It’s no secret that today’s shoppers are cutting back, she said, but research also shows they feel good about it. “Today’s consumers are wearing this new frugality as a badge of honor,” Mooney said, citing a McKinsey study that 55% of Americans are cutting back not out of necessity, but by choice. Even people who can afford to shop feel a pressure to scale back, she said, which understandably creates challenges for retailers.

“We had a lot of women telling us they were shopping online because they didn’t want friends to see, didn’t want it to be as obvious,” Mooney said. “There’s a whole secret shopper emerging, which is why sites like Gilt are rising to the top.”

Although 75% of teens receive the same or more of an allowance compared with last year, unemployment for this group has reached an all-time high, forcing them to be more resourceful in finding ways to make money and forcing them to resort to swapping and selling items in order to buy more. (I loved this quote: “They have rediscovered all the junk in their house that has value.”) Some teens are also doing “online chores,” Mooney said, uploading photos from a family camera to the computer, burning CDs, helping parents with their taxes (!) and undertaking other projects that parents either don’t know how to do or simply don’t want to undertake.

Unlike their older siblings, who were part of the over-coddled Gen Y, today’s teens are savvy about money and are serious about looking for good deals, Mooney said. “Teens have discovered online research, clearance racks, coupons, selling and swapping,” she said. “They are mimicking their parents. They have discovered the tools of the web because they have to.”

Moms are also significantly worried about the economy, she said, and are focused on setting a good financial example to their kids. In a perverse way, research found, some moms actually feel liberated by the economic downturn because they no longer feel a pressure to spend more than they should or keep up with the neighbors like they used to. As one mom profiled in a resource Interactive video said, “It took the recession to scale back but we should have been doing it anyway.”

Much like teens, moms are also focused on finding good deals and rely considerably on coupons. (This is similar to what we heard from Dawn Lepore yesterday.) Coupon sites are the second only to job sites as the most-visited web category, Mooney said, and retailers should use that knowledge to look for opportunities to help her save money.

Moms are also trading down – and many of them are trading way down. Several of the women profiled in the videos were trading down from Nordstrom to Payless or North Face to Champion. While this is most definitely a challenge, Mooney said, it is also an opportunity, providing retailers with new ways to serve existing customers, or opportunities to gain new ones. (Teens, by the way, aren’t trading down – they know what they like – but they are spending less.)

Her advice to retailers? Find ways to innovate your way out of the recession. From Jansport integrating Facebook onto its website to American Apparel’s “rummage sale” and Hyundai’s “assurance” program, there are myriad ways for retailers to dig deeper and be creative.

One other key to make it out of this recession? If you fail, fail quickly. “Fail quickly, learn, test, and launch,” Mooney said. “Being agile is going to be the key.”

You’ve made a business at, and written several successful books about, helping retailers and consumer product companies leverage the Internet and social media to tell their stories. Tell me a few really cool things happening right now at your company.

One of our main tenets is that social media is the new gateway to the brand. We’re continually researching, innovating, beta testing—all in the interest of innovating and pushing our work. We’ve created the RI:Lab, which is our R&D laboratory that’s focused in innovation, futuring and emerging platforms. We’re amidst a big push into mobile—WAP sites, couponing, etc. and our first iPhone app is launching any day now, with many more in the works. And soon we’ll begin testing The OPEN Hub, a private and secure social network for our clients. 2009 has been very good to us—not just through internal innovations; we’ve also had the great fortune of adding some really exciting new brands to our client roster.

You talk frequently about “open brands.” How can a retailer open its brand and why would they want to?

Open brands are strategically opened, emphasizing one or two consumer experiences that represent the most value. O.P.E.N. (On-demand, Personal, Engaging and Networked) is a framework for creating such experiences. Ultimately, an open brand is relevant and participatory—driven by consumer expectations and unmet needs and desires.

Brands have to find their sweet spot through a careful assessment to determine what’s right for them. For example, one retailer may highlight the Engaging experience (ENOP) and another might call out the Personal experience (PONE). We use an Open Brand Scorecard to evaluate brands and determine the best approach.

