Piczo (), the online social networking site for safer teen self-expression, today unveiled Piczo Insiders, an online teen insight and influencer group that, for the first time, will enable brands to engage directly with teenagers across the world.

Piczo Insiders will allow marketers and researchers to gauge teen opinions, test new product ideas and co-create new communications activity by tapping into the power of the worldwide Piczo community.

Piczo has 28 million registered user accounts and 12.5 million uniquely monthly users across the globe. With 8 million unique monthly users across Europe, and access to more than two-thirds of the UK teen population, Piczo offers unprecedented coverage of this often elusive demographic.

Piczo Insiders are the site's most influential members and help determine the values and future direction for the Piczo brand. As such, they are deeply engaged and responsive to both research activity and to other projects that aid in improving the Piczo user experience.

Piczo Insiders distinguish themselves as leaders on the site through their advanced website design skills, popularity of friends listed, photos uploaded and engagement on the site. These influencers will interact both with Piczo and with each other through specially designated areas to exchange opinions, and receive exclusive content, rewards and information about brands.

The new group was instrumental in creating the commercial content and branded profiles for the current National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) campaign, Don't Hide It. Piczo Insiders worked in tandem with the charity to create five campaign profiles that brought the message to life through a set of real life stories. The authentic nature of this content has resulted in high levels of engagement with the campaign, and visible signs of support for the NSPCC from the Piczo community.

"Brands are increasingly looking for more collaborative and robust methods to unlock customer insight and gain competitive advantage," said Jeremy Verba, CEO, Piczo, Inc. "In addition, Piczo's core strength as a destination for creative self expression provides marketers with a unique opportunity to co-create content with a group of teen influencers, and to communicate this content through a tighter knit, more trusted community."

Piczo is the leader for teen creative self expression with blank canvas and easy-to-use tool set allowing anyone to create and share a web presence in a safer online environment.

About Piczo, Inc.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Piczo empowers teenagers worldwide to creatively express themselves, build personal communities, and share ideas and experiences with their friends in a safer online environment. Piczo's customizable content, colourful graphics, glitter text, video, games, and photo editing tools spotlight member creativity without requiring any technical know-how.

Piczo facts

-- 28 million registered user accounts

-- 12.8 million Monthly Unique Visitors generating over 1.9 billion monthly page views

-- Created for teenagers worldwide, Piczo users are typically 13 to 16 years old

-- Recently named by Hitwise as one of the most likely companies to be the next YouTube

Contact:
Cerena Hsieh
(415) 365-8529