STORES Magazine - October 2008 - (Page 14)

trEnDS COMPILED BY STORES EDITORS Force of a Different Collar Have you hired any “new collar” workers lately? Not sure? New collar workers are a newly-defined segment of the 18- to 29-year-old workforce who see themselves as “career hourly workers.” According to a survey commissioned by SnagAJob.com, 40 percent of 18- to 29-yearolds — approximately 20 million people — view themselves in this light. That’s virtually tied with the 41 percent who consider themselves “career salaried workers.” “This data shows that young Americans are indeed focused on hourly jobs for their career, a path that compares equally to salaried work in offering rewarding and long-term work,” says Shawn Boyer, CEO of SnagAJob.com. “America’s hourly workforce is extremely diversified — from retail managers and mechanics to nurses and call-center operators.” It’s important to note that while 40 percent of young Americans recognize that they are or intend to be career hourly employees, the reality is likely higher: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 59 percent of working Americans are paid by the hour. Interestingly, 25 percent of those who had earned a college degree place themselves in this category. Caught on Tape The best way to learn about the power of social networking is to experiment with it, according to Mark Brewster, manager of broadcast planning/production and video services for Meijer, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based supercenter operator. Meijer worked with Vitrue, a social media marketer headquartered in Atlanta, to create the Meijer Brand “Make Your Own Video” Contest. Hoping to engage younger shoppers (and their parents), the contest targeted schools — even enlisting teachers to use the project as part of their class curriculum. The guidelines were relatively simple: the videos needed to emphasize one of Meijer’s attributes — value, quality or taste — and were judged on originality and creativity, overall appeal and how well they motivated others to try a Meijer product. The contest, which ran for three months, offered prizes of up to $5,000 to participants. Brewster says he was overwhelmed with the success of the contest. Some 368 videos were submitted; the average time spent on the website was more than six minutes and 14 STORES / OCTOBER 2008 the number of visits to the contest page was just shy of 358,000. Brewster reports that even after the close of the contest, the site still received close to 1,000 visits a week. When the videos were uploaded, momentum snowballed and word about Meijer and the contest spread in school halls and classrooms, truly harnessing the value of word-of-mouth marketing and social media. The return on investment figures were also better than anticipated. “When we looked at total investment against return, the cost came out to be pennies a head,” Brewster says. “This was much more efficient than our typical direct marketing efforts.” WWW.STORES.ORG http://www.SnagAJob.com http://www.SnagAJob.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

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

STORES Magazine - October 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Force of a Different Collar What Shoppers Think Bagging the Competition 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Favorite 50 Sticky Strategies for Retention Concept2Watch Kiosks Online Business Intelligence RFID NRFtech Wrap-up E-Commerce Credit Warehouse Systems Logistics Selling Tools Supply Chain LOEB Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - October 2008

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