Catchword’s excellence in verbal identity has been formally recognized again this year, this time with a gold statue from the MarCom Awards for the brand name and tagline URSA: Music Extreaming.
“We are absolutely delighted to receive the gold in our first entry into this prestigious competition,” said Catchword principal Mark Skoultchi. “The Catchword team includes several musicians, and we are all music lovers, so working with Ursa to name their innovative service was especially rewarding.”
What is Ursa?
Although consumers have many options for streaming music, most subscription-based services focus solely on maximum music delivery and curation/recommendation algorithms. This data-driven environment provides little opportunity for artists and fans to interact in meaningful ways.
URSA is the first music streaming platform to be developed by veteran music professionals. Their mission to place artists at the center of the streaming experience gives listeners an opportunity to go deeper with the music and artists they love while they are listening. It is the only subscription music platform where artists can share content like photos and liner notes directly alongside their music. Expanded artist profiles and unparalleled artist account administration and features enable artists to truly shape their online presence. And music industry pros are called out with linkable song credits, a new avenue to discovering new music through the entire team that produces it.
Catchword worked closely with the founders to develop an engaging, memorable name and tagline for the company and its platform that appeals to both artists and fans.
The name Ursa recalls Ursa Major (the Great Bear, also known as the Big Dipper), lyrically suggesting a constellation of streaming services and the connections between music’s bright lights—artists, audience, music production team, and of course the music itself.
The name’s layers of meaning unfold as the customer interacts with the brand, rewarding continued engagement, much like the platform rewards deeper engagement between artists and fans and listeners and the music.
The tagline Music Extreaming succinctly conveys the brand’s deeper, richer way of streaming music and balances the company name’s abstract poetry.
Ursa debuted at South by Southwest in Austin last March and is now available for download.
The Awards
The MarCom Awards honors excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals.
Since its inception in 2004, MarCom has evolved into one of the largest, most-respected creative competitions in the world. Each year about 6,000 print and digital entries are submitted from dozens of countries.
MarCom is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, an international organization of marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production, and freelance professionals.
AMCP judges are experienced industry professionals looking for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.
