Selling Style and a Lifestyle—rue21

With some 450 stores in 41 states, rue21 is a leading specialty retailer offering the latest fashions for girls and guys with an emphasis on youthful, fresh styles and affordable prices. Considering its target audience ranges from age 13 to 30, (21 being the age everyone wants to be), the retailer has to be in tune with all aspects of its young demographic. MarketSpace has been helping the company both strategically and tactically to position itself to be highly visible and highly relevant to its customers, including taking advantage of the many opportunities to reach its audience online.

Specific online projects have included:

• The Metro—an “underground” Web portal that takes members to all rue21’s interactive and social marketing initiatives, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, fashion blogs, videos, games, and more.
• The rueVolution—a teen impact campaign that celebrates kids’ concern for the environment and social causes and showcases their activities, including posting their stories, videos, photos, and artwork. The program is sponsored by revert, the company’s eco-friendly fragrance for girls and guys.
• Social Networking—establishing a strong and popular rue21 presence on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter.
• Rue21.com Web Site Refresh—continually updating the rue21 brand and refreshing the Web site, developing seasonal gift guides, prizes and sweepstakes, surveys, and general maintenance.

In addition to strengthening rue21’s presence in cyberspace, MarketSpace also enhances the company’s presence in its retail space, with in-store signage to promote seasonal merchandise, specific clothing lines, holidays, events like Spring Break, Back to School, and the company’s fragrance lines.

MarketSpace’s VueCue™ planning process ensures these many elements of rue21’s brand—Web site, in-store, public relations, and social media—work as a cohesive whole. We also provide web analytics on how the various online elements of the marketing plan are performing.

The result: A consistent brand that stands out in a crowded retail market and creates loyalty in its young followers.