eCandy will try to lift the spirits of hundreds of procrastinators in New York and Los Angeles on April 17 — the last day you can mail your tax returns.
This site, which sells candy ranging from sweets found in supermarkets to hard-to-find European chocolates, will dispatch teams to post offices in those two cities. The teams will distribute chocolate coins to all of those waiting on line.
“People on tax day are not too happy about what's going on,” said Rani Aliahmad, co-founder of eCandy.com, Los Angeles. “We thought [handing out the coins] would be a great idea for getting the word out about the site. It will also be a good experience for those people who are bored out of their minds. We want to brighten people's days.”
This is just one of the ways the site is looking to promote its redesign, which launched last month with the goal of having an “unpretentious” looks and feel, said Aliahmad.
“It's more of the old-fashioned candy store experience. We used old-fashioned photographs to [show the products],” he said. “Some of the items we put up are very hard to find. [People say] these are 'items I haven't had since I was kid.'”
The site plans this month to send out more than 100 press releases made entirely of chocolate to promote the site. eCandy made similar efforts in the past when it sent out chocolate scoops full of jellybeans with a note saying “get the scoop on eCandy.”
Late last month, the site announced a strategic partnership with Nestle USA making eCandy the only Web site in the confectionery category actively promoted by the candy giant. The site will be supported by Nestle marketing, advertising and customer service.
The site has also formed strategic partnerships with MrsBeasleys.com and CalyxandCorolla.com. Under both agreements the sites offer links on each other's sites. More partnerships will be announced shortly, according to Aliahmad. eCandy also advertises on America Online.
