal of time and an inordinate amount of money alienating their core customers.

Women who not only purchase meals for themselves, but for their spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, children and – perhaps most important – grandchildren.

Has Burger King learned its lesson? Time will tell.  The company is introducing new menu items and promotions to attract female customers back to its franchises.  No word yet on upcoming advertising campaigns, but most likely they will be backing away from the “wonderfully edgy” campaign their ad agency talked them into.

It’s another blow for the advertising myth of the 18-34 demographic.  Hazzah!

I’ve long been fan of Wen’s incredible portrait photography.  Hers is a family enterprise, with husband Sean sharing business duties.  They have a unique sense of marketing on a shoestring, and a knack for taking advantage of all opportunities.

Case in point:  Blizzard 2010.

On Friday, February 5^th, Wen looked at the snow falling outside her window and knew that she wouldn’t be the only one snowed in.  So she went on to the Facebook fan page for Wen McNally Photography and created “The Blizzard of 2010 Snowed-In Contest.”

Fans can vote on the senior portrait of their choice, and may cast up to 5 votes. The first place winner wins a $100 gift card to the store of their choice and a “poster session” with their friends.  Second and third place winners win a mini-studio “Facebook Friend” session.

Of course, in order to have the ability to vote, you have to become a fan of Wen’s page.

The contest started three days ago; it ends at midnight tonight.

As of this writing, Wen has added more than 650 new fans to the page and gathered more than 2,000 comments.

650 new fans, all friends of the seniors featured in the contest.

650 new potential customers, who can now view Wen’s amazing work.

All it took was a little time, a $100 gift card, and an attitude that seeks out small opportunities rather than large obstacles.

Can’t afford $3 million for your very own Super Bowl ad?

Tired of the advertising chaos that ensues on Super Bowl Sunday?

You might want to consider doing what Subaru, Hershey, and Mars are doing – become a sponsor of Puppy Bowl VI instead.

Major corporations are taking a pass on Super Bowl ads this year in favor of a smaller, yet more focused audience.  Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl is now in its 6^th year, and is an increasingly popular alternative to football mania.  (If your household is like ours, we switch back and forth, catching some Puppy Bowl action DURING the Super Bowl ads).

This year, Subaru will launch their new “Dog Tested. Dog Approved” commercials during the game.  Hershey’s will sponsor a Twizzler-branded blimp (piloted by hamsters) that will provide the Puppy Bowl’s first-ever “aerial footage, along with a Kit Kat halftime (yes, cute kittens will be the halftime entertainment).

“Our goal is to emotionally connect with our customers rather than all customers, and the Super Bowl is an all-customer type of medium,” said Subaru spokeswoman Heather Ward for an article in Advertising Age.

Right on, Heather.  Pick your market segment.  Then OWN your market segment.

Something tells me these advertisers will have better ROI on their Super Bowl Sunday ads than the actual Super Bowl advertisers.

Most times, I’m pleasantly surprised.  Sometimes, my experience is so great I feel that I should be paying them for the privilege.

Such was the case this week with Wine Entre Femme, an organization of professional women in the wine industry.

Holly Buchanan and I traveled to Napa Valley to discuss marketing with this group of women, who had traveled from all over the globe – France, South Africa, Japan, Turkey – to learn, share, and explore.

This is the cream of the crop – vice-presidents of marketing, chief financial officers, vintners, owners.  Both Holly and I were immediately struck by an extremely rare balance of professionalism and personal friendship.

After rocking the house with our presentation and three 30-minute roundtable discussions, I came away with this:

These women know their sh**.

Whether a third-generation grower or second-career vintner, each of these women has immersed herself in the creation of wine.  She sees the big picture of all that’s required to make a successful business, from research to finance to marketing.  She isn’t afraid of hard work, and often laughs at the “romantic” perception people have of owning a winery.  As one woman told me, “Our way of life is hard work – it’s agriculture.”

These women see the big picture.

They do their homework, think big, but try to make business decisions based on reality.  Should we create an off-shoot label with a cute name to attract women?  How do we protect the integrity of our original brand?  Do we even have the financial and operational collateral necessary to give it a try? They realize that sometimes, the answer is no.  Holly and I spent a great deal of time talking to this group about “owning” whatever segment of the market they focus on, not just to follow a fad in marketing.

These women are family first, competitors second.

With literally thousands of wines flooding the market, these women are competing with each other for distribution and shelf space.  But they recognize the power of relationships.  The Wine Entre Femme members not only come together to learn; they share their secrets with each other and bond in ways that empower them all.

Holly and I broke bread (and drank plenty of wine) with these women at their Farewell Dinner on Monday evening, and laughed till we cried at the love these women have for each other and each others’ wines.

Women running up and down the Barrel Room of Trinchero Family Estates, grabbing the wines of their friends and telling others to try some.

Women telling stories of battling Mother Nature and bankers in suits.

Women who realize that in coming together and growing as a force to be reckoned with, they will break down the barriers of a male-dominated industry.

Every industry could learn from what this group does and believes in.  I know I have. I miss them already.