Customer stories


Charming Shoppes

Always in Fashion

Today's woman wants fashion -- and value.

And she knows where to find it -- at any one of the more than 1200 Fashion Bug and Fashion Bug Plus specialty stores across the USA.

The people behind the scenes at Fashion Bug want their marketing campaigns to be fresh and fashionable -- and they know where to find the help they need!

They turn to FileMaker Pro -- the award-winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.!

Denise Giaccio is a woman-on-the-move -- she's the Marketing Traffic and Systems manager for Fashion Bug's corporate parent, Pennsylvania-based Charming Shoppes Inc. She's got a pretty good idea of what the average Fashion Bug shopper is looking for as her team oversees trafficking of all the marketing materials used by the chain. From direct-mail sale circulars to in-store displays, from window signage to newspaper and
magazine ads, from posters to credit-card applications, they're all her responsibility.

The look has to be appealing -- yet unified. Stylish -- yet practical. Like a great-looking outfit, it's all got to come together well.

And that's where FileMaker Pro is a perfect fit.

The marketing department's computer system used to be cumbersome and antiquated -- an old DOS-based system that wasn't really up to the job. But working with FileMaker Pro developer Chris O'Connor of Tricon Technologies Inc., Denise and her team have come up with AdTrax, an all-purpose FileMaker solution.

The name says it all --- AdTrax tracks ads. But thanks to the power of FileMaker Pro, it does much more. From the initial photo shoots to the layouts -- from the color separations to pulling the proofs -- from the printers to final distribution, AdTrax lets Denise know where every job stands: on time or behind schedule, over budget, under budget or right on the money.

'The ability to pull out specific information in a variety of ways is a huge plus,' says Denise. 'We prepare weekly production 'touchbase' schedules, provide information to our merchandising division about photo sample turn-ins, offer deadline and proofing dates, look at our budget in different ways, and more! It's so much faster and more user-friendly than our old system. When I think about how difficult it was just to receive
files from an old job from our previous system, I can't believe the difference. It's the first program I open in the morning, and it runs all day -- we couldn't be without it!'

It's not just a production tracker. AdTrax has become an indispensable part of Charming Shoppes' marketing inventory. At a keystroke, the marketing department knows where all the materials are for a given campaign -- and where they're supposed to be. Denise and her team know when inventories are running low -- and when certain materials need to be reprinted. Customized reports can be generated anytime with just a point
and click.

It's smooth. It's elegant. And it gets the job done -- quickly and efficiently, every time.

And that's always in fashion!



Contact information

Contact Info for Customer:

Denise Giaccio
Marketing Traffic & Systems Manager
Charming Shoppes, Inc.
215-638-6980
denise.giaccio@charming.com


Chris O'Connor
Developer
The TRICON Group, Inc.
610-364-1224
chris_oconnor@thetricongroup.com


Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com


Overview
  • AdTrax, a FileMaker Pro-based solution, helps The Fashion Bug deliver fresh and fashionable marketing campaigns. From the initial photo shoots to the layouts, from the color separations to pulling the proofs, AdTrax tracks every job so that the Marketing Department knows where all the materials are for every given campaign.
Industry
  • Information Technology
  • Medium-Large Business
  • Retail/Wholesale