Stardoll partners with Fox Walden's 'Nim's Island' for new virtual store

I just received this press release:

Stardoll Launches First-Ever Film-Themed Virtual Store
The #1 Online Community for Girls Launches Campaign with 20th Century Fox & Walden Media’s NIM’S ISLAND starring Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin

Stockholm, Sweden and Los Angeles, CA—March 6, 2007—Stardoll, the world’s largest online entertainment destination devoted to girls interested in fame, fashion and friends, today announced a major exclusive promotional campaign on the site with Fox Walden. In anticipation of the April 4 theatrical release of Nim’s Island, a comedic adventure starring Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler, Fox Walden has partnered with Stardoll to stimulate excitement about the movie within its community of more than 14.5 million registered members.

The program, which runs from March 3 through April 4, includes—first time ever—a mix of highly customized features designed to enhance the way Stardoll members enjoy the site. Through integration of Nim’s Island characters and themes sitting squarely into Stardoll’s vibrant environment, editorial spotlights, virtual giveaways and a line of custom virtual clothes inspired by the film, the campaign is set to generate an extremely interactive experience for audiences to engage in tied to the film’s release on April 4.

Working in tandem with Fox Walden, Stardoll has designed a limited release store on the site’s virtual shopping galleria—Starplaza, which will mirror the adventurous look and feel of Nim’s Island. Once inside the store, users can try on and purchase limited-edition virtual fashions and accessories inspired by the film. As an added feature, users who visit the store will be invited to also visit the Nim’s Island official site where they can pick up a code to redeem a virtual prize to adorn their Stardoll virtual suites as well as a gift of Stardollars—the virtual currency of Stardoll.

“We’re truly excited to partner with Fox Walden and to get the word out about the release of Nim’s Island,” said Stardoll’s SVP of Advertising Sales, Glenn Ginsburg. “Our community is going to be thrilled to discover more about the movie and get the chance to be a part of it through creative play with virtual fashions and characters inspired from the film. It’s the closest thing to getting into costume and climbing onto the set.”

“Stardoll’s unparalleled popularity is a testament to their focus on crafting personal, engaging experiences which empower the imagination and aspirations of girls around the world,” said Matt Griswold, Director of Interactive Marketing for Fox Walden. “This rich integration introduces the world of Nim’s Island in a way that furthers that experience and allows audiences to embrace the characters, fashions and adventure as their own.”

Stardoll receives more than 7 million unique visitors every month from across the globe—94% of whom are teen and tween girls. One of the few places on the Internet designed specifically with girls’ interests in mind, Stardoll began as the hobby of Scandinavian-born Liisa, a retired factory worker in her late 50s with a lifelong aspiration to become a famous fashion designer. She taught herself basic design programs on her computer and shared her fashion creations with a few friends. With the help of her son, she then posted those fashions on the Internet for others to see, and soon Stardoll grew into a passionate online community of millions from more than 200 countries worldwide.

The Stardoll community express themselves in a number of unique ways:

1. They create their own “MeDolls,” which they design in their own likenesses by choosing from a variety of virtual facial shapes, eyes brows, skin tones, hair styles, lips, faces, eye colors and chins;
2. They dress those MeDolls in an array of Stardoll brands all available in the glittering Starplaza—a complex of virtual storefronts. Styles range from the couture feel of Voile and Fallen Angel’s goth textures to the 80s Nostalgia of Pretty in Pink and urban edge of Fudge.
3. Through partnerships with the likes of Hilary Duff’s Stuff by Duff, the mary-kateandashley brand, Heidi Klum’s Runway Collection of jewelry, DKNY and Sephora, members can purchase items from real brands as well;
4. They furnish their own virtual suites with pets, furniture and posters by shopping with Stardollars—the community’s virtual currency;
5. They interact in “clubs” that users can build and join. Stardoll clubs are a great way for members with similar interests to make friends, swap style tips, share decorating ideas and play games;
6. They craft well thought out promotional campaigns to become the next Stardoll Magazine cover girl by broadcasting messages to the entire site and petitioning the community for their vote. Generally, when the cover girl is announced the next time she visits her virtual suite she’ll have dozens of virtual gifts from members across the world congratulating her. (Interestingly, one of the most popular gifts is a virtual Dutch porcelain pig.)
   

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 custom-designed garments and accessories. The site is updated weekly with new dolls as well as hand-crafted fashions and accessories to fulfill the overwhelming demand and interests of the site’s 7 million unique monthly visitors. About 25,000 new fans join daily, adding to the existing fan-base of more than 14.5 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 NIM’S ISLAND
Anything can happen on NIM’S ISLAND, a magical place ruled by imagination. The film features 11 year-old Academy Award® nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) in the spunky title role of the girl who lives on a remote tropical island; Academy Award® winner Jodie Foster in a rare comic turn as adventure writer Alexandra Rover; and heartthrob Gerard Butler (300, P.S. I Love You) in a dual role as Nim’s real father and heroic fictional idol Alex Rover. NIM’S ISLAND is directed by husband-and-wife team Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin (Little Manhattan) from a screenplay, based on the acclaimed novel by Wendy Orr. The producer is Paula Mazur (Corrina, Corrina) and the executive producer is Stephen Jones (Superman Returns). The film was produced by Walden Media and will be released nationwide by 20th Century Fox on April 4, 2008.

ABOUT FOX WALDEN
Fox Walden specializes in entertainment for movie audiences of all ages. Maintaining its own creative and marketing operations, films that are worked on by Fox Walden will be distributed domestically by Twentieth Century Fox.