Brands, Advertisers Tune into VerveLife’s New Customizable Music Store Containing 170,000 Latino Tunes

Chicago, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/11/2011 -- VerveLife, a leader in tech-driven music marketing solutions, announced today the launch of RhymbaLatino, the first customizable promotional music store containing nearly 170,000 pre-licensed songs for the Latino audience.

The total spending of the Latino market is predicted by Forrester Research to reach $1.4 trillion in 2013, requiring brands to focus on this audience. RhymbaLatino's musical breadth provides advertisers with a turnkey solution to connect with this diverse and musically engaged population.

Chosen under the musical guidance of Thom Russo, who has won 11 Latin Grammys for his work as a Latin music producer, engineer and songwriter, RhymbaLatino's tunes reflect the tastes and lifestyles of the audience. RhymbaLatino's catalog includes music ranging from today's cutting-edge tunes to popular classics from Latin America, Spain and the American Latino community. The music library contains artists like Shakira, Mana, Pit Bull, Juanes and Enrique Iglesias. A mix of musical styles provides something for everyone: salsa, boleros, hip-hop, calypso, Latin jazz, norteno, Latin rock, reggaeton and bachata.

"VerveLife received such a positive response from current and prospective clients on the launch of our first two promotional music stores, RhymbaKid and RhymbaTween, that it was only natural to build on that success," said Victor Siegel, president and CEO of VerveLife. "With the Latino music scene exploding, this customizable library allows brands to leverage our marketing expertise to fulfill an unmet need in the advertising industry."

RhymbaLatino offers a host of unique features to build customer engagement:

• Bilingual navigation that allows consumers to choose Spanish or English
• A one-of-a-kind platform to handle streaming or downloading, delivery, redemption, tracking, and reporting
• Branded streaming radio with five pre-set stations or stations that can be customized by genre, mood, or activity
• Brand messaging between tracks, and single-click cart checkout
• Customized interface allows brands to use their logos, colors, and brand icons
• Powerful data and analytics system to track music, manage codes, and report usage

"With the surging growth of the Hispanic audiences and their increase in spending, we can't think of a better product to be launching at this time. We look forward to working closely with U.S. marketers and their agencies to customize RhymbaLatino to meet their market needs," Siegel said. "VerveLife's RhymbaLatino clearly meets industry demand."

About VerveLife
With offices in Chicago, New York and Dallas, VerveLife provides the most comprehensive technology-based products, creative services, and digital music marketing expertise to brands and retailers looking to attract and engage consumers, accelerate growth and build relationships that drive loyalty. The company has earned numerous awards for its work in the digital music promotions industry. Learn more about VerveLife at http://www.VerveLife.com

Requests for media and industry analyst Interviews
Please contact Lauren Russ at lauren@connectcomsinc.com or 773.972.7060 to schedule an interview with VerveLife CEO Victor Siegel. Video, b-roll, screen grabs and photos are available upon request.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Chicago, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/29/2011 -- The Marketing to Moms Coalition announced today that The Quaker Oats Company, a division of PepsiCo, is the recipient of the prestigious 2011 H.E.R. award for the "Quaker "Afterschool Rocks" campaign for Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. The H.E.R award recognizes companies that honor, empower and respect mothers through their marketing and public relations campaigns.

"The Quaker 'Afterschool Rocks' campaign pays tribute to the fact that moms enjoy bonding with their children through music," says Teri Lucie Thompson, a founding member of the Marketing to Moms Coalition and Chief Marketing Officer, Purdue University. "The campaign is fresh, well-executed, and perfectly in tune with pop culture. It's a thoroughly modern example of how to reach moms effectively."

The Quaker Chewy Afterschool Rocks Campaign, in partnership with VerveLife, a leader of tech-driven music marketing solutions, included:

• Exclusive video content from musical artists Jordin Sparks, Jason Derulo and Gloriana, who discussed the positive influences their moms have had on their lives

• A library of 250 "mom-approved" songs curated by Quaker Chewy, housed on a special website for listening and downloading

• Retail video endcap displays

• On-package promotion

• A cause-marketing affiliation with the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit organization

"The goal of the campaign was to use music to inspire healthy lifestyles, balanced nutrition and the importance of staying active afterschool," says Bill Fiely, director of Quaker Snack Bars. "We accomplished this by positioning Quaker Chewy Granola Bars as the official snack of afterschool and rewarding purchase with music downloads for families to build their Afterschool Rocks Soundtrack together."

For more information about the Marketing to Moms Coalition and the H.E.R. award, visit http://www.marketingtomomscoalition.org.

For more information about the Quaker Chewy Afterschool Rocks promotion, log on to http://www.quakeroats.com/about-quaker-oats/content/after-school-rocks/default.aspx.

For additional information about VerveLife, check out http://www.VerveLife.com.

