83% of Americans Like the Idea of Exchanging Holiday Cards in 2011 According to New Survey Sponsored by Animoto

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The holiday tradition of sending cards remains popular but one in four consumers do not plan to send cards in 2011, due to concerns about time, expense and hassle,  according to a recent survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. and sponsored by Animoto - an award-winning online video creation service. 

For those not planning to send holiday greetings in 2011, the top reasons cited are they don't have the time (32%); they think it's too expensive (32%); and they can't find the addresses nor want to look them up (16%).   For those planning to send holiday greetings, 69% plan to send a holiday card using the U.S. mail, 17% plan to send e-greetings, and 11% are planning to send a family newsletter, according to the survey.

The good news is that there are new options to make holiday greetings easier to send, more cost efficient and more engaging than ever. A new approach this season is to supplement traditional holiday cards with a personal video or to create and share an entirely personalized video greeting.  With Animoto's web-based video creation service, it's simple, fun and fast for consumers to create and share unique video holiday greetings that will delight friends and family. 

To create a video greeting, users simply upload pictures and or video clips, select a video style and music, and Animoto takes care of the rest.  An Animoto holiday video saves time and money as well: there is no digging around for addresses and stamps since the user can simply choose to email the Animoto video to grandma, and post the video to Facebook for their friends.  Significantly less expensive than traditional  holiday greeting cards, 30-second Animoto videos are free and unlimited full-length videos are available for just $5 a month, or $30 a year.

"Animoto offers a new way to maintain the tradition of holiday greetings," said Brad Jefferson, CEO of Animoto. "Animoto makes it easy and affordable for everyone to create memorable holiday videos that will delight all recipients."

Opinion Research Corporation (www.orc.com) conducted a telephone survey among a national probability sample of 1,016 adults comprising 510 men and 506 women, 18 years of age and older, living in private households in the continental United States.   ORC International is a leading global research firm with offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific.

About Animoto:

Animoto (www.animoto.com) is a video slideshow creation service that enables consumers, professionals and businesses to easily make and share professional-looking videos that will amaze friends, family and others. The Animoto team, which includes entertainment and technology industry veterans, has leveraged their expertise to develop a web-based service that makes it easy for people to quickly create and share their stories through video – using photos and/or videos.  The heart of Animoto is its Cinematic Artificial Intelligence™ technology that thinks like an actual director and editor, using the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film.  A fast-growing company, Animoto Productions is based in New York City with an office in San Francisco.