I woke up last Monday to some buzz. No, I wasn’t still feeling the drinks from  the night before. And no, I didn’t have my hair buzzed in the middle of the night. There wasn’t a bug flying around the room. The buzz I woke up to was online, word-of-mouth marketing about one of my favorite clothing brands.

J. Crew was blowing up on social media. Talk of the new fall fashions was one of the hottest topics on Facebook and Twitter. Desperately in need of some new flannels and a sweater or two, I hit up the company’s website to check out the selections. Nothing. It was full of summer clothes.

Ok. The catalog must be coming in the mail today and hasn’t been put online yet, I thought.

Mail time rolls around. Bills, bills, and more bills.

I was quite perplexed. I recently opened up a J. Crew credit card and gave the company a large chunk of my non-existent paycheck for some new jeans. About 50% of my current wardrobe is from J. Crew. How come everyone was in the know about the new fall fashions, yet I was left out of the loop?

And then, I stumbled upon an article that contained all the information I needed. I was not neglected by the brand. J. Crew had an absolutely genius idea, and I just didn’t discover it. Everyone knows where women flock for tips and trends relating to recipes, DIY projects, weddings, and fashion. So the clothing brand went to an untapped area and turned it into a commercial goldmine. The J. Crew fall style guide was posted on their Pinterest page (unfortunately, only the women’s clothes).

The style guide was not being mailed out or posted on the company’s site until Tuesday. So only the brand’s 69,000 Pinterest followers were able to get a sneak peak. In an age where everything is becoming digital needed J. Crew to join the revolution. So it took Pinterest and turned it into a shopping mechanism, something no other brand had done before. Not only were you able to view the fall fashions, you could actually pre-order them through email or by phone (a little archaic, but we’ll take progress one step at a time).

This was also a very measureable tool for the company. It could see how much buzz they were getting on other sites and which fall fashions would be hits based off of the number of “repins” it got on Pinterest.

So I was not left out of the loop and neglected by one of my favorite brands. I was outsmarted by it. This groundbreaking idea pushes the way we shop further and further into the digital realm. I look forward seeing what other initiatives J. Crew takes in the future and hope to see some of the men’s clothes included.

Hey Hanes, some words of advice: simple surveys are still effective ways to conduct market research. But don’t be creepy and intrusive with your questions. And don’t give guys the opportunity to screw it all up.

This advice is directed at a new campaign that Hanes has launched. It’s asking women to share what color underwear they have on. Clearly, this is a stunt to determine what colors are more popular.

First, the company lures women to UndercoverColor.com and tells them what color undies are “currently trending.” Then, women choose their color and are told they can win a prize for sharing. Once, they’ve selected their color, they are re-directed to a page with a bunch of Pinterest-like images and poorly written tweets about that underwear color. To be entered to win the prize they have to actually post one of the tweets on their Twitter account with #undercovercolor.

For example, I chose orange. I received tweets pertaining to orange like “Like a sunset, it’s probably best if you don’t stare directly at my butt today.” Once I tweet it, I’ll be entered to win a bright and colorful necklace or earrings and a package of Hanes ComfortBlend undies.

Hanes failed with this. The results of the “incognito market research” are flawed. I know this because there is nothing preventing guys like me from skewing the data.

The company also probably isn’t getting a ton of shares on Twitter. The tweets are so corny, cheesy, and quite personal. I don’t know many classy women that would share their underwear color in such a way, especially only for a chance to win a simple package of Hanes. It’s not like these are diamond covered panties.

You kinda have to do social these days. It’s a great way to reach consumers. I can’t blame Hanes. They had the right idea. They tried. But I think they should try again (and with something good).