Newsroom:
Stored Value Solutions Press Releases
11-20-2007
First American Idol™ Gift Card Introduced by IdeaEdge and Stored Value Solutions
Redeemable for merchandise at www.americanidolgifts.com
Brentwood, Tenn. (November 20, 2007) — Fans of American Idol now have a new way to purchase American Idol merchandise. The new American Idol gift card, recently launched by IdeaEdge, Inc. and powered by Stored Value Solutions, is the first of its kind. The gift cards will provide over 40 million fans a fun, convenient and easy way to purchase American Idol merchandise and for friends and family members to give as gifts to the many American Idol fans in their lives.
American Idol gift cards provide access to music from past American Idol contestants, such as Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Kellie Pickler and Taylor Hicks. Cards can also be used to purchase Karaoke CDs of songs sung on the show by favorite Idols, exclusive American Idol apparel and accessories, a Playstation 2 video game, and even an American Idol-ized monopoly game. Cards can be purchased in $25 or $50 denominations at www.americanidolgifts.com or at select retail stores nationwide. See Web site for a complete list of retail locations.
In addition to exclusive Idol merchandise, each time a user redeems an American Idol gift card at www.americanidolgifts.com, the user will automatically be entered into a sweepstakes to win a grand prize trip for four to Los Angeles to attend the season seven American Idol Finale in 2008. Information on sweepstakes entries can be found on the Web site.
“Stored Value Solutions relationship with IdeaEdge is penetrating a new market space for stored value programs based on popular brands that have a loyal customer base but no brick and mortar stores to market to them,” said Bob Skiba, executive vice president and general manager of Stored Value Solutions. “While the popularity of gift cards normally hit their peak during the holidays, we expect American Idol gift cards to continue to grow in popularity well into 2008, as the season builds up to the finale.”
“We believe that the American Idol gift card will perform exceptionally well,” said Jim Collas, President and CEO, IdeaEdge, Inc. “The American Idol gift card will be a top seller for retailers because of the passion and loyalty that over 40 million Americans develop each year with the show.”
About IdeaEdge
IdeaEdge, Inc. develops innovative gift card programs based on high-equity entertainment brands that have a strong emotional connection with consumers. The company believes it is uniquely structured to leverage the $90B gift card market by selling merchandise specific to each gift card brand it deploys. IdeaEdge plans to own and operate licensed gift card programs that offer online redemption, ordering, and fulfillment. The company distributes its gift cards primarily through grocery and drug retail channels, as well as online. The company's flagship gift card program is based on American IdolTM, arguably the most valuable entertainment brand in the world today. IdeaEdge has secured an exclusive license with Fremantle Media to operate the American IdolTM gift card business in the U.S. and Canada. With over 40 million fans in the US, American IdolTM is a leading entertainment and consumer merchandise brand. IdeaEdge plans to offer a wide range of consumer merchandise under the American IdolTM brand on its www.americanidolgifts.com website including; music, videos, electronics, apparel, games, accessories, and toys. IdeaEdge has obtained commitments for gift card distribution with grocery, drug, and specialty chains comprising over 10,000 retail outlets. IdeaEdge is headquartered at 6440 Lusk Blvd., Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92121 and can be contacted at (858) 677-0080.
About Stored Value Solutions
Stored Value Solutions provides custom gift card solutions for prepaid cards, loyalty and B2B applications for a diverse set of clients including retailers, airlines, casinos and e-tailers. As a leading provider of magnetic stripe gift cards, Stored Value Solutions serves six of the top ten U.S. retailers and annually processes one billion transactions for 600 clients and their 580 million cardholders. Stored Value Solutions also provides credit and debit card processing. In 2006, Stored Value Solutions acquired HQ Gift Cards, a provider of gift card mall programs that provides management operation services for over 200 malls nationwide. Stored Value Solutions is based in Louisville, KY, employs more than 400 people, and is owned by Minneapolis-based Ceridian Corporation. www.storedvalue.com
About Ceridian
Ceridian Corp. is a business services company that helps its customers maximize the power of their people, lower their costs and focus on what they do best. The company's suite of innovative managed human resource solutions includes payroll and compensation, employee benefits administration, staffing, compliance, HR administration and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), work-life and health and productivity solutions. Ceridian serves businesses and employees in the United States, Canada and Europe. For more information about the human resource outsourcing company's comprehensive array of solutions, visit www.ceridian.com or call (800) 729-7655. Through its Comdata and Stored Value Solutions (SVS) subsidiaries, Ceridian is a major payment processor and issuer of credit cards, debit cards and stored value cards, primarily for the trucking and retail industries in the United States.
www.ceridian.com
