Love what Wal Mart is doing over at School Your Way.
-Over 670 user generated MySpace-esque pages (Hubsters). Sure, most of them are crap, but the concept is cool.
-User generated video contest.
-Wish lists – users can browse through tons of styles, add selected clothing to a wish list (pictures are saved, not just text link). Easily send to a friend/mom, print out the page, shop at Walmart.com.
-There are a number of polls. Hottest trend in denim? Worn & Torn. What decade will inspire your style? 1980s (retro). Must have eyewear? Oversized frames. Never leave home without gadget? Cell phone. T-Shirts? Vintage!
-Great merchandising with ‘Hot Trends’.
What else have people seen out there?
Brian,
I completely agree with your take- especially Wal-Mart has gotten a ton of criticism for the program, most of it centering on the lameness and copy-cat nature of the site. I say, who cares? This is Wal-Mart showing it’s listening- it’s part of a larger movement afoot for the retail giant. Environmental sustainability, better ads, everyday organics. Now, full disclosure, when I was at Edelman I did work for Wal-Mart….but I still applaud the company’s moves. It’s always good to see massive enterprises shift.
Sorry, I gotta side with the critics on this. A “social networking” site that’s plastered with fake model “kids” who say fake model crap that was obviously written by a 30-40 year old marketing guy? No one (in the target demographic) is going to fall for this. I mean, the site alerts your parents when you try to sign up. Gimme a break. That site is a desperate attempt to catch up with the coolness of Target, but it does nothing to address the real issues behind Walmarts image problem (and kids who were interviewed about it said as much). Walmart stores are dirty, disorganized, and contain no cool clothes. Target’s stores are clean(er), better organized and do contain cool clothes. No amount of Hubster pages are going to fix that (especially since most of them probably aren’t even made by real kids).
Ok, I wasn’t thinking about the ‘cool’ factor of the site when I wrote my post. And while I don’t think that some exec at Wal Mart created 700 fake profiles, I get your point. I just like that Wal Mart is trying something a bit different. But so is Target…and its ‘Off to College‘ experience is not ‘me too-ish’ in terms of the whole social networking thing.