Zoom Media finds musicians with Zoom Unsigned marketing campaign

Zoom Unsigned seeks artists through gym TV and marketing campaign

Campaign name: Zoom Unsigned
Brand: Zoom Media
Audience: Artists, bands and musicians
Regions: UK
Duration: 02/10/2013 and on-going
Channels: Advertising, gym TV channel, microsite, Facebook, Twitter

Social Media Portal (SMP): Brand Zoom Media

Zoom Media (ZM): We are the world?s biggest digital fitness media company, providing screens and entertainment content at gym chains around the world.

SMP: What regions is the campaign for?

ZM: It?s UK focused, but if musical artists from elsewhere want to contact us that?s great.

SMP: The official campaign name and why was it chosen?

ZM: Zoom Unsigned  is a campaign launched by Zoom Media to find the UK?s best unsigned musical artists and give them an opportunity to reach their audience.

SMP: What was the start and end of the campaign?

ZM: It launched on 02/10/2013 and is an ongoing campaign

SMP: What are the target audiences of the campaign, who are you trying to reach and why?

ZM: Singers and bands who want to break through and be heard.

SMP: Briefly, tell us about your campaign

ZM: We are inviting unsigned singers and bands to contact us with their tracks and music videos.  We will use the best as unique content on our own Zoom high-energy music channel providing them with an audience of 14+million individuals each month.  Music is an important part of our business so investment in it is key.  Our hope is that we get people noticed and, who knows, even signed.

SMP: What are the goals of the campaign and why is it different?

ZM: We have never done anything like this before.  We are already a major music broadcaster, playing 180,000 music videos every day.  Our aim is to give something back and invest in the music industry. Ultimately, though, we want to find the next big band and artist and get them seen.  Also, as our business is about entertaining our health club member audience with a combination of content we hope that Zoom Unsigned will enable us to find something unique for our members and ensure that we cater for all tastes.

SMP: Why has Zoom Media decided to launch this type of campaign, what benefit is it to the business?  

ZM: With the advances of technology, the openness of social media and the development of our product, we felt it necessary to bring something new and exciting to our audience of health club members and also to the general public.  There is a huge amount of musical talent out there that is going unnoticed and what better vehicle to use than our Gym TV channel.



SMP: What are the channels, platforms and methods you?re using?

ZM: We are promoting Zoom Unsigned with advertising on our own Gym TV, using Facebook and Twitter @zoomunsigned. Artists can contact us through any of these channels or email us at zoomunsigned @ zoommedia.com.  We also have a partnership with Rormix who provide an App for unsigned artists, an ad playing on Gym TV and an A&R (Artists & Repertoire) team who visit band nights and gigs up and down the country.   

SMP: What do you hope to achieve?  

ZM: We want to help artists make it big without them having to sit in front of Simon Cowell, perform in front of revolving, oversized chairs or even compete against dancing dogs.  It really couldn?t be simpler!  In the first three months we have had 400 submissions of videos and tracks of which 250 have been accepted and are being played on Gym TV (or in-gym TV screens).  These submissions have come from gym members, health club employees and even X Factor boot camp hopefuls. We are starting to get word of mouth driving up momentum of submissions and also seeing traffic and engagement across all our channels is building too.

SMP: What were the challenges in creating the campaign and how did you overcome them?  

ZM: In fact, the overwhelming response has been so positive, challenges have been few.  Setting up something so different has been a little out of our comfort zone but we do relish a challenge at Zoom.

SMP: What are you doing to measure the campaign and what measurement tools do you have in place to do this?  

ZM: The success of this campaign is simply measured by the talent submitted. If we can help just one artist break through, we?ll be happy!

SMP: What is the budget used for the campaign?

ZM: The budget stems more from our time and opportunity cost than a big marketing budget.

SMP: How are you making the campaign social and shareable?  

ZM: Facebook and Twitter are perfect forums for Zoom Unsigned.  There is the Zoom Unsigned website which people are interacting with and then there is the Gym TV advert which we are having a huge response from.

SMP: Are there any dedicated hashtags or social media profiles for the campaign and how/why did you chose these?

ZM: We haven?t used a designated hashtag for this campaign but word of mouth is spreading very fast. People that are using Facebook and Twitter are also referring their friends and family to the sites.

SMP: Where can we see it?

ZM: More information is at the for Zoom Unsigned wesbite.  The chosen artists will be aired on Gym TV and there is also the potential for us to add even more support by adding their videos to our Vimeo channel.
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SMP: Is there anything else we should know, or is there anything in particular that you?d like to share about the campaign?

ZM: Sure, this campaign is open to anyone who wants their music to be heard - do you, or anyone else you know, think they could make it? There?s a ?hidden hair brush in front of the mirror? artist in all of us after all!


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