AG Interactive Survey Shows eCards and Content Created at Home Will be Hot for the Holidays

Majority of Respondents Plan to Send Ten or More eCards, Print Address Labels and Personalize Calendars at Home

CONTACT: Kelly Fitzgerald, +1-212-590-2555, or kfitz@breakawaycom.com, or Alicia Mickelsen, +1-212-590-2557, or amick@breakawaycom.com, both of Breakaway Communications for AG Interactive

CLEVELAND, Nov. 16 -- AG Interactive, the new media subsidiary of American Greetings, has uncovered some interesting statistics for the upcoming holidays based on a survey of nearly 6,000 online users. The trends revealed by the study include: more holiday eCards will fly through cyberspace this year, more holiday cards will be personalized and made at home, and that consumers are interested in a diverse selection of greetings and home projects for the holiday season.

When asked if they'd be sending out eCards this year, 80% of those polled said that they planned on sending at least one eCard this year. More than half of those surveyed will be sending ten or more eCards this holiday season, compared with 38% who sent that many last year. The growing demand for eCards is just in time for AG Interactive's newest creation -- eCards that include an audio message recorded by the sender, and Karaoke eCards which let consumers record their own voices singing along to the tunes of four popular Christmas carols.

In addition to the growing popularity of sending eCards, printing cards at home is another way to say Happy Holidays this season, and respondents said that they plan on increasing the number of personalized greetings and holiday decorations that they make at home. More than 30% of users plan to print some of their holiday cards themselves this holiday season. In addition, 70% of those polled said they were planning on printing address labels at home, 65% responded that they were thinking about making a personalized calendar, and 60% planned on making personalized gift tags at home.

Timing is everything: when asked how early people start sending out their paper holiday cards, over 70% wait until December, while only 7% send out any holidays cards before Thanksgiving. And when asked when they purchase their holiday cards, the largest group said after the holiday sales the year before, with the second most popular timeframe being the last week in November.

"Every year we see more activity on our sites, and in response, we are adding more services and all kinds of new content," said Sally Babcock, senior vice president, AG Interactive. "This year we have hundreds of new items -- from unique eCards including Karaoke cards to online photo albums complete with captions, music and different backgrounds, to printable cards and decorations in our Create & Print section. This survey confirms that the traffic will continue to grow, and that a broad selection of creative and convenient content is what the holiday shopper needs during the busy holiday season."

The AmericanGreetings.com Create & Print(TM) service offers hundreds of choices to create and personalize cards from home. The service enables consumers to add as many pictures as they'd like and personalize not just the inside of the card, but the outside as well. Over 40% of people surveyed who will include a picture with their card will use one taken at home, while 20% said they would use a picture from their vacation.

Staying connected remains a central part of the holiday tradition for most people. Whether it's the excitement of receiving traditional cards mixed in with their stack of junk mail and bills, or the fun of receiving clever eCards, consumers want to stay in touch over the holidays. In fact, in a separate national independent study recently commissioned by American Greetings, the results showed that online greetings and traditional holiday cards complement each other, and tend to be used for different situations and people.

AG Interactive's websites offer eCards and printable cards for all the holidays including Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa and New Years. Almost everyone surveyed (92%) said they will be sending eCards for Christmas, and more than half (56%) said they would send them out for New Years.

The survey statistics were obtained through a poll of AG Interactive subscribers conducted on their three websites: Egreetings.com, BlueMountain.com, and AmericanGreetings.com.

AG Interactive

AG Interactive (AGI) is a global leader in licensing and creating original self and social expression products for online, instant messaging and mobile platforms. To create its premier content, the company leverages one of the world's largest creative studios and digital library of award-winning expressive content as well as an extensive international distribution capability.

AGI attracts more than 30 million unique visitors per month in 18 countries to its popular websites AmericanGreetings.com, BlueMountain.com, and Egreetings.com as well as through Instant Messaging or online partnerships with AOL, MSN, and Yahoo!. The company has one of the largest online subscription services with over 2.2 million paying subscribers. AGI reaches over 200 million subscribers per month globally through major wireless carriers including Bouygues, Cingular, KPN Mobile, Mobistar, Proximus, Verizon Wireless.

AGI also maintains significant global content partnerships with Def Jam Enterprises, Nickelodeon, Sports Illustrated, Univision Online, Inc., and Warner Bros. Online.

AG Interactive is a subsidiary of American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM), one of the world's leading manufacturers of social expression products generating annual net sales of approximately $2 billion. American Greetings Corporation is the creator and owner of many celebrated character properties, including Strawberry Shortcake(R), Care Bears(R), Holly Hobbie(R), Bubblegum(R) and Twisted Whiskers(R). For more information, please visit www.interactive.ag.com.

SOURCE: AG Interactive