Panini America Announces Industry’s First Consumer Rewards Program at Summit

Every other category has them, so isn’t it about time that the card collecting community has its own rewards program, too? Today, Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, announced just that. During the company’s annual corporate address at the 2014 Industry Summit in Las Vegas, Panini America CEO Mark Warsop offered the first glimpses of the Panini Rewards Program, the result of a research and development program the company began nearly two years ago.

As Panini America officials began to develop the Panini Rewards Platform, they focused their efforts on developing a system designed to deliver more value to collectors by giving them the ability to choose replacements and other items through an established point value system tied to Panini Rewards. The Panini Rewards Platform will give collectors the ability to earn points by scanning randomly inserted Rewards cards with their mobile devices in all Panini America products.

Once the Panini Rewards Program launches in late-May with the release of 2014 Score Football, collectors will have the chance to use their points immediately for any available single cards, or accumulate points to earn higher-value cards, other collectibles and unique Panini experiences. The Panini Rewards points never expire and collectors will be able to view every available Panini Rewards card immediately using the Panini Rewards smart phone app or on the Panini Rewards Platform website.

The Panini Rewards Program will debut in the late-May release of 2014 Score Football and will follow in future Panini America MLBPA, NBA and NFL products.

“The Panini Rewards Program is a truly revolutionary development for the entire trading card industry and will offer us the chance to effectively eliminate and further reduce redemption cards from our products, replacing them with Panini Rewards Points that collectors can use to acquire any available card immediately,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “This program has been in development for nearly two years and we are excited to finally share it with collectors.”

Other highlights of the program, which was previewed during the 2014 Industry Summit, include:

• Upon a product’s launch, collectors will have immediate access to Panini America’s available single-card inventory directly from their mobile devices.
• The ability for collectors to choose their own replacements from the Panini Rewards Platform.
• The Panini Rewards Platform will be accessible via both web- and app-based applications for iOS and Android devices.
• Panini America officials worked with Kodak to implement a high-resolution image-capture station designed to recreate the experience for collectors to view memorabilia and autograph cards for every available card on the Panini Rewards Platform.
• Panini America also worked with Kodak to capture high-quality images of Panini America trading cards available for collectors to develop a mobile app and website designed to enhance collectors’ customer rewards experience.
• Future Rewards Platform enhancements will give collectors the ability to self-authenticate their trading cards to ensure authenticity and eliminate issues related to potential counterfeit trading cards on the secondary market.

The app will be available for download just prior to the release of 2014 Score Football. Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional information.