In looking to gain a better understanding of the generation Y demographic, a group it has never targeted before, the photo-related Web site ememories.com, Los Angeles, said this week that it was partnering with Alloy Online to run a marketing campaign aimed at the group while conducting market research as well.
Alloy Online is a Web-oriented direct marketer that reaches 10 million teens per month through its Web site, a catalog that is sent to approximately 5 million to 6 million households, and a weekly e-zine that is e-mailed to approximately 2.6 million teens.
The campaign, the details of which are being worked on, is tentatively scheduled to get underway in late September or early October. Plans call for two print ads promoting items that can be purchased at ememories.com. The first items to be available will be personalized greeting cards followed by personalized calendars.
The marketing campaign currently calls for two different ads to run in the second and third editions of Alloy’s winter catalogs. The design and text of the ads have not been determined yet. But according to Staci Paul, a spokeswoman for ememories.com, the ads will aim to drive teens to the site.
The campaign will include a contest that asks Alloy users to enter a private gallery on ememories.com where they can create albums centered on teen life. Alloy will award a shopping spree to the creator of the most compelling album. A second contest is planned, but it has not been defined yet.
Paul said no timeline has been set for how long the campaign will run, but she believes it will run for at least six months.
“There will eventually be some type of research questionnaire set up on Alloy.com that the kids will be asked to fill out,” Paul said. “They have never focused on marketing themselves to the gen Y age group. This group is becoming much more Internet savvy and they are also the [fastest-growing] group of users on the Web.”
Ememories.com will utilize the information it acquires for future campaigns targeting the generation Y group.
