Pupiline.net, which has positioned itself as one of the UK’s leading teen websites, unveils its stunning new look site today, as its team led by 16 year old schoolboy Oli Watts, prepares to take the youth market head on.
With a sharp new look and logo courtesy of leading European Design firm Design Bridge, and a specially created content managed system provided by East Anglia’s leading ISP, Ipswich-based KeConnect, pupiline.net is poised to find success in a market place where others have struggled.
Managing Director, Watts, has spent several months developing his website into an e-zine with a "for us by us" approach - content written and produced by young people for the 11-17 age group. He now has a team of 30 people working on the site, with content that has been voted as "knockout" by leading teaching organisations, parents, young people and a number of celebrities, most recently comedian Billy Connelly who described the youngster as a "genius" at the recent BBC People’s Awards in Watts was a finalist in the Children category.
Watts believes the site to be unique in concept, design and scalability, and describes the new functionality of the site as "wicked". Gary Hill, who has headed up the KeConnect team working on pupiline, explained: "The new site combines originality with modern functionality using the very latest in cold fusion technology. The database driven back end of the site is also bringing astonishing efficiency to pupiline’s day to day activities too, cutting out the time required to write html and cutting and pasting onto the site."
Watts added: "Now a contributor can email us an article for the site, which can be checked by our Editor and uploaded in seconds. As for the new look – I love the logo which uses emoticons so effectively, and which on the site actually winks at you – it’s clean and sharp and cool and it is the icing on the cake for our brand which is so very strong."
A number of schools across the UK are already trialling pupiline to support the PSE (personal social education) programme in the school curriculum and the feedback from teachers, parents and youngsters is already incredibly positive. Sponsorship and advertising deals are currently being negotiated with companies like Burger King who are sponsoring the part-time jobs section, where youngsters can actually apply for a job while online.
Director, Phil Brighty, a teaching professional, with over 20 years’ experience, said: "Getting past the school gates to target children, parents and teachers, is not easy. What we are working towards is something of genuine value to the teaching process, not trying to tell the teachers how to teach, but bringing online interactive support material which stimulates debate, develops skills and which is presented in a format which is attractive to young people because it is written and produced by their peers. That combined with a clear ethical policy on marketing and advertising sets us apart from the other players in this market."
