Magalogs in the Mailbox

By J.D. Reed.

When customers across the country received their new Bloomingdale's catalog earlier this month, they were treated to more than fall fashions. Among the Kamalis and Calvins were full-page ads for cigarettes, liquor and laundry products, none of which can be ordered by mail or bought in one of Bloomingdale's 14 locations. Other department stores like Marshall Field are considering the advantages. Says Milton Kaplan, president of Catalogue Advertising Sales, which sells Bloomingdale's space to clients: "It's the next large medium on the horizon."

Bloomingdale's says it added the ads to make its catalogs more distinctive than the 8.5 billion others mailed last year. The carefully calculated result resembles a chic fashion magazine as much as a catalog; it is a hybrid that might be called a magalog. But, after studying the finances, John Chunko, vice president of Catalogue Media Corp., concludes, "By accepting ads, large catalogers are realizing that they can make $5 million in profit over five years and not hurt themselves."

The trend is not for everyone. Sears and J.C. Penney may not benefit because their readership is too broad. Brand-name advertisers favor upscale catalogs, like Bloomingdale's, which reach large but narrowly defined consumer groups. The majority of Bloomingdale's 1.7 million readers this fall are under 45, with some college education, employed and affluent. But access to such a demographic bull's-eye is expensive. A page sells for $27,000, about the same amount that Vogue charges for a similar space. Bloomingdale's is more demanding than the fashion magazines, requiring that the color, copy and image of the ads visually blend with the store's offerings.

For years, stores have used less obtrusive forms of co-advertising, called co-oping, in their catalogs to offset the rising costs of postage and printing. An advertiser showing a Christian Dior dress, say, often shares the costs fifty-fifty with the store. Dallas-based Neiman-Marcus carries no ads in its catalogs, but since 1981, it has sent a slick fashion magazine, now called NM, with features and ads free to its 900,000 active credit-card holders.

Some readers of Bloomingdale's latest issue are irritated by the commercials. "I was shocked," says Henrietta Santo, director of a Manhattan fitness center. "I don't expect ads in the middle of a catalog." Eileen Adams, a personal shopper in New York City, asked regarding a perfume pitch on one page, "That's not an ad, is it?" It was, and some agencies are skeptical of the trend. Says Advertising Executive Katie Muldoon: "It's confusing, and we wouldn't recommend it to our clients." But contends Agency Head Jo-Von Tucker: "The more prestigious the store the higher the possibility for success."

Indeed, Bloomingdale's has already sold 70 of 100 ad pages in twelve upcoming issues to such brands as Haagen-Dazs, Lincoln Continental and Bolla sparkling wine. The concept will have to bubble along for a while, though, before the corks will pop on Madison Avenue.

With reporting by Louise Wareham/New York