Shakira Featured in Delia’s Promo

Pop star Shakira will headline Delia’s spring campaign, gracing not only the cover of its catalog but a cross-promotional effort involving the teen marketer’s retail stores and Delias.com.

High expectations are riding on the Colombian megastar. Four million catalogs bearing her picture were scheduled to arrive in homes the first week of January. The company is hoping that not only will she demonstrate what’s fashionable and hip to teenage girls — her core fan base and Delia’s target audience — but that she’ll nudge more than 1 million qualified prospects to convert to Delia’s customers.

Delia’s seems confident Shakira’s celebrity status has enough clout to carry the most thorough cross-channel integration the company has ever done. It’s a bold move but well-considered, because the star wattage won’t be any more of a budget drain than the company’s average spring campaign. Sony, the parent of Epic, Shakira’s record company, approached Delia’s with the idea “of leveraging each other’s assets,” said Hilary Chasin, vice president of marketing at New York-based Delia’s. “It hasn’t cost more.”

Sony wanted Delia’s assistance publicizing Shakira’s crossover from Latina pop idol with the release of her first CD in English, “Laundry Service.” In return, Delia’s gets to promote its fall line to more than 1 million e-mail addresses of prospects collected from both Shakira’s and Sony’s Web sites.

“The idea is to create a buzz, and get customers we normally wouldn’t be able to tap into,” Chasin noted.

A sweepstakes spotlighting Shakira ties together the channels of the campaign.

The catalog, with Shakira posing on the cover wearing a “Desert Rose” ensemble of ruffled tank top and distressed jeans, features a sweepstakes to win Shakira’s turquoise guitar — and a $500 shopping spree at Delia’s. Second prize is a chance to win one of 500 autographed “Laundry Service” CDs.

The table of contents promotes a first-ever “Get the Look” two-page spread. It shows the singer posing in various outfits. The TOC also directs the reader to Delia’s Web site for an exclusive interview with Shakira and more new styles. Entries for the contest are available in the catalog and online.

As the 80-page book drops, the e-mail blast will be sent, touting the contest, Shakira and Delia’s spring look. About 2.5 million messages will go out to names from the Sony and Shakira sites and the more than 1-million-name Delia’s e-mail database. (Delia’s typically sends out a free e-mail newsletter every 10 days to those who sign up.)

Meanwhile, customers strolling into one of Delia’s 45 retail stores will see a blow-up of the catalog cover and a sign inviting them to “Come in to Win.” Entries are available at the checkout counter.

“Whether our teen girl is riding in a car reading the catalog, sitting at home on the Internet, or shopping in a mall with her friend, she is informed about our promotions,” Chasin said.

Delia’s strategy since last year has been to bolster the Delia’s brand across multiple channels, after selling off a number of non-core properties. In early December, the company announced a net loss of $3.2 million for the third quarter, down from $42.7 million a year ago. Sales were up 18.5%.

The merchant has annual catalog circulation of 42 million copies and a 12-million-name database for all channels. The spring campaign will hit a big chunk of the 6 million active buyers.

Since the target audience is ages 13 to 20, there’s a limited window in which to keep them as buyers, points out Stan Fridstein, co-founder of the now-defunct baby catalog The Right Start and currently president of catalog consultancy Synapse Infusion Group.

“Delia’s needs to understand not only what brought the customer to the company, and what channel they came through, but what they bought,” Fridstein said.

“Teenage girls are the most fickle human beings on the market. What’s cool today is not cool tomorrow. Delia’s can never be in a position to not take advantage of maximizing their return efficiently.”

Shakira seems to be a hot enough ticket to do it.

Having left a humble background at 13, she’d made four CDs in Spanish and reached superstardom. No lip-syncher, she writes and performs her own music. Now, at 20, propelled into the English-language market, “she communicates an independent, self-empowering person and those values are the ones we want to communicate to our young girls,” Chasin said.

And it’s not a bad move considering major youth-market competitor Alloy.com boasts a celebrity-heavy Web site with the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Lord of the Rings” heartthrob Orlando Bloom.

Still, plugging into a bit of star power isn’t a used-up cliché yet. “I can’t think of another catalog that’s featuring a celebrity,” said catalog consultant Katie Muldoon, president of Muldoon & Baer Inc., Tequesta, FL. “If it gets them the cool quotient, it’s a good idea.”