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AMC Entertainment Inc. has begun offering consumers a gift card featuring the cast of the film "High School Musical 3" that enables consumers to put a personal photo on the card.
Consumers visiting the AMC Web site may select a card with the entire cast and add their own photo and personal message for a $4.50 fee, the company says. Consumers may purchase the customizable "High School Musical 3" cards only at the company's Web site.
AMC also sells 11 "High School Musical 3" movie designs that are noncustomizable. They also are available only through AMC's Web site.
AMC sells noncustomizable gift cards that are not branded with any particular movie through such third-party outlets as grocery stores, drug stores and gas stations, says Scott Wall, AMC vice president of national sales.
Blackhawk Network, a division of Safeway Inc.; InComm, which is owned by First Data Corp.; and Walgreen Co. distribute AMC's standard gift cards, Wall says. Stored Value Solutions, a division of Minneapolis-based Ceridian Corp., processes the card transactions, he says.
Cardholders may use the cards to buy movie tickets and concessions at any U.S. AMC Theater. Kansas City, Mo.-based AMC will offer the cards through the end of the year. Consumers may load the cards in whole dollar amounts from $5 to $100.
"This will be a good test to see, with the combination of AMC–a film franchise–and the ability to customize a card, what kind of impact that has on gift card sales," Wall says. "We're looking for a percentage increase in our year over year sales, and then to see what kind of impact "High School Musical 3" has versus other gift cards."
Cleveland-based Dimpledough Inc. provides the software that customizes of the cards, he says.
Customized cards have a higher average load than standard gift cards, Wall says, declining to release specific data.
"We have seen an average load 60% higher on personalized cards than standard cards," Wall says.
Custom card production takes about two business days to complete, and consumers may choose to have cards shipped via U.S Postal Service standard delivery, Federal Express overnight delivery or second-day delivery, he says.
Personalized marketing is popular among all consumers, and gift cards are popular among teenagers, Susan Menke, senior financial services analyst with Mintel International Inc., a Chicago-based market research firm, tells Prepaid Trends.
The cards likely will be popular with the target audience of the movie, unless fads change, Menke says. "Teenagers can have their own mindset as far as what is cool and what is not cool," she says.
One possible drawback to the "High School Musical 3" card is that it could give consumers the impression that it is only redeemable for tickets to "High School Musical 3," Menke says.
AMC designed the "High School Musical 3" card and the marketing for the card to avoid giving that impression, Wall says. "The way we designed it and have the terminology tied right to AMC, there shouldn't be any confusion," he says.
The company believes consumers should recognize that the card can be used to buy tickets to all AMC movies and at the theaters' concession stands, Wall says.
AMC handed out flyers at its theaters during the open weekend of the movie to promote the card and gave cards away to members of the studio audience of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Oct. 24. It also promotes the cards on blogs and Internet sites.
