MAM
Reebok, 22feet Tribal take classic creative steps
NEW DELHI: How do you create excitement around a classic shoe? Well you could take a page out of sportswear company Reebok India. Well, you work with your agency – in this case 22Feet Tribal – and create a competition, invite artists to give their modern day interpretation of it
The shoe in question here is Reebook’s iconic eighties shoe – Classic Leather which was getting a new rendition – Classic Leather Legacy. 22feet Tribal recommended that Reebok should announce a digital art slam contest through its official Instagram account and invite artists all over India to create their versions of the Classic Leather shoe. The campaign was activated with renowned artists and celebs like KatrinKaif pushing the hashtag “WriteYourLegacy.”
Read more news on 22feet Tribal Worldwide
It worked like a charm, reaching 100,000 instagrammers within 10 days.
The brief was to participants was clear: get inspired by the shoe, create an artwork and describe the story around it. Artists from across the country unleashed their creative prowess and the contest received an overwhelming response from over 500 Indian artists. The Digital Art Slam contest concluded with an announcement of the top 10 illustrations on Reebok Classic India Instagram page, which were selected as contest winners and won a pair of Classic Leather Legacy with the top three winners getting featured on the official page.
22feet Tribal Worldwide national creative director Debashish Ghosh was pleased with the results and the buzz it created amongst the community. Says he: “It’s a common truth that people value the overall experience a brand offers as much as the product itself. As Reebok Classic Leather Legacy has serious street creds, this initiative to tap into the culture was always meant to happen. The collaboration with popular artists and the larger creative community to tell a story about the iconic shoe using their artwork was exhilarating. They created some beautiful pieces and by the looks of it, pretty much wrote their own legacy."
The idea to encourage fan communities to participate in a brand’s creative appears novel prima facie and could work well for many other categories. The successful strides that Reebok made with it is a case study worth considering by other marketing and brand managers as well.
MAM
Microdrama Specialist COL Group International Builds Out With Narativ, Rock Networks & BlingWood Deals
MUMBAI: Microdrama powerhouse COL Group International is building out its distribution network, with its CEO saying vertical video is about to enter its “next competitive chapter.”
The microdrama arm of publicly-listed Chinese company COL Group appointed Narativ Media as its official distributor in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and CIS regions and Africa, and a struck new content deal with a new Dubai-based microdrama platform.
The deals were unveiled this morning at MIP London, and also included Rock Networks as its exclusive Southeast Asia telco distribution partner for its app, FlareFlow. MIP London is now into its second day at the Savoy Hotel and adjoining IET London complex.
The deals come soon after COL appointed Harbour Rights to represent its titles in Europe and Latin America, as we reported yesterday in our extended feature on microdrama distribution.
COL’s Singapore-based microdrama unit says its “coordinated global distribution architecture and significantly expanded international content slate” would help to scale its catalogue to more than 1,700 microdrama titles worldwide. These hail from South Korea, Japan, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the UK and roll out across Sereal+, FlareFlow and 17K.
A deal with Dubai-based BlingWood, which recently launched as an OTT platform, will expand COL’s access to Middle Eastern and Indian microdramas, and includes a broader pipeline of Indian series from storytelling platform Pratilipi, Korean titles from BeLive Studios and British reality-led formats from Tattle TV — the UK’s first dedicated microdrama app, including titles such as Dog Dates.
“Microdrama is entering its next competitive chapter, where quality, retention and monetization standards are increasingly shaped by data and operational discipline,” said Timothy Oh, General Manager of COL Group International.
“As pioneers in both China and the U.S., scaling some of the world’s leading platforms in this space, we understand what it truly takes to win sustainably. Our role is not simply to offer catalogue volume, but to help partners select, position and scale the right content for their platform and audience. By bringing together a broad, constantly refreshed slate from across regions, we enable smarter curation, clearer differentiation and long-term growth for serious industry players.”
Narativ deal
COL and UAE-based Narativ described their deal as a “strategic expansion of premium vertical content distribution across high-growth emerging markets,” and comes as the microdrama continues to boom financially. The growth of the medium will be among the key topics of conversation today at MIP London, where COL chief Oh will be speaking.
The pact extends beyond content representation and is being billed as part of a more “structured micro-drama distribution infrastructure.”
Narativ will spearhead market development, platform alliances, broadcaster relationships and digital monetization frameworks across the MENA and CIS regions and Africa, where they have identified “rapid mobile-first consumption growth and strong demand for short-form, high-engagement storytelling formats.”
“Micro-dramas are reshaping global viewing habits, particularly across mobile-first markets like MENA, Africa and CIS,” said Manjyot Sandhu, CEO and co-founder of Narativ. “Our appointment as official distributor for COL Group in these territories reflects Narativ’s strategy to build sustainable distribution architecture.
“A key pillar of the collaboration includes integration with FlareFlow, enabling strategic telco partnerships, bundled carrier offerings, and alternative monetization pathways designed to accelerate scale across mobile ecosystems and OTT platforms.”
Oh added: “We are building more than a content slate – we are building the global infrastructure for microdrama. With hundreds of new titles launching every quarter, scale and regional strength are critical. Narativ with its deep foothold in MENA, Africa CIS and other key markets makes them a natural strategic partner as we expand FlareFlow and bring microdrama to new platforms, telcos and audiences.
Narativ, which is joint venture Sandhu operates with Copyright Capital, manages around 7,000 hours of content and has a digital network spanning 150 million subscribers across 21 language.
COL Group has emerged as one of the biggest microdrama platforms, running platforms such as FlareFow. It is also a part-owner of ReelShort.
