SMALL DOG’S BIG ADVENTURE INTO THE TECH WORLD

 

ZUMA THE DOG DIPS A PAW INTO AR
 

Bertish and Company Ltd, the creator and owner of children’s character brand Zuma the Dog, is thrilled to announce their new partnership with US augmented reality tech company XR Goods, bringing their new branded merchandise into the world of wearable tech.

This new partnership will bring Bertish and Company’s character Zuma the Dog to life with a 2D animation of their dog character, which can be accessed through a scannable logo on their specially designed apparel collection. The AR platform is designed without the need for heavy downloads onto devices or email logins, keeping it light and easy to enjoy and once scanned a welcome page will pop up and the user will then be able to play a game with Zuma. The narrative is still under development, though the team do know the story will be age appropriate, have an educational theme, and give the user a complete immersive experience with Zuma, including the opportunity to be photographed with him. 

“We are beyond excited for this project and Zuma the Dog’s future in media entertainment,” said Samantha Bertish, brand creator. “Wearable tech is something I have had a keen interest in for many years and this project answers our question of how best we can combine children’s media entertainment and apparel in an easy, affordable and fun way. We also look forward to developing this AR experience into other Zuma the Dog product catagories.” 

As Bertish and Company continue to push Zuma the Dog’s message of tolerance, anti-bullying, and diversity education into the world, this cutting-edge balance between fashion and technology can help get their message across in exciting ways that relate directly to their core audience. Still in animation development stage, Bertish and Company expect to see it’s first wearable tech available to buy before the end of 2022 and invite retailers to contact the brand with their interest to stock this exciting new range in their stores.

The project also includes Bertish and Company’s joint venture company Zuma the Dog and Friends Edutainment Ltd, where all the new character IP is held for their forth coming animated series and other children’s media entertainment. These characters will be developed into AR characters for wearable tech as the Zumaverse expands. 

And finally, for licensees who want to collaborate with Zuma the Dog on new products please contact Brand Manager Sarah Camp at sarah@contagiousmediagroup.com

Much Love

Zuma XX

via GIPHY

Children’s IP Ventures into the Edutainment Sector

 So, I'm updating my blog quickly with this exciting news from the HQ of Zuma the Dog. My PR department have been busy with this press release, so please continue reading. I can't wait to see how the animation develops. Can you?

The creators of children IP Zuma the Dog are excited to announce the incorporation of their new joint venture company, Zuma the Dog and Friends Edutainment Ltd. The partnership combines the talents of Transcendent Media Capital Ltd, venture studio who focuses on driving capital to systemic change through media, technology and advocacy driven ventures and Bertish and Company Ltd, creator and owner of award-winning Children’s character IP Zuma the Dog.

Zuma the Dog and Friends Edutainment Ltd will focus on creating children’s media, technology and education content with character Zuma the Dog at the heart of each project. The new entity will kick off with its own animation series, Zuma the Dog and Friends, which provides children with diversity education, where Zuma, an anti-bullying role model adventures with his friends to overcome social challenges to teach empathy, communication and problem-solving skills.

“This is an exciting step forward for Zuma the Dog as a character brand.” Says Samantha Bertish, IP creator. “The hard work starts now, and I can’t wait to get stuck in and contribute to making a positive impact on our children’s futures.”

Peta Milan, CEO of Transcendent Media Capital commented, “Our research shows us that communities without access to diversity tend to be intolerant of it. Highly diverse communities, more often than not, embrace their diversity, so we are working to provide a solution to the challenge of providing communities, and in particular, our young children with greater access to diversity education.” Peta added, “We are also establishing an advisory board of youth, so it will be a company for kids, driven by kids. This is in line with our mission to apply regenerative principles to our venture building practices”.

Building on the popular brand’s philosophy there are 45 episodes planned to go into production early 2022. The series will include characters from Zuma the Dog’s pre-school books as well as new characters developed specifically for the animation. These include dog characters with special needs and diverse backgrounds, tackling subjects that have not yet been attempted in the children’s entertainment sector to date.

