The announcement was made by Billboard Executive Director, Digital/Mobile Content & Programming at Billboard. ZOOZbeat Sprite will be featured in the best apps of the year listing in the Billboard Magazine September 4, 2010 edition.
ZOOZbeat Sprite Named Best Branded App Finalist by Billboard Magazine
“ZOOZbeat Sprite is an innovative and integrated marketing program that rewards customers for purchasing a real good (a bottle of Sprite) with a digital virtual good (beats to remix inside the app),” said ZOOZ Mobile CEO & President Scott Geller. “The ZOOZ Mobile team is thrilled that our expertise in designing, creating and launching branded entertainment music apps has been acknowledged by Billboard Magazine: the premier trade publication for the music business.”
Susan Stribling, Atlanta-based spokeswoman for Coca-Cola North America, as quoted in Mobile Marketer (12/24/09):
If you’re a smart marketer today, you have to be looking at all the different ways you can communicate with people – traditional, in-store, out-of-home, online and mobile.
Since the Sprite brand is focused on youth, we want to focus on mobile in particular, and [ZOOZbeat Sprite] is the first big Under the Cap program we’ve launched in the U.S., which we’re looking to grow moving forward.
If you’re not taking that 360-degree approach today, then you’re not marketing effectively.
The target demographic for the iPhone application is the same as overall target demographic for Sprite …
First and foremost it’s music, and music is something that’s very appealing to young people. This is something that’s completely on the go and accessible via their mobile phone, and young people have their iPhones attached to their wrist, so an app was a natural fit for that consumer.
We’re using the [ZOOZbeat Sprite] app to keep people engaged. We will continue to add rewards to the pool, and this app is something new and fresh that people participating in the under-the-cap initiative can download.
The ZOOZbeat Sprite app engages young multi-cultural, music-lovers with iPhones Sprite consumers enabling them to remix music letting them create their own tracks with downloadable beats and samples from these nine music Producers and Artists:
ZOOZbeat Sprite works by shaking, tilting or taping the iPhone screen to create and combine rhythmic and melodic tracks that can be uploaded to ZOOZbeat.com for listening and sharing in .mp3 format with friends via Facebook and Twitter.
“When consumers enter Sprite Under the Cap codes via text message, they receive mobile rewards, including the Sprite-branded, music-focused ZOOZbeat Sprite application (app).The ZOOZbeat Sprite app development stretched over nine months and involved complex integration between the:
ZOOZbeat Sprite iPhone application
Amazon S3 cloud servers
Coca-Cola’s code generation SMS messaging system
Coca-Cola’s code validation SMS messaging system
“The ZOOZ Mobile team are experts in branded music entertainment music apps that involve complex back-end integration that result in a seamless user experience,” says Geller. “The ZOOZbeat Sprite app allows ZOOZbeat Sprite musician-in-all-of-us to receive credits in the app for digital music automatically to enable them to remix beats.”
Various versions of ZOOZbeat apps have been downloaded 1.5 million time since launching in the Apple iTunes App Store in November 2008.
Coca-Cola launched the iPhone application as an enhancement to the larger Under the Cap program Sprite has been running.Consumers participating in the program can opt in to receive SMS alerts and other messages from Sprite.
The Sprite Under the Cap program is promoted on packaging for the Sprite brand, encouraging consumers to text in to receive various rewards.“We offer incentives to people who participate in the campaign using mobile technology,” Ms. Stribling said [Mobile Marketer 12/24/09] “We didn’t have anything along the lines of what ZOOZ offers, an app focused on music and interactivity.
Billboard created the first-ever Music Apps Awards to recognize the most innovative music-focused apps created for smartphones. Here are the finalists in each category:
Best Branded App - ZOOZbeat Sprite; 50s Sound Lab, Vitamin Water; and Gibson Learn & Master Guitar
Best Artist-Based App - Linkin Park 8-bit Rebellion; I Am T-Pain; and TouchChords: Jimmie Vaughan
“There have been plenty of app awards, but none have focused solely on music-specific apps,” said Antony Bruno, Billboard’s executive director of content and programming for digital/mobile. “Given how important the mobile and app market is to the music industry, Billboard wanted to showcase the most innovative apps out there from the artists and services defining the opportunity today. We’re looking forward to seeing what people have come up with, and giving the best of the best their rightful due,” in announcing its first Music Apps Awards on Billboard.com (4/14/10).
The Coca-Cola Co. is the world’s largest beverage company, with nearly 500 sparkling and still brands. The company’s portfolio includes Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid and Georgia Coffee.
