G9Girl Update

[Shaun @ Tru6]

For those of you following along, thought you would like an update. A lot has been going on, not the least of which is this nice little article about us in Earnshaw’s magazine. Earnshaw’s focuses on the girl’s and boy’s apparel market. In other news:

We are moving ahead with a G9Girl “Day of Fashion” at the Natick Mall in June. More on this in a few weeks.

We’ve got two amazing girls, Anna and Zoe, helping us form the G9Girl Council, Trend Scouts are joining the team and we are gearing up to create a G9Girl e-zine. Any title suggestions?

We have a whole new crop of designs and t-shirt styles that takes us in another design direction and really rounds out the fashion mix. Some of these have new textures like puff, flock, rhinestones, and caviar bead will really knock your socks off. We have also created a new line of stationary greeting cards and are investigating ring watches and wristwatches.

Interns: We’ve met some really great women from area colleges recently and are excited to get them on board. Of course we are now looking for new office space to accommodate them all.

We are considering opening our own store in the future and the Day of Fashion will provide some valuable information on whether or not that is a viable option.

Of course there’s more, but these are some of the high points.

[Briana]

Nice update!

btw...your mailbox is full.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

just cleaned it out. email is best: shaun@g9girl.com

[Tishabet]

Sounds like things are going well.... keep up the good work Shaun!

[widebody911]

We’ve met some really great women from area colleges recently and are excited to get them on board.

Let me know if you need help in this matter

[LeeH]

Shaun... I was telling my wife about your company and how we've all watched it grow from an idea.

This question came up when I was showing her your web site: Why are all the girls' eyes closed? I told her the history of the sketches, but she pointed out that the girls look shy/withdrawn. This is from a G9 woman - airline captain, masters degree in sociology, etc.

Just curious if anyone else had mentioned this. Not meaning to be critical - just an observation.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Good question Lee. One thing is that the paintings were done at first solely for "art's sake," that is my partner just felt like painting them and the company has been modeled around them.

As the G9Girl concept developed around our target market, the design motif (image and character descriptions) became "sweetness with an edge" which is actually one of the new designs we are doing, just stylized text with a cool treatment, like glitter, puff, etc.

So to answer your question, why no eyes? The answer is that they are thinking: thinking about themselves, their potential, their genius, their future and of course, how to change the world.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Also, the artwork on eyes is very, very difficult to get right, especially when printed!

[LeeH]

My daughter just turned five so she's a little too little for your stuff. When do you launch G9 Girl Jr. ???

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by LeeH
My daughter just turned five so she's a little too little for your stuff. When do you launch G9 Girl Jr. ???

we'd love to Lee, it would really sell. We've got XXS baseball Ts and XXS cap T's that are tiny!

We are married to the whole tween market as the best time to interact with girls concerning self-esteem issues. Considering that it's critical to tweens that they move out of the kids section when shopping, I'm not sure if the G9Girl brand will ever go younger, definitely older. our new designs allow us to go to 15 easily. oh, and 30+ too!

[M.D. Holloway]

Shaun - haven't forgotten about stuff - things went from bad to better around here but my focus G9Girl has had some very harsh ***** go down with an uncle that will take a bunch to recover from - but this could be great therapy. Gives a very good idea that we should also talk about.

Look for something in the next few days - have targets concerning the local fund raisers for competition bands and color guard as well as cheerleaders. That is big in this aera and they are always looking for ways to get bucks.

Also - you will be featured next month in Maverick PCA Slipstream. I need to do a bit more e-mails with you.

Sorry about the delays - unavoidable

[LeeH]

Get the brand established with G9 Girl. Then branch out to G9 Woman, G9 Jr., and G9 Baby.

Just curious, but do you have a regular media campaign going... regular press releases to various magazines? Seems like you'd want to target not only the teen/tween mags, but those that mom reads as well. I'd be hitting all these and more. Sounds like a stretch, but if you get ANY press anywhere, figure out a way to mention Oprah. Her organization will eventually hear about it and I could see her taking an interest in G9 Girl.

When my daughter was a baby a couple of friends and I started a stay at home dad group. We got lots of press. One guy was quoted as saying, "We just want to take care of our kids. It's not like we want to be on Oprah." Well a week after the story ran Oprah's folks were calling to discuss when he could be on the show. He declined, but can you imagine the value of that exposure?

