Illustrating social networks? tendency to cater for increasingly niche audiences, a new, free community website was soft-launched today, targeted at ?Panks? (?Professional aunts, No Kids?). Branded the first online resource of its kind,
savvyauntie.com aims to offer women with no children of their own a wealth of contacts and advice to make the most of their relationship with their nieces or nephews.
Topics currently at the fore include child health and nutrition, books and learning, a repertoire of classic kid songs, gifts, a crash course in video games and counsel on how to care for children with special needs.
Users can submit their medical questions about their siblings? progeny to associate director of the American council on Science and Health Jeff Stier, and solicit the common-sense advice of ?savvy (agony) aunty? Natalie Garfield. A wiki section called ?auntiepedia? centralizes user contributions to the common pool of aunt-focused knowledge. Finally, the site functions as a community through its hosting of aunt-orientated forums, discussion groups and blogs.
Founder and chief executive officer Melanie Notkin (pictured left) explains the vision behind the new site, saying ?The image of ?Woman? as a mom with 2.1 kids is radically changing. It?s estimated that today, non-moms represent 50% of American women, and that number continues to grow.? The women who make up this demographic are most often in work, and many of them have free reign over a comfortable disposable income. They also have more free time than parents struggling to reconcile their professional and family lives.
These factors make them a valuable, but erstwhile neglected target for marketers, as observed by Mary Lou Quinlan, chief executor of marketing consultancy Just Ask a Woman, who remarks that ?Many brands are so focused on moms that they are missing the economic clout of these generous aunts who love to indulge the kids they never had with the gifts and experiences that they can afford.? Savvyauntie.com seems set to draw them into the cross-hairs.