Vanity Blends Music With In-Store Sweeps

Fergie is coming to a retail store near you. The pop star (not the Duchess of York) is reaching teens across Vanity stores nationwide under a new promotion that dangles a chance for fans to attend a live concert and to meet and greet the artist after the show.

The promotion dovetails off Fergie’s first solo album The Dutchess, which is available in more than 200 Vanity stores in the U.S.

To enter, fans can log on to VanityShops.com and register. In addition, consumers can text the word “Fergie” to 50799 to enter. One grand-prize winner gets a trip for two anywhere in the world Fergie is playing, a chance to meet the star in person and a $500 Vanity gift card. Five first-prize winners get an iPod loaded with Fergie’s Dutchess album and a $200 Vanity gift card. 10 second-prize receive an autographed copy of The Dutchess and a $100 Vanity gift card; 10 third-prize winners receive a copy of the CD and a $50 gift card.

“Music is like fashion,” Lynda Stenge, director of strategic marketing and partnership at Retail Entertainment Design, the agency handling the promotion, said. “It’s hot, it’s trendy. Vanity, because of its far-reaching demographic, (consumers 14-24), was a natural fit for Fergie.”

The promotion marks the first of several between Seattle-based Retail Entertainment Design, the agency handling the sweepstakes, and Vanity. The agency plans to deliver three additional promotions with Vanity over the next 12 months, Stenge said.

Fergie’s hit London Bridge will stream on Vanity’s Web site throughout the promotion. An e-mail blast went out to some 20,000 Vanity store fashion club members promoting the sweeps. “It’s a perfect fit,” Stenge said.

Headquartered in Seattle, Retail Entertainment Design (RED), has offices in New York and Los Angeles.

The sweepstakes runs through Oct. 23. Online materials, in-store signage, e-mail blasts and P-O-P support.

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