American Greetings has launched a mobile application that incorporates a line of digital greeting cards from singer Taylor Swift to let consumers share customized content.

The Taylor Swift Greeting Card app is available for free download on iPhone and Android devices. The app also aims to drive in-store foot traffic with a store locator function.

?The Taylor Swift Greeting Card mobile apps compliment the paper greeting card program by providing fans with access to Taylor?s social expression content where they are and allows them to use the cards to connect however they want, whenever they want to,? said Rob Matousek, director of digital strategy and partnerships at American Greetings, Cleveland, OH.

Mobile mail
Consumers who download the app can pick a card for different special events, including Valentine?s Day, birthdays or for every day.

The app uses Facebook integration to let users add their family and friends? birthdays to the app.

Users can then personalize their cards with custom messages or photos. Users then finish off their creation by signing their name across their mobile device?s screen.

Consumers can send the card through Facebook, Twitter, email or SMS. Consumers who receive the message can then view the card in a mobile site that includes a call-to-action at the bottom of the page to download the app.

After users send the card, they can click a button to find the nearest American Greetings store by typing in their ZIP code. The app then pulls in Google Maps to give consumers directions.

Ms. Swift?s music also plays inside the app to keep the artist top-of-mind.

Virtual gifts
American Greetings has made mobile a core part of its digital strategy.

Most recently, the company used QR codes on cards to extend the life of paper cards (see story).

Additionally in 2009 the company rolled out an iPhone app to stay connected to consumers (see story).

In this case, American Greetings is able to take one of its more popular products mobile while also driving foot traffic to stores to drive paper card sales.

?Our consumers are increasingly using digital tools to stay connected with their networks and we?re using apps to provide access to our industry leading content within the tools they use most,? Mr. Matousek said.

?We are seeing consumers using our content from mobile and tablet devices to expand the way they use social expressions to recognize important relationships and events,? he said.

?It?s much more of a compliment to the ways consumers traditionally use the greeting card category.  It has provided users with the tools to recognize holidays and birthdays with their expanded social networks, while also enabling day to day interactions with their closest relationships.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York