Although there were several innovative accessories on display at this year’s NAMM, one in particular stood out for its simplicity, utility and delightfully punny name. RoboCup (therobocup.com), both the product and company of the same name, is the brainchild of A.J. Zakarian. As Zakarian described it, RoboCup is “an over-engineered double cup holder with a unique feature that lets it hold drum sticks or anything long. You can clamp it anywhere up to two inches, round or flat, no tools required.” In addition to drinks and drumsticks, the product can also be used to hold common stage equipment, such as microphones, cables and guitar picks, as well as flashlights and other tools. Its spring-loaded clamping mechanism allows users to place these items in easily accessible places onstage, such as a mic stand, guitar stand or drum set. RoboCups are priced at an MSRP of $24.99.
Zakarian described his product’s unique journey to the NAMM Show. “The background of the RoboCup was more for fishing and sporting goods,” he explained. “Then, a drummer told me one day, ‘Hey, this is really good for drummers, too.’ So, the lightbulb went off. That’s why we’re here at NAMM.” RoboCup is also useful for sound engineers and DJs, who obviously want to avoid placing beverages and equipment near mixing consoles, controllers and other sensitive electronic equipment. The product was the result of a long development process, which itself was a result of Zakarian’s meticulously high standards. “It took a long time to develop and kept evolving,” he elaborated. “It took about three and a half years to get the utility patent, and also to refine the tooling. The first time we did the tooling, I was only 80 percent happy with it. I made a very expensive, difficult decision to destroy the tooling with an angle grinder and do it all over again. It had to be perfect or I wasn’t gonna launch it. Now, I’m extremely happy with it.” RoboCup is available in a variety of colors. “At first, we started with black, white and grey,” said Zakarian. “But then I realized that color’s an emotional thing, so if someone sees navy blue, or olive green, or pink, or whatever color appeals to their personality, they’re gonna want that one.” Zakarian has at least one idea to expand his company’s product offerings even further. “I’ve been working on a single RoboCup—just a one-drink holder—that’s shorter and stockier, with a totally different clamping system.”
For Zakarian, the NAMM Show offered even more opportunity for exposure than he ever hoped. “I had no idea what I was getting into,” he said. “I completely underestimated the size of this show. I’ve been to a lot of trade shows in my life and career, but this is a massive trade show. And the musicians here—all types of musicians—are really loving the RoboCup. I’ll definitely want to come back again.”
Check out more standouts from NAMM 2015’s freshman class at the links below: