SPA INDUSTRY VETERAN AND DOTCOM ENTREPRENEUR MARY BLACKMON LAUNCHES ENHANCED VERSION OF SPA-ADDICTS POPULAR WEBSITE
New Spa Lifestyle Features Include Local Mapping, Member Reviews, Celebrity Interviews and Expanded Health & Wellness Coverage
BEVERLY HILLS · November 13, 2008 /PRNewswire/ — Leading independent local spa web-resource, Mary Blackmon's Spa-Addicts, has strengthened its position with spa lovers and the advertisers looking to reach them with additional Web 2.0 features that provide geo-targeted search results, exclusive offers, and enhanced online community involvement and feedback tools.
Additionally, the company has launched several new content features focusing on today's health & wellness seekers increasingly turning to the Internet for both industry and citizen-expert advice on work/life balance, beauty, and the growing "spa lifestyle" that has gone mainstream as hotels, local malls, and even busy airports incorporate spa facilities for consumers looking to deal with stress.
"More and more women have shared that spas are as essential to their well-being as good nutrition and exercise," states Spa-Addicts founder and CEO Mary Blackmon. "With stress over the troubled economy, job security, and environmental concerns, many time-starved women are feeling the crunch. I designed the new Spa-Addicts.com to support women in their quest to attain the spa lifestyle everyday – from providing quick pick-me-ups at spas, retreats for wellness, or just enhancing at-home rituals that help make life-on-the-run feel a little more manageable."
The improved Spa-Addicts.com was re-designed from the ground up to incorporate feedback from Blackmon's growing online community of spa loving fans. New features include:
- Geo-targeted mapping features that allow consumers to find a spa anywhere in the world… or in their own neighborhood.
- Updated spa and resort listings that incorporate expanded reviews from the Spa-Addicts editorial staff, online community, and outside review websites.
- New Addict's Undercover review section that sends real-world women into some of the world's most expensive, mysterious or totally outrageous spas and have them report back to the Spa-Addicts community with their findings.
- New Spa-lebrity featured coverage of today's rich, famous, and infamous as they struggle with the rest of us to find and achieve balance.
- Enhanced advertiser opportunities, special sections, SpaMiles Reward Program, and Spa-Addicts-only bargains, last-minute deals, and member discounts the website is famous for.
Spa-Addicts is part of the growing spa lifestyle phenomenon that has witnessed a decade long explosion of day spas, resort/hotel spas, medical spas and destination spas in the United States and around the world. In 2007, The International Spa Association (ISPA) reported over 110 million US spa visits to approximately 14,600 spas with annual sales of over $9.5 billion dollars. Adding to the core base of female consumers, the industry has seen double digit growth in spa packages developed specifically for teens (34%), men (45%) and seniors (20%).
About Mary Blackmon's Spa-Addicts
Founded in 2002 by media veteran and entrepreneur Mary Blackmon, Spa-Addicts is dedicated to the empowerment of women addicted to a lifestyle of balance, wellness, and beauty. Through a supportive trusted online environment, the award-winning website has become the leading independent resource to find spas, expert and member reviews, exclusive specials, and featured content designed to help women find and achieve the spa lifestyle 365 days of the year. A consumer and advertiser darling, Mary Blackmon's Spa-Addicts has been featured by the nation's top publications and media outlets, including O Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times, Extra TV, and ABC News, and partnered with the world's largest advertisers, including Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Kimberly-Clark, and American Express.
Brands interested in advertising opportunities with Spa-Addicts can visit www.spa-addicts.com/advertise or call at 1.866.HAV.2.SPA
