NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today AOL, a premier digital media company, and BermanBraun, a well-known and creative innovator, launched Mandatory.com, an authentic, relevant and irreverent online destination for men. The new site marks AOL’s entry into the male consumer lifestyle space.
Mandatory is a premium lifestyle destination for the man’s man. The site will distill the best of everything of interest to men into four categories: Play, Know, Women and Awesome. Presented through an innovative design and user experience, the look of the site is unique - whether it's a video showing you how to become a Renaissance Man in 60 seconds or an interactive map of every micro and macro brewery in America. It will be every man's 'must read.' At launch, the site is sponsored by Gillette. Mandatory is overseen by Lead Editor, Cory Jones, the founding Editor of Break Media's HolyTaco.com and former Editorial Director of Maxim.com.
“By partnering with BermanBraun we are bringing their unique visuals and storytelling skills to a male audience we believe is currently under-served on the Web,” said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, AOL. “Mandatory is a premium destination that delivers what men need to know, what they need to try, what they need to see and what they want to see.”
“This alliance gives us the opportunity to deliver our content to an engaged male audience across the AOL network,” said Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, partners at BermanBraun. “AOL offers a creative platform and an expertise in reaching large audience segments, and we look forward to working with them to deliver compelling content curated specifically for men.”
“Gillette is honored and excited to be a part of this amazing new destination,” said Damon Jones, External Relations Director, Global Grooming and Shave Care at Proctor & Gamble. “Mandatory touches on a lot of passion points for our consumers and this will be a perfect destination for them to keep up with the latest in men’s interests including trends on grooming and styling.”
Since its inception in 2007, BermanBraun has had continued success with digital brands including WONDERWALL, one of the top celebrity sites which now attract more than 17 million unique visitors per month. GLO, a lifestyle site launched in April 2010 reaches over 5 million people, making it the top website in the beauty/fashion/style category*.
With 108MM monthly unique visitors**, the AOL network provides the premiere platform for advertisers and content providers to take their stories across the Web. Moreover, AOL’s highly engaged audience and social platforms get people talking and sharing both online and offline.
About AOL:
Having helped millions of Americans to get online, AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is on a mission to inform, entertain and connect the world. The home of a world-class collection of premium brands, AOL creates original content that engages audiences on a local and global scale. We help marketers connect with these audiences through effective and engaging digital advertising solutions.
About BermanBraun:
BermanBraun is an independent media company with three divisions -- television, feature film and digital -- which create and exploit entertainment content and advertising solutions across all platforms throughout the world.
BermanBraun's digital division has created and operates some of the most popular properties online. They include the celebrity news site WONDERWALL, which BermanBraun launched in partnership with Microsoft in February 2009. The site is the primary celebrity destination on the MSN network, and currently ranks first in engagement among all competitive sites in entertainment news. The site has averaged over 17 million unique users over the last 3 months. WONDERWALL has averaged over a billion page views per month for the period December 2011 thru February 2012. In April 2010, BermanBraun launched GLO -- a site created in partnership with MSN and Hearst. GLO features an innovative design that creates a unique “digital magazine” experience for women seeking style, beauty and lifestyle content. GLO averages over 5 million monthly uniques and currently ranks first in engagement among competitive sites in its fashion/beauty category. BermanBraun is launching three new sites with AOL in 2012 in the categories of weather, pets and men. BermanBraun also created and operates the sites WONDERWALL LATINO and POWERWALL.
BermanBraun recently acquired Whiskey Media, CNET Founder Shelby Bonnie’s media and technology company based in San Francisco that has created a next generation publishing, data and social tools platform. BermanBraun recently launched its first site built on the Whiskey platform – TESTED WITH JAMIE AND ADAM. Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are the stars of the hit television show MYTHBUSTERS on Discovery Channel, and have a strategic alliance with BermanBraun to create television and digital content and brands.
In television, BermanBraun is producing the series ALPHAS (currently airing on SyFy); UNCHAINED REACTION (currently airing on Discovery Channel); JUNK GYPSIES (to air in 2012 on HGTV); POLYAMORY (to air in 2012 on Showtime) and two additional new series to be produced with MythBusters stars Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage for Discovery Channel. BermanBraun is also producing the scripted pilots NOTORIOUS for NBC; REWIND for SyFy; UNTITLED LOUIS CK/SPIKE FERESTEN PROJECT for CBS.
| * BermanBraun Internal Data |
| **February 2012 comScore Media Metrix |
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