Saturday, March 22, 2008

Innovative Global Advertising Campaign: Reebok's Freestyle World Tour Collection

Reebok has taken an entirely novel approach to international advertising with the Freestyle World Tour, a campaign designed to promote six new versions of the Reebok Freestyle shoes, chosen to exemplify the six cities world-wide known for their influence in and fascination with high-level fashion. The campaign pays tribute not only to these glamorous cities-Tokyo, France, New Delhi, Spain, London, and New York- but also to six “authentic and inspirational women” who represent the essence of each fashion capital.

For years, Reebok has positioned itself as the shoe for women, whether fitness sneakers or casual kicks. The Freestyle shoe campaign maintains this focus of a female target market, while combining the shoe line with an additional clothing line to match the themes of each city.

The marketing strategy of the campaign involves print ads as well as video content displayed on MySpace.com, a virtual world that reaches a large percentage of Reebok’s female target audience. Reebok’s online website will also make available video content for the campaign. Promotional events will also take place within each designated city, starting with Tokyo, where the campaign was launched on February 21st.

The female icons associated with the six specified cities involve rising stars of each individual market segment. This includes Tokyo’s first NFL cheerleader, a young French songwriter/singer, a Bollywood actress of New Delhi, a Spanish model, a female DJ from London, and an actress from New York who stars in the film “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World.” These women were selected because they are genuine, real-life inspirational women to their particular communities. They represent a diverse group of women from around the world, each one portraying a unique style which is manifested in the design of the Freestyle shoe and the accompanying clothing lines.

The Freestyle World Tour comes one year after the 25th anniversary of the Freestyle shoe. This Freestyle shoe is illustrative of Reebok’s history as the innovator to female high-top shoe fashion.

This campaign is the first of its kind, with the representative women paying homage to their respective cities, and each clothing line appropriately complimenting the style of the shoes. Reebok executes a compelling global campaign with well positioned advertisements that brilliantly capture the modern, edgy style and personality of its female market across the world.




[Beckett, Whitney. "REEBOK KICKS OFF FREESTYLE SHOE CAMPAIGN." WWD: Women's Wear
Daily 195.37 (Feb. 2008): 17. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Ithaca
Coll. Lib., Ithaca, NY. 22 Mar. 2008 login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=31275645&site=ehost-live>. ]

1 comment:

Kim Gregson said...

interesting posts - 10 points