Social Media Portal

Pluck Tools to Further Engage Audience Across Hearst digital’s Network of Properties Reaching One Third of Women Online in The UK

LONDON & AUSTIN, Texas --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pluck® Corporation, the industry leading provider of social media capabilities to publishers, brands and retailers, announces that Hearst digital, the National Magazine Company’s digital publishing business, has selected Pluck SiteLife Social Media Platform to power reader interaction and community across its market leading network of online web properties.

Reaching more than 4 million women every month -- one third of women online in the UK -- Hearst digital is in a strong position to bring Pluck-powered social media experiences to a large and growing audience of internet users in the UK. Pluck SiteLife is the industry’s preeminent social media toolset for blogs, photos, videos, comments, recommendations, reviews, ratings and many other specialized forms of participation. SiteLife powers more than 1 billion social media interactions every month, and is in use by many of the world’s leading publishers, brands and retailers including The Washington Post, Reuters, Circuit City, Saturn and The Economist.

Alex Ballantyne, Hearst digital’s Managing Director, says: “Based on our review, no other social media platform can scale to support traffic volumes in the millions like Pluck SiteLife. In addition, the integration of the platform across the many facets of social media, such as blogs, ratings, photos and comments, can help us ensure the experience for our visitors can be one of the best available on the web.”

Dave Panos, CEO of Pluck, noted: “Powering some of the most popular sites in Europe, Hearst digital is a leader in attracting readers from across the web. Working together, we can help Hearst digital empower its readers with a fully-interactive and social experience designed to let readers contribute to site content and participate with editorial staff, as well as other readers.”

The first Hearst digital sites are expected to launch the social media services in March.

About the Hearst digital Network

The Hearst digital Network, a division of the National Magazine Company, publishes the following websites: www.handbag.com, www.netdoctor.co.uk, www.getlippy.com, www.allaboutyou.com, www.cosmopolitan.co.uk, www.prima.co.uk, www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk, www.countryliving.co.uk

About The National Magazine Company

The National Magazine Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Corporation established by William Randolph Hearst in 1910. NatMag publishes 14 consumer titles in the UK: Coast, Company, Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan Bride, Country Living, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, House Beautiful, Prima, Prima Baby, SHE, You & Your Wedding, and Zest. The group publishes a further two magazines, Men’s Health and Runner’s World, through a joint venture known as NatMag Rodale and three large scale weeklies, Best, Reveal and Real People through a joint venture known as ACP-NatMag.

About Pluck Corporation

Pluck Corporation social media solutions empower leading media companies, brand marketers, and retailers to integrate open content, community and social networking into their web properties driving audience traffic and revenue. Clients include CBC, Circuit City, Cox, The Economist, FOX News, Gannett, Scotts, and The Washington Post. Awards include a Red Herring 100 and AlwaysOn Media 100. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas with funding from Austin Ventures, Mayfield Fund and Reuters. More information on Pluck offerings can be found at www.pluck.com.

Pluck is a registered trademark and BlogBurst and SiteLife are trademarks of Pluck Corp. All other company and product names mentioned are used only for identification and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Pluck
Heidi Johnson, +1 512-493-0909
heidi.johnson@virtualprdirector.com

or

SPA Way
Henry Jakins, 0207 403 6900
henry.jakins@thespaway.com

or

Natmags
Jane Wynyard, 020 7439 5211, 07872836722
PR & Communications Manager, National Magazine Company
jane.wynyard@natmags.co.uk