Among the many things Steven Valdez had to check off his to-do list this week was one item that emerged as a top priority — to send out a MySpace.com bulletin announcing the reopening of his Midtown skateboard shop.
"We didn't want to go through a long commercial campaign," said Valdez, owner of Starr Skates, which reopened Saturday at 1927 E. Grant Road after moving from an East Speedway location several months ago.
"We sent out a bulletin and were encouraged by the response. We had over 800 people stop by that day," Valdez said.
Witness the power of MySpace.com, the social-networking Web site that has attracted tens of millions of teenage and young-adult users, as well as corporate American and Tucson businesses.
Since the MySpace's launch in January 2004, the site has drawn more than 87 million users, of which 20 percent are registered as minors, MySpace.com's management reports.
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Through bulletins, Valdez is able to keep in close contact with his customers, most of them ranging from preteens to those in their mid-20s.
"All of these young kids are on our page. Our business is driven by youth," Valdez, 33, said about the 485 "friends" who have joined Starr Skate's profile. "It makes sense to be a part of MySpace."
Variety of online features
MySpace, which News Corp. bought last year for $580 million, offers a mix of features — message boards, videos, games, blogs — designed to keep its youth-oriented visitors clicking on advertising-supported pages.
Users stay connected by adding other "friends" to their sites and expanding their networks by meeting other users. They can make "friends" with businesses that send out bulletins as well.
Growing largely by word of mouth, MySpace now ranks second for total page views among U.S. Web sites, behind Yahoo Inc., according to ComScore Media Metrix.
In recent months, MySpace has also gained new business members such as Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill and Jack in the Box Inc.,which use profiles as a way to create buzz about new products, cultivate customer loyalty and build brand awareness.
Toyota created a MySpace profile to announce the new Yaris car model, and Cingular Wireless uses the site to profile pop artists and cell-phone ring tones.
Warner Bros. is using MySpace to promote "Superman Returns," which opened in theaters this week, and 20th Century Fox also used a MySpace site to promote its movie "X-Men: The Last Stand."
During a recent industry meeting, Shawn Gold, MySpace's senior vice president of marketing and content, said MySpace.com can help advertisers reach coveted youths as long as marketers are willing to break free from traditional approaches.
Ideal for targeted messages
When it comes to marketing, MySpace users tell a lot about themselves when they register, and MySpace's databases can be tapped to help advertisers tailor their messages, mainly by age, location and marital status, Gold said.
MySpace is tweaking its technology to target users by their music interests and other attributes, he added.
A local advertising agency executive said he was surprised to learn about the mainstream advertisers on MySpace.
"But advertisers are always looking at a way to reach those (youth) markets," said Michael Bolchalk, CEO of Bolchalk Frey Marketing, Advertising & Public Relations. "And with that many users, it's hard to ignore the numbers."
Though MySpace promotions are used largely by bands and nightclubs, Starr Skates and other local small businesses are setting up profiles as a way to reach customers as well.
When it came time to create a presence on the Internet, cafe owner Peter Mattsson didn't set up the standard Web site for the Itl Coffee Shop, 415 N. Fourth Ave.
"We didn't have our own Web site, even though we wanted to do that. But this MySpace thing came on, and I figured it was a good move," he said.
Publicizing movies, bands
Since launching a profile eight months ago, Mattsson said, he's used the site to send out bulletins on movie events, bands and other performances scheduled at the coffee shop.
"It's been fun to post different things and to allow people to get to know the employees and to hear what's going on down at the shop," he said. "And it's all free. So why not?"
Clay Reed, 35, a manager at Rainbow Guitars, 2550 N. Campbell Ave., also uses MySpace to announce music clinics, sales events and how-to guides to its 695 MySpace "friends."
"It's a great resource to reach out locally and out of state," Reed said. "It's also easy to use. You don't need to know HTML (hypertext markup language) to set up a profile, and it doesn't cost anything. You can also make your profile look really cool."
Nimbus Brewing Co., 3850 E. 44th St., also sends out bulletins to target customers in the 21-to-35 age range, said Austin Counts, 27, events coordinator for the brewery.
"It's a new avenue to go down," he said. "We saw the phenomenon and jumped on board. And it's a good way to educate others about good beers as well."
Jim Counts, 47, owner of the brewery, said he is not usually keyed into what people in their 20s and 30s are doing on the Internet.
"But this cues us into the music of our market," Jim Counts said. "It taps you into this younger age group. If you're trying to reach a younger market, you're almost a fool not to get involved with it."
"We sent out a bulletin and were encouraged by the response. We had over 800 people stop by that day."
Steven Valdez Skateboard shop owner, talking about his MySpace.com reopening announcement