Eastside Business News at EastsideBusiness.com

Carat Fusion Selected as Online Agency of Record for Eddie Bauer

The Contemporary Outdoor Lifestyle Brand Gets Fresh Approach to Advertising Efforts

Carat Fusion recently announced that it has been named online agency of record for Eddie Bauer, a contemporary outdoor lifestyle brand. As part of the new relationship, Carat Fusion will provide Eddie Bauer with consumer insight, online media planning and buying, as well as data intelligence support through its proprietary Citadel product. This news comes on the heels of the agency's recent announcement to reposition and rename itself from Carat Interactive to Carat Fusion.

"Eddie Bauer is one of the country's premier lifestyle brands, and critical to our success is the ability to engage with customers using intelligently designed marketing programs so they understand how Eddie Bauer fits into their active lifestyle," said Lisa Erickson, Eddie Bauer company spokesperson. "We interviewed several talented agencies, but each delivered a media-centric approach. In review, we realized that consumers don't think in silos, and neither can our marketing programs. From the beginning, Carat Fusion brought its best and brightest from consumer insights, media and creative as well as technology to contribute the conversation, and ultimately, to the solution."

"We are thrilled to be working with Eddie Bauer," said Toby Gabriner, President of Carat Fusion. "Being a strong multi-channel retailer, they asked for a partner to take a fresh look at how all marketing channels can work together in an accountable way. They needed a new approach, one that truly connects all agency perspectives. Carat Fusion is that partner, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship."

The first phase of work will focus on Fall 2005 efforts, leveraging media and data intelligence, while planning marketing strategy for 2006.

A significant portion of Carat Fusion's work with Eddie Bauer will involve the use of the agency's Data Intelligence product -- Citadel. Through Citadel, Carat Fusion aggregates data from various disparate sources to deliver a deep view of consumer behavior from the point of initial impression to the most recent transaction. Its flexibility allows for easy modification of business rules and customized reports and analysis, giving clients access to powerful measurement tools.

"Consumer insight and data intelligence practices have become increasingly more important to the success of our programs," added Gabriner. "Consumer insights provide an amazing audience and category profile, Data Intelligence validates this information, and takes it a step further to understand how the target interacts with the brand."