Stardoll breaks new ground
PRESS RELEASES
Stardoll & Random House
Stardoll & Burger King
Stardoll Launches Site Redesign
Stardoll at 50 Million
Baby Phat comes to Stardoll
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Random House Children’s Books to publish Mortal Kiss
Tuesday 16th November 2010
Random House Children’s Books is to publish Mortal Kiss, the interactive virtual story it created with Stardoll, the world’s largest virtual entertainment and social gaming site for teenagers. The move to create a physical book was prompted by the phenomenally positive response to the story from Stardoll users.
The Mortal Kiss pages on Stardoll have received over 13.9 million page views, with the campaign page receiving over 3.8 million. The Mortal Kiss Stardoll fan club has 51,788 members, against 33,347 for the Harry Potter club. Each of the main characters in the story has character Stardolls; the most popular of these, Faye, received over 600,000 views.
Mortal Kiss is the first interactive story Random House has published on a social networking platform. A paranormal mystery, created in collaboration between writers and editors at RHCB and artists and programmers at Stardoll, Mortal Kiss was serialised globally via the Stardoll website over the 8-week period leading up to Hallowe’en. The book will be published on 6th January 2011 by Bantam Books, price £6.99.
Philippa Dickinson, MD of RHCB, comments, ‘We are absolutely delighted to be publishing Mortal Kiss. The extraordinary enthusiasm shown by the Stardoll community for this, our first web-based serial, shows the power a good story has to connect with readers both online and offline.’
Mattias Miksche, CEO of Stardoll Network, comments, ‘We are thrilled to be reaching new heights with RHCB, as the virtual story Mortal Kiss is published as a book early next year. The response from the Stardoll community around Mortal Kiss has exceeded expectations and they have been asking for more. RCHB are making it a reality for our members and teens around the world.’
For more information please contact:
Clare Hall-Craggs, Publicity Director Random House Children’s Books
Tel: +44 020 8231 6412
Email: clarehallcraggs@randomhouse.co.uk
Joan Joan Lockwood, Head of Global PR, Stardoll Network
Tel: +44 020 7292 7143
Email: joan@stardoll.com
Notes for Editors / over
More about Random House
The Random House Group is one of the largest general book publishing companies in the UK. The Group is based in London and has subsidiary companies in Australia, New Zealand and India, with a joint venture in South Africa called Random House Struik. The Group comprises five publishing companies: Cornerstone Publishing, CCV, Ebury Publishing, Random House Children’s Books and Transworld Publishers, boasting more than 40 diverse and highly respected imprints. The Random House Group distribution business services its own imprints as well as 60 other UK publishers. The Random House Group is an independently managed subsidiary of Random House Inc in the US, the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world’s largest and most diversified integrated media companies.
For more information, contact:
Clare Hall-Craggs, Publicity Director, Random House Children’s Books
Tel: +44 020 8231 6412
Email: clarehallcraggs@randomhouse.co.uk
More about Stardoll
The Stardoll Network is the world’s leading group of websites devoted to young women and teens. Launched in early 2009, the network includes: Stardoll.com – the entertainment destination for young women focused on fame, fashion and friends; Piczo.com – the original platform devoted to social self expression and visual blogging; and PaperDollHeaven.com – a simpler game-play environment for the younger, female demographic. The Stardoll Network now works with the world’s biggest brands as they look to engage with an increasingly elusive teen audience. The network is the number one publisher in ComScore’s teen category, both in Europe and globally. The business is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden with offices in the US, UK and Germany, and is backed by two of the world’s top venture capital firms: Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.
For more information, contact:
Joan Lockwood, Head of Global PR, Stardoll Network
Tel: +44 020 7292 7143
Email: joan@stardoll.com
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Virtual Gaming Site Stardoll and Burger King Corporation Team Up to Bring Real World Fashion to BURGER KING® Restaurants Nationwide!
Promotion Marks Premiere of First Ever Real-World Toy from Stardoll – the Leading Virtual Destination for Girls
Los Angeles, CA and Stockholm, Sweden—October 4, 2010—Stardoll(www.stardoll.com), the world’s largest online entertainment destination for young women focused on fame, fashion and friends, together with Burger King Corp. today announced a promotion that brings Stardoll’s unique virtual fashion and dress-up experience to real-world BURGER KING® restaurant guests throughout the United States in October.
