Company to launch Facebook Game and iPhone Apps

Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd, the privately owned leading British greetings card and gifting company, is breaking into new territories with the launch of the first ever social branded game of its type. The company, which owns the Me to You, My Blue Nose Friends, Violent Veg and Vivacious Veg brands, has developed Me to You My Place for Facebook. The game is designed to bring the Me to You story to life in the digital arena by introducing Tatty Teddy and My Blue Nose Friends as characters where players have to find, nurture and love the friends they make.

“This is a groundbreaking move for the company as we enter the Facebook arena with the first game of its kind at a time when social gaming is red hot and developing at a frantic pace,” says Jocasta Kelsey, marketing manager at Carte Blanche Greetings. “Facebook has a staggering 200 million people playing games, such as Farmville, on its site every month which is more than Playstation, Xbox and Wii combined. By launching Me To You My Place we are taking the brand’s core sentiments of friendship, love and trust into the digital space and successfully blending the consumers on and off line experiences.”

Launched in 1995, the Me to You brand has grown to become one of the most successful non-media based character brands in the world with circa £500 million in annual retail sales globally. The inclusion of Me to You in the Facebook game name ensures consistency with the brand’s website domain metoyou.com which has more than 370,000 registered users. The use of My in the name is also consistent with sister brand My Blue Nose Friends which was developed as an extension of the Tatty Teddy story.

“Me to You My Place works on many different levels as it reflects the established physical brand, is digitally relevant and gives players ownership of the game,” continues Jocasta Kelsey. “The game will be the first interaction many consumers have with the brand and we have worked hard to ensure that all our communications across many geographies are seamless now and into the future.”

Developed by Sharkius Games, Me to You My Place is free to play and incorporates elements of competition, treasure hunt, harvesting, collaborative construction with friends and gift sending. Accessible to all ages, players create a customisable Tatty Teddy to embark on a journey to find, nurture and love My Blue Nose Friends. The level of care provided by the player allows them to create friends for keeps and to enhance and personalise their experience through the purchase and trade of virtual elements for My Place, creating an additional revenue stream for the company.

“We have worked extremely closely with both Sharkius Games and Infomedia to ensure that the personalities and characters of our brands are brought to life in these new digital environments in a style that is true to the sentiments of friendship, love and trust that are key to the success and longevity of the brand,“ adds Jocasta Kelsey.

Carte Blanche Greetings is simultaneously launching Me to You and Violent Veg iPhone card sender Apps in conjunction with Infomedia. Launched in December, the range includes birthday, Christmas and New Year greetings cards and allows users to personalise their chosen card before sending to the recipient by email. The Apps will be available at £1.79 and will include a free Lite version to allow users to trial the service.

“In taking a proactive, strategic licensing approach to the digital media market Carte Blanche have engaged specialist licensing agency AT New Media to broker these opportunities in the ever expanding interactive media applications market,” continues Jocasta Kelsey.

“CBG is a company with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and we do not think there is any other brand that could deliver such a solid and authentic social game and bring together the physical and digital experiences as cohesively as Me to You can,” adds Jocasta Kelsey. “It is a very exciting time in our evolution and we are fully embracing the new technologies that exist to take our story to current fans and new audiences across the world in the digital media.”