Sorry for the unsolicited advice. As a stay at home dad I don't get to put my marketing background to use very often!

[M.D. Holloway]

Stay home Dad! Man, I would give my left nad to be a stay home Dad! Then again, I don't have much need for my left one now anyway, come to think aboutit, not much need for the right one either...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by LubeMaster77
Gives a very good idea that we should also talk about.

Look for something in the next few days - have targets concerning the local fund raisers for competition bands and color guard as well as cheerleaders. That is big in this aera and they are always looking for ways to get bucks.

Also - you will be featured next month in Maverick PCA Slipstream. I need to do a bit more e-mails with you.

Hey Michael, you've got some serious stuff going on, so no worries and take care of what you need to first.

1. Let's talk anytime best for you

2. Fundraisers can be big. I am working with a soccer team in CT now. They are psyched. Much better than candy because piece cost is high, girls don't have to work so hard to meet goal.

3. Email away.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by LeeH
Get the brand established with G9 Girl. Then branch out to G9 Woman, G9 Jr., and G9 Baby.

Just curious, but do you have a regular media campaign going... regular press releases to various magazines? Seems like you'd want to target not only the teen/tween mags, but those that mom reads as well. I'd be hitting all these and more. Sounds like a stretch, but if you get ANY press anywhere, figure out a way to mention Oprah. Her organization will eventually hear about it and I could see her taking an interest in G9 Girl.

When my daughter was a baby a couple of friends and I started a stay at home dad group. We got lots of press. One guy was quoted as saying, "We just want to take care of our kids. It's not like we want to be on Oprah." Well a week after the story ran Oprah's folks were calling to discuss when he could be on the show. He declined, but can you imagine the value of that exposure?

Sorry for the unsolicited advice. As a stay at home dad I don't get to put my marketing background to use very often!

Hey Lee, thanks for the thoughts, and I appreciate any advice. Is that AtHome Dad newsletter still coming out? We worked with Peter when I published Modern Dad and FirstTime Dad magazines. Those were the days!

We are gearing up for a massive and consistent PR campaign for our "Day of Fashion" at the Natick Mall here in MA. And with every project the G9Girl Council executes, we will have a 3-press release program:
1. This is what the girls want to achieve
2. This is currently what the girls are achieving
3. This is what they achieved

Oprah would be a dream come true. We are also targeting the PR firms of specific celebrities like Hillary Duff.

From an audience development perspective, we are working with schools, boys and girls clubs, etc.

What's your background?

[LeeH]

I was a management major with lots of marketing and accounting thrown in for fun.

Out of college I worked for a start-up electronic marketing company in the retail grocery industry. When that failed I went to a mobile communications company that sold to the trucking industry. Just before that failed (I'd learned the signs by now) I bought my own business. We made and/or installed various products for the building industry.

After three years of rapid growth my partner and I sold the company. I've got four more years of payments on the sale of the business. Now that my daughter's in school I'm looking for the next thing. Since my wife is gone four days each week it needs to be flexible and mostly from home. There's just not a lot that fits those parameters.

I don't know what happened to Peter and that group. A couple of guys and I started a stay-at-home-dad group here in Phoenix. At one point we had over 60 guys on our e-mail list. As our kids got older we hoped some of the other guys would step in to run things. Nobody did so we shut it down.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Lee, we're a thing. Here is a rough skeleton of our first event, the product of brainstorming with prospective interns. As you can see, we have a LOT of work in front of us. What do you think?


Summary
Hosted at the Natick Mall in Natick Mass., the G9Girl “Day of Fashion” is an activity filled day that celebrates the genius within every girl aged 9 to 13. It is based on a model-for-a-day motif, but will include something for every girl, from fashion-focused to community-service oriented and everything in between. Set up like as though you are gaining entry to an amusement park, girls will first register and receive a passport which will be stamped at each station by G9Girl tour guides. Completed passports will be entered into a contest with prizes.

