Behind the Scenes: Exchange Teams Collaborate to Celebrate Military Kids
The Exchange’s Month of the Military Child celebration kicked off April 1 with free treats, an exclusive discount on toys, weekly in-store opportunities to play, exclusive activities and more than $9,000 up for grabs in giveaways.
Month of the Military Child returned to its in-store roots this year with Exchange teams bringing activities, promotions and more to military children at their local PX or BX.
“Celebrating military children during Month of the Military Child is always a special time for the team,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Karen Cardin. “The successful collaboration across directorates makes the monthlong lineup of activities and giveaways possible. We’re excited to see the success of the in-store events as photos of military kids roll in from our stores.”
The Exchange’s Hardlines and promotion planning teams began planning the monthlong observance in August, starting with an internal contest to choose the military brat patch design, a memento given to military children since 2016.
In October, military service members working at the Exchange voted on the submitted designs and selected the design by Senior Digital Graphics Designer Andrew Tellez as this year’s winner.
The Exchange toy team enlisted supplier Vanguard to produce a coin version of the military brat patch.
Buyer III Ann Marie Flint reached out to Exchange supplier Vanguard to produce the military brat patches. This year, more than 50,000 military brat patches were distributed at more than 125 PXs and BXs. The toy team enlisted Vanguard to also produce a military brat coin version of the patch that was sold in select stores. The toy team’s other suppliers also made contributions toward the gift cards sweepstakes, toy giveaway and in-store events.
“It’s phenomenal that our suppliers still demonstrate their belief in ‘family serving family’ during this economic climate to help celebrate military children,” Flint said. “If we didn’t have great partners who participate year after year, we wouldn’t be able to pull this together for the kids.”
In January, the Exchange Credit Program; Corporate Communication; e-Commerce; and Merchandising teams met to devise a plan to communicate the month’s in-store programming and market exclusive promotions to military shoppers.
“We brought back in-store events last year and noticed an increase in foot traffic,” Flint said. “In-store events are a good way for military kids to play together, have fun and build a relationship with the Exchange.”
Each team played a hands-on role in bringing this year’s celebration to life. The e-commerce team leveraged email lists to disseminate advertising and promotion offers to shoppers. The Exchange’s Credit Program curated a special 10% off toy purchases for MILITARY STAR® cardholders when using their card through May 4.
As Month of the Military Child continues, the Exchange team is hopeful the collaborative efforts and marketing of the Exchange’s Month of the Military Child toy and Purple Up events will draw large crowds and include more store participation in years to come.
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