Hearst Magazines’ teen magazine CosmoGirl has entered into a partnership with Makena Technologies to bring the CosmoGirl brand into the social virtual world There.com, which will open on November 20.
The CosmoGirl Village will be located along a coastal area in There.com, where members will be able to go to dance parties, fashion shows, spa makeovers, photo booths and live events as well as shop for virtual- and real-world clothing and accessories.
“Virtual worlds are becoming very popular and CosmoGirl is a magazine that is always up on the current trends,” said Keith Gordon, associate publisher, marketing for Hearst Magazines. “We are excited to be the first teen magazine in a virtual world. This is what our readers expect us to do.”
The content will be updated on a regular basis in order to keep users coming back, according to Gordon.
“The reason that we partnered with CosmoGirl is that many of the interests of their readership are perfect fits with us,” said Ben Richardson, vice president of business development at Makena Technologies. “Their readers are interested in fashion and pop culture. In the CosmoGirl Village – which is on the beach – they can go shopping, go to parties and go to celebrity events.”
There.com and the CosmoGirl Village are both free and open to anyone age 13 years and up, including There.com’s member base of 1 million users.
The virtual world partnership is aimed to build the CosmoGirl brand and let the magazine’s 8 million readers interact more with the content.
“The idea is to marry CosmoGirl content and the editorial calendar with what readers will find in the virtual world,” Richardson added. “In the virtual world, readers can interact with editors which may be more difficult in the real world.”