“We’ve also had celebrity interest in the animation project already.” Continues Samantha. “And we’re expecting this to really get this project off to a great start”.

 

For licensees who want to collaborate with Zuma the Dog and Friends, please contact Brand Manager Sarah Ann Camp at sarah@weirdlime.co.uk

Can you believe this exciting news? 

Much Love

Zuma 

xx

A Year in Review

When I posted the last update from the world of me, I didn’t expect it to be my last in over a year. Like for many, 2019 has been quite the roller coaster. While December started of with promise, with me being awarded “Best Children's Entertainment Brand 2018 – UK” by LUX Life Magazines Global Excellence Awards of 2018 and the ongoing work towards my animated series, we were all very excited for the new year ahead. But as January took hold it was evident 2019 was to be a challenging year ahead.

Two family cancer diagnoses, one celiac disease diagnosis, one pending, an extreme case of iron and vitamin B12 deficiency, a dementia diagnosis and an ageing dog (that’s me). It’s quite a lot for one small family, but as families do, we drew together in support of each other. While the cancers have been beaten and the autoimmune diseases managed, we still stand by helpless as we watch a beloved member of our family decline and taken away from us due to the cruellest of diseases. Dementia.

An unexpected, rapid decline since diagnosis. Memories are lost, family members and loved ones forgotten as confusion sets in and we all watch, hands tied as our loved one relies on memories of a childhood suppressed. Calling out for their long-departed mother in tears. Difficult to watch as a childhood, filled with abuse are memories most remembered as events are relived. Forgotten family members stand by as we work together to love and support each other. With tides between us all, we cry, console and listen, like blind people In the darkness we feel our way through the endless forms, meetings and legal jargon that comes with a family member in care with dementia. We work our way through the process to make sense of what is right for our lost loved one.  

I use the word “lost” as I feel there is no other word to describe it. A physical presence is with us still, but the rest is gone only for brief moments of clarity, lucidness where the old person revisits before leaving us again with only the body of the loving, caring, beautiful person who once resided in this now empty shell.

What can we do? How do we all live with and manage something so wicked? We live with hope, though I guess time will tell, as a family, together we follow each other down the rabbit hole of dementia.

As we kiss goodbye to an eventful year for all, I can proclaim it’s not all been doom and gloom. While still under non-disclosure agreements, I am limited to what I can tell you. Just that while I take some family time to enjoy Christmas, snuggle under a blanket in front of the fire while the snow falls and winds howl outside, it won’t be long before we, and in “we”, I mean, Mummy will be full steam ahead for some exciting things for 2020.I hope it won't be too long before I can spill the beans on all the exciting things happening.

With much love from

Zuma XX

P.S. I won’t leave it so long next time, I promise.

Brand Licensing Europe 2018 - What a show!

Seems like weeks ago now that we visited BLE, but we are still excited from the buzz and opportunities that are following. Another day where everyone gets to talk about me all day and we really did have a lot of fun. Yay! The weeks after BLE are always busy with follow up meeting and talks with our agent and marketing team and it’s not until November that everyone will be back in the office full time to get on with the next phase.

Some highlights from the show and look.....there's a Pikachu
on Mummy's head.

It’s the third time we’ve attended BLE and this time we had some wonderful meetings and met some great people and we would like to thank those who took the time to meet with us and talk about licensing opportunities with Zuma the Dog going forward.

We’d like to tell you all about these meeting but unfortunately, bound by secrecy until contracts are signed. At least I can give you some highlights and thank those who met with us personally.

HIGHLIGHTS

We won! Yes, that’s correct. We won a prize from the Twitter competition leading up to BLE. It was very exciting going to pick up our personalised ‘Love Island’ water bottle from ITV Studio. The fact we’ve never seen an episode of Love Island didn’t deter us.

Dragging the boy around a big show like BLE, did make us stand out and it can be a little monotonous at time for him, but when we passed by the Sega stand (the boy being a big Sonic the Hedgehog fan besides me of course), we were delighted when Toby Rayfield handed the boy a Sega goodie bag. Totally made his day.

