Today's Ypulse Sponsored Interview is with Meagan Kirkpatrick, Director of Marketing at MindSpark, host to a network of popular teen sites including Zwinky and GirlSense. MindSpark is one of the sponsors for this year's Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup Event. This interview is part of that sponsorship.

To learn more about Mindspark and their community of teen sites, don't miss the Mashup in June. Register today!

Ypulse: What makes your family of youth-oriented sites unique?

Meagan Kirkpatrick: All 9 Mindspark Sites provide exciting custom opportunities to integrate marketing messages and actually interact with the users. The level of engagement our sites deliver, and the interactive nature of their content provide the perfect platform to target teens in unique and effective ways. Instead of passively targeting them through just display advertising, you can actually get your brand in their hands through virtual products and branded environments.

YP: How has the explosion of Facebook had an impact on niche social sites, if at all? What changes do you expect to see in the next couple of years?

MK: Facebook is both a symptom and a cause of the hyper-socialized environment that now exists on the web, and its success has certainly contributed to the explosion of other social media sites including our own. On Zwinky for example, we have a virtual world where 5 million unique users come to interact with others, express themselves through their avatars and be entertained with interactive content. These users come to Zwinky to experience the virtual world, and then download their avatars and use them on social networks like Facebook and Myspace. So in that sense Facebook is an outlet for our users to connect with others.

YP: What are some common mistakes brands make when trying to attract youth to their sites? How can these be avoided?

MK: Brands often make decisions on which sites to advertise with based on sheer numbers, instead of fully understanding what these users are doing on the site and how valuable their marketing will be that environment. The best campaigns take into consideration the environment they are running in and take advantage of what the users are doing in that space.

YP: How can a social or entertainment site for youth maintain their interest over time?

MK: Certainly keeping up with the latest technologies and adopting tools that lets users communicate and engage the way they want. It’s all about allowing the users to direct the content and providing answers to what it is they’re looking for. It’s also about entertaining them and providing something unique that no one else can.

YP: Describe a Mindspark campaign you think really did that well.

MK: Every campaign we run does well because we’re all about developing custom campaigns that utilize our sites strengths and serve the clients interests. In other words, we serve their objectives while continuing to serve our audiences – and that’s what makes an effective campaign. Some of our recent campaigns include a 2-Story Boutique in the Zwinchester Mall for Sears’ back to school promotion, which received 2.4MM visits and sold nearly 600k virtual Sears products to users, over the course of just 4 weeks. Another campaign that ran on GirlSense for the release of the High School Musical 3 DVD, resulted in 46k notes (the equivalent of a wall post on Facebook), 1.5mm fashions being created, 79k virtual items purchased, and 670k virtual items placed in user boutiques – all in just 4 weeks. Another brilliant aspect of these campaigns is that they have a lasting effect on the communities, as users continue to share, exchange and auction branded items.

About MindSpark
With 6 targeted websites, Mindspark’s Teen Network reaches more teens than any other website or network serving this category (ComScore, February 2009). Sites include Zwinky, the #1 Teen Virtual World, GirlSense, a leading fashion design community, and social profile editors Webfetti, Popular Screensavers and Smiley Central. Through interactive content, engaging features, and unique editorial perspectives, Mindspark sites provide innovative, targeted, and custom marketing solutions that deliver results. Mindspark Interactive Network is an IAC company.

For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection.

Categorized under: 2009 Mashup, Youth Marketing

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