Read Online Catt Chasing by Shana Burton - Free Book Online

morning. “I guess you’re headed to the big mystery meeting too, huh?” she asked.
    â€œI think we’ve all been summoned,” replied Catt. “Whatever is going down must be pretty major. Jamal and Oni have been hard at work on it for weeks.”
    â€œWell, you know Oni,” hinted Francine. “No doubt she’s been mixing a little play with all that work.”
    Catt followed Francine into the conference room, where they were met by Oni, Jamal, and the cadre of cosmetic chemists.
    â€œIs everybody here?” began Oni, rising from her seat at the head of the conference table.
    Jamal looked around, then positioned himself at her side. “It looks like everyone is here and accounted for.”
    â€œGreat, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Oni turned to address the group. “As all of you know by now, Telegenic has taken a hit lately. Our sales are down, the competition is killing us, and we’re struggling for business during a time when most people are more concerned about putting food on the table than they are about the new lipstick colors we’ve added for spring.
    â€œTelegenic is in desperate need of a new image and a reason to get our customers excited again, which is why we hired Mr. Ford here. I’m sure by now all of you have had the pleasure of meeting him.”
    Jamal nodded.
    Three of the women responded with flirtatious smiles.
    Catt rolled her eyes.
    â€œWe’re in the process of rolling out our new fragrances for fall, but before we officially launch, we would like to get a campaign going to generate a stir. By the time it’s released in October, we want these fragrances to fly off the shelf.”
    â€œWho’s our target?” asked Francine, taking notes.
    Jamal spoke up. “Women, of course, professional, thirty-plus.”
    â€œAre we going for something fun, something sexy—what?” asked another.
    â€œAll of the above. The head honchos are giving us carte blanche on this. All they want is a product that’s going to knock the consumers off their feet.”
    Francine looked up from her note taking. “Do we have a name for it?”
    Oni turned to Jamal. “Mr. Ford, do you want to answer this one?”
    He cleared his throat and addressed the room. “Oni and I have been working with the marketing department, tossing around ideas for a few days now. We wanted the name to convey passion and sensuality without being overtly sexual. Of course, it had to be something original and something that could draw our buyers to the counter, and that’s when we came up with it.” He paused, milking the suspense as much as he could. “We want to call this line Allure. The name alone evokes magnetism, sex appeal, intrigue.”
    Oni jumped in. “And we’re going all out here—perfume, makeup, lotion. We’re rolling out the fragrances first, which, Catt, you and Jamal will be in charge of. Telegenic wants to have the first of it on the shelves by October, in time for Christmas.”
    â€œIs that going to give us enough time for data testing and research?” asked Catt.
    â€œIt’s going to have to,” explained Oni. “Telegenic’s sales have taken a dive for the past two quarters. Unless we do something major, the problem is only going to get worse. We’ve got to get people talking about us again. More important, we’ve got to get them to the cash register—the sooner, the better. Your department is the heart and soul of this company. We can’t afford to fail here.”
    Jamal spoke again. “In an effort to do some out-of-box promoting, Oni and I have decided to hit all of our major markets from here to New York on a promotional blitz for the new products,” he revealed. “Over the next three weeks, we’ll be setting up shop in Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore, New York, Milwaukee, and Memphis, just to name a few. We’ll be