Bloomingdales Launches Massive Music Campaign with Sony, Infiniti

Bloomingdale’s rocks this fall with a comprehensive campaign that brings fashion and music together and to life in stores and online. The campaign, which began in August and lasts through the Holiday season, will be the longest running and most cohesive multi-media campaign in Bloomingdale’s history. More than 840 catalog pages, 800 newspaper and magazine impressions, 650 in-store events, signage, and email blasts, will reflect the fashion-music connection from Bloomingdale’s unique point of view. A partnership with The Sony Music Label Group anchors the campaign, giving unprecedented access to their recording artists with exposure in numerous catalogs and more than 70 live performances in Bloomingdale’s stores nationwide.

In addition, Bloomingdale’s has dedicated areas in all stores in which new releases from select Sony artists are available for purchase. The albums, which are also available on Bloomingdales.com, include those by artists Michelle Williams, Wyclef Jean, Joshua Bell, Teddy Geiger, Cyndi Lauper, and many others.

Infiniti is another exciting partner for Bloomingdale’s this fall. As featured in the HOT and Best of Men’s catalogs, the two companies are offering a sweepstakes to win the refined and redesigned, all-new 2009 Infiniti FX50. The car’s MP3 player is preloaded with 1,000 tracks from the Sony Music Library. Entries for the sweepstakes can be submitted at any Bloomingdale’s location or online at http://www.bloomingdales.com/hot between Friday, September 5th and Sunday, September 14th. Infiniti was also a sponsor of the September 3 celebration with Terrence Howard and Vanity Fair, having brought an augmented reality technology into the mix. The party featured imagery of the all-new 2009 Infiniti FX50 and allowed guests to interact with the vehicle in an exciting virtual environment.

To complement these rock-inspired looks, Bloomingdale’s features Sony artists throughout its fall catalogs, media and in-store signage-beginning with Y.E.S and continuing through Back-to-School, Best of Ready-to-Wear, HOT, and Best of Men’s. All of the photos were shot on location at some of the most prestigious music venues across the country using authentic props from Steinway Pianos and Gibson Guitars. The Apollo Theater, Radio City Music Hall, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, onstage and backstage at The Beatles ‘LOVE’ by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, 30th Street Guitars and the McCarren Park and Pool are just a few of the legendary locations.

Each individual fall campaign is heavily influenced by music:

— August’s Y.E.S. contemporary book picked up the music trend by creating unique musical playlists for four different fashion identities-Absolute Diva, Pop Princess, Indie Darling and Pretty Punk-coordinating favorite artists with must-have fashion. Patti Smith, Sonic Youth and The Sounds are some of the artists recommended for today’s punk girl, while the pop girl favors The Ting Tings, Lily Allen and Cyndi Lauper. Sade, Kelly Rowland and Mariah Carey please the ear of the diva. And, among the suggestions for the indie-minded girl are Adele, Beach House and The Jealous Girlfriends.

— “ROCK THE SCHOOL HOUSE” is the theme of back-to-school, with a page showcasing signing sessions with teen sensations Naked Brothers Band in New York and Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly fame in South Coast Plaza. Gibson also offers a series of guitar clinics in select Bloomingdale’s stores this fall. Kids 12 and under will have the opportunity to learn how to play like a pro from a Gibson local artist. And, for those in New York City and San Francisco, a traveling exhibition of photographs featuring Gibson guitars

— Gibson Through the Lens — will make stops at Bloomingdale’s stores in those cities.

— The fall “BEAT OF CHIC” ready-to-wear book features one music story after another. Alison Suto of A Fine Frenzy models the latest looks from Bloomingdale’s signature department, Quotations. Dresses are shown on a backdrop of Cindi Lauper’s iconic song, “True Colors.” Magalog contents are introduced for the first time with “Hot Picks” from Tristan Prettyman, Kelly Rowland and Nicole Atkins, offering insights into their own music and personal style while sharing their favorite Bloomies picks.

    — Nine of Sony’s hottest artists appear on the cover of “HOT ROCKS”-a collection of the season’s must have trends-photographed by world-renowned celebrity and fashion photographer Marc Abrahams. Boys Like Girls, Lenka, Joshua Bell, Teddy Geiger, Nicole Atkins, Michelle Williams, Wyclef Jean, Raphael Saadiq and Cindy Lauper are featured on a Bloomingdale’s limited edition HOT shopping bag, beginning September 5. In addition, the original, signed portraits will be displayed in Bloomingdale’s Flagship 59th Street windows. In January 2009, Sotheby’s will auction the portraits off to benefit Musicians on Call – a non-profit organization that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities.

In keeping with the musical theme, the HOT sweepstakes offers six days at Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp in London with six nights at the Leading Hotels of the World’s Baglioni Hotel for the winner and a guest.

— The “MAKING MUSIC” best of men’s catalog features Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated actor Terrence Howard on the cover. His debut album, “Shine Through It,” debuted on September 2. Howard, whose true passion is music, sings and plays lead guitar on a self-penned set of songs that defies description, every bit as unexpected and mercurial as the performer himself. All other models in the catalog are either aspiring musicians or members of a band.

Bloomingdale’s comprehensive music campaign continues throughout the holiday season, including in the legendary window displays, beginning November 20.