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Stardoll merges with Piczo and launches the Stardoll network
March 09 2009
Today, Stardoll, the leading online entertainment destination for young women, announced a merger with Piczo, a leading Web site for teen self expression and custom Web publishing. Stardoll also launched Paperdollheaven.com, targeting a younger, female demographic. The three sites will form the foundation of the Stardoll Network, which will reach a combined total of more than 20 million people per month, a majority of which are in the tween and teen age groups (between 5 - 20 years old). Through the Stardoll Network, brands will be able to engage with this key demographic in a focused, interactive way.
"Our goal has always been to create places online where girls can have fun, learn, and make friends from all over the world in a safe environment," said Mattias Miksche, CEO of Stardoll. "In just three years, Stardoll.com has become the most popular online destination for this demographic and we are excited to strengthen our offering by adding Piczo and Paperdoll Heaven to the network."
With more than 27 million members worldwide, Stardoll is an international destination for young girls who want to dress up virtual "MeDolls," create online "suites," design and sell their own virtual clothing, get access to and exclusive information on their favorite celebrities, join or create clubs, and meet other members online from more than 200 different countries. The site was started as a hobby for Scandinavian-born designer, Liisa. Inspired by her childhood passion for paper dolls, Liisa drew dolls and accompanying wardrobes and taught herself Web design. Rapidly, her personal homepage became a popular destination for teens and in 2004 the site was upgraded with the goal of providing a positive online environment for young girls, interested in fashion and social play. Today, 51% of Stardoll traffic is from Europe, 40% from the Americas and the remaining 9% originates from Asia-Pacific. The median age for Stardoll.com members is 15 years old.
Piczo was founded in 2004 to empower teens worldwide to creatively express themselves and share ideas and experiences with their friends in a safe online environment. Piczo has grown to over 30 million registered users to become the number one destination for teens who want to build and customize their own Web pages. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California with most of its members in the U.S. and UK. Piczo.com will continue to be run as an independent site as part of the Stardoll Network.
"Joining the Stardoll Network is a great way for Piczo to continue to grow and offer both a unique product for the teen audience and an even more valuable proposition for advertisers seeking to reach that audience," said Jim Conning, founder of Piczo, Inc. "Both sites are focused on providing fun ways for members to explore and express their creativity online. We look forward to working with the Stardoll team to make Piczo even better."
Paperdoll Heaven was launched in December of 2008 with the goal of providing a simplified creativity experience for younger users. Paperdollheaven.com allows members to dress up virtual dolls and pets, decorate and play in an online dollhouse, and enjoy other online games like puzzles. All activities on the site are completely free.
