Faces, T-Shirts Define 'Urban' for New Site

Brandweek, July 17, 2000 by Gina Czark

Urban Box Office Network, NY, next week will harness four sports and music celebs and a multicultural agglomeration of 30 employees for a month-long outdoor ad campaign intended to build the first buzz for its five-month-old entertainment portal, UBO.net, touted as "first generation urban."

The teaser ads executed in-house, with a new home page, posters and postcards, essentially make the pitch, "This is what you look like ... what we look like ... we should come together," said CEO Adam Kidron.

The site acts as a directory for more than 10 targeted UBO sites along with chat rooms, instant messaging and a universal shopping cart offering the ability to purchase merchandise from individual sites. Radio promos are to follow, with winners attending a launch party at an undetermined venue.

The site, and ads shot by Steven McBride, target an audience of 16- to 35-year-olds, with "urban" relating to a person's lifestyle rather than race or religion.

Outdoor ads in 10 metros will feature employee and celebrity head-shots, including tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, and rappers Q-tip and Snoop Doggy Dogg. In the photos, each person was encouraged to wear their T-shirt in a way that reflects the creativity emblematic of this generation, said svp-marketing David Watkins.

"We've built something here that is very special and is absolutely about our office. They understand it and that is why they are here," he said.

Although UBO, backed by $16 million from venture capital firm Flatiron Partners, N.Y., has been active since February Kidron said it waited to launch its first ads until now because it wanted to be ready to offer real value to consumers. "If you can't offer the utility you shouldn't really offer the brand," he said.