SharkJumping

MEEZ is #1 in Engagement according to June 2009 Media Metrix

  So the June Media Metrix stats hit this past week (see subset here -  Download June ComScore Engagement Report), and we're thrilled to announce that Meez.com is now the #1 US Internet site measured by engagement, meaning how long an average visit lasts, in this case an amazing 36.4 minutes.  In addition, Meez is #4 in total engagement, measuring total minutes per visitor per month, showing that we're seeing lots of repeat visits as well.  As I pointed out 5 months ago here, this means that Meez engagement has grown from 100 minutes a month per visitor in July 08, to 184 minutes in January 09, to an astonishing 227 minutes in June 09, and we're still going strong.

The end result is that we're seeing increasing numbers of users spending longer amounts of time in the Meez Nation virtual world, driving great rich media advertising results and rapidly growing virtual item sales.  After a very tough slog in the past 6-9 months through brutal economic times, the team has driven the site to #1 in engagement, as well as to cash flow profitability, and now it's time to focus on growth to expand our leadership position in US teenagers.

AEG Live Enters Virtual World with Meez

In all of the discussion about the big players in the music business, one sometimes forgets about the importance of the promotional and touring partner, which is strange since most artists make the bulk of their money from touring and from merchandise.  That's why Meez is excited to announce tonight a partnership with AEG Live, the nation's second largest touring and promotion company, where AEG Live connects Meez users with a wide array of popular music artists, all currently on tour with AEG.   The deal is launching with the amazingly talented artist set of Dashboard Confessional (see below), Plain White T's, The Cab and Panic at the Disco, and will soon be followed by additional big name artists.

In the AEG Live Tour Mansion, our users can listen to each band's streaming music in personalized rooms, play instruments, chat/dance/emote, link out to the artist web sites/iTunes sections/My Space pages, and also purchase tickets to each show from AEG Live, plus the users can outfit their avatars with cool accessories and items from each artist.  It's a great way for an artist to connect with their fans in an easy to use and compelling virtual world, and to also drive commerce and engagement since an average room visitor spends over 6 minutes per room, enough to listen to 2 songs and hang out with fellow fans. 

It's an innovative move by AEG Live and the participating bands to embrace the virtual world by not just understanding that it creates a strong connection with their users, but that it should also be used to drive additional revenue.  This continues the recent trend of artists and labels reaching out to virtual worlds like Meez, such as Mudvayne did earlier this week (see earlier post).   We also launched a great room for Estonian Goth-Pop sensation Kerli tonight, so it's a big music week for Meez.

 

27 Dresses Boutique Launches on Meez

We just launched a new sponsored boutique on Meez for the DVD release of the Katherine Heigl smash hit, 27 Dresses, from Fox (NYSE: NWS).  As one might imagine, a fashion-oriented movie is just about a perfect fit for Meez users since we built everything from cool backgrounds to the "catching the bouquet" animation, and of course, some of the great dresses from the movie - click the image to see the animation. 

Along with a terrific reception for our NikeID deal, as well as our ABC Family Princess items, we're continuing to deliver great value for branded advertisers looking for innovative and effective ways to reach an audience that is increasingly online in IM, social media and in games, all places where our 5M+ users export their Meez to represent themselves.