Buying into the vision that the Web will break down
geographical and cultural barriers and create virtual communities
on-line, Reebok's Planet Reebok Web site is one of the first
attempts to use sports as a unifying theme. Found at
http://www.planetreebok.com, the site has an active bulletin
board, called "Between Us," and live chats -- with past
appearances by Frank Thomas, Roger Clemens and Yankees players
transcripted. Yesterday, the site was promoting the company's
cross-promotional efforts with MCA/Universal's new movie, "Ed,"
with "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc. Other key themes are women's
sports, with a page devoted to the Women's Sports Foundation and
Reebok's Versa Training line both featured prominently. On the
Olympics, Reebok and SI are combining to offer journals from
Olympic athletes. The Heart & Sole page offers bios of Reebok-
backed Olympic track athletes. The Sports & Fitness page offers
training tips and a charter on coaching. One interesting feature
was a link to MIT's StockMaster service, which tracked the
company's stock. Planet Reebok offers plenty of content for
sports and fitness enthusiasts. But, as with any Web site, the
challenge is to keep the info fresh (THE DAILY).
