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Meet The JellyBeats Today

Aardman and Digital Outlook Studios are collaborating to co-produce a set of music-loving characters for teens: the JellyBeats, released today.

The JellyBeats are a collection of jellyfish, each one representing a different musical genre. They dance, talk and swim in the style of their musical preference.

The characters were created by Peter Peake for Aardman and developed together with Digital Outlook Studios.

Targeted at teens 14-18 years old the first phase was launched Wednesday and will consist of 16 different JellyBeat characters.

"We want the audience to get to know the JellyBeats, use them and fall in love -- so it makes total sense to start this online, where they can engage with the characters. Once the characters have become part of the everyday and their potential has been established with the audience, we will work together with both on and offline partners to generate revenue and further develop the franchise," said Jens Bachem, MD of Digital Outlook Studios.

Alongside the planned launch and presence on Bebo, the JellyBeats also have their own website: www.jellybeats.com.

This will feature JellyBeats film shorts, free downloads including icons for messenger, an iTunes live feed to the top five tunes in each JellyBeats genre and a gadget which can be placed into most online social environments.

"The JellyBeats enable self expression so the users can show off their favorite type of music to their friends. You can hear the characters talk, and make them dance illustrating the unique character of each JellyBeat," said Tim Johnson, Senior Producer, Digital Outlook Studios.

"When we came up with the characters we soon realized that they needed to launch online so teaming up with Digital Outlook has been a very rewarding collaboration for us. I am really looking forward to the JellyBeats launch, if only to understand what a gadget actually is," said Aardman's Head of Broadcast Miles Bullough. Miles is 96 years old.

The main focus of the campaign is on the Bebo launch which will feature a JellyBeats application called "What's Your Beat?" where users can choose their favorite character and feature it on their Bebo page.

There will also be a dedicated interactive JellyBeats profile (www.bebo.com/JellyBeats), with discussion boards, polls, photo gallery and colorful skins enabling word of the JellyBeats to move virally across the Bebo network.

JellyBeats videos will be uploaded to Bebo Video -- Bebo's new Open Media platform -- that can be accessed via the JellyBeats profile.

Bebo users will be able to comment and upload the videos to their own pages enabling JellyBeats to build a dedicated fan base and utilize the benefits afforded by the social media network.

This will also provide good feedback from the JellyBeats fans and inform the second phase.

The JellyBeats will adhere to OpenSocial standards.