???Through social networking Web sites, Internet users have gained the unprecedented abilities to easily locate long-lost friends, find a perfect match or play Scrabble with someone halfway across the globe with a simple click of the mouse.
???Social networking capabilities have recently grown to include owning and operating an entire eco-friendly brand of apparel with the launch of nvohk.com.
???According to the company's Web site, www.nvohk.com (pronounced "invoke") is "an eco-clothing company managed by the people who wear it."
???For an annual fee of $50, nvohk allows users to create an account to design clothing and logos, and vote on several different aspects of managing the company, including selecting the official emblem.
???"This is where we turn the model upside down," said nvohk co-founder Sergio Salas. "We are really asking members to identify and articulate what they would like to buy. Unlike traditional brands, there is no guesswork, modeling or polling to identify what the consumer wants. The consumer, in effect, is the company."
???The company uses its consumer-designed and consumer-managed aspect as a major selling point, claiming it is an innovative new way to do business.
???"Nvohk's global community of pioneers is collectively challenging the way brands are developed and what they stand for," said co-founder Brendan T. Lynch, in a press release.
???The company is largely meant to appeal to consumers who are interested in designing their own clothing though they may not have the capital to launch their own business.
???"It would be cool if other people could see and buy your designs," said Kevin Westermann, a freshman English major. "But I could see the damage it would do to the fashion world."
???The nvohk business model is based on an idea known as "crowdsourcing," a term popularized by Wired Magazine in June 2006.
???Crowdsourcing is similar to outsourcing, where companies send labor to developing nations due to cheaper production costs. ???However, with crowdsourcing companies use every day people to take on even higher-level tasks. This may include things such as designing new content, research and development and marketing.
???"This model could not have been executed without the advent of the Internet," Salas said. "The ability to instantly and effectively communicate with a multitude of people in different geographies is essential for nvohk and, on a more basic level, the crowdsourcing model. This model could not exist in a the world of brick and mortar and mass marketers."
???In addition, the company has coined the term "crowdfunding" to define its own community-based financial model.
???When the company begins to make a profit, 35 percent of the earnings will be given back to members. Instead of money, profits will be given in the form of points that are used to purchase nvohk products.
???Another 10 percent will be donated to various eco-charities. Though donating such a large percentage of net profits may seem counterintuitive for a business model that has not yet proven effective, nvohk is confident it is essential to future success.
???"This is indeed a tremendous commitment but one that is essential in order for members to feel that they are making a meaningful contribution toward the environment," Salas said. "It was our belief that community management alone was not sufficient to evoke passion and ultimately drive critical mass but felt that environmentalism could."
???Continuing the social networking aspect of the company, members will have the opportunity to pick which eco-charities to give to.
???"I like the environment," said Jenny Bartoy, a freshman engineering major. "I would buy a T-shirt but I don't know if I'd be a shareholder."
???While membership provides several benefits, the initial fee discourages some students from joining.
???"If I wasn't a poor college student I would sign up" said Toree Cardinali, a freshman exercise science major. "Fifty dollars is a lot of money."
???So far, the company seems to be growing slowly. In May, nvohk announced on its Web site that over 3,000 future members were signed up and ready to pay the $50 membership fee. However, five weeks after official membership began, only 425 people had paid the fee.
???Still, the company is moving forward and recently selected an official logo, which was designed by a subscriber.
???"Nvohk's historic milestone has proven that a traditional clothing brand can be developed in a completely non-traditional way," Lynch said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
