Talbots Returns to TV, Debuts Men’s Catalog

After a yearlong hiatus, The Talbots Inc. has returned to television with an ad schedule valued at roughly $3 million.

While the spots are general image builders for all of the company’s apparel, they will feature Talbots’ new line of men’s clothing. The company will launch its Talbots Mens catalog with a 750,000-piece distribution in October.

The Talbots stayed off the airwaves during the first half of this year, spending $10 million less on advertising than it did during the same period in 2001.

“After a year’s hiatus it is time to resume, and we do feel cautiously optimistic,” said spokeswoman Margery B. Myers. “If we have more discretionary funding, we will reinvest in TV.”

Talbots last ran spots on Sept. 10, 2001. Its fall TV campaign had just broken when the Sept. 11 attacks caused it to curtail its schedule.

“We pulled the ads due to the fact that we no longer felt it was appropriate to run them,” Myers said.

In the spring of this year, the Hingham, MA-based apparel marketer anticipated that the retail climate was going to continue to be uncertain, and reduced its discretionary spending.

“For us, that included TV advertising,” Myers said.

Talbots’ return to TV, which started earlier this month, features slice-of-life vignettes that will run nationally on morning television shows, and on the A&E and Home & Garden Television cable networks. They also will appear during evening prime time in a number of key markets, including New York City and Los Angeles. The spots feature both men and women wearing Talbots clothes.

The prime-time placements would be during shows popular with young adults, such as “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Friends” and the Emmys.

The catalog launch comes at a time when Talbots has trimmed its mailings from 30 drops in 2001 to 24 this year. Its total 2002 catalog circulation is roughly 51 million, compared with 57 million in 2001.

The reduction reflects the chain’s increased focus on its customers, and a move away from prospecting. According to Myers, the company has eliminated two of its less productive women’s catalogs, and is cutting the number of mailings of its Talbots Kids book. Some of the size offerings previously sent out within separate titles will be “line listed” — mentioned in the text descriptions of similar items in continuing catalogs.

The men’s catalog, which was first planned as an insert for one of the core catalogs, will be a 24-page standalone piece. Approximately 500,000 copies will be polybagged with Talbots’ Misses catalog and sent primarily to best customers, with a small selection going to prospects. The remainder will be distributed throughout Talbots retail locations.

After the initial fall campaign, plans call for two mailings during 2003, one in the spring and one in the fall.

While Talbots Mens merchandise will earn customers loyalty program points if charged on a Talbots credit card, the chain has not designed any special promotions in conjunction with the new line.

As for online sales, the new offerings will not have a separate Web address. Instead, Talbots Mens clothing will be featured on the company’s flagship talbots.com site.

Catalog sales generated $266.5 million, or 16.5% of Talbots total merchandise sales. Web-based sales, which amounted to roughly $45.3 million, are included with catalog figures.