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

What's out there?

“Zuma! It’s bed time. Do you want wee wees?”

The front door to our log cabin opened as it did every night, ready to let me out for my evening wee before I snuggled with my family in our beanbag for the night. I was met with the usually deep darkness that comes with living in the middle of nowhere. The winter was tough and the cooling spring air was fresh as a night lay still. The blackened forest opposite was quiet, until…..

“Shhhh. Can you here that?” My human breathed gently.

My senses kicked in as my tails stood to attention, twitching in the dark. I couldn’t see a thing in the black, though my nose picked up a smell as my ears pricked up and turned my head to its side to make sense of what I was hearing. Out of the blackness I could hear it. Behind the felled tress and piled up logs cut down by the woodsman, not 10 meters from our secluded home was the start of the forest and a deep thump of a heavy footstep as it cracked sticks and logs in its wake. Something was out there. Something big. We had seen many deer come close to our home before and we had heard of various creatures living out there in the dark, but this, this was nothing we would expect. It was a deep, booming footstep from something large, something heavy, something unusual, something scary. 

What's out there? 

First snow fall in October made for pretty photo's of our forest

-16 degrees in the Swiss Alps. Everything Froze

Zuma has never known it so cold.

The snow didn't stop him from enjoying his walks. 

Small Dog in Best 90 List

Award winning brand gets listed

Brand owner Samantha Morgan-Bertish is celebrating today when she discovered her latest book Zuma the Dog: The Dinosaur Guy was listed in The Best Children’s Books of 2017 compiled by Tutora.

Zuma the Dog: The Dinosaur Guy available now to buy on Amazon

The list was compiled by tutora.co.uk to encourage parents and children to explore new opportunities for reading. They reached out to 100s of book reviewers, authors, illustrators and independent book stores for recommendations on what to include.

 “I was stunned to receive the news my book had been nominated.” Says Bertish. “And I am honoured my book is being so well received. It’s amazing to be included on this list with such acclaimed authors such as Julia Donaldson and Philip Pullman.”

While the book continues to sell on Amazon, fans of Zuma the Dog will be happy to know this particular story will soon be available to watch as a part of Zuma the Dog’s animated series on the children’s entertainment platform Kidscast TV. Dates for its release are yet to be confirmed.

Small Dog Digs up New Award

I am blown away by the amount of good news I'm reading about Mummy's hard work right now. It looks like her patience is paying off and here is another exciting announcement we have been celebrating.

This press release is out now about our good news.

Award winning 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 Likes to Dig, the first picture book in the pre-school series The Adventures of Zuma the Dog has been chosen as a finalist in The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards. This exciting news coincides with the launch of her fourth book Zuma the Dog: The Dinosaur Guy, both of which are available to buy from Amazon worldwide.

 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.

Always keen to have mummy read about me to me

“I am delighted and honoured that we have been chosen as a finalist for this award. It means so much to me 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 with licensing deals including a clothing range and an online TV show.

The winners will be announced on 1^st April.

Zuma Likes to Dog: Finalist in book awards

Search Samantha Bertish on Amazon to find all Zuma the Dog book releases worldwide. The Adventures of Zuma the Dog series is available to buy at all good UK book retailers.

I recommend you give my books a go. Your kids will love them and there's nothing better than falling asleep to a story about a dog. The perfect bedtime story all about me!

Much Love

Zuma XX

Back to School

So, this week is Back to School week. I don’t know about you, but it has certainly been a very long summer break. Master C certainly needs to be back amongst his friends and Mummy really needs to get back into work mode and get her focus back to ME and all things that surround ME! Ten weeks is really far too long for the schools to be closed in my opinion.

I spent a good chunk of my time hang out with my favourite trainer, playing at his farm and being generally quite spoilt, while Mummy and Master C gallivanted across the globe in search of inspiration for new styles and Mummy tells me she even wrote a new Zuma the Dog book. Can’t wait to start seeing that come to life.

Mummy said she was sorry that I couldn’t come with her and was sad I couldn’t experience all the fun they had in Brazil and England. She took stuffed Zuma with her to make up for it and it does look like he had a great time. To be honest though, I know I had the best time where I was and as much as they enjoyed seeing lots of new things and making friends with strange new creatures, rolling around in a dusty old farm, digging up rotten old balls and long walks on the sunset beach is a much better holiday for me.

 

Apparently Stuffed Zuma got really good at photo bombing and here are some of Mummy's snap shots to prove it. 

Relaxing and enjoying the river in the Rainforest of Brazil

 

"Look Mummy, this is where they grow Bananas"

 

"Don't you think this would make a great location for a photo shoot for Zuma the Dog?"

 

The locals are so friendly

 

Super fun ride on the cable car. Mummy and Daddy zipped lined down this.

 

Awesome view of Balneario Camboriu from Unipraias Adventure park

 

We loved all the animals and birds at the Botanical Gardens in Joinville

 

A romantic trip through the Rain Forest by train

 

So many palm trees at Rua da Palmeira

 

I am relaxed and ready to face my public and enjoy what is ahead for Zuma the Dog. New school term equal new adventures for us all. Bring them on!

 

Much Love

 

Zuma XX

 

 

Back to Business

We love learning language at our office, new words every day. I’m learning Pekingese, Dachshund and Shih Tzu. and I have to say the accent on Shih Tzu is quite difficult to get to grips with. Foreign language learning for children is really important in the world we all live in today and here at Zuma the Dog HQ we are continuously looking for new ways to promote our new bilingual books series as well as the books of our affiliates.

 

Our original book series can be bought online and in goodbook retailers, but our bilingual range is a little more niche and we have come up with a plan to get this range into your homes with Zuma the Dog – Books at Home. This is the chance for you to get the books at home. Sell the books and earn commission on sales. Meet new people. Hold parties and events. Build a network and earn commission on their sales and work all this around your daily routine. Sounds pawsome to me!

 

Print & colour activities for parties
and events

It’s simple to get started just email us at zuma@zumathedog.com to order your starter kit, which includes 15 books, 10 stuffed dog key rings, our printable Books at Home catalogue and order form and other children's activities. 

 

Stuffed key rings comes in your
starter pack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Build your network and become a team leader and watch your income grow. Below shows a simple diagram of how this can work for you.

 

 

 It's up to you how many team members you have on level two and how many team members your level two team want to take on. Remember the bigger your team, the more you earn!

 

 It's easy, simple and fun! I am here to take your enquiry. Get in touch today! 

 

Much Love

 

Zuma xx