Social Media

Brown Shoe Company-owned brand Sam Edelman is stepping into the digital arena. The footwear, accessory and soon-to-be apparel brand has launched a dedicated e-commerce site which will allow consumers to purchase online directly from the retailer for the first time.

Post Foods' Honey Bunches of Oats has enlisted pop duo Domino Saints for its latest ad campaign geared toward Hispanic markets. The pop duo from San Juan, Puerto Rico, collaborated in the exclusive "Smile While You Shake It" music video.

Inspired by samba beats, the song and signature dance incorporate the cereal box and breakfast utensils as percussion instruments. National bilingual media, social media and website (bunchofbeats.com) encourage consumers to upload their own versions of the dance, share them digitally, and be eligible to win prizes.

Atlanta – The Home Depot is taking steps to make amends for a racist tweet it sent from its official account on Nov. 7. The tweet, a promotion aligned with ESPN college football coverage, showed a photo of two African-Americans playing the drums along with a person wearing a gorilla mask and the caption: “Which drummer is not like the others?”

Warrendale, Pa. – Rue21 has launched its e-commerce site, Rue21.com. Prices on the site will be the same as prices in the retailer’s stores.

In honor of the launch rue21 is hosting a "Shop & Win" contest in which five winners will receive a $50 gift card by talking about their favorite rue21 items on the internet. Using hashtag #shoprue21.com, fans can post pictures or comments on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+.

Five new members were named to the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association this week, an organization focused on the interests of social media marketers.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, or WOMMA, was founded in 2004 and the newest members of the group’s board include: Mark Bisard, vp and senior counsel of American Express; Christine Morrison, group Social media manager for Intuit; Kathy Baughman, president and co-founder of ComBlu; Patti Regan, president and CEO of The Regan Group and Emily Bader, EVP of strategic planning  Zocalo Group.

Welcome to the Web Rue21. The operator of nearly 1,000 stores nationwide has joined the ranks of virtually every other retailer and now sells products via the Internet.

The specialty apparel retailer focused on teens and young adults on Friday announced the launch of their online shopping site Rue21.com.

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack is giving shoppers the power to name their own deals with an interactive application on its e-commerce site where consumers can select the product and pricing, vote on and share the hot deals. On Nov. 27, consumers can redeem a limited number of coupon codes for "Name Your Deal" products at reduced prices.

San Jose, Calif. -- Despite the shortest shopping season since 2002, online sales look strong for the upcoming holidays. A new survey from Adobe predicts record growth for online sales on Thanksgiving with $1.1 billion and Black Friday with $1.6 billion, increases of 21% and 17%, respectively.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us is debuting the Toys"R"Us Toy Channel, the company's revamped and updated YouTube channel. The channel launches with eight playlists, segregating content by topic to showcase in-demand playthings and new products, interviews with toy industry experts, current commercials from the beloved brand and top toy manufacturers, and more.

Los Angeles -- Earlier in October, shoppers were put off by holiday displays in store; now people are warming up to them. Analysis of social media buzz for the week of Oct. 30 – Nov. 5 by social media research firm Fizziology shows that positive conversation about displays rose from 15% to 22%, while negatives dropped from 10% to less than 1%.