enter: new media

iVillage is one of the first and largest communities for women online. Their decision to make the move onto new social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook was more than just a ploy to increase traffic back to their page. The brand is focused on extending its community onto these platforms in a way that creates new value for the business and unique experiences for users.

As Michele Mitchell, VP of Audience Development and Retention for iVillage explains, “For us Facebook is not simply a place for us to advertise, it’s a new platform for us to build our business and extend our community.”

Check out the new iVillage Facebook presence and stay tuned to see how we continue to help this initiative grow to become an increasingly important part of their business.

Monday’s Women’s Wear Daily put the spotlight on social media with an article featuring an interview with enter:new media president, Mark Curtis. In addition to weighing in on the e-commerce impact social media can have for fashion accessory brands, Mark was able to touch on the importance of luxury brands controlling the context of their initiatives

According to Curtis, companies going social must stay specific in their branding efforts or risk veering down-market. A firm can spend years carefully cultivating an image through print advertising and runway shows only to see its efforts undone once it posts its first tweet.

“Some luxury firms present their brand on Facebook the same way ‘Joe’s Plumbing’ does, or lets interns run their Twitter feed,” Curtis said. “Social media is such a huge opportunity for brands and every detail – whether it’s putting out a post that is off-brand or not correctly handling this frenetic conversation – can undo so much effort and investment that’s been built up for so long.”

See the full article here.