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American Express Incentive Services Teams With Ralphs on Customized Movie Card

Marks Ralphs' First Use of a Prepaid Card for a Promotion

American Express Incentive Services (AEIS) has teamed with Ralphs on a consumer promotion that debuts the grocery company's first-ever customized movie card. The promotion features a prepaid card from AEIS as the reward vehicle for the Ralphs in-store promotion for the March 31 release of "Ice Age The Meltdown."

Ralphs will reward its Southern California Club members for using their Club cards on select items from participating brands. Club members who accumulate $40 in qualified purchases between March 8 and April 4 will receive an American Express-branded reward card valued at $16 -- just the right amount for two tickets to see "Ice Age The Meltdown."

Specifically for this promotion, AEIS used its patented card filtering process to create a card accepted only in movie theaters. The reward cards replace Ralphs' traditional paper gift certificate rewards, lending Ralphs several promotional improvements. Ralphs and Fox featured their logos on the card to fully integrate the reward into the promotion. The cards add the ability to purchase concessions as well as tickets and may be used at any U.S. theater that accepts the American Express® Card, as opposed to typical movie cards that are accepted a single chain of theaters. The cards also offer the option to purchase tickets online.

Other brands participating in the promotion include Breyers, Coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, Gatorade, Good Humor, Keebler, Kellogg's, Kimberly-Clark and Kraft. Other promotional materials include direct mail and in-store items such as posters, graphic tags in in-store circulars, tags on qualified product displays, and door and floor clings in the frozen food aisle.

"Ralphs has done a great job of creating a fully integrated consumer promotion," said Darryl Hutson, AEIS CEO. "They've gone beyond traditional promotional vehicles by incorporating a reward customized to deliver maximum impact against their high-profile movie theme."

"Ralphs is thrilled to join with AEIS to reward our loyal customers with the opportunity to earn an American Express-branded movie card valued at $16 to see 'Ice Age The Meltdown,'" said Chuck Ackerman, senior vice president of marketing for Ralphs. "Fox's 'Ice Age The Meltdown' promises to be one of the biggest films of the year. We encourage Ralphs shoppers to use their Ralphs Club Cards and get the movie card early."

Ralphs Club Card members enjoy savings on thousands of items throughout the store in addition to discounts on many popular activities and consumer services. Applications for Ralphs Club Cards are available at all Ralphs supermarkets. Applying for a Card is easy. Customers simply present a completed application to a cashier, receive a card on the spot, and the savings will begin immediately.

Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 and currently operates more than 400 conventional and warehouse-style stores. Ralphs is a division of The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR), one of the nation's largest grocery retailers based in Cincinnati, OH. For more information about Ralphs, please visit www.ralphs.com

A subsidiary of American Express Company, AEIS provides business-to-business reward solutions including prepaid cards, American Express® Gift Cheques and a Web-based reward management tool. Its products address a broad array of applications such as employee reward and recognition, sales incentives and consumer promotions while helping clients drive consumer and employee behaviors, build loyalty and increase brand awareness. AEIS is headquartered in Fenton, Mo. For more information, please contact Bridget Westhoff, PR Manager, at (636) 226-2039, or bridget.westhoff@aeis.com.

Distributed by Market Wire