Mykindaplace.com To Target Girl Power On The Net
Confidence in the future of dotcoms may be wavering on the stock exchange but it has not put Matthew Wright, showbiz editor at the Mirror, off leaving Fleet Street for net-based journalism. Wright has been appointed editorial director for www.mykindaplace.com, the on-line magazine for teenage girls due to launch this summer.
Commenting on his decision to move, Wright said: “This is a medium which will continue to grow over the next couple of years, leaving the print press behind.” This confidence must be bolstered by the fact that the project’s CEO is Sháá Wasmund, who helped to launch one of the net’s success stories, travel site www.deckchair.com. Also on the launch team are Charlie Redmayne, founding director of media buying company RCL Communications and journalists Lisa Smorsarski and Anthony Crank, formerly of Bliss and more! respectively.
The site has gained big guns BSkyB and Freeserve as backers. Content will include channels on health and beauty, fashion, music, TV, films and chat, with the site forming part of the teen-focussed pages of www.freeserve.co.uk.
Audits show that the teenage girl’s magazine market has been dropping off recently. Sháá Wasmund has put this down to the fact that the 2 month lead time involved in producing traditional magazines is not fast enough to keep up with teenage trends. She argues that the on-line magazine format can solve this: “We have access to information, feedback and resources 24 hours a day. If an exciting piece of gossip hits the headlines in the States overnight we can have it on our site in minutes.”
Even with the drop in circulation, readers of teenage girl’s magazines represent more than half of all readers in the teen sector. In addition, recent figures from Fletcher Research show that over 60% of teenage internet users in this country are girls (see Research Shows More Teenage Girls Than Boys Online).
All this bodes well for mykindaplace.com, and unsurprisingly it will not be alone in the market for long. Similar projects already in development are Wowgo, which is backed by Unilever, Swizzle which is backed by Proctor & Gamble and Excite and an as yet unnamed venture from Sugar publishers Attic Futura, who are said to be investing £10m.
mykindaplace.com: 020 7306 2231