Need a refrigerator? There’s an app for that. We at ARS love opportunities, especially when it comes to creating innovative ideas using new media. So when Kenmore agreed to have us pioneer the very first iPhone app for a major appliance brand, we couldn’t wait to get started!

As an authorized app developer, we took our experience with the Kenmore brand and created a free interactive app where customers can research products, read the Genius Blog featuring a panel of home experts, and get an inside peek of the Kenmore Live Studio. We’ve even included “What’s on Sale” and “Where to Buy” features, allowing users to see all of the latest deals and find their nearest shopping location.

Get your app on! Check it out in the iTunes store.

If you were to ask Tony Stark how comic book fans could look cool while saving the world, he’ll probably say “it’s all in the suit.” So we took his advice and teamed up with our interactive and social ally Votigo to help Kmart launch the Iron Man 2 Suit Up @ Kmart Photo Contest.

Fans can enter the contest by building their own Iron Man suit and then upload a photo of it to the contest gallery where others can vote for the best suit. The Grand Prize winner goes to London to visit the set of Captain America and also receives airfare and hotel accommodations, plus spending cash.

You can check out the contest at suitup.kmart.com

To help Kmart get the word out about the new Kenny Chesney Summer In 3D DVD, we created a fan-centric and multi-media interactive experience.

Our goal was to capture the essence of a Chesney rock concert and the chilled-out tropical island vibe of his music. In addition to giving fans an exciting glimpse of Summer In 3D’s storyline, the experience also offers fans free downloads, links to Chesney’s “No Shoes Radio,” exclusive trailers and a chance to win a trip to see the country music star live in concert.

The DVD & Blu Ray is being sold exclusively at Kmart stores and on Kmart.com.

Check out the experience at kmart.com/kennychesney

ARS interactive is now an Enterprise partner with Magento, a leading e-commerce solution. “This partnership gives our clients a powerful e-commerce platform that can scale as their business grows,” said Dale Heim, vice president, sales and marketing.

“An e-commerce system is the single most important business application for our clients, so reliability and flexibility are very important. We feel Magento is the best choice.”

Check out all Crazy Cleaning Confessions at youtube.com/Kenmore.

Do you go to extremes when you do dishes or laundry? That’s what the “Crazy Cleaning Confessions” contest asks at youtube.com/Kenmore. The contest kicks off the launch of Kenmore’s brand channel on YouTube. Contest host Amy Clark of MomAdvice.com, a well-known mom blog, also stars on a companion site, Kenmore.com/CleanandGreen, which illustrates how Clark cleaned up and greened up her laundry and dishwashing habits with Kenmore appliances.

Kenmore is an innovative industry leader, so the approach to building brand awareness and relevance was through innovations in social marketing. “The launch of Kenmore on YouTube is about starting conversations with target consumers,” said Kashif Zaman, vice president of interactive marketing. “We’ll build brand consideration by reaching moms who may not be thinking about laundry products, but who relate to the challenge of clean laundry and dishes,” he noted.

Commenting on and sharing the YouTube contest videos raises awareness of the brand, as will the donations Kenmore makes to conservation efforts for every video and vote submitted.

Getting your product data together, says the article author, and keeping it organized, is the foundation of online selling. Sears Holding Corp.’s The Great Indoors relies on ARS to manage its 25,000 SKU product content database. ARS gets the data from The Great Indoors’ suppliers and keeps it organized, formatted, updated and ready for the retailer’s merchants to push to the site or other venues, like affiliate sites and shopping engines.

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“I’m so proud of our teams’ drive and creative execution of successful marketing materials. Every project is treated with the same dedication as the next. And let me give credit to our clients, who drive our ambition to provide exceptional work,” said Kim Finch, Vice President, ARS Advertising.