WARNER BROS., BLUEFLY IN ONLINE DEAL
Byline: Valerie Seckler
NEW YORK — Executives of Warner Bros. Online are aiming to put a bug in their users’ ears — or, at least, in front of their eyes.
They’ve struck a strategic alliance with Internet off-pricer Bluefly Inc. to operate a co-branded site at Thefashion-maven.com, featuring products from Bluefly.com, that reflect style trends seen in current Warner Bros. movies and TV shows, such as “Friends” and “Veronica’s Closet.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Thefashionmaven.com went live Tuesday with six items, including a leopard-print, scoop-necked top with three-quarter-length sleeves from Central Park West; an ABS paisley print, cap-sleeved dress, and a Furla leather baguette.
The site can be accessed either via Fashionmaven.com, or through various areas of the Warner Bros. flagship site, located at Warnerbros.com. Warner Bros. Online and Bluefly are working together to select merchandise and fashion trends, from both the big and small screens.
“Fashion and entertainment have a tradition of working well together,” said Jonathan Morris, executive vice president of Bluefly.
“The Fashion Maven site is an extension of that tradition, and should help grow Bluefly’s sales and extend the Bluefly brand name. There’s a tremendous opportunity for us to link with a great brand — Warner Bros. — and some of the entertainment properties they hold.”
Merchandising is a collaborative process; Warner Bros. is talking with Bluefly’s merchants to choose items for Fashion Maven from Bluefly.com’s assortment, and also may suggest that Bluefly add certain products to its mix, Morris said.
Besides the half-dozen fashion items it highlighted Monday, Fashion Maven also featured permanent links to Bluefly.com and Warnerbros.com, as well as rotating links to the Web sites of various Warner Bros. TV properties such as “Friends” and “ER,” which, in turn, had links to other sites, such as gift registry Della.com.
To begin, content from the Web sites of TV shows featured at Fashion Maven has not been integrated into the e-commerce venue. In the e-commerce area, cybershoppers are linked with Bluefly.com after they click on an item, or on the Bluefly logo.
According to ratings agency MediaMetrix, Warner Bros. Online ranks among the top five entertainment destinations on the Web, reaching more than 4 million unique visitors per month.
A relaunch of the site, at Warnerbros.com, is planned for this spring.
“With the launch of the Fashion Maven site,” said Rich Sutton, vice president of sales at Warner Bros. Online, “millions of fans have a place to learn more about the fashion trends seen on their favorite TV show or in the movies, and the opportunity to buy designer merchandise from Bluefly that reflects these trends.”