“They definitely aren’t shy about telling us what they like and don’t like,” says Lindsay Anvik, director of marketing at PlumWillow, who helps oversee the internship program at its offices in Manhattan.

Flexible, web-based companies aren’t just creating products and services based on customer preferences – they’re making their target market part of the design and marketing process reports Susan Etlinger, a consultant at the Altimeter Group, which researches Web technologies and advises companies on how to use them.

Moving beyond “the old-fashioned focus group and into co-creation with your demographic is something that will happen more in the next couple of years,” Ms. Etlinger says. “All business will have to learn how to cope with a new generation of users that are used to their particular experience of the Web.”

The Impulse department targets younger shoppers and prices will range from $50-300. “This customer loves to shop,” said Jeff Gennette, the chief merchandising officer of Macy’s. “She wants to be in our store all the time, and we’d better be interesting.”

The first designer featured will be Kinder Aggugini, well know on the London runways, but virtually unknown in the US. The New York Times reported that Mr. Aggugini was enticed by the notion of creating something affordable that still felt like a runway collection — draped dresses in washed silk paired with a tailored military or leather jacket, for example — especially for shoppers who may have never heard of him. “How cool,” he said. “Something that sells on the strength of what it is, rather than who I am.”

Among many other, it works for Martha Stewart at Home Depot and Isaac Mizrahi at Target, why not at Macy’s?

According to AdWeek, a new six-country survey from DDB reveals that Facebook users who like a brand’s page on the social networking site use its products regularly or occasionally and, after following the brand on Facebook, more than a third of the respondents “want to buy this brand’s product more”.

Turns out Facebook fans are active and involved brand advocates. Most people start following brands they are already familiar with or have been recommended to them, specifically so they so they can get promotional offers.  They graduate to becoming a brand advocate and often go a level deeper, wanting to know about new products, have access to exclusive and breaking information as well as the ability to share and express opinions on the brand.

Consumer perception and ideas about brands are shifting. It’s no secret that branding sells products. A recent study by University of Miami professor Juliano Laran and colleagues reveals that a company’s brand name and its branded slogans can have opposite impacts on consumer behavior. Participants in the study’s five experiments were exposed to brands including Walmart, Sears, Home Depot and Dollar General, and to the slogans those brands use, such as Walmart’s “Save Money. Live Better” and Sears’  “The Good Life at a Great Price (Guaranteed).”

“Exposure to the retailer brand name Walmart, typically associated with saving money, reduces subsequent spending, whereas exposure to the Walmart slogan increases spending,” the authors wrote in the report appearing in the Journal of Consumer Research.

The results are clear: While we may like to be frugal in our spending, we don’t want to think we’re being persuaded to be prudent.

Express advertises on the bottom of customer’s receipts to follow their CMO @ExpresslisaG on Twitter. Zappos, potentially the kind of retail Twitter, has successful used social media to stay connected with consumers on everything from busineess operations, team members, and customer service. @DellOutlet offers deals to Twitter followers, and @Comcastcares is a consumer’s direct channel to voice concerns.

The retail industry can use Twitter for product promotions, customer experience management, and brand appeal. There is virtually endless possibilities to how a retailer or brand could use open communication with consumers to better their customer experience.

One individual is testing a device to link RFID tags to Twitter. Mediapost reported digital agency R/GA’s Richard Ting has successfully linked RFID tags to Twitter. When the tag is scanned, a preconditioned Tweet is sent out. There is potential for the same technology to be used by merchandisers or mystery shoppers in store. A real time feedback of a display with missing product, products not properly set up, or real time customer experience feeback. The opportunities to for all levels of an organization to connect with consumers using social media is unlimited.

How are you using Twitter in your business?

We aren’t talking about deploying brand ambassadors to waltz with your consumers, but about connecting. From the decision time to when consumers use your brand, it’s knowing what is their reaction. Are your consumers naturally excited about your brand? Your customers should feel a sense of community and assurance every time they use your brand. Brands should develop a sense of community with consumers to both create excitement and receive feedback on what is the real reaction.

Creating a community with consumers is going back to the days of having a conversation. When was the last time you asked how your consumer’s experience was? What do they think of the packaging, displays, or promotions?

All industries should be measuring the reaction in their brand’s community. If your community isn’t excited, start asking why. Then turn the why into action and create brand excitement at every retail shelf, in-store promotion, word of mouth, and at home use.

A major concern is how to measure the ROI on such efforts. There still is not direct correlation except the need to communicate with consumers. The trend combining word of mouth marketing through social networking, is proving to be a launch pad for brands. As the numbers increase, the fan pages grow, but will the amount of marketing your brand online overwhelm consumers? Will consumers eventually stop listening?

However, if a brand or retailer decides to engage social media, there is one definite benefit : connecting with consumers. In the non-traditional forms of advertising, social media can provide a platform for brands to strengthen their customer experience and tap into market demands. The key is to listen. For the brands who are listening to consumers, a wealth of information can be revealed.

CPG brands will be able to utilize both the traditional in-store marketing simultaneously taking advantage of new digital forms. This rare crossover time gives established brands leverage to try several methods of in-store marketing. In the end, brands can choose which means are most effective without giving up the tried and true right away.

Smart brands are starting to use social media as a marketing and research tool. Still, there are thousands of brands choosing not to embrace social media. Here are some ways in which brands are using social media and ways your brand might think about starting to:

1. Research marketing
Brands that are using Twitter can monitor what consumers are saying about their product. It’s a nonintrusive way into the hearts of your market. The data is not compiled into a nice business report, but if you want to see the impact of a recent social media campaign (just look at Motrin’s) or new product release, follow your market on Twitter.

2. Branding Personality
Lou Cohen made an excellent point that brands have personality. Social media allows brands to show their personality to their market through non traditional advertising. Some brands have moved into the blogging community, take a look at Alltop.com’s corporate blogs to see some. For instance, Clorox bleach has a blog with cleaning and useful tips for using their product. Sure, they could take the approach of publishing a quarterly magazine or advertisement with the tips but instead they decide to engage their consumers with non-direct marketing approach.

There is an immense amount of discussion on whether or not brands should be on social media such as Twitter. The fact is brands that want to be in tune with their consumers, NEED to be. The right way for a brand to use Twitter is to listen and respond to consumer needs. Avoid the blasting marketing campaign as consumers may take offense to the disregard of their opinion. If your brand who wants to build a reputation for being in touch with consumers, don’t let the social media boat sail by. Jump on board and get in the conversation.

Brands have a challenge in 2009 to keep loyal customers, but simultaneously drawing in new ones. The Chicago NHL Blackhawks president had one goal with the Winter Classic, to put the city of Chicago and it’s hockey team back on the map. HE did so, by thinking just slightly off the ice with the hockey brand. Where can your brand experience go in 2009 by thinking off the ice?

iPhone consumers are very loyal customers, often starting the Apple experience with an iPod or a MacBook. The applications on the iPhone make the phone very enticing to consumers. MacWorld reports the HP iPrint Photo works with the iPhone and a wireless HP inkjet printer.

The company has no future plans to extend the application to other brands such as Blackberry or Sprint’s Instinct. Focusing the HP brand to solely iPhone consumers, HP is likely hoping to transfer some of Apple’s loyal consumers to HP. HP hopes of making it big with only one niche market, versus approaching all web-enabled phones, could be risky business or the right move.