Edgar Freecards

Edgar Freecards is a Germany-wide brand for free postcards, widely credited as the founder of the free postcard medium in Germany. The name "Edgar" is a playful corruption of the English term "ad card" (advertising card). The brand was introduced in Hamburg in 1992 by advertising copywriter Nana Bromberg, who had lived in Denmark where free postcards had recently become popular in Copenhagen's hospitality venues, together with her business partner Pedro Anacker. With starting capital of 100,000 DM they installed the first 50 card stands in Hamburg pubs. The concept followed a newspaper-like split: part advertising (advertising cards) and part editorial content (art postcards and sayings). The cards became a success and were rolled out nationwide with regional partners, and a number of imitators appeared. Because the cards are numbered, a collector scene developed with its own collector clubs, and a card catalogue was published. The company was first founded as Edgar auf der Karte Marketing GmbH, later renamed Edgar Medien GmbH, and shortly before the turn of the millennium converted into Edgar Medien AG. After the sudden collapse of Germany's "Neuer Markt" it did not go public. In 2001 the first International Freecard Award was presented, where Edgar won one of the first prizes, and edgar.de received the NEO Award for the most innovative website. After ten years Edgar had already put more than 5,000 motifs into circulation. Over the years the network grew and cult saying and art cards emerged, alongside standard cards and many special formats such as 3D, lenticular, folding, sticker, tin and scented cards, as well as cards with attached condoms, plasters, fragrance samples and tattoos. In 2007 Edgar Medien AG merged with Boomerang Medien GmbH to form United Ambient Media AG, moving first into the former BAT cigarette factory in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld and in 2010 further into a well-known Hamburg scene location. In 2015 the company was renamed UAM Media Group GmbH and in 2019 renamed Edgar Ambient Media Group GmbH. As of 2018 the brand was present in 49 cities with a total of 4,900 displays, and more than 29,000 different cards had appeared. According to the official website, Edgar Freecards reaches the generations Y and Z — 17.9 million people aged 18–35 — with 11+ million visitors in four weeks, 4,000+ locations and 30,000+ postcard motifs since 1992, drawing on more than 30 years of experience. The brand describes itself as "non established since 1992," born in Hamburg and for over 30 years a fixture of Germany's scene gastronomy. Cities served include Aachen, Augsburg, Berlin, Bielefeld, Bochum, Bonn, Braunschweig, Bremen, Chemnitz, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Dresden, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Erfurt, Essen, Flensburg, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Gelsenkirchen, Göttingen, Halle (Saale), Hamburg, Hannover, Heidelberg, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Kiel, Köln, Leipzig, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Mainz, Mannheim, Mönchengladbach, München, Münster, Nürnberg, Osnabrück, Potsdam, Regensburg, Rostock, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart, Ulm, Wiesbaden, Wuppertal and Würzburg.

Edgar Freecards was introduced in Hamburg in 1992. The advertising copywriter Nana Bromberg (born 1963) had lived in Denmark for a long time, where free postcards had recently become popular in Copenhagen's hospitality venues. Together with her business partner Pedro Anacker and starting capital of 100,000 DM, she was able to set up the first 50 card stands in Hamburg pubs. The concept followed a newspaper-like split: one part advertising (advertising cards) and one part editorial content (art postcards, sayings). The name "Edgar" is a corruption of the English term "ad card" (advertising card), and the company Edgar auf der Karte Marketing GmbH was founded. In the following years Edgar, with its pipe and bar over the eyes, quickly became a cult object. By 1997 more than 250 million Edgar Freecards had been distributed and the company took a new name, Edgar Medien GmbH. Shortly before the turn of the millennium the stock market hype broke out in Germany and the company was converted into Edgar Medien AG; after the sudden collapse of the "Neuer Markt," however, it did not go public at all. In 2001 the first International Freecard Award was presented, at which Edgar won one of the first prizes, and edgar.de received the NEO Award for the most innovative website. After 10 years Edgar had already put more than 5,000 motifs into circulation. In the following years the network grew and grew, some of the most cult saying and art cards emerged, and alongside the standard cards many special formats saw the light of day, such as 3D, lenticular, folding, sticker, tin and scented cards, as well as cards with attached condoms, plasters, fragrance samples and tattoos. In 2007 Edgar Medien AG merged with Boomerang Medien GmbH and Edgar became part of United Ambient Media AG, moving first into the former BAT cigarette factory in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld and in 2010 further into a well-known Hamburg scene location. The cards were placed nationwide with regional partners, and a number of imitators appeared. Because the cards are numbered, a collector scene developed with its own collector clubs, and a card catalogue was published. In 2015 the company was renamed UAM Media Group GmbH and in 2019 renamed Edgar Ambient Media Group GmbH. As of 2018 the brand was present in 49 cities with a total of 4,900 displays, and more than 29,000 different cards had appeared. According to the official website, the brand reaches generations Y and Z — 17.9 million people aged 18–35 — with 11+ million visitors in four weeks, 4,000+ locations and 30,000+ postcard motifs since 1992, drawing on more than 30 years of experience.

• 2019

  Company renamed Edgar Ambient Media Group GmbH.

• 2018

  Brand present in 49 cities with 4,900 displays; more than 29,000 different cards had appeared.

• 2015

  Company renamed UAM Media Group GmbH.

• 2010

  Moved further into a well-known Hamburg scene location.

• 2007

  Edgar Medien AG merged with Boomerang Medien GmbH to form United Ambient Media AG; moved to the former BAT cigarette factory in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld.

• 2002

  After 10 years, more than 5,000 motifs had been put into circulation.

• 2001

  First International Freecard Award presented; Edgar won one of the first prizes and edgar.de received the NEO Award for the most innovative website.

• 1999

  Converted into Edgar Medien AG shortly before the turn of the millennium; did not go public after the collapse of the Neuer Markt.

• 1997

  More than 250 million Edgar Freecards distributed; company renamed Edgar Medien GmbH.

• 1992

  Edgar Freecards introduced in Hamburg; first 50 card stands set up in Hamburg pubs with 100,000 DM starting capital.

Authentic, creative and likeable advertising in the target audience's immediate living environment; a cult, non-established scene brand reaching generations Y and Z.

• Free advertising postcards

• Art and saying postcards

• 3D and lenticular cards

• Folding cards

• Sticker cards

• Tin cards

• Scented cards

• Cards with attached condoms, plasters, fragrance samples or tattoos

1. 1► Edgar Freecards - Gratispostkarten in deiner Stadtedgarfreecards.de
2. 2► Edgar - Das sind Wiredgarfreecards.de
3. 3Edgar Freecardswikidata.org
4. 4Edgar Freecardsde.wikipedia.org