• Client: Reebok
• Agency: The Arnell Group, New York
• Principals: For Reebok: Micky Pant, chief marketing officer; Todd Krinsky, vice president, RBK Brand. For Arnell: Peter Arnell, chairman/chief operating officer; Steve Stoute, chairman of Arnell's urban marketing unit.
• Media buy: Cable buys on MTV, ESPN and UPN.
Summary: First in series of spots in another campaign with a large online element. Detectives try to find who eradicated the basketball player who's now only a chalk outline on an asphalt court.
Prime suspects are Reebok's "Above the Rim" NBA endorsers: Baron Davis, Steve Francis, Kenyon Martin and Jason Richardson. Viewers are asked to go to www.rbk.com/whodunit for clues. Those solving the mystery are entered in a sweeps offering a trip to next year's NBA All-Star Game in L.A. as top prize.
Grades
B For creative. Slightly cheesy, in an endearing kind of way. We understand that's the point, but wonder if the target consumer will.
A For use of sports as a marketing vehicle. Even with a quartet of some of the NBA's best athletes, Reebok shows that these days in sneaker marketing, the concept is as important as the player. "Above the Rim" is a strong concept.
