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- P Sp A C ec K ial P R issu E M e: IU

U M B E R

Cartazine
The power of on-pack promotions is obvious from the fact that someone has beaten you to it because the cards have gone! Send an e-mail to winningcards@cartamundi.com and we will resend the high-tech glitter cards. (For the brand new printing techniques: see page 10).

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D CARD
You can always think of something new to do with cards. By way of illustration we created:

Cards with the latest youth lingo: SMS slang. Interested in this on-pack idea?
Introduction to text message linguistics: 3lets, abbr., etc. What is gal? The abbreviation of Get A Life. What is gbh? Not the abbreviation of Grievous Bodily Harm but 'Great Big Hug' in SMS slang. Confusing? Not to youngsters it isn't. Welcome to their new language: SMS slang The man in the street is starting to panic. Should we fear corruption of the language? In the UK, extra grammar lessons are being taught to counterbalance SMS slang. It hasn't stopped youngsters texting away though... worldwide 750 million text messages are sent every day. And on that tiny little screen, creativity and brevity are all important. Hence all the abbreviations such as gal, gbh, cu (see you), aka (also known as) and atb (all the best). and 'numeric' words such as w8 (wait), cul8R (see you later) u2 (you too), and bhl8 (Ill be home late). Little figures or punctuation marks such as a wink ;-) or shorties (short words) are also very popular. shrt wrds cn b cmpsd b lvng th vwls t (short words can be composed by leaving the vowels out). Triplets, of course written as 3lets, are also a popular linguistic SMS variation: you only write the first three letters of every word. For instance the question Wil u come to my par? is perfectly understandable to texters writing in 3lets (Will you come to my party?). If you want to create on-pack cards in SMS slang, we're the people to communicate with. Moreover, this new trend once again proves...

Cards in SMS slang,... how much more up-to-date can you get?

how boundless your creativity can be when it comes to creating new cards. By way of example we thought up this game with text message cards. The topical subjects you can use for new cards are endless. The skys the limit. In spite of the fact that cards date back to the time of the pharaohs, new ones can always be thought up. And these up-to-date cards are able to benefit from a centuriesold advantage in that they're collected and swapped making them the talk of the town. Or rather the talk of the peer group, which in itself is already a strong motivation to join in. Give us an idea of your product, your market, your target group, your image and we'll help you think of something. Mail now to winningcards@cartamundi.com for an introductory f2f (face to face)?

Lave ton Eau: an educational game about environmental awareness in Paris

Can water be purified?


From A to Z: Cost control Based on the clients letter and design, and in co-operation with a producer of party games, Carta Mundi devised a game from A to Z, which allowed us to control the costs of production down to the last penny. Cost determining elements, such as the choice of the components of the game, and the design of the packaging, were kept under control from the very start. Carta Mundi helps clients from the very start of the process in the design phase.

An Original Way to Evoke Environmental Awareness SIAAP, Syndicat Interdpartemental pour lAssainissement de lAgglomration Parisienne a Carta Mundi client - wanted to introduce its water purification activities in an educational game for 6 to 12 year olds in order to inform their market area about their company and raise environmental awareness. In order to do this, we produced a game with theme cards, a board contained in a box and created a game with a competitive element, but also full of interesting facts and sound advice that SIAAP wished to put across. Carta Mundi the Art of Cards and Promotional Games.

Lave ton Eau is edited by SIAAP

Casino King
Carta Mundi playing cards: Casinos the world over don't gamble when it comes down to Quality and Security. Carta Mundi: A Global Player Carta Mundi is one of the world leaders of playing cards for casinos. We operate three of the world's state-of-the-art playing card factories. This high-tech level of production is much appreciated by casinos, which is fully integrated, allowing us to guarantee the highest level of security. Carta Mundi can also customise the playing cards for a casino, thus making an important contribution to the professional nature of the gaming tables, and to the security in the casinos. Casino cards: mollycoddled like money. Imperfect or marked casino cards can cost casinos a great deal of money. Its no wonder that casino cards are treated (almost) like money or gold bars in Fort Knox! Casinos are extremely demanding with regard to playing cards. For instance, the backs of the cards have been designed especially to combat fraud by using the very latest technology: not only to produce perfect packs of cards but also to allow simple and quick casino inspections.

Casinos: A Brief History Casino in Italian means little house (diminutive of casa). Originally, it was a house near a theatre where people went to have fun and played games of chance. The first casino in the world was in Belgium's fashionable health resort Spa, Le Caf de lEurope where nobility and other high members of society came to relax. In 1762, the Prince Bishop of Lige gave a gambling monopoly to the magistrate of Spa thus assuring himself of 30% of the income. In 1858, the Belgian state even decided to give the city of Spa 250,000 Belgian franks a year (a fortune in those days!) to embellish the city. Since those days, casinos have become immensely popular all over the world and the extra income is a very welcome form of voluntary taxation for the government, and hence the community.

