Attention Shoppers: Kmart's Weekly Circular Now Available Online
Meridian Advertising Collaborates on Digital Version For BlueLight.com Web site
Kmart Corporation (NYSE: KM) today announced its weekly, full-color advertising circular will now be available online every Sunday on BlueLight.com's™ online shopping site (www.bluelight.com ), effective immediately.
Kmart and BlueLight.com shoppers are now able to view the Kmart Sunday circular from the home page of the BlueLight.com online shopping site before they visit their local Kmart store. All items featured in the online circular will be able to be viewed and will be available for purchase in Kmart stores nationwide. Select merchandise also will be available on BlueLight.com.
"Our weekly circular is Kmart's most important customer communication medium, reaching more than 70 million households each week. Putting our circular on the Internet at BlueLight.com gives us another touch-point with our shoppers to tell them about our merchandise and prices in a user-friendly, contemporary electronic version," said Larry Davis, Kmart vice president advertising.
Kmart's retail promotion agency, Meridian Advertising, Inc., conceptualized the Web version, developed the technology and content matrix, and will implement and produce the digital version each week in cooperation with BlueLight.com. Meridian worked with creative and Internet technology departments of the 4A's Agency's Troy, Mich. and Omaha, Neb. offices.
"Meridian's goal was to make certain the Web-version of Kmart's circular was on-line before the important holiday selling period. We are pleased we reached that goal and can provide this additional service to Kmart and BlueLight.com customers," said Dan Surdell, Meridian's president.
Meridian worked with Kmart's e-commerce partner BlueLight.com on the technology required to integrate the weekly circular into their systems and onto their servers. To accomplish this more effectively and efficiently, Meridian's IT group wrote new applications to their Oracle data base program to easily catalog and retrieve the 20,000 images that will be used during the year. BlueLight.com will load the Web version of the circular online every Saturday night following the closing hours of stores on the West Coast.
Beginning in late November, the Kmart online circular will be embedded with BlueLight.com's "quick click" technology, allowing consumers to purchase items directly from the individual circular Web pages with just a few clicks, making shopping even easier. In 2001, the circular will have the ability to deliver regional versions of the ads on the Web, based on a customer's geographic location. For example, a customer in Florida will not receive the special on snow shovels in January and a customer in Massachusetts will not receive flowers or garden furniture specials.
The BlueLight.com online shopping site features hundreds of thousands of products at value prices across multiple categories, including Web exclusives such as the Martha Stewart Everyday collection. Any purchase on BlueLight.com can be returned at one of the more than 2,100 Kmart stores nationwide.
Meridian Advertising, Inc., a member of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, is a technology focused, measurable results driven, full service advertising agency and an ISO 9002 certified company. It is part of the Black Dot Group, a subsidiary of Applied Graphics Technologies, Inc., a major provider of outsourced advanced digital media asset management and archiving services, and a wide range of strategically driven advertising and marketing creative services.
Based in San Francisco, BlueLight.com is an independent company formed to leverage the substantial assets of Kmart Corporation, the nation's second- largest discount retailer. As Kmart's e-commerce channel, BlueLight's goal is to meet the online shopping needs of the more than 30 million Americans who visit a Kmart retail location each week, turning those consumers into BlueLight customers by offering "Great Brands at BlueLight prices."
BlueLight's shopping site (http://www.bluelight.com/ ) features thousands of products across multiple categories, including Martha Stewart Everyday® and other nationally recognized brands. BlueLight.com's Totally Free Internet Service, powered by Spinway, Inc., is the fastest growing Internet service in U.S. history with more than four million subscribers after just nine months. BlueLight.com was formed in 1999 by Kmart Corporation and SOFTBANK Venture Capital with investments by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. For more information visit http://www.bluelight.com/.
BlueLight's shopping site (http://www.bluelight.com/ ) features thousands of products across multiple categories, including Martha Stewart Everyday® and other nationally recognized brands. BlueLight.com's Totally Free Internet Service, powered by Spinway, Inc., is the fastest growing Internet service in U.S. history with more than four million subscribers after just nine months. BlueLight.com was formed in 1999 by Kmart Corporation and SOFTBANK Venture Capital with investments by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. For more information visit http://www.bluelight.com/ .
Kmart Corporation serves America with 2,163 Kmart, Big Kmart and Super Kmart retail outlets. In addition to serving all 50 states, Kmart operations extend to Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More information about Kmart is available on the World Wide Web at wwwbluelight.com under the "About Kmart" section.
SOURCE: Kmart Corporation
Contact: Mary Lorencz of Kmart Corporation, 248-463-1021,
mlorencz@kmart.com; Marty Bernstein of Meridian Advertising, 248-362-4300,
mbernstein@meridianmap.com; or Dave Karraker of BlueLight.com, 415-229-9770,
dave@bluelight.com
Website: http://www.bluelight.com/