Activities or Stations
∑ Model interviews and audition, end-of-the-day announcement of call-back finalists
∑ Rate these fashion designs
∑ Contest: Create your own fashion designs and corresponding genius slogan
∑ Professional photographer
∑ Performances which may include local dance groups, girl bands, singers/karaoke, a talent
∑ On-the-sport photographer: sell pics?
∑ Fashion show
∑ Learn about/get involved in our new e-zine
∑ Learn about getting involved in our community service events
∑ G9Girl Council, Trend Scouts
∑ Makeup: proper application to achieve a “natural look,” Avon may host
∑ Smoothie/nutrition (may need a health license to do any kind of food prep)
∑ Trivia game
∑ Design your own t-shirt (crafts)
∑ Design your own charms (crafts)
∑ Quiz
∑ Talent showcase

Audience Development
∑ Area schools: Boston, MetroWest, Southshore, North to NH
∑ Boys and Girls Clubs
∑ Girl Scouts
∑ Town pools
∑ School newsletters
∑ Chat rooms
∑ Local sports teams, i.e. Newton girls soccer
∑ PR: radio, print, TV
o Mailing, follow-up with phone
o Message: day of fashion
o Message: make a difference
o Message: tons of cool things to do

Staffing
Pre-Event
∑ Event Planner
∑ Model search coordinator
∑ Talent coordinator
∑ PR & audience development
Event
∑ Greeter: registration and passport
∑ Model photographer
∑ On-the-sport photographer
∑ Model audition interviewers
∑ DJ-MC
∑ Make-up: Avon reps, Laurie Davis
∑ Sales
∑ Trend Scout, Council, Community Service interviewer
∑ Changing room manager
∑ Station managers

Merchandise
∑ Apparel, purses, stationary
∑ Racks, shelves, cashbox, CC slips

Miscellaneous
∑ Waivers
∑ Registration forms
∑ Passports
∑ Market research questionnaire
∑ Giveaways:
o Bobble head magnet
o Something with participant’s picture on it

Post event Follow-up
∑ PR campaign
∑ Video news release

[LeeH]

Shaun,

You have obviously put some serious time and effort into this! Here are some thoughts, observations, and questions. I'm guessing you've probably at least considered or answered most of them, but maybe there's something new.

How long will this take? Minutes? Hours? All day? Could it be billed as a summer camp type event? As a parent I'd be wondering if I had to hang around or can/should I go home and come back later. If the idea is to leave the girls, then who is responsible for them? What happens if mom or dad takes off then the girls wander the mall instead of participating in the activities? Do you have any liability?

Ages 9-13 - I understand the focus is tweens. Is there a way to market to this group without specifically creating age boundries? Are you going to send an 8 or 14 year old away if they want to participate?

"Day of Fashion" - My wife would avoid taking our daughter to an event billed as a "Day of Fashion." It's the "F" word that would turn her off. It's certainly an accurate description, but does it keep with the spirit of the company and it's mission to promote the "fashion" aspect vs. the positive young girl image. And maybe my wife's in the minority, but "Join G9Girl to celebrate the genius in every girl," and she's there. "Join G9Girl for a day of fashion" and she's not.

"Completed passports will be entered..." Can the passport be customized to reflect the G9Girl characters? In other words, don't require participation in every event. Let the participants choose different events (they're individuals, right?), but suggest that if you attended A, B, and C then you're a lot like Violet. Did you choose B, C, and E? Hey, that's what Isabel chose! Create a tie in to the characters.

Minimize the competition. I don't think the 10th place team should get a trophy in soccer, but this isn't soccer. Any time there's a winner, there's a loser - maybe lots of losers. Is it worth having 99 unhappy girls in order to glorify 1?

Craig's List might be a good way to do some marketing for the event. Craig's List is getting a huge amount of traffic. It's geographically specific and FREE!

The devil is in the detail on something like this. I hope you pull it off. Seems like it has the potential to really jump-start the company's image.

[M.D. Holloway]

Shaun,
my 2 cents - (straight from the 'Hi Pot, I'm Kettle, your Black' book), it's all about focus. You have a great thing but are marching in a few directions. Look at what Wayne has done with PelicanParts, for some time it was about Porsche, then BMW, then domestics with Autoworkz. He is looking to branch but the basic formula is still in place. Stay the course...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Hey Guys, really appreciate the thoughts! We were just written up in another trade mag and am fielding calls, setting up meetings and will be out the next two days in NY and NJ... macy's on the list. Putting together prototypes of the new apparel now. Here's a pic of a a few, these will be either high densit, puff, flock, caviar bead or glitter when they are finally produced. new styles of T's too really help round out the mix. finally got cards put together too... we're offering an "off to camp" package complete with a picture frame.

I'll be back.