Tag Archives: Samsung

Former Roblox VP Jon Vlassopulos joins advisory board at metaverse company Dubit

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Dubit, the creator of metaverse experiences, games, and events for brands, has announced the appointment of Jon Vlassopulos – former Roblox VP, Global Head of Music – to its advisory board. 
Vlassopulos joins following almost three years leading music initiatives at Roblox, which reaches over 200 million users a month with games and experiences, and where he remains an advisor. The groundbreaking virtual concerts and experiences that he produced for major artists like Lil Nas X, Twenty One Pilots, KSI, 24KGoldn and Zara Larsson, reached and engaged over 100M people around the world.
Dubit recently created the first virtual experiences for the two biggest music awards shows, the BRITs and the Grammys, featuring standout virtual performances from viral UK artist Pink Pantheress and Latin star Camilo. The company is also behind Samsung’s Superstar Galaxy, which last Friday 17 June) showcased an exclusive concert from British singer-songwriter Charli XCX.
Vlassopulus will work with Dubit in a senior advisory capacity on future metaverse strategies, supporting its partnerships with brands, publishers, artists, and metaverse platforms.
Announcing the appointment, Matthew Warneford, CEO and Co-Founder of Dubit, commented: “We have had the pleasure of working closely with Jon and his team on multiple occasions over the past couple of years, and we’re thrilled he has chosen to join our advisory board. Jon’s relationships, unrivalled experience and creative production expertise will be an invaluable part of our ongoing strategy to help forward-thinking brands, artists and events activate in the metaverse.”
“Dubit became a trusted partner during my time at Roblox delivering entertaining and immersive virtual experiences for our music and brand partners,” says Vlassopulos. “The beauty of the metaverse is its power to reach and engage massive global audiences that are unreachable on other platforms and in the real world. Dubit’s ability to create experiences for this new medium that strengthens bonds between fans, brands and artists is among the best in the business. I’m looking forward to working with them to help conceive and activate many more iconic virtual events and experiences on platforms like Roblox.”
The possibilities are limitless for branded events and musical experiences in the metaverse. As well as Roblox (over 200m monthly active users), Minecraft (170m), and Fortnite (270m), newer platforms such as Core and web3 based platforms including The Sandbox are providing unprecedented choice and depth of experience for audiences.

Pets Rock and Mr Time launch new smartwatch faces for Samsung in Korean market move

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The British pop art brand, Pets Rock has partnered with the global smartwatch app company, Mr Time to launch a series of licensed watch faces for Samsung watches. The deal extends the British brand’s presence in Korea where it is represented by BrandKind Workshop.

The deal sees Mr Time launch watch faces with two characters from Pets Rock through the Mr Time app on both iOS and Android for the global market, while at the same time release a case designed for Samsung Galaxy S21, Buds, and Samsung Galaxy Smart Watch straps to the online and brick and mortar stores in Korea.

As part of its first marketing activity, the Pets Rock digital accessories are spreading quickly in the crowdfunding platform Wadiz, and three more of Pets Rock watch faces will be additionally released through the Mr.Time app in July.

The deal has been managed by Brandkind Workshop, a brand management house based in Korea, a licensing representative for global brands including CoComelon, Pilot Instruments Collection, and Alchemy England with the remit of introducing them to the Korean and other Asian markets.

Pets Rock MD, Kate Polyblank, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Mr Time to bring animated Pets Rock characters to Samsung watches. It’s a fabulous showcase for the characters. This deal extends our presence in Korea where we have lots of exciting collaborations launching soon. Watch this space.”

WildBrain partners with Samsung to launch new kids’ and teen channels featuring its hit series

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WildBrain has forged a partnership with Samsung to launch multiple new kids’ and teen channels featuring a range of series from its content library on Samsung TV Plus, a free ad-supported video service distributed exclusively on Samsung smart TVs.

The first new linear channels have now launched to millions of Samsung users, with “Caillou and Friends” in Spain and France and “Teletubbies and Friends” in Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This initial launch will be followed in spring and summer 2021 by Degrassi channels for teens in the US and Canada, plus additional kids’ channels across European territories featuring Strawberry Shortcake, Bob the Builder and other favourite series from WildBrain’s library.

The partnership with Samsung represents the first time WildBrain has launched ad-supported linear channels on a connected-TV service in Europe and comes as new research shows smart TVs and ad-supported video streaming have become favourite viewing options in both US and European homes.

The recent nScreenMedia report “Making Screen Time Family Time”, which was sponsored by WildBrain Spark, found that 62 per cent of 3,000 US parents surveyed choose smart TVs as the most popular devices for co-viewing with children in the home.

75 per cent watch content with their children several times a week or more, and 90 per cent said ad-supported video is an important entertainment source for their children.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s “Behind the Screens” report on accelerating viewership trends found that ad-supported video-on-demand consumption grew by 29 per cent since January 2020 across over 30 million Samsung smart TVs in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Samsung is the clear leader in global smart TV sales, with over 14 million units sold in Q3 2020, almost double their nearest competitor, according to market research firm Trendforce.

“All indicators show that connected TVs are the new choice for home viewing and that families are increasingly turning to ad-supported video services on this platform as a source of quality entertainment,” said Deirdre Brennan, EVP, content partnerships at WildBrain.

“Through this exciting partnership with Samsung TV Plus we will offer distinct channels that draw on WildBrain’s deep content library, allowing us to share iconic shows like Teletubbies, Caillou, Strawberry Shortcake and Degrassi with millions of families across North America and Europe.”