Participating BURGER KING® restaurants will offer an exclusive fashion-inspired premium with each purchase of a BK® Kids Meal, while supplies last. The promotion will run in the United States from October 4-31st in approximately 7,400 BK® restaurants. The promotion ran earlier this year in 10,000 BK® restaurants located in more than 30 countries around the world including Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Available for a limited time only, the fashion-inspired premiums are based on Stardoll’s unique “virtual paperdoll” dress-up experience and are the first ever physical offering available from the hugely popular virtual world. The toys allow girls to mix-and-match different fabrics to create unique looks for six different models in scenarios such as on the runway, at the park, on the mountain, or a party. Burger King Corp. will support the program through a fully integrated marketing campaign that will include television advertising, in-restaurant merchandising, custom packaging and online promotions.
“We’re pleased to be partnering with Burger King Corp. to bring our virtual product to life,” said Stardoll CEO Mattias Miksche. “Their reach is truly global and we’re confident that millions of aspiring fashionistas throughout the United States will be excited to find the Stardoll dress up experience with real fabrics to inspire them in their BK® Kids Meals.”
“The blending of digital and physical assets is a powerful combination for today’s progressive brands,” said Matt Palmer, Executive Vice President & General Manager of Stardoll North America. “This partnership will surely reveal the potent global impact this type of collaboration can accomplish.” I look forward to seeing what we will achieve together.
ABOUT STARDOLL
Stardoll is the world’s fastest growing virtual entertainment and social gaming destination for teens and tweens. It’s a virtual world where teens come together to create a “MeDoll” in their likeness, and express themselves through design, dress up and interacting with one another. Founded in 2004 by Scandinavian-born Liisa who was inspired by a childhood passion for paper dolls. Stardoll has seen extensive growth over the past year to over 76 million registered users, enabling young women to hone their fashion and style skills through hand-crafted fashions, fashion houses and a massive number of celebrity dolls that are updated weekly. Stardoll, part, of the Stardoll Network, is headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, London and Frankfurt, and is backed by tow of the world’s top venture capital firms: Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.
ABOUT BURGER KING CORPORATION
The BURGER KING® system operates more than 12,150 restaurants in all 50 states and in 76 countries and U.S. territories worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of BURGER KING® restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. In 2010, Fortune magazine ranked Burger King Corp. (BKC) among America’s 1,000 largest corporations and Standard & Poor’s included shares of Burger King Holdings, Inc. in the S&P MidCap 400 index. BKC was recently recognized by Interbrand on its top 100 “Best Global Brands” list and Ad Week has named it one of the top three industry-changing advertisers within the last three decades. To learn more about Burger King Corp., please visit the company’s website at www.bk.com.
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For more information, contact:
Joan Lockwood
Marketing & PR
Stardoll Network
joan@stardoll.com
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Click here to view official release in browser
Stockholm, Sweden (July 22, 2010) – Stardoll, the world’s largest virtual entertainment and social gaming site for teenagers interested in fame, fashion and friends, today announced a site redesign. The redesign project was initiated in response to the community’s demand for a more social and dynamic product, including a visual design that incorporates a clearer, crisper and more aspirational look and feel.
The new site design allows members a broader range of opportunities to be inspired, create richer content, and share those designs with the rest of the community more easily than ever before. Some of the changes include:
- Member Suites: more streamlined and main hub for all activity on Stardoll where members can shop, design & sell, create scenery, message friends and blog all without leaving the suite.
- New Community area makes it easier to join a club, host a party or meet other Stardoll members
- Spotlight: highlights the latest activities, contests and featured Stardoll member designs which are displayed on a rotating basis
- Introduction of more social and dress-up games that earn Stardollars
Stardoll membership continues to grow (and grow up), with the average age of users rising from 13 years old in 2009 to 15 years old in 2010. Other increases in year-on- year growth include:
- Registered users have more than doubled from 35 to 68.7 million
- Time spent on the site has increased from 13.3 to 17.05 minutes
- Pageviews have increased 40% from 6.2m to 8.7m.
In addition, Stardoll’s ad business continues to outperform in key markets, including the U.S, Europe and Canada with global brands such as Unilever, P&G. Disney, Warner, Miss Sixty, Sony, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Penguin Publishing. For the third year in a row, Stardoll has been selected as an AlwaysOn Global 250 winner 2010.
