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Site's Marketing Effort Gives 100 Percent

To generate excitement about its Aug. 14 relaunch, 100PercentGirls.com is launching a series of marketing efforts aimed at its target audience of urban girls ages six to 14.

The site is an online content and community presence for the 30 offline 100 Percent Girls stores, which sell fashion, apparel, stationary, cosmetics, and bath and beauty items.

“This is often a neglected target audience. The contest is encouraging girls to give their thoughts as well as content for the Web site,” said Susan Jurevics, vice president of brand development at 100PercentGirls.com, New York.

One of its marketing pushes is its “Superstar Student” program, also launching on Aug. 14. Girls must complete five assignments over eight months, including writing an essay, designing a T-shirt or writing a poem. The entries will be posted on the Web site.

Entries must be submitted at retail stores, where girls will receive a sticker, fake tattoo, pen, rubber-band bracelet or other items for their efforts. Five winners will be selected. They will win a free computer, a trip to New York and a shopping spree. Additionally, they will be eligible to be part of the site's advisory board. As part of the board, they will help shape the site's content and raise issues relevant to its target audience.

100PercentGirls also will work to promote some of the site's new interactive content and features. For example, to generate interest in its serial comic, “The Magique Trunk,” girls will be asked to design an outfit. A panel of experts in the fashion industry will judge the designs and the winning outfit will be created in the winner’s size.

The comic will feature a magic trunk that transports the comic’s characters to Paris, where they become fashion designers. Much of the new content is designed to appeal to the girls' hopes and aspirations.

“These girls have big dreams,” said Jurevics. “Some of them dream of becoming a fashion designer. This encourages their self-expression. We're hoping girls will come to the site to see what kinds of things they can do.”

The site is giving away six colored rubber bands featuring the site's Web address throughout the summer. It plans to distribute 1 million rubber bands at events such as the Britney Spears concert series as well as beaches, city parks and city pools. Street teams of 50 to 100 girls are currently handing them out.

Last month, the site gave away a $100 shopping spree in each of its 30 nationwide stores. Entries were submitted online, and 30 winners were chosen randomly.

100PercentGirls is being refurbished to become compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, as well as more interactive. The Federal Trade Commission began enforcing the act, which requires sites to obtain parental consent to gather any information from children under the age of 13, in April.

“We're going to change the way we solicit information from girls. If we are marketing to girls and use the feedback in any way, we need to get parental consent,” Jurevics said. “We benefit through being a brick-and-mortar because we can get parental consent at retail.”

The chat room was redeveloped, and the site hired a moderating service. “Because we are leaders in the urban community, we not only wanted to be compliant with the law, but we wanted to take a leadership position,” she said.

The site's relaunch will also be promoted using e-mail marketing and a banner buy, according to Jurevics. Radio and print ads may also be in the picture, but nothing has been finalized.

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