MAMBAONLINE MARKS A DECADE

Mambaonline.com, South Africa’s most-popular gay lifestyle website, reaching over 40,000 unique visitors a month, is celebrating its tenth birthday in 2011 with a revamp of its look and feel.

“It’s quite an achievement to have reached our first decade in a market that’s so tough and very fickle,” says Mambaonline founder and publisher Luiz De Barros.

Mambaonline offers site visitors a uniquely gay perspective on the world with the latest gay-related news headlines, event reviews and listings, trends, interviews and profiles of celebrities, gossip, and motoring, lifestyle and relationship features.

The site’s revamp represents a significant refresh of its acclaimed design and it also now gives advertisers the opportunity to reach the Pink Rand with the latest banner sizes that have been adopted by the industry.

“We made sure not to deviate completely from some of the basics of the site that users are familiar with and that worked so well for so long, but we’ve moved Mambaonline into a much more exciting and competitive realm,” says De Barros.

And it’s not just about the look and feel and new bells and whistles; under the hood, as it were, the site has been completely redeveloped to ensure that it loads faster and more efficiently than before.

Launched in 2001, Mambaonline came about when De Barros saw a gap in the pink market. “There were almost no credible gay mediums with editorial integrity in South Africa,” notes De Barros. “In the last decade I firmly believe that Mambaonline has played a key role in raising the standards in this niche but very valuable media space.”

Some highlights of the last ten years:

• Reaching a monthly audience of over 40,000 unique visitors.

• Launching the popular Mambaonline dating service, MeetMarket.co.za, in 2005, which has over 15,000 active profiles.

• Launching a thriving ‘sister’ site, Mambagirl.com, in 2007 to meet the needs of lesbian women in South Africa.

• Being chosen as a design finalist in the 2003 Loerie Awards.

• Playing a role in empowering, informing and promoting the interests and rights of the lesbian and gay community and supporting other worthy initiatives and organisations.

• Being recognised by local and international publications and other media including the Mail & Guardian, Britain’s Attitude magazine and SABC.

• Interviewing hundreds of celebrities and public figures including the late Brenda Fassie, ‘Idols’ winners, Olympic champion Ryk Neethling and Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron.

• Hosting six high-profile Mambaonline Sexiest Man Surveys and related events in which the gay community voted for its favourite South African male celebrities.

• Attracting mainstream advertising from brands such as Toyota, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Citroen, Ster Kinekor, Virgin Money, Vodafone, Spur, Lufthansa and Spur, among many others.

Mambaonline’s revamp is just the start of an overhaul of the entire Mamba stable, with Mambagirl and MeetMarket next in line for similar changes and updates. The sites’ users can also expect mobile and tablet applications.