Jun 27, 2007
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jun 27, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY), a leading Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service, today announced the acquisition of Make it About Me!, a publishing company that produces customized children’s books including My Adventure on Sesame Street and My Amazing Alphabet Adventures.
Now available on Shutterfly, these new adventure books enable children to “star” in their own stories by integrating the child’s picture into the book’s illustrations and storyline. The books only require a single photo; within minutes, parents can create an engaging, personalized and professionally-bound hardcover book to share with their children.
“This acquisition increases Shutterfly’s market leadership in the rapidly-expanding category of personalized storybooks and photo books,” said Jeffrey Housenbold, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shutterfly. “We’re very pleased to offer parents compelling, personalized stories that feature their child together with beloved characters, such as their friends on Sesame Street, and others.”
The acquisition, Shutterfly’s first in 2007, augments the company’s personal publishing platform with the addition of Sesame Street(R) to a growing stable of licensed content and themed characters, which also includes Thomas and Friends(R), Clifford the Big Red Dog(R) and Angelina Ballerina(R). These character-themed photo books are available exclusively at Shutterfly.
“With innovative, educational content such as My Adventure on Sesame Street, we can introduce children to reading in a way that engages and entertains,” said Scott Chambers, Vice President of Publishing, Home Video & Audio at Sesame Workshop. “We are thrilled to partner with Shutterfly, which has continuously shown its commitment to quality and service, as well as the capacity to effectively reach millions of children, parents, caregivers and educators with this wonderful book.”
“We created Make it About Me! to inspire children to explore their world in an educational and fun way,” said Michael Anthony and Jim McCreery, co-founders of Make it About Me! “As Shutterfly incorporates our technology and products into its award-winning Photo Book line, we are excited to see these books entertain, motivate and help educate young readers.”
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
NEW PRODUCT DETAILS
My Adventure on Sesame Street
Make your child the hero of Sesame Street. He or she will star alongside Elmo, Big Bird, Grover and friends on a personalized journey to find the missing letter of the day, based on the first letter of your child’s name (e.g. “Mia will help her Sesame Street friends find the letter “M” for the great Letter of the Day parade”). A unique gift for young children, the 40-page My Adventure on Sesame Street book measures 8.25″ x 10.25″ and is priced at $39.99. For more information, please visit www.shutterfly.com/sesamestreet.
Shutterfly’s My Adventure on Sesame Street book will be featured in most Target stores later this year. Guests can purchase the gift box in Target stores, make it online at home, and then ship to themselves or directly to their gift recipient. Guests can alternatively wrap the box they purchase at Target so their gift recipients can enjoy the fun of making it themselves.
My Amazing Alphabet Adventures
Encourage your child to learn the ABC’s with this personalized alphabet book. Your child will adore paging through whimsical scenes where he or she is the star of a 2-page layout for each letter (e.g. “Z: Mia is a zoologist who studies zebras”. Perfect for children ages 1 through 6, the 54-page My Amazing Alphabet Adventures book measures 8.75″ x 9.25″ and is priced at $39.99. For more information, please visit www.shutterfly.com/alphabet.
About Shutterfly
Founded in 1999, Shutterfly, Inc. is an Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service. Shutterfly provides high quality products and world class services that make it easy, convenient and fun for consumers to preserve their digital photos in a creative and thoughtful manner. Shutterfly’s flagship product is its award-winning Photo Book line, which helps consumers celebrate memories and tell their stories in professionally bound coffee table books. The Company has more than one billion images stored in its digital archive. More information about Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY) is available at www.shutterfly.com. Shutterfly and Shutterfly.com are trademarks of Shutterfly, Inc.
About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street. As the single largest informal educator of young children, local Sesame Street programs produced in countries as diverse as South Africa, Bangladesh and India are making a difference in over 120 nations. Using proprietary research to create engaging and enriching content, Sesame Workshop produces programs such as Dragon Tales and Pinky Dinky Doo. In addition, multimedia needs-driven initiatives provide families tools for addressing such issues as children’s health, military deployment and emergency preparedness. As a nonprofit, product proceeds and philanthropic support endow Sesame Workshop’s educational research and creative content for children around the world. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org.
SOURCE: Shutterfly, Inc.
Shutterfly, Inc. Bridgette Thomas, 650-610-3519 bthomas@shutterfly.com
Copyright Business Wire 2007
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