About the Marketing to Moms Coalition
The Marketing to Moms Coalition is the only industry group dedicated to furthering an understanding of America's most powerful consumers. A not-for-profit organization, the group's goal is to share knowledge and insights about moms to help marketers create programs that engage and empower this driving force of the American economy. More information about the coalition can be found at http://www.marketingtomomscoalition.org.

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
Quality afterschool programs and wholesome snacks go hand-in-hand. Research shows nearly 90 percent of children ages 4 to 13 consume less than one serving of whole grains per day. 16 grams of whole grain in a food product is considered one serving of whole grain. The USDA recommends making half of your daily intake of grains whole and further recommends that the average American consume at least 3 servings (48 grams) of whole grains per day.

As the Official Snack of Afterschool, Quaker Chewy Granola Bars are a delicious and convenient snack option. With 8 grams of whole grains in each Quaker Chewy Granola Bar, children receive half a serving of whole grains in one bar. Quaker Chewy Granola Bars come individually wrapped and contain no high fructose corn syrup, making them a great afterschool snack moms feel good about serving.

About The Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company, headquartered in Chicago, is a unit of PepsiCo, Inc., one of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies. For more than 130 years, Quaker's brands have served as symbols of quality, great taste and nutrition. Holding No. 1 positions in their respective categories, Quaker Oats, Quaker Rice Cakes and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars are consumer favorites. For more information, please visit http://www.QuakerOats.com.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales each. Our main businesses -- Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi Cola -- also make hundreds of other enjoyable and wholesome foods and beverages that are respected household names throughout the world. With net revenues of approximately $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment, including by conserving energy and water usage, and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support, and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit http://www.pepsico.com.

About VerveLife
With offices in Chicago, New York and Dallas, VerveLife provides the most comprehensive, technology-based products, creative services, and digital music marketing expertise to brands and retailers looking to attract and engage consumers, accelerate growth and build relationships that drive loyalty. The company has earned numerous awards for its work in the digital music promotions industry. Learn more about VerveLife at http://www.VerveLife.com, or on the company's blog, Twitter stream or Facebook page

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

First Customizable Music Stores That Allow Brands a Turnkey Way to Use Thousands of Family-Friendly Tunes as Promotional Rewards

Chicago, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/27/2011 -- Brands can now use music to reward children and tweens without worrying about explicit lyrics and risque content.

VerveLife, a leading force in tech-driven music marketing, today launched the industry's first customizable children's and tween's promotional music stores, RhymbaKid and RhymbaTween. The stores allow marketers to offer age-appropriate music downloading and streaming, delivering peace of mind to parents concerned about what their children are hearing.

"The 62 million-strong group of U.S. tweens and kids wields $58 billion in annual spending power," said VerveLife CEO and President Victor Siegel. "We listened closely to our clients, identified an unmet need, and delivered the most innovative kid-friendly promotional music stores designed to help marketers reward kids and tweens for purchases and loyalty. This is the first rollout of several niche-focused promotional music stores, breaking new ground in the music marketing industry."

RhymbaKid offers more than 5,000 pre-licensed and curated tracks, from the hottest pop tunes to popular classics, all screened to ensure the language and subject matter are appropriate for the under-9 set. Artists include the Plain White T's, Verve Pipe, Justin Bieber, Jack Johnson, and Miranda Cosgrove, among many others. The site is designed in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

"RhymbaTween offers marketers an extensive library of tween-appropriate content that isn't objectionable to parents but still seen as cool to tweens," said Colleen Fahey, Chief Strategy Office of VerveLife. "Music is an important influencer of a tween's life so we wanted to provide a wide collection of clean tunes that lack worrisome lyrics but still include the brightest and most diverse musical acts around. The store does not include any music too babyish or childish for tween ears."

The RhymbaKid and RhymbaTween stores offer a turnkey marketing solution that can be up-and-running in days. To keep tracks fresh, new music is screened and updated weekly. Companies can customize interfaces to maintain brand consistency, or insert messaging between music tracks to increase brand interaction. Brands can also create radio stations and playlists by genre, mood or activity, providing an immersive consumer experience. It's the only single platform from which streaming, downloading, delivery, redemption, tracking and reporting can be handled.

"VerveLife understands how to use music in marketing better than anyone, which is why these stores represent the foundation of an entirely new business for us," said Siegel. "We already have the relationships in the music ecosystem, and when combined with our extensive resources and expertise we further become a leading source for brands wanting to use the power of music to reach consumers."

About VerveLife
With offices in Chicago, New York and Dallas, VerveLife provides the most comprehensive, technology-based products, creative services, and digital music marketing expertise to brands and retailers looking to attract and engage consumers, accelerate growth and build relationships that drive loyalty. The company has earned numerous awards for its work in the digital music promotions industry. Learn more about VerveLife at http://www.VerveLife.com, or on the company's blog, Twitter stream or Facebook page.

Requests for media and industry analyst Interviews
Please contact Lauren Russ at lauren@connectcomsinc.com or 773.972.7060 to schedule an interview with VerveLife CEO Victor Siegel. Video, b-roll, screen grabs and photos are available upon request.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm