Upper Deck Launches New Kids Rewards Online Basketball Game

[longhornjunkie]

Kids Can Play for a Chance to Interact with Michael Jordan, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant

CARLSBAD, Calif. (October 31, 2007) – Finding new creative ways to expose kids to the fun and excitement of sports trading cards is a constant pursuit for Upper Deck. It is with this dedicated persistence that Upper Deck has launched the next phase of its two year-old Kids Rewards promotion. This year’s basketball campaign, titled ‘All-Star Hoops Challenge’ entices kids to play an interactive online basketball game to win cool prizes. All-Star Hoops Challenge is live now at Upper Deck Kids - Home!.



Building for the future.


“We have realized tremendous success over the last two years with our Kids Rewards promotions and wanted to apply that momentum to our basketball business. That was the idea behind this season’s ‘All-Star Hoops Challenge’ campaign,” said Kerri Stockholm, Director of Marketing for Upper Deck. “Since the inception of our Kids Rewards program nearly two years ago we have had more than 305,000 youngsters register over 29,000,000 individual cards. Our success is based on providing compelling content with built-in social incentives, while still preserving the basic structure of our product.”



According to Upper Deck’s Stockholm, “kids continue to be our main focus for marketing, we are trying to build the hobby for a new generation of collectors.” Upper Deck will also promote the ‘All-Star Hoops Challenge’ through targeted print ads in large circulation sports magazines and highly-trafficked sports websites.



Got game?


The Kids Rewards ‘All-Star Hoops Challenge’ campaign encourages kids to use their Upper Deck basketball cards to play in an arcade-style online game. Every 2007/2008 Upper Deck NBA card, when registered at UpperDeckKids.com, delivers a digital game token that can be redeemed to play a game of Hoops Challenge. Kids get the chance to score a basket against one of Upper Deck’s animated basketball stars.



What is the reward?


Score a basket and win instantly! The prize pool includes bonus Kids Rewards points (up to 10,000), Upper Deck themed screen savers, Upper Deck basketball cards, autographed memorabilia, autographed Santa hats from members of the 2007-08 NBA rookie class or Sony PSP game consoles.



Plus, every card registered is entered into a grand prize drawing for the chance to meet and play hoops with either Michael Jordan, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant! The contest’s grand prize winners will be crowned after April 1, 2008.