Aug 2, 2002/ FW/ --- Watch out Target! Wal-Mart just became one of the hippest stores in town. With a little help from seventeen Magazine, Wal-Mart aims to be the number one source for fashion, beauty and lifestyle needs for teens.

Last week, seventeen Magazine and Wal-Mart announced the integration of EyeWonder technology into the Trend Alert Program at Wal-Mart. With EyeWonder, both companies can turn their in-store "Trend Alert" videos into interactive ad banners and emails.

"Wal-Mart customers and seventeen readers will benefit greatly from this multimedia endeavor as messages will now reach them while shopping in the stores, reading the magazine, or surfing the internet," said Linda Platzner, president and group publisher of Primedia Teen Properties.

The marketing advantage of EyeWonder technology is that it creates a seamless experience.

It is not necessary for the user to have a specific media player installed and the program does required download. It is simply the video and audio "commercial" instantly engaging the target audience iwth a powerful TV-like advertisement. Users with any speed Internet connection can view the videos.

The statistical results offer strong validation for seventeen and Wal-Mart's effort with the "Trend Alert" campaign.

Typically in an EyeWonder campaing, less than 85% of the users watch the video without stopping or turning off the audio, and there is a 6% technical failure rate.

The "Trend Alert" campaign however has reached 99% of users without any technical difficulty and an astounding 94% of users have watched the video without stopping or turning off the audio.

The video, which plays in all stores on Wal-Mart TV and is now online too, features hit music available at Wal-Mart. It also includes seventeen's cool picks from throughout Wal-Mart including the fashion, cosmetics, home electronics, music and room furnishings departments.

The EyeWonder program includes rotating towers, pop-ups and large rectangle ad units on the homepages and fashion pages of seventeen.com, gURL.com and Teenmag.com which reach a combined audience of 2.6 million teenagers.

Additionally, Eyewonder email blasts that invite viewers to visit the Trend Alert website ar sent to over 200,000 seventeen.com and gURL.com members.

Back to School is the focus and theme for the current Trend Alert campaign.