The characters are always the best part of BLE for us. Meeting them, hugging them and having our photos taken. I'm hoping that next year Rainbow Productions will have seen the light and realise they need my in their line up too.

THANK YOU

Martin Lowe from Roy Lowe &Sons Ltd. Always a pleasure to meet with Martin. Socks are a fun necessity and we love his ‘Keep it British’ philosophy.

Marcie Kubik from Emoji One. So friendly and fun to meet. Thank you for allowing us to show you our ideas for Zuma the Dog emoji’s and hope to see you again at future events.

Brain Smith from Popagami. We love your enthusiasm and working with you is always a pleasure.

Ruth Leonard and Johnathan Rose from Hello Communications. We loved meeting you………. finally. Your energy and ideas really bring live to Zuma the Dog’s brand philosophy.

Stephen Gomez from Ty Toys. What an absolute pleasure. We loved your passion for TY and positivity for Zuma the Dog. Thank you for your time and energy.

And finally……………….

Sarah Camp from Weird Lime. She worked tirelessly the whole time. Meeting with licensors, publishers, toy manufacturers, talking all things Zuma the Dog. Hustling, wheeling and do deals all for our benefit.

What a star you are!

We are already looking forward to next year and who knows, we might even have a stand of our own.

 Much Love

Zuma XX

BACK TO SCHOOL

Showering in Old Faithful, Yellowstone

Is it back to school or back to work for you? We’ve had a wonderful vacation time and had the opportunity to see various parts of the world. Now the mornings are beginning to feel colder and there’s a hint of autumn in the air and it really is time to get our heads down and get back to work. Or should I say Mummy needs to get back to work, while I lay around all day staring at her. Just making sure she is working hard enough while cracking the occasional whip. 

Holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa

There’s lots coming up over the next few months and after my recent re brand and new look there’s new people added to Team Zuma the Dog. We welcome Sarah Camp from Weird Lime who is now our marketing, PR and licensing agent, along with Ruth Leonard from Hello Communication who is also working on Team Zuma. I am personally looking forward to them spending most of their waking hours thinking of me and I’m looking forward to working with them.

This brilliant team have years of experience working with well-known character brands and bringing them to market and their first big mission will be representing Zuma the Dog and Brand Licensing Europe, to be held and London's Olympia on the 9^th to 11^th October 2018. They have some fabulous ideas for licensing going forward that I’m sure all of you in the business will love to see.

My suggestion (and take that as more of a cheeky Zuma nudge (possibly with teeth)) 😉 is to make your appointment to see the team sooner rather than later.  

See you there!

Much Love

Zuma XX

Little Dog Digs Up Another Award.

Glastonbury based children’s brand Zuma the Dog announced as a finalist in Book Awards.

Brand owner Samantha Morgan-Bertish is celebrating this week after receiving the news that her book Zuma the Dog: The Dinosaur Guy, has been announced as a finalist in The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards. This exciting news coincides with the launch of her digital on demand series, Zuma the Dog and Friends, based on the character from her books, which is to be broadcast on the new children’s entertainment platform Kidscast TV.

 Books for the award were read and judged by children in 8 UK primary and secondary schools, a book award that is judged by the people that matter with honest opinions and feedback.

“I am honoured that we have been chosen as a finalist for this award. It has been the second year one of my books has reached the final stage in this awards and our fingers are crossed for a win this year. I am delighted that my work and dog character, Zuma is enjoyed by so many children.”

Zuma the Dog kids brand was created in Somerset in 2009 inspired by the family pet and has been gaining strength in recent months.

The winners will be announced on 1^st April.

Search Samantha Bertish on Amazon to find all Zuma the Dog book releases.

SMALL DOG LEAPS ONTO WORLD STAGE

Brand owner, Samantha Morgan-Bertish is delighted to share with you a new kid’s digital platform and home of the forth coming Zuma the Dog and Friends digital series, which officially launched on 12th December 2016 called Kidscast.TV, an exciting safe child digital environment.

