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Sears has rented some space at Wells and Huron in Chicago, a stone's throw from a number of tourist-friendly eating spots, for a stylish, interactive showroom, laid out with ample white space and wooden floors. Think Apple store meets artist gallery. Open Thursdays through Sundays for at least the next six months, in-person visitors can watch cooking demonstrations, see a recurring Second City show called "Dirty Laundry" and scope out new Kenmore products, while Kenmore fans on Facebook can see events and make comments online.

Creating an emotional connection for an 83-year-old cooking and cleaning appliance brand has got to be a tricky task. I for one have never given Kenmore much thought, let alone considered it a modern brand. Showcasing the brand in such a stylish space, and opening up the experience online, seems like a smart move to make Kenmore more appealing and top of mind for 20 to 40 somethings. As of March 11, the date the studio opened, Kenmore had approximately 200 Facebook fans, which I admittedly would consider a low number even for the type of brand that it is. On the bright side, that number has essentially doubled in five days. At that rate, Kenmore could very well build up a substantial online presence.

There are some good ideas here, but the execution, based on the opening night experience, needs work. Betsy Owens, vice president and general manager of Kenmore, told Marketing News Exclusives that she wasn't interested in "jamming a product down your throat" with Live Studio. In line with that, fliers and event barkers stressed the star of the opening night festivities - Top Chef Season 4 winner Stephanie Izard - as opposed to Kenmore products. But once inside, brand ambassadors, not sure what to do with themselves, kept pushing guests to interact with the Kenmore products and the space. Essentially being commanded to have fun is the exact opposite of fun in my book, and feeling uncomfortable by their pushiness thinly disguised as enthusiasm, I would have bolted sooner if I didn't have a job to do.

I also question whether the content alone is strong enough to support this experience. Will cooking demonstrations be enough to draw in fresh crowds not just away from their vacation and weekend itineraries, but also at home, considering how much cooking content they can get from the Food Network? And I didn't find the Second City bit teased out in a press conference to be particularly funny, and an interactive feature where guests could spray a living mime with pink liquid was, well, a bit unsettling.

Sears also needs to do more to promote this experience. Thus far, I've seen a handful of blog posts here and there, but primarily it's being pushed through its own Web presence and Facebook page. That, in essence, is preaching to the choir, and of course Kenmore will need to attract more than people interested in Kenmore to make this experience worthwhile. And I'm having trouble determining a clear cut schedule of events for the Kenmore studio, so what's the incentive for encouraging people to attend if they don't know what is happening at what date and time?

But there's one aspect to the Sears Kenmore strategy that I find more puzzling than anything else - a complete omission of the parent company inside the studio. Unless you knew that Kenmore was a Sears brand, you would have no idea participating in this experience that you could buy the product exclusively at a Sears or a Kmart store. How is Live Studio supposed to improve sales if it is not also promoting the exclusive retailers that make the product available?

Of course, the Kenmore Live Studio has just begun. Sears has at least six months to get it right. But the clock is ticking - Sears has to do a better job creating engaging content and getting the word out or else they'll quickly lose interest.

You can read more about Kenmore Live Studio in the article "Sears Spotlights Kenmore Rebrand with Experiential Effort," appearing in the March 18 edition of Marketing News Exclusives .