Compare and Contrast E-Marketing Strategies: ModCloth and White House Black Market

White House | Black Market is a women's clothing retailer founded in 1985. It specializes in upscale clothing for women 35 and older, but several of the designs appeal to a younger audience, as well (in my opinion at least). What makes WHBM unique is that they focus on clothes that are white or black, and they have one pop color each season. The styles are inspired by runway designs, and it follows the current trends to some extent. However, the company is well known for professional-looking, fashionable clothes that have a timeless feel.

On their website, they list Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+ as ways of connecting. They use Facebook and Google+ to showcase their new styles and lines. Twitter is used more for showing where they were mentioned, such as blogs and magazines, as well as showing new styles. Youtube shows some "behind the scenes" documentary-type videos about the company, as well as showing the charities they support. Pinterest is used to showcase new styles, as well as inspirational fashion, recipies, and dream vacation destinations. Instagram seems to be the most customer-focused social media campaign, since they specifically ask for customers to post pictures with the tag of the season.

ModCloth is an online retailer founded in 2002 specializing in vintage, vintage-inspired, and indie clothing, accessories, and decor. They offer a wide range of items, with no specific age-range in mind, although most people I've found who are huge fans are between 18 and 35. Most people would agree their style, in a word, is "cute."

ModCloth uses social media in a pretty similar way to WHBM. They also list Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+, as well as Tumblr. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram all are used primarially for showcasing new items avaliable. Pinterest (and Instagram, to a small degree) are used to showcase inspirational fashion and items, as well as new items avaliable on the website. Youtube shows interviews with celebrities, and a few documentaries about the company. Google+ is somewhat surprising, though. They have 11,053 followers, but only ONE POST! (weird)


Personally, I think WHBM's  social media campaign is better, since they do specifically ask customers to share their styles on Instagram. However, ModCloth does invite customers to share pictures as part of their reviews on the main website. Despite ModCloth being an pure play e-business model, there is a surprising lack of community on the social media sites. It's all about ModCloth sharing their own inspirations, not as much sharing their customer's own style. It is interesting that they are following 613 boards on Pinterest, while WHBM follows 160.