“We see our members spending more and more time on Stardoll and ‘growing up’ with the platform, said Mattias Miksche, CEO of Stardoll. “The redesign is a reflection of this, as we continue to develop a more mature and aspirational brand, that still allows the community to operate in a safe and private environment.”
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More about Stardoll
Stardoll is the world’s fastest growing virtual entertainment and social gaming destination for teenagers. It’s a virtual world where teens come together to create a “MeDoll” in their likeness, and express themselves through design, dress up and interacting with one another. Stardoll offers a fun-filled approach to fashion, celebrity and making friends. Drawing on a worldwide audience of girls, aged 9-17, the site offers an extensive collection of garments, home designs, and accessories and make up from a variety of real world and virtual brands.
Scandinavian-born Liisa who was inspired by a childhood passion for paper dolls founded Stardoll in 2004. Stardoll has doubled in growth over the past year to 69 million registered users, enabling young women to hone their fashion and style skills through hand-crafted fashions, fashion houses and over 800 celebrity dolls that are updated weekly.
For more information, contact:
Joan Lockwood, Marketing & PR Europe
Stardoll Network
Tel: +44 020 7292 7143
Email: joan@stardoll.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Joan Lockwood
The Stardoll Network
+44 07775 833013
joan@stardoll.com
London, UK and Stockholm, Sweden—February 16, 2010—Stardoll (www.stardoll.com), the world’s largest online entertainment destination for young women focused on fame, fashion and friends, today announced a major milestone that its membership base has surpassed an incredible 50 million registered users.
Stardoll’s dedicated members span an impressive 230 territories and experience the site’s unique “social play” approach to celebrity and fashion in 17 languages. In less than four years, Stardoll has grown to exceed 12.25 million unique visitors per month across the site with over 45,000 new members signing up daily.
As part of the celebration, Stardoll is offering its community a collection of “50M”-themed virtual apparel and decor to adorn their MeDoll avatars and virtual suites. In the first two days the virtual items have been available, over 1 million items were picked up for free, and over 300,000 were purchased with Stardollars—the site’s virtual currency.
“It’s exciting to see that Stardoll continue rapid growth through keeping a tight focus on our demographic of young women,” said Mattias Miksche, CEO of Stardoll.“With the virtual goods industry expected to reach $1.6 billion in 2010 and social gaming contributing $835 million of that total, we believe this is just the start for us and that the business is poised for tremendous growth.”
MORE ABOUT STARDOLL
Stardoll, a premier virtual fashion and entertainment destination on the web, empowers users to express their creativity within a unique “social gaming” environment that blends childlike play with social networking to deliver a playful, fun-filled approach to fashion, celebrity and dress-up. Drawing on a core worldwide audience of girls aged 9-17, the site enables members to build stunning likenesses of themselves while offering them an extensive collection of thousands of garments, accessories and other virtual goods from a variety of real world brands. With the site’s innovative StarDesign application, users hone their fashion sense by creating their own virtual apparel. The site is updated weekly with new dolls as well as hand-crafted fashions to fulfill the overwhelming demand and interests of the site’s nearly 12.25 million unique monthly visitors. Over 45,000 new fans join daily, adding to the existing fan-base of more than 50 million registered users in 230 territories. The company is based in Stockholm, Sweden with offices in Los Angeles, California and London, UK. Stardoll is backed by two of the world’s top venture capital firms: Sequoia Capital, whose track record includes Yahoo, Google and YouTube among many others; and, Index Ventures, whose track record includes Skype among many others.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KIMORA LEE SIMMONS BRINGS BABY PHAT GLAMOUR TO STARDOLL
Simmons’ Trendsetting Line Now Available in Stardoll’s Virtual Shopping Galleria
40 Million Aspiring Fashionistas Worldwide Will Be Invited to Participate in a Live Online Chat with Phat Fashions President & Creative Director, Fashion Mogul Kimora Lee Simmons
Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY—October 2, 2009- Stardoll, the world’s largest online entertainment destination for girls who love fame, fashion and friends, today announced a partnership with Kimora Lee Simmons that will bring her trailblazing lifestyle brand, Baby Phat, to Stardoll.
