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| American Greetings presents the Care Bears Advent Calendar app. |
(Q) First and foremost, as a huge fan of Care Bears, I have to ask you more about the latest app you have available for the holidays. Tell me a little more about it...
J.R: The Care Bears Advent Calendar app stars the lovable and friendly Care Bears and invites children to countdown to Christmas with all the sights, sounds and anticipation of the holiday. With wholesome themes and fun activities, the app is a great way for parents and grandparents to connect with children during the season.
In the app, which begins on December 1, children can start the countdown by ‘unlocking’ activities like holiday-themed puzzles, videos, coloring pages and more, returning each day to unlock another activity to get them closer to December 25. Kids can color with Tenderheart Bear, do a puzzle with Share Bear, wrap a gift with Cheer Bear and much more. And just like the traditional advent calendars, on December 25, the app gives users a sweet surprise with a full-length Care Bears video episode.
When not visiting the Care Bears each day, the app also provides activities for kids. Children can design hundreds of snowflakes and create their own white Christmas with the Care-a-Lot Snowflake maker, decorate the Care Bears Christmas tree with special ornaments found within the app and enjoy other wintry fun activities.
(Q) Can anyone download the app?
J.R: The app is available now for download on iPad and can be found on iTunes for $2.99. There is also an app for PC and MAC desktops that can be found on the American Greetings website here.
(Q) In the past days, weeks and months Care Bears has created a buzz for implementing fresh marketing tactics like crowd sourcing, Tell me more about the campaign and how it is engaging fans...
J.R: Earlier this month, we announced a fast moving, creative video campaign with the popular crowd sourcing digital platform, Tongal, with Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears. This contest is a chance to create video content that will connect with people who already know and love our brands and attract a new audience as well. Tongal seemed like the perfect community to tap into with a big range of ideas and people who might already have an emotional attachment to our lovable characters. Tongal challenged its creative community to come up with fun and engaging videos that will celebrate each of the iconic '80s franchises. There will be three winners for each brand, with first-place video winners earning $15,000.
(Q) I read that you have signed an exclusive deal with Netflix for Care Bears. Tell me about it...
J.R: There is a massive shift in the way kids consume content, and we have strategically positioned the Care Bears to be at the forefront of new media. We continue to focus on key collaborations and partnerships that allow a new generation of fans to discover Care Bears on the platforms that they want, and just announced that we're partnering with Netflix to create an exclusive new original Care Bears series called Care Bears and Cousins, expected to premiere in 2016. Our fans love the ease of streaming video and this partnership with Netflix will make it easy for our younger fans to connect with Care Bears on any device on demand.
(Q) Care Bears have their very own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, how do you engage fans on those pages?
J.R: Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake fans span from young kids and their parents, all the way up to grandparents who enjoyed these characters when their kids were young - and they are all super connected through Social Media. Whether it be through apps - we have more than a dozen - or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google +, YouTube or more, we have exciting and unique content to extend our brands everywhere and on every platform for our fans to engage with them!
For more information, visit American Greetings today.
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