Mass reach winds back the clock for Hip Hop relaunch

The relaunch of Hip Hop Watches fired Italians’ enthusiasm for the iconic 80s brand in a fun-filled campaign that combined the reach of MSN and Windows Live with remessaging technology. The campaign launched in Italy reached 40% of its target audience in just 20 days.

Campaign objectives:

• Relaunch Hip Hop to nostalgic 31-44-year-olds and a broader audience aged 16-49
• Build mass awareness and excitement for the Hiphopize yourself campaign
• Drive response rates and purchase intent

Creative solution:

The Hip Hop relaunch took users on a nostalgia-fuelled trip to the 80s thanks to a musical microsite with a soundtrack provided by MSN Music, and a rich media campaign running across the Microsoft Media Network. Full-screen ads added to the impact of the campaign, which focused on three key entry points: the MSN Homepage, Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger. The colourful microsite invited users to Hiphopize themselves in custom watch designs and share the results through Windows Live Messenger.

Key results:

• Through the reach of the Microsoft Media Network, the Hip Hop relaunch reached 40% of all Italians aged 16-49
• The online Hiphopize yourself campaign generated 49.4 million impressions, 357,580 actions and 1.2 million seconds of rich media exposure
• The campaign generated total Gross Rating Points of 178
• Microsoft Advertising’s Hip Hop relaunch was so successful that owners, The Binda Group, have now adopted the campaign microsite as the official Hip Hop website