“The ad might read, ‘Percussionist wanted, preferably marimba player, for jazz-influenced band. Must be able to improvise, bob head and wear metal,” writes CNN Reporter Valerie Streit in her April 29, 2010 story. “And the perfect candidate? It may be Shimon, a marimba-playing robot that, despite having four arms, is remarkably human. It has a shiny aluminum-steel head that bobs with the music and acknowledges other people when they’re nearby.”
And, when the new ZOOZbeat app launched in October 2009, CNN Reporter John Sutter wrote: “The iPhone’s accelerometer, which allows users to control apps by titling the phone, makes the ZOOZbeat app possible, said [Dr.] Gil Weinberg, director of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology and founder of ZOOZbeat.”
April 27, 2010 – ATLANTA, GA USA – The ZOOZbeat app, formerly $1.99, is now free through Tuesday, June 29, 2010 in the Apple iTunes App Store.
It’s our way of celebrating the third anniversary of the launch of the Apple iPhone on June 29, 2010.
Buy TOO $HORT Beats in the ZOOZbeat in-App Store
The sale of iPhones and iTunes apps downloads are a huge success. We want to leverage Apple’s success to enable even more ZOOZbeat Musicians - like you - to remix music on the go.
In just the last three months, Apple sold almost 9 million iPhones. “Revenue for the phones made up 40% of Apple’s total business,” according to The Wall Street Journal (4/21/10). “Apple said sales from its iTunes store hit a record $1.1 billion [in the first quarter 2010] due to strong demand for music, video and iPhone apps.”
Since you have both the ZOOZbeat Music reCreation Studio app - and an iPhone or iPod Touch - you can appreciate how ZOOZbeat on an iPhone or iPod Touch can enable everyone, anywhere, to creatively express themselves musically - easily through gesture.
ZOOZbeat Would Like Your Help (Please)
And, while various versions of ZOOZbeat have been downloaded more than 1.4 million times, we would like to dramatically increase the number of ZOOZbeat Musicians in the next 60 days - way beyond 1.4 million.
Because the more ZOOZbeat-enabled musicians, the more likely artists and record labels will want to offer their beats through the ZOOZbeat In-App Store. The more Artists and beats: the more opportunities for you to remix music with the ZOOZbeat app. So, free can be great for everyone!
Please let your family and friends know that the ZOOZbeat app is free now through June 29, 2010 on the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch. And, thanks for ZOOZin’ and sharing your reCreated song at: ZOOZbeat.com.
Postscript 4/28/10 • 11:09 am ET: The ZOOZbeat app is among the Top 40 free music apps in the Apple iTunes App Store.
This means there’s still time for you to download ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 Remix ($4.99) app and enter your Jackson 5 multi-platinum song - with your remix - for your chance to win your share of more than $6,000 in cash and Jackson 5 merchandise - 34 prizes in all!
More Than $6,000 in Cash and Jackson 5 Prize Packs!
ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 RemixGrand Prize (1) - $1,500, plus a Jackson 5 Swagger Like Us wearable art “hoodie” sweatshirt, t-shirt and tote bag; and a premium 3-CD Michael Jackson Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection courtesy of Universal Music Enterprises.
Second Prizes (3) - $250, plus a Jackson 5 Swagger Like Us wearable art “hoodie” sweatshirt, t-shirt and tote bag.
Honorable Mentions (30) - a Jackson 5 Swagger Like Us wearable art “hoodie” sweatshirt, t-shirt and tote bag.
“As easy as ZOOZbeat (4.2) already is for anyone to remix music regardless of musical ability, ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 Remix ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 Remix Apphas new ways to make learning how to remix music easier,” says ZOOZ Mobile Founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Gil Weinberg. “First, we added a step-by-step video tutorial to show different way the Jackson 5 beats can be remixed; we also made the music re-creation experience more intuitive and richer - including adding more loops and longer samples from the original Jackson 5 songs as well as reverb, filters and other music re-mixing tools. ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 Remix iPhone app is the next generation of ZOOZbeat.”
For your chance to win, download the new ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 Remix app (US $4.99) and remix the bass, lead vocals, background vocals, keyboard, etc. You can even record your own vocals. The judges will score re-mixed Jackson 5 songs based on a 99 point scale: a) Overall Creativity (33 points); b) Originality (33 points), and: c) Entertainment value (33 points).
The new ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 Remix app includes these five multi-platinum Jackson 5 songs:
To enter, upload your remixed Jackson 5 song to ZOOZbeat.com between now and Tuesday, June 1, 2010 using the Save/Contest button on the ZOOZbeat Jackson 5 Remix app.
