LOUISVILLE, Ky., Aug. 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CafePress Inc. (Nasdaq:PRSS), The World's Customization Engine®, today announced it has "retired" its 14-year-old owl mascot – sending it to a beachfront retirement community in southern Guam – and is actively seeking the assistance of graphic designers to create a new mascot that will represent CafePress on its website and products, in retail stores, and at White House dinners for at least the next 832 years.
The Retire The Owl contest invites anyone to submit mascot designs between Aug 22 – Sept. 30 to potentially serve as the new "face" of CafePress.
"We recently unveiled our new e-commerce platform and tools to better allow designers and individuals with creative skills to create, share and sell beautiful products," said Sumant Sridharan, President of CafePress.com. "The Retire The Owl contest allows us to pair our new platform with a new face while at the same time engaging our most valuable asset - our talented design community."
After designs are entered into the Retire The Owl contest at RetireTheOwl.com, a team of expert designers, retired owls, Guam retirement home residents, and up to 1.1 billion Facebook users will vote and select the top design via a community vote – also at RetireTheOwl.com – between October 14th and October 31st (aka Halloween or the Holiday of the Evil Owl).
The winning designer and mascot design will be announced December 12, in conjunction with National Ding-A-Ling Day, with the winner receiving a three-month marketing package from CafePress that includes promotional support on CafePress.com and the company's social media forums, press exposure at SXSW and dedicated support to help build out a successful CafePress.com profile.
To learn more about the contest, the rules, eligibility, restrictions, and prizes please see www.RetireTheOwl.com.
CafePress' new retail e-commerce platform tools includes:
- A proprietary image analysis system that analyzes graphics, photography and other images for dozens of attributes and configures them in real-time onto CafePress' extensive portfolio of over 500 base goods.
- Activity stream – A unique e-commerce activity stream that provides designers with real time information on which of their products have sold, received social interactions, and other community activity.
- Public Profiles – The ability for designers to set up their own profiles and develop a community of followers.
- Updated Design-Centric Homepage – A new homepage design which dynamically reflects the latest designs uploaded to our Marketplace as well as our hottest-selling designers.
For more information about the Retire The Owl campaign, visit RetireTheOwl.com.
About CafePress [PRSS]:
CafePress is The World's Customization Engine®. Launched in 1999, CafePress empowers individuals, groups, businesses and organizations to create, buy and sell customized and personalized products online using the company's innovative and proprietary print-on-demand services and e-commerce platform. CafePress' portfolio of e-commerce websites and companies includes CafePress.com, CanvasOnDemand.com, GreatBigCanvas.com, Imagekind.com, InvitationBox.com and Logosportswear.com and EZ Prints, Inc. Additionally, CafePress Services drives revenue for corporate partners by providing turnkey, personalized e-commerce solutions. For more information click on www.cafepress.com