Seems Mervyn’s is doing what they can to stay relevant with young people. Their corporate Web site section Mstyle features a “look of the week,” trend report, brand spotlight, Mervyn’s top 10, “ask eric & julie,” and Mblog.
And how do they do? In a word: contrived. In two words: good enough.
This is Julie. Amazingly, she writes just like a copywriter.
Eric & Julie don’t look even vaguely real. What I see are pictures of models with staff writer’s doing their best to capture a “youthful” style of marketing copy. It seems they have little idea how people really talk & write on the Web, or were unable to convince the marketing managers that authentic writing would be more convincing to consumers than pithily versed calls to action. Eric & Julie are as real as a “genuine faux diamond.
“One question. Two answers. Who’s side will you take?” Ummm, how about the side of smart consumers who can see through the shilling.
And as for the mblog, I don’t know if HomeGirl, VogueScholar, and Streetnik are better described as blogger names or the monikers of some focus-group psychographic pigeonholes).
The other sections I can see working because they are exactly what they claim to be. Brand spotlight? Yup. “This brand paid us spotlight them. You know it, we know it. Now take a look at the great stuff we’re selling!” That’s honest, it rings true (enough), and people will take it for what it is. Same goes for Trend Report, and Look of the Week.
Altogether, Mervyn’s misses the mark on authentic cool and comes nowhere near the hearts of their target consumers, but they still have put together a nice piece of a larger puzzle. Taken in the context of the entire site, Mstyle adds a little spark for the first-time visitor; I just wouldn’t expect repeat traffic to this marketing cul-de-sac. Instead of a Web 2.0 site (I’m sure the me-too factor played a role in this), Mstyle ends up being a one-sided broadcast, lacking interaction with the site or other users.
I give it a B for effort, and a C for bravery.