As for why brands should open up—there are 5 simple reasons, that we refer to as the “5 R’s”: Revenue, ROI, R&D, Relevance and Relationships. Recruiting is a bonus.

What recommendation would you give to a company trying to understand how to use Facebook or Twitter to communicate with customers?

There’s no one-size-fits-all prescription. Do your homework. Understand how your customers want to communicate. Look for opportunities to support, connect or delight consumers. There are lots of great case studies emerging. Use your agencies to get smart or network with peers to share…experiment, test and learn.

You talk a lot with consumers to try to get their insights on shopping and understand their behaviors. Based on those conversations, how you think customers have changed since the recession and when will retailers start to see spending rebound?

Consumer confidence is paramount in any downturn. They are weighing their options a little more heavily, searching harder for the best prices. Ultimately, they need more decision support. Retailers will surely see spending rebound, but if they really want to move the consumer off the dime, it’s time for true innovation.

The real question on everyone’s mind is whether consumer behavior has changed for good. We’re actually further researching this topic for the Annual Summit—are consumers recession-rewired or is their frugality temporary?—so stay tuned. My Shop.org Summit keynote will shine a spotlight on how urgently retailers need innovative new solutions that lower barriers to buying.

Do you see retailers missing any opportunities online? If so, what are they?

Well, we need to start viewing the destination website as akin to the flagship store for a brand. It’s the dispersed experiences that do the heavy lifting. Think about how digital can enable, create and connect the consumer journey.

That being said, I think retailers haven’t even scratched the surface of the potential social networks or mobile. Both channels are claiming their share of consumers’ time and no one has truly tapped into their power…yet.

If you had to make a list of three “retailers to watch,” what companies would you list?

As I mentioned before, it’s about social media and mobile integration. The ones to watch are the ones who are beginning to unravel the secrets…Apple, QVC, Amazon, and Victoria’s Secret PINK.

I also like how outdoor retailers like REI and Backcountry.com are integrating social media into their online experiences. I just received a printed “catalog-like” publication from Backcountry.com that was highlighting some of their most popular products, but all content, ratings and reviews, articles, etc. were repurposed from ONLINE community members.

In a recent blog post you wrote about paying attention, not only to what you do in a given workday but who you’re surrounded by. It seems you’ve worked with some pretty incredible people throughout your career. What can potential employees look for that will provide insight on “who” a company really is? On the flip side, how can people and hiring managers get it “right”?

Potential employees should really seek to understand the culture, the values, of an organization and how decisions are made (and empowered). Does the company have an ambitious vision—beyond revenue growth? Is there passion in the ranks?

Hiring managers need to look way beyond the resume. Seek attitude over aptitude. Is this person a self starter, leader AND a team player and can I learn from him or her? At the end of the day, can I trust this person, can I travel with this person, can I be confident that he/she will care about doing great work?

To have incredible people around you, you have to seek them out and always raise the bar–-and you will continue to upgrade talent naturally.

Tell me three goals you have over the next twelve months.

-More deeply understand the new (frugal) consumer—globally
-Strengthen our agency’s long-term competitive advantage
-Continue to find ways to uniquely connect with my kids, Luke (he’s 13) and my daughter Riley. She’s 10.

Several months ago, USA Today featured photos from the Resource Interactive headquarters in a story about pet-friendly workplaces. Can you talk about how this culture got started and your philosophies about pets at work?

We have always had a culture of inclusion, and that includes associates’ pets…I can’t remember a time we didn’t have them in the office. Pets are an important part of people’s lives – we respect that. Not to mention, they bring such a lively dimension to the workplace. Interestingly, we’ve never had issues with barking or messes or major distractions—it all just works out.

You always seem to be going a mile a minute. How do you unwind?

I’ve learned to compartmentalize, to draw boundaries. When Friday comes to a close, you have to claim your weekend for yourself and your family. Step away from the email, and close the door to work for awhile.

During the week, I run in the morning when my family is sleeping. It clears my head and psyches me up for the day. I also go to bed by 9:30 on Friday night, and wake up for yoga on Saturday morning. I typically nap on Sunday afternoon or flip through mindless magazines. It’s great.

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