Clothing retail chain Banana Republic and cable television network AMC have teamed up for the second year on an integrated marketing campaign promoting the fourth season of Mad Men, which will begin July 25. The effort includes e-mail marketing, a sweepstakes, social media elements and TV ads.
The campaign will begin July 21 at all Banana Republic North American locations.
The marketing teams at AMC and Gap Inc. collaborated to create the campaign, with interactive agency Deep Focus taking the lead on digital outreach.
“Mad Men is the kind of show that has really crossed over into the pop-culture lexicon,” said Theresa Beyer, VP of promotions and brand activation at AMC. “People want to talk about Mad Men style. You’ll hear, ‘That suit is very Mad Men,” hence the connection between a huge fashion retailer like Banana Republic and Mad Men makes perfect sense.”
AMC and Banana Republic are co-sponsoring a contest in which one customer will win a walk-on role on Mad Men in 2011 and a $1,000 Banana Republic gift card.
Consumers enter the contest by picking up a printed Style Guide at a Banana Republic store and entering the code inside at the madmencastingcall.amctv.com microsite.
Consumers must upload photos of themselves wearing Mad Men-esque fashions to enter, and customers will vote for their favorites.
After reviewing photos of the top 10 male and female vote-getters, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner will select a winner.
Consumers can opt-in for additional offers, helping AMC and Banana Republic grow their internal customer marketing databases, Beyer said.
Banana Republic will send e-mail marketing messages to its existing customer databases to promote the contest, added Daniel Rubin, spokesman for Gap Inc., which operates the chain.
“We’re really just trying to find unique touch points that connect with the audience of Mad Men and the potential customer base of Banana Republic,” he said.
Banana Republic stores will also be decorated in Mad Men displays. Every store window will include large photos of the show’s characters. Inside, signage will point to modern takes on 1960s fashion staples, such as the pencil skirt, cardigan and suit. The style guide also shows Mad Men characters and images alongside Banana Republic looks.
Janie Bryant, Mad Men costume designer, and Simon Kneen, Banana Republic’s creative director, created a video blog with fashion tips that will appear on Banana Republic’s Facebook page and amctv.com. The clothing chain also will hold customer shopping events in select markets such as Detroit and San Francisco.