Carta Mundis Innovative Strength Carta Mundi are the first playing card producer to introduce computer to plate-technology. Efficiency & quality now go hand in hand. In addition, theres the all-round security and manual and automated inspections throughout the entire production process by especially trained quality inspectors. For the rest, Carta Mundi use the strongest boxes available, security tapes, and only work with drivers we know and who have been screened. In short, Carta Mundi leave nothing to chance. We'll leave that to the casino players.

Our gratitude goes out to the Casino Kursaal Ostend and the Casino of Spa.

FUTURE CARDS

65 years after Snow White: the Disney Princesses


Tinbox heart shaped Memo game Carta Mundi makes royal packs of cards for two of the most demanding customers in the world: Disney and your little girl.

Every little girl is a princess, Disney believes, and all little girls are entitled to their own little princesses. This was Disney's thinking behind its enchanting Princess collection. Carta Mundi is proud to be working with Disney on these high-quality and magical sets of cards. Take the Disney Princesses Memo Game with a pack of heart-shaped cards that are kept in a stylish metal box which is also heart-shaped. This Memo

Tuckbox Happy Families

Game allows little princesses to dream with their eyes open and test their memories at the same time! The tuckbox with happy families cards is also a very 'charming' collection in the Disney Princesses range. Your smallest princesses will love it

C O R P O R AT E N E W S

Punctual delivery times


Punctual delivery times: more than 90% in November 2002. Carta Mundi's attention for individual customers is obvious from our doggedness to meet our delivery deadlines (with quality and cost control). To do so, we evaluate our delivery reliability every week, i.e. the percentage of orders delivered on time that week. These are the orders that were delivered on the date we agreed with the customer. The enclosed chart shows how we managed to do this in a very short space of time. At the end of October 2000, we hit 80% already and at the end of November 2000, we broke the 90% mark. Since that time we have met practically 90% of all delivery dates, and since mid March 2002 we have even had peaks of 97 to 99%.

% 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 2000

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2002

Boundless collecting fun


To illustrate the power of ON-pack promotions, allow us to show you some IN-pack promotions. The packets of crisps contain fun collectible cards. The front sides of the bags of chips have a noticeable band of flexible plastic with exciting promotional information. This band is only attached to the top and bottom of the packet. The whole front remains visible. 250% increase in turnover The Chio Chips promotion in Hungary was extremely successful. The Master Crok cards increased the turnover with a factor 2.5. In all, Carta Mundi had more than 80 different Master Crok characters developed, each with their specific traits. It's also a well thought out game that encourages kids to swap and collect cards. Target group: 9 to 13 year olds, but 7 year olds were also enthusiastic about the game. Main advertising media: TV-commercials during cartoons (very creative commercials in which the drawings of the cards come to life), Junior Magazine, P.O.S. posters and of course the on-pack promo bands. Another successful Chio Chips promotion is running in Poland: in-pack cards with the world renowned characters of the Dragon Ball Z series. The most valuable characters were given a lively glistening effect using the holographic foil (see page 10). Children are able to download the rules of an exciting card game with the Dragon Ball Z cards from the Chio website. The Pom-Br Chips promotion, with in-pack happy family cards of Jack Stone, a clever, strong, active, helpful, Lego problem solver, ran in Germany. The same promotion was about to start in the UK too around about the same time. Pom-Br Chips in Hungary jumped on the magical hype bandwagon and designed a whole series of magical tricks on in-pack cards. The target group were children from 4 to 10 and the promotion resulted in a 30% increase in turnover.

Cards for kids in packets of crisps, great idea of Chio / Pom-Br.

GERMANY
Lego / Jack Stone cards

POLAND
Dragon Ball cards

H U N G A RY
Master Crok & Pom-Br cards

WINNING CARDS

UV spot varnish, sparkling like a diamond.

Holograms for glitter and glamour.

