November 2008

November 2008

• Fast growing virtual world Stardoll has partnered with Elle to launch Stardoll Magazine, a fashion focused web publication gearedtoward tween/teenager girls. The new Stardoll Magazine, an animated representation of a traditional magazine, produces its own content for fashion, beauty and shopping sections, while also pulling feeds from four of Elle's fashion-related blogs, Street Chic,Fashion Spotlight, Red Carpet Coverage and Trends. Elle will also provide video content to the magazine.
• Barnes & Noble has joined the social networking world, with the launch ofMy B&N. There, online shoppers can set up personal pages focusing on their interests in books, film and music. They can also sharetheir "My B&N" information on Facebook, MySpaceand other social networks.
• T-Mobile's new G1 phone comes with a pre-installed "personal shopping assistant" called ShopSavvy. The application allows consumers to use the device to scan product bar codes to find the lowest purchase price at both online and brick and mortar retailers.

• According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 4.5% of waste sent to municipal landfills nationwide is textiles (in NYC it's 6%) or nearly 4 million tons. Wearable Collections is a new non-profit charity that is encouraging NYC residents to recycle their used textile waste (clothing, shoes, linen, upholstery, etc.) by placing recycling bins in apartment buildings. The bins are picked up once a week and then distributed to charities worldwide.

• The Santa MonicaPublic Library hosted a "Living Library" last month. Fourteen "living books" were on hand, representing an encyclopedia of knowledge on such subjects as nudism, Buddhism andveganism. Library visitors were allowed to "check out" any of the 14 people for up to 30 minutes. The hopewas that library patrons would learn something about the culture and beliefs of other people, erasing stereotypes in the process.
• Fashion designer Tom Ford is transitioning into the movie industry, with his directorial debut. "A Single Man," a period piece adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's novel of the same name, recently began filming. Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode star.

• In an effort to make sustainable fashion more readily available to the masses, Payless recently announced the addition of a new line of eco-friendly footwear to its brands.  The yet-to-be-named line, made from organic cotton and linen, hemp, recycled rubber and biodegradable glues, will be sold in 500 Payless locations starting in April.  The first collection of eight to twelve styles of women's shoes and handbags will retail for $30.  Footwear for men and kids will follow, with distribution eventually growing to 1,000 stores. 
• Target's newest fashion initiative, Designer Collaborations, is an ongoing program that will bring a series of established designers to the masses at low prices.  Designer Collaborations is a separate program from Target's Go International, which focuses on young or emerging designers.  The first collaboration, launching in March, will be with Alexander McQueen who will create a version of his McQ collection called McQ Alexander McQueen for Target. 
• Best Buy recently opened a new store in Aurora, Colorado that was specifically designed with women in mind.  The company asked 40 local female customers and its own Women's Leadership Forum to participate in the design of the new store.  Gone are the chain's typical warehouse-style blue interiors and metal shelving, replaced instead by wood paneling, carpets featuring earth tones and skylights for natural lighting.  Family-friendly restrooms and an increased emphasis on making eye contact with customers are also new additions to the store. 

• New York City's Pod Hotel, a stylish, trendy, 347-room budget hotel, is now using an online forum to let guests make advance connections with each other.  The hotel's PodCulture forum lets visitors swap stories, trade itineraries and get to know their fellow guests before they arrive.  Once they've booked their reservations, guests are sent an email that includes a link to the PodCulture blog and a unique user ID code.  That code allows them to create a profile for the blog and begin communicating with other guests.  Categories on the forum include "Drink with Me," "Eat with Me," "Shop with Me" and "Go Out with Me."
• Runtriz, a Hollywood, CA software firm, recently debuted a product called "Hotel Evolution" at the Malibu Beach Inn in Malibu, CA. When a guest checks into the hotel, the hotel staff will load the web application to their iPhone or iPod Touch. If the guest doesn't own either device, they're given an iPod Touch (with the application pre-loaded) to keep for the duration of their stay. With a room number and security code, all of the hotel's service offerings (room service, wake up calls, linen requests, etc.) are just a click away.

MARKETING & ADVERTISING

• Teen Vogue is opening a pop-up store, called the Teen Vogue Haute Spot, in the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey from November 28-December 26. The store willnot sell merchandise, but will instead be a place for girls to relax, offering free snacks, informal modeling, a perfume bar, a makeup station, charging stations for cell phones and iPods, a gift-wrapping counter and racks of clothes. Stylists will advise visitors on makeup, shoes and clothes and then whisk them to stores in the mall where they can buy the products. More than 20 Teen Vogue advertisers are participating, including Clinique, Armani Exchange and Aldo.

• Hearst Magazines is folding CosmoGirl after its December issue, but the brand will continue at CosmoGirl.com.
• Hearst will consolidate the content of O at Home back into its flagship, O, The Oprah Magazine. The last stand-alone issue of the quarterly O at Home will be winter 2008.
• Conde Nast isreducing thefrequency of Men's Vogue to two issues a year, down fromten. Its last stand alone issue will be December/January. After that, it won't be sold at newsstands and will most likely be distributed with Vogue next year. Conde Nast Portfolio will also shift its frequency from twelve issues a year to ten.