An update: How Zippie and Blacture’s collaboration is making waves in the wider world
Back in May this year, Zippie made history partnering with Blacture to create the US market’s first ever blockchain-powered smartphone. Blacture is the brainchild of Grammy and Emmy award-winning entertainer and humanitarian Pras Michél. Described as a tech platform dedicated to uplifting the black community through economic empowerment, the project, of which the smartphone is a key component, has big aspirations. In short, it aims to “begin a new era in black culture through technology and education.”
Blockchain power to the people
So where does Zippie come in? Well for a start, like Blacture, we envision a decentralized world where everyone can regain control of their digital life and have access to life-empowering tech. To turn this vision into reality, the Zippie OS is powering Blacture’s M1 smartphone. What this means in practise is that users of the M1 will be among the first in the US to take control of their digital identity. Rather than give their data away for free, they can start earning from it. This enables them, for example, to be rewarded for making purchases or helping to grow the community. These rewards become points, which can be redeemed using the Blacture prepaid card. As you can see from Blacture’s website, the potential really is astonishing. So, how has the project been progressing?
Reaching an audience of billions
Well, as we mentioned in our last monthly update, our partnership with Blacture is blossoming and the project is gaining much-deserved media attention. The marketing campaign was kicked off in fine style by a commercial teasing the initiative, which aired during the 2018 Super Bowl in February. The news coverage around the Super Bowl commercial resulted in an estimated 1.1 billion earned media impressions worth around $1.7 million of publicity. It was also ranked as one of the 5 Best Super Bowl Ads by The Chicago Tribune and one of the 7 Super Bowl Commercials That Gave Us Hope by The Washington Post.
A very, very busy six months
After the official launch on May 2nd, at the University of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh City Council officially declared May 2nd Blacture Day. In the following week afterwards, Blacture featured on Marketing Today with Alan Hard, TMZ Live and CNBC Squawk Box. In September, Michél also appeared at Mobile World Congress Americas, the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry. In another historic first, it was the first time anyone had debuted a product specifically created for a specific community.
As Michél said at the event, “ Blacture was formed to address the lack of diversity that exists within the tech industry. We are not trying to compete with anyone, rather we want to educate and empower our people so that they have the necessary tools to take on the challenges of tomorrow.”
Only last week Michél attended Ad Week’s Elevate Blockchain, an event in New York, which addressed how blockchain will impact the media industry. This gathering had speakers from companies as diverse as IBM, Boston Consulting Group and Saatchi & Saatchi. By the end of this year, the Blacture pre-order website will also be up, giving the public the chance to order the USA’s first, Zippie-powered, blockchain smartphone. In summary, it’s been a very, very busy few months.
Pioneering the future of blockchain
Needless to say, we’ve been working hard to help at every step of the way. Our aim has been to refine the user experience and co-brand the M1 in a way that enhances Blacture’s image and ensures that Zippie is rightfully seen as a tech pioneer. Once we’ve completed this, we believe Blacture and Zippie will be seen as co-creators of the blockchain space’s most innovative mass-market product. We’re super excited to be part of the Blacture movement and help bring this blockchain smartphone to life and look forward to the M1 being launched.
In the meantime, if you’d like to follow the progress of Zippie, join our community on Telegram, Twitter, Reddit and YouTube. We look forward to seeing you there!
