STORES Magazine - September 2008 - (Page 32)

EXECUTIVE SUITE / COVER STORY active, a Columbus, Ohio-based digital marketing agency with expertise in the Gen X and millennial demographic segments, says, “These are niche groups of communal customers and there is value in tapping into the viral value of those groups. The more the brand works the social network, the more the social network will work for the brand.” One retailer that has developed real traction, she says, is Victoria’s Secret’s PINK. “By deploying various tools and widgets that their audience can launch and make their own, the PINK fan page has become contagious among the brand’s groupies,” she says. “They’ve chosen to be part of the conversation.” Based on the tomes of research Resource Interactive has conducted with millenials, Evans stresses this group’s desire “to be heard. They feel strongly that their opinions matter and they want to be part of a dialog about the brands they love.” Plenty of skeptics hether that dialog will ultimately make cash registers hum is open to debate. Among the undecided is Giff Constable, vice president of products and strategy at The Electric Sheep Company, which creates web-enabled social and virtual world experiences. “Just having a place on Facebook and a few ap- plications for fans to play with doesn’t mean people will use them or that it will translate into sales revenue,” Constable says. “Right now, it's hard to stand out amongst the noise. In all of these social media applications, there are some early adopters who make waves and get great PR with relatively light experimentation, but as soon as the playing field gets a little more crowded, it gets Darwinian rather quickly and businesses have to be smart — and sometimes lucky — in order not to be lost in the shuffle.” While businesses may not be able to draw a straight line between Facebook and traditional measures of ROI, Constable beMillenials feel strongly that their opinions matter and they want to be part of a dialog about the brands they love. W Opportunities exist to tell consumers something about a brand they may not know lieves opportunities exist to tell consumers something about the brand they may not know. “Shoppers go to your website to purchase product; they go to your Facebook [page] to learn more about what your brand is all about. “This is the chance to tell users that you support the ethical treatment of animals, for example, or that you donate a percentage of sales to a charity.” Some retailers use their fan pages with an eye toward recruitment – sharing why their company is a great place to work. Still, Michael Unger, director of the consumer products and retail practice at Archstone Consulting in Stamford, Conn., says every day a retailer is not on Facebook chips away at its market share. “Today’s shopper gives a business credit for being current — as long as it makes sense and it’s genuine,” he says. “If they’re a fan of your brand and seek you out on Facebook and you’re not there, it subconsciously tells them something about your brand.” Dana Telsey, CEO and chief research officer of Telsey Advisory Group, concurs with Unger. “This is not revolutionary, it’s evolutionary,” she says, “but if they don’t find a way to take part in the conversation today, there’s a chance they won’t be part of the conversation tomorrow.” StORES WWW.STORES.ORG 32 STORES / SEPTEMBER 2008 http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - September 2008

STORES Magazine - September 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Office Depot Unveils First Green Store Dunkin’ Donuts Debuts DDSMART What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Are You a Facebook Fan? RFID Concept2Watch E-commerce Supply Chain Marketing ERP Credit Web Optimization LP Vantage Point Newsbeat Cover Story LP Program Building Biometrics Industry Perspective Customer Service Site Selection E-Commerce LOEB Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - September 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.