Imagine Shaquille O’Neal popping out of a giant gift box with balloons or Dolly Parton singing “9 To 5” for your birthday.
It makes for a fun e-card, but what’s electrifying is when those celebrities say the recipient’s name. For the past 20 years, American Greetings has been a lead innovator in digital greetings.
This May, the Cleveland-headquartered company announced a license agreement with Roc Nation, a modern entertainment company whose clients include Rihanna and Alicia Keys.
“The license agreement with Roc Nation is an opportunity for us to work with one of the premier entertainment companies in the world, and getting access to their incredible list of talent,” says Rob Matousek, executive director of the direct-to-consumer business at American Greetings.
Talks about a partnership started last spring when a representative from Roc Nation reached out to American Greetings. The original exploration with one of Roc Nation’s artists didn’t materialize, but both parties recognized the opportunity to do something bigger.
“We started to talk about doing something with multiple artists instead of just one and making a collection with the Roc Nation artists as well as creating content in the voice of the Roc Nation brand itself,” Matousek says.
As details continue to develop, American Greetings’ primary focus will be creating new Celebrity SmashUps, available with an e-card subscription. The shareable video greetings are “smashed” with personalized selections to create a unique and special experience for the recipient.
“There’s certainly a lot of great free digital content out there,” Matousek says. “But it’s hard to find anything free where you can really do this special personalization. It’s a great illustration of our commitment to making content that’s relevant and inclusive and accessible to everybody.”
