Not Your Father's Baseball Card Company

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Posted By: Bruce Dorskind

Upper Deck targets today's kids with online card collecting world
Kimberly Maul
February 19, 2009


Objective: Upper Deck, producer of sports trading cards, launched a new virtual world to appeal to today's kids that might be more steeped in online than the printed-word culture. The company is using an online and traditional media campaign to inform children of the new product. This is the new generation of sports card collecting, said Anna Maria Mannino, PR manager for Upper Deck. We're encouraging real world and digital card collecting.

Idea: Upper Deck is focusing on a big online push in getting kids to sample it and talk about it on blogs and message boards, Mannino said. By entering into the online space, Upper Deck is able to attract a new kind of audience that might not be into collecting physical cards, she said. The company will also target business publications, as this is innovative from a business standpoint because we're entering this area for the first time, Mannino added.

Tools: Upper Deck will reach out via social networks like Facebook, and is allowing fans to give feedback. But the company also launched an aggressive traditional media relations campaign, targeting magazines, daily newspapers, and TV covering sports and general consumer news. On the business side, Upper Deck will promote its licensing deals with top players and how the company is expanding online. It also plans to create events with top players to promote UpperDeckU.

Measurement: Upper Deck will track site traffic and the number of children who sample the virtual world.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Someone sold my address to Upper Deck because I just got something in the mail from them this week for the first time ever. I've never done any business directly with the company so I'm assuming one of the many auction houses I'm signed up with or perhaps SCD sold a list of names to them.

It was addressed to "Daniel Bretta or Current Sports Collector".

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Posted By: TONY GALOVICH

Do they offer Virtual "Gum?"

If not

not interested

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Posted By: barrysloate

I got the same thing in today's mail, but didn't even open it. I'll take a look.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

That rules out Barry as the culprit.


or does it?

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Posted By: Chris Counts

Tony,

"Virtual" gum? That's hilarious ...

I can't imagine Upper Deck will be able to offer anything on the their website more interesting than what I can find on our latest pick-up thread ...

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Posted By: barrysloate

The plot thickens....

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Posted By: Rob D.

Trust no one!

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Posted By: Fred C

Upper Deck would have to do virtual holograms. I think Topps would have had the schtick on vitual gum.

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Posted By: Doug

"Upper Deck is able to attract a new kind of audience that might not be into collecting physical cards"

So they want kids to collect imaginary cards online now? I could save a fortune by just collecting scans instead of actually buying the cards themselves!

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Posted By: JDRUM

Double check everyone Rob.

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Posted By: Rob D.

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Posted By: Jantz

Whilst it looks to me that Upper Deck is trying new marketing ploys to get a few new customer/collectors probably because they have upset so many of their current customer/collectors!

Jantz

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Posted By: Cat

I got their quadraflap marketing piece too, but I didn't even pay enough attention to figure out what they were trying to promote/sell.

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Posted By: Sean C

It's about some limited edition Michael Jordan / Tiger Woods / Muhammad Ali print they are trying to sell. My guess is that they'll be trying more items like it in the future now that they won't be able to produce basketball cards (the NBA granted an exclusive license to Panini).

As for how they got everyone's name, I'm guess it was through Hunt Auctions, since they were bought by Upper Deck. Are you guys all on Hunt's Mailing list? If so, that would likely confirm my hunch.