Hot stamps: gold or silver relief print.

e hre ll t not, a If ind ll f over. we'll u' c Yo he nd ou. n t il us a to y o a m hem dt sen

Brand new high-tech printing techniques


Holographic glitter foil, ultraviolet spot varnish and gold or silver relief print Holographic foil A side of the card is covered with a PET layer with the holographic design we call large broken crystals. Moving the card produces a lively glistening effect because you can see the hologram jump over the whole surface of the card. A great effect that not only results in glitter and glamour but also produces a lively dynamic effect. Like on the Chio Chips cards in Poland: the holographic foil makes the well-known Dragon Ball Z characters look even more alive (see pages 8 & 9). This technique was used on the backs of Astrology Cards (see top left hand corner). The nocturnal glistening produced by the holographic foil has been written in the stars UV spot varnish This technique was used for the cards of Antwerp, City of Diamond (see above) but now certain spots (i.e. patches) have been covered, more specifically the diamonds. They are covered with a layer of high gloss varnish. Slightly moving the card produces a great sparkling effect thanks to the alternating incidence of light. When printing, this layer of varnish is dried by ultraviolet light, hence the name UV spot varnish. More importantly, high gloss varnish is used... an opportunity to truly sparkle. Hot stamp This technique is, in a word, brilliant: clear, sparkling, reflective. It also produces a wonderful illusion of relief printing, even though an ordinary wafer-thin layer of metal foil is used on the card. This layer is pressed on the card by heating with the required pressure. Whether you choose a gold or silver metal look, the result is a silent testimony to refined class. The best way to transfer your logo into a delightful eye-catcher.

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C O R P O R AT E N E W S

Take-over of German Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik A new take-over in Germany allows us to produce more than 200 million packs of cards a year. In March 2002, the business press announced Carta Mundis take-over of the German company, Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg. Once again, the take-over of the German ASS in 2000 has reinforced our European position. The Altenburger and Berliner Spielkarten brands have been added to our range. This take-over shows that Carta Mundi is an international niche player with a considerable growth potential according to Chris Van Doorslaer, CEO of the Carta Mundi Group. In Altenburg (Thringen), playing cards have been produced since 1509, confirming its centuries-old tradition of craftsmanship. The Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik's annual turnover currently amounts to EUR 15.8 million with a production of 29 million packs of cards a year. This is all thanks to the hard work and talent of the 121 employees who are warmly embraced in the worldwide Carta Mundi family.

Altenburger has belonged to the Ravensburger group since 1996, which converted the company into an efficient factory with a modern printer and high-tech production. They chiefly produce playing cards for the huge German market: Skat, Romm, Doppelkopf, Schafkopf Tarock and Gaigel as well as printing cards for various well-known producers of games. Altenburger's successful range also includes happy families cards and children's cards. On a more historic note, in June 1945, the city of Altenburg found itself in the soviet zone and the playing card factory was subsequently dismantled in 1946. The company continued its activities under the name of ASS in West Germany near Stuttgart. However, employees were not sitting idle in the East German Altenburg. Their efforts resulted in the establishment of the Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik, which was nationalised in 1957 by the East Germans. Carta Mundi's take-over means ASS and Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg have been reunited once again.

ALTENBURG CA RTA M UNDI SPA IN

C ARTA MUNDI AS I A PAC I FI C

New Carta Mundi offices in Singapore and Spain Whereas our new office in Barcelona chiefly targets the Iberian market, the office in Singapore wants to cover the entire Pacific Rim (hence the name Carta Mundi Asia Pacific). These two new branches reinforce our worldwide network that already has offices (with production) in Belgium, the USA, and Germany as well as sales offices in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the UK, Hungary and Sweden, plus local agents in various other countries. Carta Mundi needs this network because 97% of its production is exported to more than 50 countries; a figure that will probably increase in the future. In doing so, Carta Mundi wants to realise its mission more than ever,

therefore we want to reinforce Carta Mundis position as a global player in the niche market of playing cards including cards for advertising, casinos and games. After all, Carta Mundi means cards for the world in Latin. Our customers have the lead in this global mission. We keep in close touch with the various markets in that all trend shifts are incorporated by our R&D, sales and marketing people. This is apparent from our recent innovative products such as Promo Games and our James Bond & Harry Potter licences. This entire process is supported by a state-of-the-art production system with special attention for quality, cost and delivery. This translates into special attention for every individual client no matter how global we may be.

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Mail us for your free collection box

Misplaced the first issue of Cartazine? Ask us and we will send you the full collection! Send a message to winningcards@cartamundi.com and ask for your free Cartazine collection box. A collection that will 'gradually' become a creative sparkplug for all your promotions. Regularly, you'll receive a new Cartazine. This is number two. If you lost issue one, let us know. We'll send it to you together with the collection box. Free of charge of course. And had the three sparkling high-tech cards been taken from the cover when you received this Cartazine? We'll send these too if you send us a mail. If you save our e-mail address winningcards@cartamundi.com in your address book, you'll never (phew...) have to type it again. You'll also have it close at hand to mail us any ideas for your products or your company. No strings attached. We'll contact you and see what the options are. Because when it comes to devising promotions, we are the ideal partner.

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