ICMA ÉLAN Awards 2010

And the winner is: Variuscard - young vienna based printing company goes new ways in producing plastic cards and wins first price for best loyalty card of the year.

Scottsdale, USA was this years location for the ICMA (international card manufacturers association) Expo and conference which took place for the 20th time. The ICMA is an international non-profit organisation of plastic card manufacturers for analysis of the market and development as well as a discussion forum for all members. The ICMA counts over 200 members worldwide which equal an 80% of the production capacity in the world today. Within the ICMA Expo the ICMA Elan award is given to the best, most creative or innovative plastic card designs. The categories among are loyalty card, financial cards, and ID-Cards.

1. place for the most exceptional loyalty card

Plantaplast a 2005 founded corporation based in Vienna, Austria with its printing department "Variuscard" is eagerly stepping up to become one of the most innovative plastic card manufacturers in the world. Initiated by "SKY" and the Austrian Sport-Direkt Golf Association the "Strawberry Card 2010" is a loyalty card for golfers attending the "Strawberry Golf Tour" trough Austria and Germany. The specialty about this plastic card is the special scent - a strawberry smell covers not only the whole look and feel but especially the plastic card itself. With no need to scratch the surface, the plastic card will gently emmit a strawberry scent. One that convinced the jury to award the card with the first place for the most exceptional loyalty card 2010.

2. place for peoples choice

And that is not enough - Variuscard earned another one of the precious ÉLAN Awards. The "200 Forint" coin-card was nominated for the peoples choice and won second price. the 200 Forint card is a combination of the "old fashioned" Forint - the old currency of Hungary - and the "new way" of payment, a plastic card. This highly valuable collectible prooves the almost endless possibilites of creating new concepts even for marketing with plastic cards.