Grandparents.com, Inc. (OCTBB: GPCM) announced last weekend its plans to generate revenues through its growing membership base in an attempt to combat “substantial financial challenges.”
When the company relaunched its newly-designed website on Sept. 9, 2012, it had just 350,000 members and was projected to reach 1 million by the end of the year. Instead, Grandparents.com’s membership reached nearly double that projection to almost 2 million by year’s end, the company announced.
Last year, Grandparents.com added Larry King and Deepak Chopra as spokespeople, and its growing popularity even earned the company a #8 spot on the Top 10 Most Shared Brands on Facebook.
In December of 2012, the company entered into a marketing agreement with Humana Inc. Under the agreement, Grandparents.com began advertising Humana insurance products such as Humana Medicare Advantage, Humana Prescription Drug Plans, Humana Medicare Supplement Insurance plans, and HumanaOne dental and vision plans.
Despite these successes, Grandparents.com says it continues to face “substantial financial challenges,” specifically in its online advertising efforts.
“Although our membership ranks have increased dramatically, our advertising revenue has significantly declined compared to the previous year,” the company stated in an update to shareholders.
The decline, according to the company, is due in part to challenges in the digital advertising industry, such as pricing pressures for ad placement on the Internet.
While the company says it has not been able to generate significant revenue from its online advertising endeavors to date, it does expect to see the results of its marketing efforts come to fruition in 2013 and beyond.
On March 1, 2013, the company entered a strategic alliance agreement with Starr International Group, under the personal direction of Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and his executive team.
Heading into 2013, Grandparents.com continues to seek capital to fund ongoing operations.
Since the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2012, the company raised $950,000 under a secured bridge loan and an additional $600,000 on an unsecured basis, primarily from its Board of Directors and an advisor the the company, Grandparents.com stated.
The U.S. has about 70 million grandparents that Grandparents.com is seeking to engage with, and it is currently the #2 website in the age 50+ segment of the population.
Written by Jason Oliva
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