Sony and Bloomingdale's Make Healing Waves

Holiday Auction With High-Profile Artists Benefits Musicians on Call

Originally posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 11.28.08 @ 12:16 PM

Whilst we've had misgivings about the relevance of some of the recent fashion and music collaborations, Bloomingdale's has put together a neat tie-in with Sony in aid of the charity Musicians On Call, which brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in health-care facilities and promotes the use of music to complement the healing process for them, their families and caregivers.

As part of this tie-in, Bloomingdale's has just unveiled "Ultimate Experiences," a series of once-in-a-lifetime auction packages with award-winning Sony musicians. These prizes are featured in Bloomingdale's holiday catalog and will be auctioned off online at bloomingdalesholidayauction.com from Dec. 1 to 11. The winners can paint with Tony Bennett during a one-hour personal lesson at his private Manhattan studio or invite three friends to a private brunch and performance with Grammy-award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Another lucky four can then set sail aboard the party ship "Mayercraft Carrier 2" with another Grammy Award winner, John Mayer, for a party, performance and a personally signed guitar. Celine Dion goes a stage further and lays on a personal meet-and-greet for a winner and six close friends after they attend the grand finale of her world tour. As the bidding begins at $25,000, we can expect to see some significant money raised through this initiative.

In support of Musicians On Call, Bloomingdale's has created a number of other music-related promotions, including a donation of $50,000 from the sales of its annual Little Brown Bear by Gund.

This Bloomingdale's/Sony partnership has already enabled Musicians On Call to create 40 custom, co-branded CD Pharmacy facilities in cities across the country where Bloomingdale's has retail stores. A CD Pharmacy consists of at least 200 CDs handpicked to reflect the demographics of each facility, which, at no fee, the organization provides for hospitals -- along with CD players -- for patient use. Musicians on Call currently has 240 CD Pharmacies throughout the United States and in Dublin, Ireland.

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Mike Tunnicliffe is a partner in Filament Entertainment Group