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

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

SMALL DOG HEADING FOR THE STARS

A new press release put out by Mummy, Zuma the Dog and its' a whopper. You're gonna want to read this one.

Bertish & Company Ltd, owners of the children’s character brand Zuma the Dog are celebrating today as they announce their new partnership agreement with media production company Transcendent Media Capital Ltd. The two companies are coming together in partnership to create a Zuma the Dog motion picture production company with the same name as the character IP.

Transcendent Media Capital managed by award winning writer, director and producer Peta Milan, who has strong connections with Hollywood, specialises in social and environmental impact content. They use media production and technology initiatives to affect change. 

An animated TV show for children between the ages of 4 and 10 is being developed for Zuma the Dog, intended to teach children communication and conflict resolution skills, tolerance and diversity with strong anti-bullying messaging. Zuma and his pals will encounter all kinds of tricky life situations during their adventures and search for solutions that involve non-violence, boundary setting and effective communication. Full of laughs and mishaps, Zuma and the wisdom of his friends will give practical guidance and teach kids important lessons throughout each episode.

“This is such an exciting step for Zuma the Dog”. Says Samantha Bertish, director of Bertish & Company Ltd and creator of the IP. “Being able to put my character to good use for such a great cause, means so much to me and we are delighted to be partnering with such a prestigious media company.”

Work on the animation development starts later in the Autumn.

Bertish & Company Ltd and Transcendent Media Capital partnering for greater impact. 

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

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 Join Pop Up Squad

It's always Go Go Go at Zuma the Dog HQ and as if Mummy didn't have enough to do working for ME on my brand, she's also got herself involved with other projects too. Sounds to me this is quite a worthy one, where Mummy can pass on the benefit of her expertise and advise those looking to start up for themselves. Here's the press release below.

Glastonbury based children’s brand Zuma the Dog become adviser with You Tube Channel.

Brand owner Samantha Morgan-Bertish is proud to announce her collaboration as an adviser with new You Tube Channel My Perfect Pop Up Shop. After working for several years with pop up shops to launch her children’s brand, Zuma the Dog, Samantha was asked by fellow entrepreneur and author Daisy White to join her new initiative in helping other small business owners when setting up their own pop up shops.

“My Perfect Pop Up Shop has been designed to inform, inspire and create the biggest global archive of pop ups. There’s advice from experienced Pop Up shop owners and entrepreneurs too”. Explains Daisy White. “The Do’s the Don’ts and tips from Pop-ups from around the world”.

 The channel was launched in September this year and has been gaining popularity in recent months. “I am excited to be asked to join this fantastic new project as a “Pop UP Squad” member”. Says Morgan-Bertish. “Believe me, I’ve not exactly got it right in the past and have a lot of advice to offer”.

You can subscribe to My Perfect Pop Up Shop on You Tube for free and see Samantha’s video from Portugal and advice from other Pop Up Squad members.

 You can also follow on Facebook too.

That's certainly something I would look out for if I was starting out again. But you know what? The best place is being the boss. Have everyone do it all for me.It's not so easy for me to do the hard work. I don't have thumbs!

Much Love

Zuma

xx

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

Little Dog signs Licensing Agent

So, this is why Mummy has been so busy just lately. Would have been nice to know she was signing me to an agent. I guess now I can say "Talk to my agent!"

Zuma the Dog finds growth through Licensing

Glastonbury based start up Children’s brand Zuma the Dog is excited to announce they have now signed a Licensing Agent. Those Licensing People based in North Yorkshire is set to grow the brands awareness outside its original clothing line.

  TLP will represent Zuma the Dog, with an initial project being a TV series aimed at 4-6 year olds to be broadcast worldwide via its YouTube Channel Zuma the Dog TV. This will open up Zuma the Dog to an international market and give the ability for the brand to extend outside its current online market with licensed products such as stationary, plush collectibles, toys, gifts and apps. Award winning marketing company Weird Lime will be heading up all the marketing to compliment all licensed products. “This is an exciting step forward for Zuma the Dog”. Says owner/creator Samantha Morgan “we are really looking forward to working with TLP and Weird Lime and will continue to make sure Zuma the Dog’s core brand philosophy stays in the forefront of the TV series and any new licensed products.”

Samantha will continue to concentrate her efforts on the clothing line and hopes the licensed products will bring more brand awareness and free up time for her to continue designing fabulous fashion for kids.

Little Stuffed Zuma is all ready

for Christmas

What exciting news this is to end what has been a fabulous year for the whole family. I can't wait to see myself on TV and going over right now to subscribe to Zuma the Dog TV. I suggest you do the same to be sure you get the very latest on the TV show.         

With Christmas just around the corner there is still time to get your hands on some of our award winning Zuma the Dog products and our books make great stocking fillers too.

We hope you enjoy this special time with your families and we will be back in the New Year with more news and updates about our TV series and other escapades from Zuma the Dog HQ.

Much Love

Zuma XX