SEATTLE (October 15, 2007) — Bella Sara™, the collectable, horse-themed trading cards and online world for girls, which started as a hit in its native Denmark before launching in the United States earlier this year, has now taken hold across Europe with broad multilingual support and more than 50,000 points of sale outside of North America.
Bella Sara trading cards are one of the hottest new games for girls this holiday season and can be used to activate and nurture virtual horses in the online world of Bella Sara at
www.bellasara.com. This fun-filled Web site features horse jumping and riding games, puzzles, coloring books, interactive storybooks and much more. Each Bella Sara trading card features a stunningly designed and imaginatively artistic horse image along with an inspirational saying that promotes inner beauty, emotional strength and self-worth.
Developed by Danish social worker Gitte Odder Brændgaard to encourage young girls to accept and express their feelings at an important developmental stage, Bella Sara cards have become available in 15 countries and the Web site has amassed users from 240 countries. The success of Bella Sara’s international rollout has been fueled by a strategy that involves translating the cards and Web site into several languages, using local URLs for the site in different countries. World-renowned marketing partners launched the brand with an extensive multimedia marketing campaign, including TV advertising, print advertising, Web marketing and in-store promotions.
All in all, Bella Sara cards have been translated into Slovenian, Croatian, German, Dutch, French, Italian and Spanish, while the website is available in Danish, English, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian and Croatian, with several more languages in the works.
“Bringing self-esteem back into playtime for young girls is a concept parents across the globe can support, and we are thrilled that Bella Sara is carrying this message worldwide,” said Peter D. Adkison, CEO of Hidden City Games and the man behind the global phenomena of Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon trading cards.
“Using local languages allows Bella Sara’s strong, positive messages to resonate with girls in each country in a culturally impactful way,” said George Stetar, vice president of international business for Hidden City Games.
“Girls of all ages and nationalities love horses, and Bella Sara taps into this universal truth with a quality product that is fun and inspirational — a recipe for international success,” said Jo Birkin, a spokesperson for Jumbo Games Ltd., the United Kingdom distributor of Bella Sara. Jumbo has placed the trading cards in hundreds of retail outlets throughout the U.K., including WHSmith, Borders, The Entertainer, Harrods, Hamleys and Amazon.co.uk, as well as hundreds of independent stores. Jumbo’s marketing support for Bella Sara includes TV advertising on children’s channels reaching 1.5 million viewers, as well as print advertising in Girl Talk magazine and in-store promotions.
Bella Sara can be found in a broad array of retail outlets in non-English-speaking countries across Europe and is supported by local marketing initiatives in each territory.
Germany — In Germany, the rollout of Bella Sara is supported by television commercials on RTL and advertisements in Lissy Magazine, Muller and Spiele Max stores. New stores are being added to keep up with demand while more retailers come on board to carry the cards.
France — French retailers, including La Grande Récré, which will feature Bella Sara videos running on in-store monitors, and Carrefour, featuring end-cap presentations, have embraced Bella Sara. Partner Jouet, Toys “R” Us, Cultura, Jouetland, Systéme U, Super U, King Jouet, Amazon.fr, Cora, Picwic, La Redoute, BHV, Auchan, Galeries Lafayette, Casino, Intermarché, Atac, Joupi, Starjouet, JouéClub, France Loisirs stores and thousands of kiosks also carry Bella Sara products. Television advertising on France 3, Canal J and Gulli channels propels the momentum of the brand as synchronous, joint print advertising in Girl Talk magazine and Panini Horse Sticker magazine wraps up a cohesive and extensive marketing blitz. Joint advertising with Panini created a new channel of distribution for France.
Belgium — Belgian Bella Sara fans can find the cards at Maxi, Carrefour, Le Grande Récré, Broze, and Cora stores plus hundreds of independent stores and kiosks, with television advertising support from RTL firing up later this month.
Netherlands — In the Netherlands, TV commercials on Jetix, coupled with promo cards in the TV channel’s magazine and a contest on its Web site, fuel demand for Bella Sara at Bruna, Top 1 Toys and Bart Smit.
Italy — In Italy, television ads air on networks Italia 1, Canal 5, RETE 4 and Cetelete, combined with print advertising in Cipciop, Princess Disney, Witch, Focus Jr., Prima Barbie and Topolina. In addition, a Bella Sara promo card will be inserted on the inside cover of Barbie magazine to support the thousands of kiosks and stores currently carrying Bella Sara cards in Italy.
Switzerland — Switzerland currently picks up television from France, Italy and Germany, and has Bella Sara product in toy, book and stationery stores across the country, bolstered by additional print support in Maky and Rataplan magazines.
Spain — On October 26 Bella Sara will launch in Spain with a one-month TV campaign on Cartoon Network. This launch will also feature a 30-day multimedia campaign on Jetix TV that will include TV, Web and advertising in the popular girls’ magazine Jetix Chic.
Czech Republic — Jetix TV also plays a role in the Czech Republic, where commercials, along with print advertising in Happy 13 and Witch Style magazines, are driving Bella Sara traffic to Pompo, Puntanela, Sparkus, Wiky, Dracik and All Toys stores.
Croatia, Slovenia — Bella Sara can be found at toy and grocery stores as well as gas stations and kiosks throughout Croatia, including INA, Petrol, Magma and Moi. In Slovenia dozens of retail chains carry Bella Sara, including Baby Center, Mercador and Pika Toka.
Australia and South Africa — Australia had a spectacular launch with placement in Target and Kmart, coinciding with ads running in the ever-popular Total Girl magazine. South Africa will begin sampling at popular equestrian events with exclusive promo cards, and then roll out an extensive multimedia campaign in 2008.
Bella Sara continues to be a hit in the United States, where it is available at major retailers including Blockbuster, Kmart, Target, Toys “R” Us and Wal-Mart, as well as in regional chains, bookstores, and toy, hobby and equestrian shops. Since launching in the United States, Bella Sara has received numerous awards from child development and parenting authorities, including the “Seal of Approval” from the National Parenting Center, the “Seal of Excellence” from Creative Child magazine, the “2007 Excellent Product” and “2007 Outstanding Product” designations from iParenting Media and the “Best Products — Spring 2007” award from Dr. Toy.
About Hidden City Games, Inc.
Hidden City Games, Inc., is a privately held company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and is the exclusive licensor of Bella Sara for worldwide distribution outside of Scandinavia. The company is headed by an experienced executive team, including founder and CEO Peter D. Adkison, who formerly founded Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Jesper Myrfors, chief creative officer and original art director for Magic: The Gathering; and Paul Peterson, HCG’s vice president of research and development, who was previously on the R&D team for Magic: The Gathering. Under Adkison’s leadership, Wizards of the Coast created an entirely new genre of games with the release of Magic: The Gathering, which was the world’s first trading card game, published in 13 languages and loved by millions of players around the world. Adkison also introduced Pokémon trading cards to North America and reinvigorated the hugely popular Dungeons & Dragons brand after acquiring it from TSR. Adkison founded Wizards of the Coast in 1990 and built it to 2,000 employees before selling it to Hasbro in 1999 for nearly $500 million.
# # #
Media Contact:
Jonathan Zaleski
Schwartzman & Associates, Inc.
(310) 446-8310
jzaleski@schwartzmanpr.com International Business Contact:
George Stetar
Vice President, International Business
Hidden City Games
george@hiddencitygames.com © 2007 Hidden City Games, Inc. BELLA SARA is a trademark of conceptcard and used by Hidden City Games under license. HIDDEN CITY GAMES is a trademark of Hidden City Games, Inc., in the U.S.A. and elsewhere.
www.hiddencitygames.com
