Clothing and accessories retailer Banana Republic is conducting via social media a marketing campaign seeking to drive foot traffic by offering goodies such as products from Skinnygirl Cocktails and Benefit Cosmetics to attendees of a special in-store event. 

Calling the event Girls Night Out, Banana Republic is working with other brands that share a similar audience to host a grand occasion sure to bring shoppers into its stores. Meanwhile, the other participating brands gain exposure, and sharing samples can often lead to further sales transactions.

?Skinnygirl Cocktails fans and Banana Republic shoppers share a lot of similar passions, so we felt that this is a perfect collaboration between two premium lifestyle brands,? said Megan Frank, senior director at Skinnygirl Cocktails. 

The retailer is asking for attendees to RSVP by emailing for the Aug. 21 event starting at 5 p.m.

Attendees will receive complimentary cocktails while supplies last, and a free sample of Benefit?s They?re Real! Push-Up Liner.

Only attendees that are 21 and older can attend.

To market this event, Banana Republic has been promoting on Facebook and Twitter.

Banana Republic has tweeted enticingly by saying, ?Wine + shopping? Yes, please. Enjoy Girls Night Out with @skinnygirl & @BenefitBeauty.?

Residents in California and Virginia will enjoy items from Pressed Juicery rather than Skinnygirl Cocktails.

By uniting three well-known brands that all offer something different, shoppers are likely to be engaged to reap rewards. Banana Republic?s marketing strategy also mirrors the daily social activities of its audience. As they scroll through their Twitter feed and see ?Wine + Shopping,? they are bound to respond and look into the tweet further.

The past few years have seen an increase of mobile efforts for Banana Republic, and social events further aid in the branding of the retailer and building of its community.

In 2013, Banana Republic, Modcloth and eBay were a handful of the first retailers to crank out shoppable content for news reading application Flipboard.

The curated catalogs were built on a feature that Flipboard rolled out about six months prior that let consumers pack their own personalized magazines with videos, pictures and articles. Additional retailers to push out the new shoppable content were Birchbox and Fab (see story).

In 2009, Gap Outlet and Banana Republic Factory stores served exclusive mobile coupons in the Yowza application.

At the time, consumers could get 15 percent off a purchase of $75 or more at Gap Outlets and 15 percent off $100-plus purchases at Banana Republic Factory stores. The savings were being tested in the San Francisco Bay area and Austin, TX (see story).

In addition to mobile, social efforts involving other brands help to establish a fan base hat will remain loyal and continue to advocate for them by participating in events such as these.

?We are always looking for new opportunities to bring Skinnygirl Cocktails to our fans in unique and engaging ways,? Ms. Frank said. ?These events allow us to integrate Skinnygirl, The Wine Collection into the Banana Republic shopping experience, driving both awareness and trial of our newest low-cal innovations.?