Fortune Small Business has an article suggesting that the practice of cool hunting (sending armies of edgy teens to come back with the next big thing) may be giving way to companies "tapping teens" by integrating them into the design and marketing of their products. They interview Tina Wells from Buzz Marketing who lists three small companies she thinks are doing this effectively.

Tony + Tina Cosmetics (they gave product to popular teen girls - aka "influencers" to spread the word. Visits to their site and sales of the lipgloss the girls wore went up.)

Zazzle.com (took advantage of the emerging customization DIY trend and allows teens to design their own t-shirts and posters - they had a good year sales wise)

hip-e (we've covered them a lot on Ypulse — they took their teen computers to the malls — the FSB article says they had "a steady stream of advance sales" but until I see numbers, I'm not convinced.)

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