A special report to Retail Traffic from sister publication Multichannel Merchant.
If you visit a Justice store, you may notice large plasma screens showing the latest video from Jonas Brothers.
When the song is over, an ad for an apparel or accessory item sold at the retailer targeting tween girls pops up, and then perhaps a 30-second spot for an upcoming movie release is aired.
You're not watching MTV. You're watching The Tween Network, an in-store video network launched earlier this year by Tween Brands in 600 of its Justice and Limited Too stores.
“We have found that it is a useful messaging tool for ourselves and our outside partners,” says Leslie Armour, founder of Youth Marketing Group, Tween Brands' agency. “It allows brands, talent and products to have a voice. It brings them to life and gets customers asking about them.”
Tween Network aims to provide its core consumer with relevant, relatable, and aspirational lifestyle content. It includes a mix of entertainment — music, videos, movie trailers, celebrity shout outs and sneak peeks — with behind-the-scenes footage of its “catazine” shoots, marketing messages for store exclusives, sales, promotions and sweepstakes and commercials for the brand.
“There is no overload of any one thing,” Armour says. “We have seen a responsiveness to the messaging. There has been a lift in sales on the products that are promoted on the screen, and increased awareness and understanding of brands and products.”