Marketers have traditionally relied on their agencies to tell the story of their brands. Consumers receive so many streams of traditional, direct mail and digital advertising they have become numb. In an effort to create content they will actually seek out and share socially, branded content (be it video or written word) has begun to grab the attention of the audience at large. A new bond between brands and consumers is developing where the focus of the interaction is quid pro quo, meaning one gets back for giving some benefit to the relationship partner. Brands create content that entertains, informs and educates the consumer. For this, they share the content and in turn promote the brand.One watch out is using music or any intellectual property that is not properly licensed. Therefore, the need of original and new content created in partnership with the brand is the best practice. For the Reebok videos, the same quid pro quo relation was the basis of the transaction. The musicians, dancers and artists promoted Reebok through association and use of their material, and Reebok promoted the artists’ work, bringing it to a world stage.

WeRClassics.com functions much like a magazine, focusing on dance, art, music and style. Each month stories from around the globe relevant to our target are dropped weekly to http://www.werclassic.com. Each artist promotes their contributions through their social networks. Reebok.com continuously features several stories, connecting content directly to products and events.

Swizz Beatz promotes each story on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/therealswizzz, which has over 1m followers. Reebok also promotes the content via its Twitter account, @reebokclassics.com. All video drops are housed at the weRclasics site, and promoted via their YouTube Classics Playlist, which has over 12m views to date: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FCF6E7FCB1311D0.

The first shoe to be sold under the Reebok Classics weRclassic umbrella, sold out online in just 10 minutes. The We R Classics video content housed on YouTube has boosted the channel to over 14m views. Artists found and featured have gone on to even bigger success with Lil Buck as an example– Since being featured, he went on to collaborate with Yo Yo Ma and was selected by Madonna to be featured on her Super Bowl Half time performance.

Blog posting and sharing continue to rise, as does celebrity involvement with the likes of Lauren Hill, Common, and now Rick Ross taking the rains as lead promoter. The wide reach of the platform generated enough momentum and attention to establish Reebok as a cultural icon. Again.