What do you get when you mix a social community of teen-aged girls, a Facebook page where the brand engages them daily, a model contest, and a Project Runway winner as host? 12,000 hits a minute as girls engage their Facebook friends to vote for them, that’s what.

Following up a successful Prom contest with a search for the next deb girl was a no-brainer: our audience asked for it and teen clothing retailerE-tailer, deb, and Netplus responded. Thousands of entrants and hundreds of thousands of votes later, a plus size and a junior deb model were chosen, but something even more significant played out.

Six months into a rebranding, the real voice and tone of the deb brand emerged via talking to our target. It was all about compassion, strength and confidence. There was no “mean girl” ethos associated with these girls; they were helping each other garner votes. And all channels of social media, from Facebook, to YouTube were buzzing with their deb-positive user generated content.

One last thing: sales at 350 brick and mortar stores and online set all time records. In the middle of a recession. Social media linked to sales and ROI? There you have it.

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