Day 3: "Turn-In" Meeting

Hi everyone! Today was my third day working in the Integrated Marketing Dept. at Bloomingdale's. I'll be working on anything that involves outside parties that don't directly sell product to Bloomingdale's. Here are some examples of projects I'll be involved in: Bloomingdale's attempt to break the "most simultaneous makeovers" record for the Guinness Book of World Records, NBC pairing with Bloomingdale's to introduce their fall lineup of shows alongside the Bloomingdale's fall lines of clothing, and "the little pink book."

Today we had several meetings on the little pink book. It is a book that comes out in October to raise money and awareness for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The book includes interviews with doctors and celebrities who are breast cancer survivors. And of course, it also contains lots of fashion.

The meetings today were called "turn-in" meetings. Buyers from every department brought exclusive samples from designers to "turn-in." These are items they would like photographed and pages allotted for in the book. We saw a wide variety of products that have yet to be manufactured from the following departments: winter accessories, men's and women's RTW (ready-to-wear), home goods, fine jewelry, and watches. The buyers brought clothing and jewelry from brands such as Echo, DKNY, Aqua, Splendid, Ralph Lauren, The North Face, Hunter, Joe's Jeans, Paige Jeans, True Religion, David Yurman, and Judith Ripka.

Along with the fashion turn-ins, my team turned in the outside vendor pages. We presented auctions of exclusive products, interviews with celebrities, and custom-made products whose purchase will contribute to breast cancer research.

My favorite part was seeing the outfits put together and listening to the discussions between the creative team and the buyers about how the items will be photographed and displayed in the book. Interesting points were if the outfits would be shot "on body" or "still," which part of an ensemble (within an outfit or jewelry set) deserved the focus, and how to choose the centerpiece while taking into account monetary contributions from the brand along with trendiness of the item.

Well, that's all for now - thanks for reading! I'll post again soon :)

Keri