Program Encore Rewards Indie Bands and Fans
July 14, 2008, New York, NY – Castle Brands Inc. (AMEX: ROX), an emerging international spirits company, today announced the launch of its second “Defend the Bar Band” competition sponsored by Boru Vodka.
The first “Defend the Bar Band” competition was a tremendous success. Over 100 bands entered the competition and over 80,000 votes were cast. Boru Vodka has established a strong relationship with last year’s winning band, Lloyd Dobler Effect (LDE). The band has become a significant brand ambassador for Boru, traveling the country with a Boru-branded trailer and performing in front of a Boru-branded backdrop. Since claiming their title last November, the band has crisscrossed the eastern seaboard and will perform at over 200 gigs this year.
For the 2008 contest, Boru plans to rock the indie music world with a bigger, bolder and louder competition. The multi-tiered program will kick off on August 1, 2008 with the launch of www.borubarband.com, a website dedicated to the competition and a mini-site offshoot of www.boru.com. Independent musicians have until August 28 to submit their original music and enter the competition. A team of judges will review all entries and narrow the field to 15 semifinalists. The semifinalist bands will be posted on www.borubarband.com and then the competition really starts to rock.
Beginning September 15, 2008, music fans can explore the site, listen to and download the music of the semifinalists and be part of this unique, virtual music scene. Fans are also invited to register and vote for their favorite bar band. They can vote once a day every day and each vote enters them into the fan sweepstakes where they have a chance to win $5,000 in cash.
Fans have until October 19, 2008 to get the word out and to vote for their favorite band. Real time voting results will appear on www.borubarband.com. The top four bands will each receive a prize of a professionally shot live music video and will move on to the final round of voting the week of October 20, 2008. The “Defend the Bar Band” winner will be selected through a combination of consumer votes and a judging panel vote and will receive $10,000 worth of equipment. The winning band will be announced on or about November 11, 2008.
This year, Boru Vodka is partnering with some of the best web-based independent music sites in the country. Digital Café Tour (DCT) (www.digitalcafetour.com) is the virtual stage for independent music. In addition to providing the live music video for the top four finalists, DCT will carry “Defend the Bar Band” banner ads and will be sending email blasts to their vast database of bands and fans. Over 500,000 musicians and a million fans visit each month.
ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com) is one of the best-known websites dedicated to musicians and it is the place for fans to discover and explore new music. Banner ads and e-blasts will deliver about 3 million impressions. As part of ReverbNation, every band has a home page that includes music, videos, blogs and music downloads that can be e-mailed and shared from fan to fan.
Boru will also host “Defend the Bar Band” on-premise promotions across the country with events, point of sale merchandise and local advertising in select markets.
