FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sharon Avery 100 Second Ave. South, Suite 1000 St. Petersburg, FL 33701 sharon.avery@kobie.com 727.822.5353 800.821.7892
Kobie Marketing Acquires National MBNA Star Wars™ MasterCard® Account
Tampa Bay, Florida – October 17, 2002 – Kobie Marketing worked hard to attain one of the largest and most sought after loyalty accounts in the country, the Star Wars Galactic Rewards Program. While Lucasfilm Ltd. and MBNA are joining forces to launch a Star Wars Credit Card, Kobie Marketing has been hired to develop and manage the resulting loyalty program, Galactic Rewards. The program targets and rewards customers for using their Star Wars MasterCard® by awarding one Galactic Credit for every dollar spent on purchases. The Galactic Credits can be redeemed for stellar Star Wars memorabilia and collectibles, as well as, valuable gift certificates to the nation’s leading retailers and restaurants. Kathleen Rosarta, Account Director for Kobie Marketing, oversaw the acquisition of the Star Wars MasterCard® account and states, “The addition of the Stars Wars program reinforces Kobie’s solid background in consumer loyalty and customer relationship marketing. While traditional advertising expenditures over the past year have been soft, we’re fortunate to offer customized, targeted programs that are in demand in the financial, manufacturing, and retail industries.” Customers with the Star Wars MasterCard will begin earning credits as soon as they begin using their card. The Galactic Credits are redeemable at a dedicated and secure web site, www.GalacticRewards.com. The site, which is scheduled to launch in December, contains all pertinent information about the program including an application, rules, and, of course, the six incredible galleries of rewards to choose from: Mos Eisley Cantina for food, Watto’s Gadgets for electronics, Darth Maul’s Mall for shopping, Artoo’s Activities for games, Yoda’s Jedi Archives for books, movies, and music, and Boba Fett’s Bounty for toys and collectibles. What makes this reward program so unique is while most reward programs limit the customer to one kind of reward the Star Wars MasterCard® rewards its customers with a variety of reward choices. There are presently over 150 rewards; more will be added throughout the life of the program, and eventually the site will contain valuable Star Wars merchandise that is only available through the Galactic Rewards program. The ongoing project will involve nationwide marketing of the new credit card and its reward program, the online creation and management of www.GalacticRewards.com, and customer service. “This is a remarkable achievement for us,” comments Sharon Avery, Vice President of Marketing at Kobie. “We are creating a loyalty program for two industry giants – MBNA, the largest independent credit card issuer in the world and Lucasfilm Ltd., one of the leading independent film and entertainment companies in the world.” Kobie Marketing is a full-service direct marketing company specializing in customer retention, loyalty marketing, and sales promotion. Current and past clients include MBNA, Barnes & Noble, Cingular, Advanta, CBS SportsLine, Eckerd Drugs, Tupperware, Avon Products, and American General Finance among others. Recently, Kobie Marketing was awarded the St. Petersburg Chamber’s Small Business of the Year Award for a Minority Owned Business. ###