thePULSEBabes, Blogs, Business and Bustiers
By Linnea Sheldon
Yummy Worcester-based lingerie company Yumdrop.com is using a unique blend of social networking, lingerie parties, and nightlife events to target their niche market. Started in early 2006, Yumdrop.com promotes a “Naughty when you wanna be” attitude that appeals to many college students.
Kristina Malo, Marketing Director of Yumdrop.com, explains that the site combines cutting edge online shopping functionality with a blog for social networking, promotions, and special offers. “Today’s college students are masters of multi-tasking,” she explained. “They embrace sites that can offer a spicy mix of shopping and social networking.” Yumdrop chose social/networking sites Myspace.com and Flickr.com to reach their target audience and promote their product, a very sexy and fun line of lingerie (with a few flirty little Ts thrown in for good luck, too! “Social networking is [their] life blood,” Malo said. “This has been a great way to connect with our demographic, and it gives us the opportunity to make thousands of friends in a short amount of time and get feedback from potential customers.”
Yumdrop was created by the people who brought the world Fright Catalog (also based in Worcester), one of the top online and catalog retailers of Halloween merchandise. Then local entrepreneur and Whizspark founder Peter Caputa approached Yumdrop.com a few months ago about teaming up to put on some events. He had met Mark Arvanigian, head of FC, a few years ago and really wanted to get involved in the new venture. “Mark and his team have been growing their online Halloween business steadily for several years now,” Caputa explained. “With the rise of blogs and social networking sites, cool products catch on very quickly. I have no doubt they’ll be able to effectively market this site on a national level ~ and it’ll happen in a few months.”
The official site launch for Yumdrop.com is coming within the next few weeks, but on April 8 they kicked off the festivities with a pre-launch party at the Irish Times in Worcester. The event included a lingerie show and model meet and greet. “A crowd of about 200 people showed up to catch a glimpse of the Yumdrop girls at the pre-launch party and fashion show,” Malo said. “Girls and guys alike had positive feedback about the lingerie presented at the fashion show and the YumDrop.com sneak peak shown on the video screens.”
Malo explained that the lingerie parties are another unique part of the Yumdrop concept. The tamer of the two party types sponsored by Yumdrop is very much like a Tupperware party ~ but this is not your Momma’s Tupperware party, since guests get together to look at sexy lingerie and “related products” and purchase silky unmentionables rather than boring old lettuce crispers! The other type of party is for the more daring ladies out there ~ it’s a costume party where a group of friends dress up in lingerie and get together to for fun and frolicking. “Yumdrop.com would interest other women besides the college demographic because we create a fun shopping experience,” Malo said. “No matter what your age, we’ve got something for all tastes. Our high-end site is user-friendly and our customer service is top notch.”
Another great idea the folks at Yumdrop.com came up with is using real college girls to model their lingerie, and right now they are conducting a search to find just the right Yumdrop girls to model and help promote the company. “We are currently looking for spokeswomen who are passionate about the brand to represent us across the country and help spread the word about the unique company,” Malo said.
Now come to think of it, Yumdrop has a little bit of something for everyone ~ girls and women will love the parties, the lingerie, and the sense of camaraderie, and men will love the ladies in the lingerie (just ask any guy who was at the pre-launch party – there were plenty of tongues hanging out that night)! So to experience all that Yumdrop has to offer, visit www.yumdrop.com (the site is super-fun, with lots of pix and sparkle!), and for questions or to request an application, just drop an email to info@yumdrop.com.
