Men’s Wearhouse Turns Social Kids Into Sales Reps

“Turn your friends into cash!” Damn, let’s get right to business, why don’t we?

According to Clickz, Houston-based Men’s Wearhouse is using social media marketing to boost its referral program and encourage tux rentals for the prom.
Last year “prom rep” participants had to visit a local store to enroll. This year, the entire program can be executed at a dedicated Web site, MWTuxonline.com. The site gives registrants a prom rep ID number to distribute to their friends via more than 200 social media channels, most notably Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and SMS messaging. Successful referrals then lead to free tux rentals, cash and the chance to win a car.
“We saw some of the kids promoting themselves on Craig’s List [last year], or as part of their blogs,” Matt Schow, VP of online marketing and e-commerce at Men’s Wearhouse said. “There was a lot of activity as we monitored the social space. It led us to believe that if we enabled it [more], it would really take off.”
New York-based agency 360i created the materials and is coordinating outreach to teen-focused blogs.