Can Ziibra be to artists what Etsy is to artisans?
Indeed, Ziibra, which launched last week, wants to be the destination for painters, musicians and designers to promote and sell their wares as well as share their creative processes. But, more than that, the digital platform believes it can act as a digital portfolio of artist resumes for brands while connecting the two for campaigns—creating a source of revenue for the community.
Ziibra founder Omri Mor said that he got the idea for the platform after working with Tom Eddy from the band Beat Connection; Eddy admitted that he didn't know who his average customer was and who was spending the most on his music. He can now—Ziibra provides him with sales data. Mor also realized that fans who went to the musician's website would not be able to glean much information.
"When people went to Tom's website, there was nothing that they could share about what a great individual he was," Mor said. "That is one of the biggest keys for a fan customer experience. It makes you invested in their art and what they do."
Each Ziibra page allows artists to share their portfolio, write a short bio about themselves, keep a journal about their activities and host a shop. Products ranging from paintings to music downloads to behind-the-scenes content can be uploaded to the system. To further entice artists to join, Ziibra offered to make video profiles for the first 100 creative types who joined the network. Those 100 slots filled almost immediately, while hundreds more artists have also already signed up.
Painter Peter Robinson, who goes by Ten Hundred, is one of the early adopters. He explained that his Ziibra page gives him a digital home for detailing the process of creating his artwork and selling it. Other platforms do not handle both utilities effectively. For instance, Facebook and Instagram have helped get his pieces out there, but didn't allow him to share much else or sell products. And while Etsy and Big Cartel let him sell items, they didn't aid with getting potential fans to discover his work.
"Ziibra is where I share the process and the journey, not just the finished result," Robinson said. "It's really what I'm all about. With the Ziibra journal, I can post information that people can't get anywhere else. I can also sell my merchandise and artwork. It makes it an all-in-one platform."
Though Robinson has scored deals like creating a limited-edition Converse sneaker collaboration for Nordstrom, Ziibra helped hook him up with one of his biggest partnerships to date. JetBlue approached the platform pre-launch looking for an artist, and it linked the brand with Robinson/Ten Hundred. He has an existing deal to paint a mural on the New York branch of the Caffé Vita coffee shop chain, and Jet Blue connected with him to help promote its Fly It Forward program, which brings labor-of-love projects to fruition in exchange for the recipient passing a free ticket to someone else.
Mor said that he hopes Ziibra will be able to facilitate more branded deals in the near future, stating that several other partnerships are in the works.
"We strive to work with our artists and makers to be more than a platform," Mor said. "We want to be more than a resource."