Technology Vendor: Zugara
RBK Streets is the definitive ‘playground with an attitude’ for the RBK consumer. The objective was to develop a unique and interactive website that will promote the RBK brand and support existing campaigns. The purpose of the interactive environment was to show consumers the sport, music, and entire lifestyle of RBK. Development involved extensive illustration, flash integration, backend integration and programming. One of the greatest difficulties was merging the caricature style with real life product so that it is presentable and applicable for the consumer.
In addition, RBK Streets' driving force is the community that it involves. Contests, promotions, and games are all based on the lifestyle of those who can relate to the RBK attitude. If you're a fan of Hip-Hop and 50 Cent, you can enter the 50 Cent Contest by upload your own demo to be heard by 50 himself. The winner will be featured on the next RBK mix-tape! There are also mini-games like the Alley-Oop and DJ Challenge for those who want to get creative on the concrete court or the wheels of steel. Check back regularly as RBK Streets expands and new initiatives are added to the RBK world.
--Tony Kwan, Producer, Zugara
The overall goal of RBK Streets has been to create an online destination, which over time, will build a brand loyal community of RBK consumers who are all interested in basketball, music, and urban culture. The site consists of a virtual, urban neighborhood with various places to explore such as Jay’z 40/40 Club, 50 Cent’s Recording Studio, Baron Davis’ Crib, a basketball court featuring Steve Francis and Allen Iverson, a Barbershop, and the House of RBK, where our key product collections are highlighted.
Users can play interactive games such as a DJ Challenge within the 40/40 Club and an Alley-Oop game within the basketball court. Users can also enter into a demo contest where they can create MP3s of their own originally mixed music to be judged by 50 Cent himself. The winners of the contest have a chance to be on 50 Cent’s underground DJ Whokidd CD and could win autographed footwear and apparel products. Finally, by interacting with all these components of the site, users can earn street cred points. The users with the highest level of points can cash them in to win various prizes each month.
We are very pleased with the work Zugara has done on RBK Streets and the level of response we are getting on the site. We feel RBK Streets has been an effective way to create an emotional connection with our target consumer.
--Reena Vokoun, Global Interactive Marketing Manager, Reebok
Zugara’s captivating marketing tool for Reebok was designed by a team of individuals that clearly have their pulse on the trends of today’s interactive community. The gaming industry’s revenues have reached an all-time high and their products are created within levels of complexity never imagined by its consumers. Video game companies have expanded this niche into several demographics and age groups and have enticed these individuals to draw their attention away from film and television towards gaming and i-media.
With that said, Reebok was very smart and intuitive to follow this trend towards their marketing concept in making their campaign more hands-on. This site offers the viewer the opportunity to seek out their own experience on the site. "Make of it what you will," Zugara has trusted to its viewers. The site’s several layers offer a very unique experience. Not every viewer will click on the same tools in the same order, and this alone will guarantee maximum attention from its visitors. The games and point system encourage repeat visits alongside the genius conglomeration of music, animation, advertising, and marketing.
However, with all of these very interesting and new ways of displaying Reebok’s product, I found that the product concepts were somewhat masked by the multitudes of activity and choices. There was very little clarity as to where all the different places to visit actually existed. This could be easily remedied by labeling each partition or notifying the visitor of how many more divisions have not been visited and need to be sought after during their navigation throughout the site. At times, I found the beats that accompanied the site were not smoothly mixed, causing somewhat of a distraction. Overall, there seemed to be an excess of activity within this site. Upon finally steering to the product advertisements, I found that the ad units did not clearly or precisely focus on the product itself. These units should be clear and direct in order to promote purchasing.
This concept is very new and innovative, which makes it subject to criticism and imperfections at its onset. Reebok and Zugara took a risk and this is the root to all successful marketing. I enjoyed my experience with this site and look forward to seeing other concepts that are to come in the future. I must commend Zugara on their expansive creative vision and recognize Reebok for their acceptance and openness of these ideas. There is great potential and great opportunity in this concept and to that I extend my congratulations and best of luck!
-- Rochelle Webb, Vice President of Marketing, Classic Entertainment, LLC
My feelings about the RBK Streets mini-site aren’t unlike those about a Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake song. Intellectually, sure, it’s easy to criticize a sometimes mind-numbing reliance on formulaic reductionism (even my 58-year-old father now knows that a subway train + paint drips + “the crib” = hip hop). But in the end it’s even easier to be taken in and won over by that very same unabashed embrace of cliché and the slick presentation that it’s all wrapped up in.
While a number of Reebok/Zugara collaborations are grimy, multilayered canvases that evoke a darker, grittier side of the street, these “Streets” are a happy little hip-hop-lite cartoon theme park. It’s a great video game-style interface to a collection of contests that, while it might border on corny, is redeemed by the attention to detail present throughout the user experience. Cars and trains zoom all over the place (click them and they honk). 50 Cent’s “recording studio” bumps in time to the music. Click on a building to play a game – click a billboard to open up another related site. Click on the cartoon Iverson’s shoes to check them out up close (a nice little detail that would have been nice to see other places in the site). And, of course, click on a cartoon tour guide to check out Reebok’s product line, with an ominpresent option to buy.
Most cleverly, however, throughout the entire experience you’re collecting “Street Cred” points for each activity you discover and complete. It’s a smart way to incentivize a continuously deeper exploration of the site (and the consequent exposure to brand and product) which perfectly complements the open-ended experience of the site itself.
-- Jay Stakelon, Art Director, Slanted Media Design