Retailers are beginning to gear up for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons with renewed marketing efforts and at least a couple of these include creative use of catalogs and direct mail. Barney’s has put together a catalog for its Co-op stores that focuses on denim and features 3-D images. Each of the 200,000, 22-page books has a pair of viewing glasses bound inside the back cover. There’s been a lot of discussion recently about direct mail’s ability to breakthrough and get noticed with the right design and content at the same time that there are rumblings about the death of catalogs. Which is why it’s nice to see a high-end retailer like Barney’s making an investment in its catalog and bringing some fresh ideas to the table. Read more about the campaign and what Barney’s creative director has to say about it here. Later this month and into August, HSN will launch what it is calling its “most comprehensive 360-degree marketing campaign” ever to support unique programming and products around the upcoming feature film “Eat Pray Love.” In addition to a 3-day shopping event, online, social media and mobile components, the campaign includes an array of print elements. They are: an Eat, Pray, Love package insert in 500,000 HSN packages, print ads in Elle and Lucky magazines and a jewelry direct mail guide that will be mailed to 350,000 homes. The promotion will also be featured in HSN’s August program guide and in a newsletter distributed to 500,000 HSN cardholders. “The direct mail and package insert campaign for the Eat Pray Love network event includes more than 3 million pieces – all driving awareness for this experience on HSN, HSN.com and our mobile platforms,” said Bill Brand, EVP of programming, marketing and business development for HSN, via e-mail. “The goal is to engage HSN customers on an emotional level and inspire them to take part in the shopping journey… and then see the movie.” Direct mail as part of an integrated marketing effort is nothing new but, HSN has such a robust media mix that it’s always interesting to see what they do when they really get behind a campaign.