Sam's Club Taps Membership, Jason Sudeikis for Major Transformation
Sam's Club is diving deeper into its participation strategy, growing its member engagement community and kicking off a "Come Join Us" campaign.
The warehouse club is also debuting a new look to go along with store remodels and new builds.
Member's Mark Community
Sam's Club created the Member's Mark Community as a way for its subscribers to engage with and provide feedback on products for the warehouse club's private label brand. (Member's Mark comprises about one-third of Sam's Club's $93 billion revenue.)
Sam's Club debuted the community in 2019, but relaunched it in June 2024, with 50,000 participants. This month, the retailer says that the community — the only requirement to join is to be a Sam's Club member — has tripled. It now boasts 150,000, who partake in five or more activities each month.
Participants can use the clubhouse's app to view their profile and activity history, check for invites and announcements, and help test products and provide feedback to Sam's Club.
One major result from member input: Sam's Club's "Made Without" effort, which is removing more than 40 ingredients as synthetic colors from Member's Mark food and beverage products.
"Membership is about more than access and savings. It's about giving members a voice and it brings to life our belief that the best version of the Club is not something we create for our members, it is, importantly, something we create with our members," Myron Frazier, chief merchant for Sam's Club, said in a media release.
Come Join Us
Sam's Club is also enlisting actor and producer Jason Sudeikis to drive home the message that the club is not just a place to shop, but also a place to share ideas, guide experiences and help shape the future of the retailer.
"We are not talking at our members; we are building the club alongside them because they are what makes this brand special," Jeff Jenkins, chief marketing officer of Sam's Club, said in a news release announcing the initiative, adding that the warehouse giant's mindset is about belonging, which "starts with feeling heard and included."
The campaign is running across social, digital and broadcast channels, welcoming folks to prepare for sports, barbecues, holiday travel and back-to-school.
IndyCar Series driver Kyle Kirkwood as well as former and current soccer players Alex Morgan and Trinity Rodman join Sudeikis for the campaign.
The call to join the club dovetails with Sam's Club's growth strategy. In March it revealed plans to remodel all 600 of its locations — its Grapevine, Texas, store is serving as the template — and open 30 clubs over the next decade, with six planned for this year.
Not only are stores getting a new look, but Sam's Club is also unveiling updated company branding. Shoppers will soon see a new logo, typeface and other visual components, both online and in store.
