A new multi-channel media and lifestyle company, Sisterwoman.com, plans to launch its site in March, combining women's interests with social networking aimed at women age 28-50, according to cofounder and online advertising veteran Allie Savarino, writes MediaPost. Savarino, who helped launch Unicast, is joined in the undertaking by former journalist Sally Rodgers, former E! and MTV executive Joe Shults, and MSN advertising team member Bart Barden. Sisterwoman.com visitors will be able to create closed circles of friends and loved ones, and open circles based on hobby and location. They will be able to exchange text, videos, photos, and social calendars.
MediaWeek reports that Sisterwoman is in talks with several advertisers to sponsor individual circles for exclusive three-month periods; apparently, there is interest from packaged-goods, retail and financial-services advertisers.
Each page of the site will carry a single rectangular display unit, but Sisterwoman will deliberately limit ads to retain the sense of user ownership.
"Sisterwoman is a hybrid of MySpace and iVillage because it's for women, but it completely centers around their social circles and the content they create," Savarino is quoted by MediaPost as saying.
MySpace has become one of the most popular websites, with 26.7 million unique visitors in November. iVillage is the most popular "woman oriented site," according to comScore Media Metrix, although it has been losing visitors of late.
