online marketing psychology

September 27, 2010

How Plastic Shoes Got Turned Into Online Stars


At E-mail Marketing Brasil last month in São Paulo, Paulo Pédo Filho, marketing director of  Melissa and Grendene gave some interesting insights into their digital initiatives.

The Melissa brand was founded in 1979. In the 90s, when sales were in a slump, the brand reinvented itself.

From a cheap plastic shoe to a fashion brand. 

This repositioning also meant a change in the distribution, the products were now sold fashion boutiques instead of shoe stores. To make the brand more fashionable, famous designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier were contracted to design new collections.

In 2001, a virtual store opened up: LojaMelissa.com. One of the big advantages of this virtual distribution channel was information.

Information about the brand and its consumers such as average ticket value, best sold products, shopping habits and of course consumer preferences could each the company more quickly. Before the extra level of retail stores made it harder for that information to get back.

Digital strategy

Lojamelissa uses the web in various ways to drive traffic to its store.

Communities on the social networking site Orkut are monitored for conversations about the brand. But the brand does not interact on Orkut, instead they use their official blog to respond or new announcements. But by keeping track of what is said in these groups they know what is on the mind of their consumers.

Blogging is another important element in the strategy. And not just their own company blog. For this year's São Paulo fashion week Melissa invited 120 Brazilian fashion bloggers and  gave them early access to the new collection. This move was well received, helped to spread the word on the new collection and turned these bloggers into more intense brand advocates.

To support temporary actions like promotions they use search advertising and different ways of e-mail marketing.

I liked the presentation of all this information as it gave a good overview of all the different parts and how they were integrated.

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