• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 19, 2013

Saks Fifth Avenue is debuting a new marketing campaign, which it hopes will sell shoppers on its reputation as a place for fashion discovery.

Themed “Look,” it starts this week with the release of its new “The Making of a Look” catalog, a spokesperson tells Marketing Daily. “Our ads, which will reflect ‘Look,’ won’t run until August, and will be featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and local ads,” she says.

New shopping bags, direct mail, press initiatives, in-store events, digital marketing, social media and visual displays are also scheduled to begin in August. These will also play out the how-to nature of the “Look” theme, such as “Making of a Look” beauty tutorials, “Look closer” features, focusing on craftsmanship, and “Look out for” trend alerts.

The catalog is also instructive, and composed entirely of separates, mixed with mix-and-match tips from such designers as Michael Kors, Donna Karan, and Stella McCartney. That advice will also be featured in stores (including windows) and digital avenues.

Campaign graphics are from Michael Bierut, a partner at design firm Pentagram, who also did the company’s logo.

The new effort comes at an interesting time for Saks, which has recently retained Goldman Sachs to explore merger possibilities, and has reportedly already been rebuffed by Neiman Marcus. The company, which has been investing heavily in its digital and omnichannel initiatives, reported its most recent quarterly results last month, including a comparable store sales growth of 5.9%.

The company says it saw particular strengths in women’s contemporary and advanced designer apparel; dresses; women’s shoes; handbags; children’s apparel; and men’s accessories, shoes, and contemporary apparel, while the performance of its New York City flagship (reportedly worth some $1 billion) was positive, but below the company average.

The company also says that continued investments in omnichannel offers will continue to pressure its short-term profits, spending an additional $5 million to $6 million on its “Project Evolution,” and an additional $5 million to $6 million on the launch of off5th.com, the ecommerce site for its outlet chain, scheduled for September.