MenSelect.com
Riding a Dotcom from cradle to Grave

Crux
The inflation and implosion of the dotcom bubble was both an innovative boon and financial disaster -- a green light and subsequent red light that when combined in retrospect mixed to form a rather unfortunate brown. But we were there. On the frontlines, with a mens apparel pure-play dotcom from cradle to grave.

We began with a Park City, Utah summit of 20 industry experts (VPs and C-level execs) with widely varying skills and experiences in apparel, distribution, technology and of course marketing, branding and web development. We then went through the rounds of pitching venture capitalists and chief executives of the top men's apparel brands (e.g., CK, Armani, Polo, Hugo Boss, and the like) with presentation materials that not only helped deliver a compelling story, but also established the company as a buttoned-up and healthy organization with equal parts professionalism and panache.

We were successful in signing up 35 of the top 40 brands and raising $3.5 million before capital partners first shifted their focus to B2B and then away from dot-coms altogether.

Challenge
Arguably, most men don't like to shop. So we trumpeted a theme line that our target customers told us (through focus groups and interviews in six major markets) was right in their wheelhouse: "Because you have better things to do than shop." The "who" read, "We're MenSelect, and we're going to provide the fastest, most convenient way for men to get quality clothes and accessories, online and off." The "how" read, "We're bringing the best men's apparel players to the party - from the top brands, to the finest men's specialty retailers, to you. And the bottom line, "Make it fast. Make it easy. Make it relevant. Make it work."

Solutions
A fully functional beta was developed, with numerous shopping experience paths, product pages and co-branded retail partner pages. In addition to the UI and GUI, backend technology allowed only items in stock to be viewed on the fly, overcoming the dreaded out-of-stock or backorder experience that plagued many e-commerce ventures.

Our primary goal was to create a crisp, simple shopping environment, albeit with two scoops of testosterone via an extremely sensible "air strike, in and out" take on shopping and a fair amount of no-bull attitude to boot. We also created a preview site and associated promotion to establish a presence (mark our territory), as well as to capture email addresses for updates and special offers.

Results
All in all, we created a pure-play dot-com out of thin air -- which, of course, is exactly where many other great ideas vanished after the April 2000 downturn when the market finally dried up funds available for Internet startups. Particularly those seeking to deliver valuable services to consumers via rich media. You know the story.

Alas, dust to dust. Rather unfortunate, yet enlightening at the same time. We will say, however, that the thinking and creative we delivered as the interim marketing department of MenSelect.com was instrumental in securing $3.5 million in funding, validating the concept in consumers' minds through extensive research and testing, and even achieving what the naysayers believed was impossible, which was signing up 35 of the top 40 mens apparel brands as strategic partners.

So we wear our Purple Heart proudly, and are always eager to share our war stories with both clients and bartenders alike.