Zappos.com and Steve Madden Team up for a Brickfish Powered “Sole Search”

Leading Shoe Retailers Take it to the Consumer for Fresh Shoe Designs

SAN DIEGO--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Zappos.com, a leader in online apparel and footwear sales, has teamed up with Steve Madden, one of America’s most successful shoe retailers, for “Steve Madden’s SOLE SEARCH powered by Zappos” - a viral marketing program using the Brickfish social media platform.

“I’m inspired by creative, fresh designs, and I enjoy nurturing new talent, so I’m looking forward to seeing what our customers come up with”

The program was created to drive sales by enabling consumers to share branded content they created with friends and peers through their social networks and bookmarking sites. The program, located at http://www.zappos.com/sole-search, asks entrants to create unique shoe designs for the chance at having them produced by Steve Madden and sold online at Zappos.com/Steve-Madden. Entrants may create their original Steve Madden shoe designs from scratch, download the provided Steve Madden assets or use the Brickfish Entry Editor to create their own Steve Madden shoes. Three lucky consumers, one selected from each of the entering categories, will be given the opportunity to pitch his or her shoe design to Steve Madden in NYC. Steve Madden will then select one of the three designs to be produced and sold online at Zappos.com/Steve-Madden.

“I’m inspired by creative, fresh designs, and I enjoy nurturing new talent, so I’m looking forward to seeing what our customers come up with,” said Steve Madden. “It’s amazing that through the Internet we’re able to tap into so much creative energy for this exciting project.”

The program will enable participants to create their own branded designs and share them on their social networking sites, populating the Web with consumer-endorsed content. In addition, participants can offer reviews, and share and vote on their favorite designs, further immersing potential and existing consumers in the brand experience. Studies show that consumers are more likely to interact with content recommended by friends online, so the chance for brand interaction will be propelled through this program.

Brands and agencies use Brickfish’s platform to launch online advertising and marketing programs targeted at the social networking audience. Brickfish programs enable brands to ignite consumer conversations by creating brand evangelism, passion in a peer-to-peer manner, and by optimizing the power of social media. Consumers create brand friendly UGC and share it within their social networks. Brickfish’s patent-pending Viral Map™ and Geo View technologies provide detailed real-time data on viral activity across the Web and geographically. This strategic viral marketing platform generates extensive brand awareness, engagement, reach, and results -- all of which are trackable, providing clients with incredibly valuable qualitative and quantitative data.

“Steve Madden has an incredibly passionate following, which is why we thought this program would be so compelling,” said Michelle Thomas, Brand Marketing Manager, Zappos.com. “Steve Madden’s SOLE SEARCH powered by Zappos.com’ program is a great way for us to honor those brand evangelists and to create new ones for both brands. We are confident this program will create massive awareness of our partnership with the iconic shoe retailer and of our increasing online offerings of clothing, handbags, accessories and more.”

“Steve Madden’s SOLE SEARCH powered by Zappos.com” ends December 29. For complete details, visit http://www.zappos.com/sole-search. For more information about Brickfish, visit www.brickfish.com/company.

About Zappos.com

Established in 1999, Zappos.com has quickly become a leader in online apparel and footwear sales by striving to provide shoppers with the best possible service and selection. Zappos.com currently stocks millions of products from over 1000 clothing and shoe brands. Zappos.com was recognized in 2009 by FORTUNE MAGAZINE as one of the “100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR,” debuting as the highest-ranking newcomer to FORTUNE’s 2009 list. More information about the company’s customer service philosophy, unique company culture, and job openings can be found at http://about.zappos.com. To get a glimpse behind the scenes at Zappos, please visit http://blogs.zappos.com. More information about the “Zappos Insights” business membership program can be found at http://www.zapposinsights.com.

About Steve Madden

Steve Madden designs and markets fashion-forward footwear and accessories for women, men and children. The shoes and accessories are sold through 88 company-owned (including the Company’s online store), department stores, and apparel, footwear, and accessories specialty stores. The Company has several licensees for its brands, including for outerwear, cold weather accessories, eyewear, hosiery, and bedding and bath products. The Company is the licensee for footwear, handbags and belts for Fabulosity, for footwear for Elizabeth and James and l.e.i. and for handbags and belts for Betsey Johnson and Daisy Fuentes.

About Brickfish®

Brickfish® is the award winning social media solution that successfully creates ongoing engagement and conversations with consumers using social media. Brickfish provides brands a platform that energizes viral sharing among consumers via the social Web. Consumers create brand friendly UGC and then virally share that content with their vast social networks through widgets, blogs, IM’s, and more. All engagements are tracked with patent-pending Viral Map™ and Geo View technologies, which provide detailed, real-time data on reach, engagement, frequency, and viral activity across the entire Social Web and geographically. Brickfish has launched successful campaigns for Microsoft, MTV Networks, Nike, Victoria’s Secret, Samsung, Coach, Givenchy, The North Face®, Estee Lauder, Qualcomm, and many, many more, generating over 200 million consumer engagements. Brickfish is a 2008 Red Herring Global 100 winner and a 2009 OMMA Award winner for Best Viral Campaign.