Juicy in New Jersey

You've gotta love Google Alerts. The only one I have sent to me is "Juicy Couture" and once in a while it provides me with some great articles. I just opened my most recent one and saw that WWD.com had featured Juicy in an article about how a lot of apparel firms are now creating their own social networks and delving into social media. It's an interesting read and goes into some more detail about Juicy's new website- a perfect complement to yesterday's post. It's a long article but I'm posting the parts about Juicy below, for your reading pleasure!

"Inspired by the Internet and its potential to bring people together, brands and retailers from St. John to Sears are diving into social media in a big way, from adding social features to their online stores to actually creating their own online communities.

Juicy Couture Wednesday relaunched its online store with a slew of social features. “It’s the DNA of our culture now,” said Juicy’s Gela Nash-Taylor, referring to creating and sharing content online. “Everybody loves to do that. I laugh every time I make a hotel reservation and I see people’s comments.”

In the Juicy site’s Club Couture section, visitors can create a profile by finishing fun statements such as “Celebrity crush” and “Three words that describe you.” They can’t friend or message each other, but they can share and rate virtual outfits and photos of themselves wearing Juicy. They can also comment on the site’s blog, called “Love G & P,” referring to the brand’s co-founders, Nash-Taylor and Pamela Skaist-Levy.

Asked whether adding an online community to an online store could have an effect on sales, Nash-Taylor said, “I think everybody in our industry is moving toward being more interactive with their customers, and that kind of synergistic branding with others and the Web site should translate into sales. It makes you more engaged, you’re part of it, you’re in on it.”

The content is moderated for appropriateness, and the ratings system is designed to be positive. A note on the blog instructs contributors to be respectful.

“I know some of these blogs can get really vicious,” said Nash-Taylor. “That’s not our DNA.” "

And here is a fab picture of Pam and Gela from the article: