Cond? Nast Bridal Media has created a microsite to market bridal and gift offerings from long-time advertising partner JCPenney.
Housed on Cond? Nast’s Brides.com, the JCPenney microsite is called “Click It. Pick It. Love It.” On the site, brides-to-be can browse the JCPenney gift registry, create their own wish list of JCPenney items, set up a planning calendar and share photos.
“It’s all about personalization for the user,” said Pamela Quandt, executive director of marketing and creative services for Cond? Nast Bridal.
“There’s a new bride every day, and there are so many choices for registry,” she continued. “We wanted to showcase how easy it is and the breadth of products on behalf of JCPenney, and we wanted to encourage users to have fun.”
The site is geared towards women early in their wedding process and will run through August 2008. Quandt said the idea is to snag brides before they choose where they’re going to register, and then sell them on the JCPenney goods and services.
The Cond? Nast creative team worked closely with JCPenney executives to select 219 showcase products for the co-branded site. The department store was involved in the creative process, but it was the Cond? Nast in-house agency that designed its features and appearance.
A two-month sweepstakes kicked off the site’s launch on August 20. Users can register to win a new kitchen, bed or bathroom – worked on by an interior designer and fully furnished with JCPenney goods. Winners will be featured on Brides.com and in Cond? Nast’s national titles Brides and Modern Bride.
At the sweepstake’s end, the site will start featuring “brides’ picks” recommendations.
Other outreach tactics employed by the site include print ads, a media schedule and seasonal updates on Brides.com – the portal for all three of Cond? Nast’s national bridal books – and targeted e-mail blasts to an opt-in database.
As part of the partnership, JCPenney has purchased 60 ad pages in Brides, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride, and in Cond? Nast’s 16 regional wedding books. The Brides.com site and the JCPenney microsite will be closely tied to the print titles.
“Everything the magazine does should lead back to the Web site, so we’ll have editorial [touting the site] throughout the magazines and promotional messages,” Quandt affirmed. “We’re always working to marry print and online together, to ensure that the user can go from print to online with ease.”
Brides.com has featured multiple microsites since its launch in April 2006. Past clients include Gallo, Kia and Ford. The Cond? Nast Bridal Group also launched programs for Linens N Things and Marriott hotels last week. Quandt reports media metrics numbers of more than 1 million for this month and more than 30 million page views.
