Marketing Reflections: The G-Unit Collection

The Vibe announcement reminded me to check out their site where I rediscovered their smart use of a home page blog for pieces that are being posted online, including this promo bit for the G-Unit collection's new footwear. The big news is the new G-Unit B1 Boot and I wish the piece at Vibe had a larger picture of the boot because going to the Reebok site was an exercise in frustration. They feature the G-Unit collection on the home page with no direct link. Then you go to the real home page, i.e. the page with actual information, and click on the menu under Men's for G-Unit which takes you to a page that asks if you want to see the Men's, Women's or Kid's collection and so forth. I still don't know what the boot really looks like.

I bring this up because to get a promo piece like that on the website of a publication like Vibe is a great opportunity, however it came about. To then squander that opportunity due to poor site navigation is a sad state of affairs that speaks to the weird divisions that arise between duties when a web site becomes part of the mix. However, it's such a common state of affairs that I will only periodically comment when something startling catches my eye.

Actually, the most startling aspect of the G-Unit campaign is not the everyday failure of web navigation, rather, at website scale, the tagline for the main promotional image says:
THE NEW B1 - PUTTING IN WORK
Except, on the screen, it looks like THE NEW BI, as in bisexual. However, I'm sure such a sexual innuendo will go right over the heads of Reebok's target market, especially given that the constant flaming, I mean, battling over sexual identity and practice between 50 Cent and Ja Rule in past years seems to have subsided.

Vibe President Gibbs on Vibe Awards Events

Kenard Gibbs, president of Vibe magazine, has come out with a strong statement regarding events at the recent Vibe Awards taping. In the comments quoted by Billboard, Gibbs appropriately notes the connections between recent events and underlying problems of violence and male identity. And Vibe has made the right choice, and the expected one, to continue the Awards show. I think Gibbs clearly articulates the fact that this is a moment when corporate and community needs and concerns are closely aligned.

The January issue of Vibe is planned as a response to both the Vibe Awards events and deeper issues that may have contributed to the madness at the taping. I'm still holding out for a step-by-step analysis of who was invited, who made their way in and how spatial issues were handled, from seating arrangements to backstage access. And, although an earlier post suggests that I would seek to blame individuals, I am actually more interested in how such a system works because I know each individual within it, no matter how powerful, acts within a complicated web of influences.