Stardoll and Simmons have teamed up to create a boutique in Stardoll’s online shopping galleria—the StarPlaza—where Stardoll’s community of more than 40 million users can dress their MeDoll avatars in virtual clothing, shoes and accessories from the Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons Fall 2009 collection. A virtual Moodbook—like a fashion lookbook— will be available in the boutique to showcase real-world Baby Phat clothing and accessories with links to the babyphat.com shopping site for real-world purchases.
Additionally, Kimora Lee Simmons debuts a RealCeleb presence on the site featuring an avatar of the fashion mogul and exciting video content, like Baby Phat runway shows, the brand’s 10th anniversary celebration, and sneak peeks from the upcoming season of Simmons’ popular Style Network show, “Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane.” The RealCeleb page will be the place where users can learn about upcoming exclusive contests, sweepstakes and giveaways.
Kimora will speak directly to Stardoll’s community of aspiring fashionistas in a live, online chat his fall that will be filmed for “Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane.” The chat serves as yet another example of how the glamorous businesswoman enjoys reaching out directly to fans. She recently announced the birth of her third child via Twitter and made history as the first designer to invite the public to watch the Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons Spring/Summer 2010 collection fashion show via a live Times Square feed.
“I’ve long believed that fashion can empower young women to express themselves positively. As a mother of two budding fashionistas, I’m excited to bring Baby Phat to Stardoll. I came of age in the fashion industry myself, so I can’t wait for girls of all ages to get to know Baby Phat and discover all the fabulous ways that fashion moves us forward,” said Phat Fashions President and Creative Director, Kimora Lee Simmons.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kimora Lee Simmons and Baby Phat to Stardoll,” said Stardoll Executive Vice President and General Manager, Matt Palmer. “Not only is Kimora a positive role model for girls everywhere, Baby Phat provides the fresh mix of current trends, bold colors, glamour and attention to detail that our millions of users worldwide love to find on Stardoll.”
ABOUT STARDOLL
Stardoll (www.stardoll.com), a premier virtual fashion entertainment destination on the web, empowers users to express their creativity within a unique “social play” environment that blends childlike play with social networking to deliver a playful, fun-filled approach to fashion, celebrity and dress-up. Drawing a core worldwide audience of girls aged 9-17, the site enables kids to build stunning likenesses of themselves while offering them an extensive collection of thousands of garments, accessories and other virtual goods from a variety of real world brands. With the site’s innovative StarDesign application, users hone their fashion sense by creating their own virtual apparel. The site is updated weekly with new dolls as well as hand-crafted fashions to fulfill the overwhelming demand and interests of the site’s 12 million unique monthly visitors. Between 30,000 and 40,000 new fans join daily, adding to the existing fan-base of more than 40 million registered users in over 200 countries. The company is based in Stockholm, Sweden with an office in Los Angeles, California. Stardoll is backed by two of the world’s top venture capital firms: Sequoia Capital, whose track record includes Yahoo, Google and YouTube among many others; and, Index Ventures, whose track record includes Skype among many others.
ABOUT BABY PHAT
In 1999 a new era of women’s fashion was born with the creation of the Baby Phat clothing line. In a world filled with fashion copycats Baby Phat stood out as a fresh approach to personal style. Under the direction of maverick businesswoman and Supermodel Kimora Lee Simmons, Baby Phat quickly became one of the fastest growing clothing lines in the United States. Today this preeminent lifestyle brand allows every woman to showcase hermore glamorous, chic and fashion forward side. In less than ten years the Baby Phat Collection has grown to include apparel, outerwear, swimwear, lingerie, luggage, shoes, handbags, fragrance, jewelry, and eyewear collections.
BABY PHAT GETS SOCIAL
In an era where social media dominates the web and communities domestic and international, find a way to cyber connect, Baby Phat has launched a Facebook Fan Page, a Baby Phat Twitter Page, a Baby Phat YouTube Channel and a Baby Phat Flickr Photo Page to keep their fans abreast on all the happenings in the wonderful world of Phat.
Media Contact:
For Stardoll
Jennifer Moses
The Morris + King Company
jennifer.moses@morris-king.com
212-561-7463
Media Contact:
For Phat Fashions
Natalie Hinds
Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons
Natalie.Hinds@phatfashions.com
212.798.3100