CRYO-CELL Announces Strategic Alliances To Reach Consumer Markets
Related News: Stem Cell CompaniesCompany Signs Exclusive Agreements with Upromise(R) and Real Savvy Moms(TM)
OLDSMAR, Fla., Sept. 19 - CRYO-CELL International, Inc. (OTCBB: CCEL) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement with Upromise, Inc. to continue the Company's participation in Upromise's industry-leading college savings service.
Under the terms of this exclusive agreement, CRYO-CELL will continue as the first, and only, cord blood stem cell preservation firm to team up with Upromise to help consumers save for college.
Under the arrangement, CRYO-CELL, whose U-Cord® service provides high-quality preservation of newborns' cord blood exclusively for the benefit of family members, will contribute 4% of its initial service and annual storage fees to the client's established Upromise account on purchases made with a credit card registered with Upromise. CRYO-CELL's participation in Upromise began in December 2004. Membership in Upromise is free, and is available by visiting http://www.upromise.com. Anyone who wants to save for a child's college education can join Upromise including parents, grandparents, extended family and friends. Once an account is established, Upromise participating companies automatically contribute a portion of qualified spending to the member's account.
In addition to expanding college savings opportunities, the agreement provides for numerous cross-marketing initiatives to over six million members who have joined Upromise to save for college. CRYO-CELL's U-Cord® service will be featured on the Upromise website, http://www.upromise.com, under a variety of categories including the "Baby Gear & Services" category.
In another development, CRYO-CELL announced today that the Company has signed an exclusive definitive agreement with Morphogenix LLC to participate in the Real Savvy Moms(TM) Initiative, a new, fully integrated program that galvanizes the power of Public Television, the Internet, live events and the relationship that exists between a pregnant woman and her healthcare provider. Women get 360-degree access to valuable information and advice. Real Savvy Moms' website is http://www.realsavvymoms.com and the upcoming nationally syndicated TV program, "Real Moms. Real Stories. Real Savvy.", will air on Public Television beginning in January 2006.
Research has shown that today's mothers, often referred to as "Generation-X Moms" are better educated, more career oriented, and more likely to question what they are told than the previous generation of mothers. Independent focus groups find that they want reliable information by combining advice from trusted healthcare providers with reassurance from sisters, friends and other Real Moms who've been there. Today's Moms are also technology savvy -- some 96% of new mothers go online for parenting advice and information, while 80% of pregnant women surf the Internet for answers to their pregnancy and parenting questions. Real Savvy Moms'(TM) sponsors include some of the most paramount organizations and brands in wellness, nutrition and pregnancy and post-partum care that believe in the Real Savvy Moms'(TM) mission of being a credible resource for new moms.
"We are extremely proud to participate as the exclusive cord blood preservation service partner of Upromise. We are also very excited to serve as the exclusive cord blood preservation partner, along with other industry-leading companies, in the new and innovative Real Savvy Moms(TM) initiative," commented Mercedes Walton, CRYO-CELL's Chairman and CEO. "CRYO-CELL's participation in these premiere programs will serve to help educate millions of new families about the extraordinary possibilities of cord blood stem cells and to provide insightful information about CRYO-CELL's premium quality and superior value to families considering this potentially life-saving service."
Posted on September 27, 2005 05:32 PM