This exciting new platform provides access to well-known retro and new children shows from Little Monsters to Rainbow, along with brand new shows such as Zou, Boy and the Dinosaur, Sketch show Zuma the Dog and Friends and other names due to be published over the coming weeks.

 

“I am delighted to be a part of this exciting new project,” Says Samantha. “Even if it’s in a small way. We have discovered through this platform and licensing we can see Zuma the Dog leap from Children’s clothing brand to entertainment character and see our little Zuma character take centre stage in the world market. It’s very exciting stuff.”

The all fun children’s access area which is a member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety will house homemade ‘make and do videos’ with new Kidscast presenters from cooking to crafts, Kidscast YouTube kids for exciting unboxing and toy reviews with well know toy brands already signed up, digital games, competitions and downloadable licensed character pages through the Redan license and brand new bespoke branded activity pages to showcase products and shows.

The website address is: www.kidscast.tv (App to be launched on both Android and Eos) or subscribe for free to the Kidscast You Tube Channel.

SMALL DOG DIGS UP BUSINESS AWARDS

With the most insanely busiest month I've ever known Mummy to have, I have spent most of it on my holibobs relaxing and playing with my doggy friends at the Quinta. I can see by spying on Mummy's social media she not only won an award for her business all about ME, but she got married too and has been travelling ever since.

This press release seems to popping up all over the place and believe it's something you should take a look at too.

Glastonbury based children’s brand Zuma the Dog wins big at business awards.

Brand owner Samantha Morgan-Bertish is celebrating after being honoured with two awards for her children’s brand Zuma the Dog. The awards for Small Business of the Year and Overall Business of the Year were presented at the annual Business Matters ceremony by BBC TV presenter Nick Wallis at Gatwick Hilton Hotel in a glittering ceremony earlier this month.

 A spokes person for the event said “Samantha showed dedication and hard work and a determination to make her business work, which is why she was chosen by our judges for these awards”:

I am surprised and ecstatic to be recognised for the work I have put in to get my brand to where it is today.” said Samantha. “With so many other deserving businesses out there I am truly honoured to have won these awards and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and business colleagues.”

Zuma the Dog’s clothing line was launched in Somerset in 2009 and has been gaining strength this year with its award winning books and a TV series which is due to start broadcasting on You Tubes Kids Cast channel this autumn.

Now, I can see on Instagram that Little Stuffed Zuma has been having the time of his life popping up all over Europe. Pop over and take a look at where he's visited. I wonder where he'll end up next?

Much Love

Zuma

XX

Lights! Camera! Action!

 

This year seems to be flying past so fast, spring has certainly settled in and before we know it summer will be here. There has been so many bank holidays just lately and Master C has been off school, so Mummy has had less time for me. I’ve spent some time woofing at the postman and the builders working on the house next door and dreaming about what I would do if they accidentally fell off the wall and landed in the garden. I’m pretty sure I would give them a nice fright, just for my own pleasure. It’s funny seeing humans jump when they hear my high pitch woof.

Mummy and Master C have spent some time over the Easter break being creative and making animated movies starring yours truly. Master C has had fun creating his characters, making the Popagami army and drawing the scenery and I’ve enjoyed watching them focusing on ME! Even though it is indirectly. The movie has made me out to be the hero (as I am), fighting the evil alien invaders and It’s been nice seeing my human family have fun together doing creative activities. For a small boy Master C really does have a great imagination. The result is pawsome! Check it out here and feel free to share his talent. It would be dogtastic to see this go viral!

 

 

I’m pretty sure Mummy will find a way to use this as a way to market my clothing brand. There is always something going on here at Zuma the Dog HQ and often I get dragged into being involved one way or another. I'm seven and a half now and getting too old for all this silliness! I think I’m going to just sit here for a while, staring out to the garden and dream up other ways the world can focus it’s attention on me.

 

 

Much Love

 

Zuma XX