Alloy Mixes Teen Fashion, College Info and a Gen Y Database

Visit Alloy.com and enter the world of glittery T-shirts and boy trouble for teen-agers. But look past the U.S. flag muscle tanks, daily horoscope and advice columns. Backing Alloy.com's sales pitch to teen-age girls is Alloy (ALOY Quote), a multichannel media company that does far more than its flagship Web site suggests.

Alloy is emerging as the leading marketer to Generation Y, the 58 million people between age 10 and 24 who have turned teeny-bopper fashion and music into a mainstream phenomenon. The company not only sells glittery T-shirts to this age group, but also helps advertisers reach them through ads across a wide range of Alloy's online and offline outlets that reach 45 million people.

"We sit between corporate America and the youth market," says Matt Diamond, Alloy's CEO and co-founder. Alloy's three main businesses -- editorial content, mass marketing and retail -- function like middlemen, passing messages and products between teen-agers and corporations.

The River That Runs Through It

The key to Alloy's business is its database of 8.5 million teen-agers who receive the company's direct mailings. In April 2000, only 3.8 million names were on the list, but through acquisitions, key partnerships and word-of-mouth among Gen Yers, this database has been growing rapidly.

More than 25% of the 8.5 million teen-agers buy Alloy merchandise. But Alloy uses the database for more than just a sales tool. The company also receives feedback from teen-agers, communicating their preferences to corporate America. In this role, Alloy tells corporate America what kids really want. ...