Website Creators Looking For Teenage Clicks

The younger you are, the more likely you are to be online, or so statistics seem to suggest. So why, as a would-be dotcom, bother teaching your grandmother to click icons when there is a ready made ‘i-generation’ eager for an online hangout?

The recent launch of www.mykindaplace.com, the on-line teen mag, is set to be followed by a gaggle of competitors (see

United News and Media, which announced plans last month to crank up the money invested in Xilerate, its online division, has similar designs on those flexing their parents’ plastic. While its recent debut conference was mainly concerned with business media projects such as the creation of www.farmgate.co.uk, its closing speaker was Adam Stanhope, CEO of youth channel Rapture .

Stanhope said “Our audience signifies the direction of new media to come. Our customers combine a voraciousness in utilising the latest technology with discerning but demanding tastes. The target audience for Rapture is aged between 16 and 24, represent 30% of the online population and spend 13% of their disposable income online.”

But you can start them younger than that. Those who are not old enough to hold credit cards for their disposable income would currently find it hard to buy online, but if a system is successfully developed allowing children to buy online without credit cards, then online pester-power will truly be unleashed.

Clearly someone at UNM was listening to Stanhope and thinking just this, as the group is now set to invest in www.sub-club.com, a site for 7-15 year olds offering content, chat rooms and – yes – e-commerce. According to the Financial Times, UNM’s minority stake will cost it around £7.5m, but Sub-club founders feel they are focussing on a neglected market, with average pocket money of £10 per week.

United News and Media: 020 7921 5000