30 April 2009

Bella Sara - successful Danish entrepreneur

Chas. Hude protects the Bella Sara brand worldwide. The Danish horse-themed trading cards are a global success.

Conceptcard is a prosperous Danish entrepreneurial company. In less than four years the owners have seen their company grow into an international sales success in Europe, the US, South America, Australia and South Africa. Licenses and intellectual property rights constitute a key element in the company's success.

As a counterweight to the market's trading cards aimed at boys, Gitte Odder Brændgaard has developed a series of trading cards appealing to girls. The concept is named "Bella Sara", after the entrepreneur's daughter (Sara) and her first horse (Bella).

Virtual environment of horses

Gitte Odder Brændgaard was inspired to create "Bella Sara" in her job as a social worker. The target group is girls aged from five and upwards, who can collect and trade the horse-themed trading cards and use them for fun games.

All cards include a unique code, which gives access to a virtual horse environment at the Belle Sara website, where horses can be cared for in beautiful, imaginative stables. At the website it is also possible to play games and bring your horse on adventures.

Since the horse-themed trading cards were launched in 2005, approximately 30 million packs of cards have been sold. On top of that, Bella Sara's virtual environment has 4.5 mil-lion online users globally.

Broad appeal

"Bella Sara is my own fairytale. Establishing the company proved to be quite a hassle. We have invested heavily in the idea, and struggled with banks in our attempt to raise capital. However, we have succeeded. Our sales figures and online user count indicate that our concept reaches the target group, and has a broad international appeal," says Gitte Odder Brændgaard.

Exclusive rights ensured

Conceptcard has exclusive rights to all of their trade marks and device- and word marks in Denmark and in the rest of the world.

"Chas. Hude helps us protect our brand and monitor the market for potential infringements of our rights. To us, it serves as a safeguard to have a professional business partner in the field of IPR," says Gitte Odder Brændgaard.

Increasing the value of the company

"Conceptcard is a great example of a company, which from day one has included intellec-tual property rights as a natural part of their business. By registering its trade marks and protecting its brand in central markets, Conceptcard has put itself in a position to enter li-cense agreements with agents and business partners abroad. This favourable position illus-trates how intellectual property rights can help define and strengthen the value of a com-pany," explains Ellen Breddam, legal consultant and trade mark consultant for Conceptcard.

International TV show in the pipeline

In 2006 Conceptcard entered an exclusive license agreement with the US company Hidden City Games, who launched the horse-themed trading cards and the virtual fantasy world in the US in 2007.

In addition to the original trading cards, Bella Sara offers a complete virtual environment, computer games, books, clothing, bags and merchandise.

In the fall of 2009 the next big venture is launched - a TV show and movies, which will strengthen Bella Sara's position in the market for children's entertainment. The American company PorchLight Entertainment is producing the TV show and the movies about Bella Sara. The company is the creators of a number of animated movies shown, among others, on Discovery Kids, Jetix Europe, BBC and Cartoon Network.