Quaker Oats Launches With New Digital Application Zazu to Help Consumers Get an Amazing Start to the Day

CHICAGO, Sept. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Instead of the harsh buzz of your bedside alarm, digital start-up company Zazu and The Quaker Oats Company, a division of PepsiCo, want you to wake up to a soothing voice relaying the day's information that's most important to you: local weather, your daily calendar, traffic, news and even breakfast ideas.  That's the idea behind the new "Zazu Mornings" application launched recently for Android and Apple iOS.  

The free application, launched at the DEMO Conference this week in Silicon Valley, is the first of its kind and aims to be the ultimate morning companion by allowing a new level of interaction with personal data.  Users are able to customize their information sources and set alarms that trigger the delivery of a personal newscast first thing in the morning and throughout the day, all from a humanized voice.  

The application also features an integration with what many would also consider an ultimate morning companion – Quaker Oats. Through the application, users are intermittently given a personalized brand experience, including product suggestions offered in the context of their day.

"Zazu is a new opportunity for us to connect with our consumers when our products are most relevant to them," said Barbara Liss, Director of Digital for Quaker Oats. "For example, with Zazu, when a user wakes up to a snowy day with back-to-back meetings, we can share the idea to start their morning with the latest weather report and Instant Quaker Oatmeal, for a breakfast that will warm them up and help sustain them for their morning activities."

Zazu CEO Punit Shah mentioned, "Contextualized integration is an incredible opportunity for a brand to have a meaningful interaction with a user; Quaker is the perfect pilot partner given today's focus of our technology in the morning space. Current campaign data already indicates CTR's multiple times that of industry average."

Zazu is part of the inaugural class of PepsiCo10, the company's digital incubator program.  PepsiCo10, matches technology, media and communications entrepreneurs with PepsiCo brands to activate pilot programs in digital media and social marketing.  Personalizing the brand experience through social and digital media has become a business driver across the industry.

The company recently launched the second interaction of PepsiCo10 in Europe for the company's UK business, including Walkers Chips, Gatorade, Pepsi and Tropicana.  PepsiCo10 UK received over 100 first round submissions from across Europe. The company will make final selections for PepsiCo10 UK in September.

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 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 www.pepsico.com.

About Zazu, Inc.

Today's technology driven world is more interconnected than ever, and the wide adoption of internet-enabled devices has left people dependent on this technology, even for making simple decisions. Zazu, Inc. is a Boston based company building innovative media consumption technology to serve users relevant and actionable information through a graphically augmented speech interface. Zazu's technology enables your information to interact, like your calendar and location, creating personalized content like the directions and traffic to your next meeting. Zazu also enables intelligent content sharing, like drafting up an email for you to notify meeting attendees if you'll be running late. Zazu's technology brings important media and content to the forefront of the digital overload we face today and focuses on deepening the interaction between our digital information, enabling users to make more informed decisions. For more information, please visit www.getzazu.com.

SOURCE The Quaker Oats Company