As one of America’s most venerated authors, Ernest Hemingway may have built-in name awareness and prestige, but would his legacy translate to a commercially successful brand of luxury home furnishings? This was the question facing Fashion Licensing of America, which acquired the rights to market the Ernest Hemingway brand in 18 home design product categories ranging from furniture and tabletop accessories to zesty food marinades.
Our Solution:
Fineberg Publicity took on the assignment to launch the brand in trade publications in a wide range of industries to help Fashion Licensing of America secure retail distribution then generate media coverage in consumer media outlets to build awareness for the brand and drive sales.
Early on in our tenure representing the Hemingway collection we were tasked to build awareness for the brand’s debut at the industry’s major trade show in High Point, NC, complete with an appearance by an Ernest Hemingway lookalike. We immediately placed mentions of the stunt in a cross-section of trade titles that ran show preview stories. Buyers who were Hemingway fans lined up for photo ops with the amazing Ernest doppelganger, creating sustained buzz for the new brand in home fashion circles.
The opening of the brand’s luxurious new showroom was another successful event managed by Fineberg Publicity that kept the Hemingway brand visible in the trades targeting influential home furnishings buyers and retailers.
After successfully exposing the home fashions market to the rustic charm of the Hemingway product lines, we pitched standout items from the collection to consumer publications and secured coverage in major market newspapers and magazines in less than six months, including The New York Times, Maxim and Playboy, among others.
