Jockey International has launched www.JockeyHoops.com and will begin other online efforts later this month to increase its presence among males ages 22 to 35.
“Jockey wants to build brand awareness within this younger and more athletic demographic,” said Nicole Sandage, a producer for lookandfeel new media, Kansas City, MO, the interactive agency that created the campaign for the undergarment and sportswear seller. “The other goal is to increase the size of its registered online user database.”
JockeyHoops.com ties in with Jockey's sponsorship of the NBA Hoop-It-Up 3-on-3 basketball tournament, which is traveling to 48 cities in the United States and Canada through September. The site went live May 3 and drew 7,000 unique visitors in the first 10 days. There has been an 8 percent return rate.
“We are taking this opportunity to showcase specific products that match up with the lifestyles of this audience,” said Chris Smith, director of e-commerce at Jockey.com. “The demographics of the event tie to one of Jockey's target markets, and we are using JockeyHoops.com as a vehicle to integrate the offline event to an online audience.”
Smith would not discuss the size of the online registered database. Though the goal is to enlarge that database, he said, Jockey also wants effective feedback from customers.
“Between the interactive game, the sweepstakes and product information,” he said, “we hope to let consumers know about Jockey products and give them the opportunity to tell us what they think.”
Jockey promotes JockeyHoops.com on the Jockey.com home page, but most of the traffic is coming from a viral element in which visitors challenge three friends to a video basketball shoot-around game by e-mail.
A link to accept the challenge is included in the e-mail. After clicking on it, the person is taken to a personalized site where his name and the name of the person who challenged him appear on a scoreboard at the top of the screen. Jockey is not pushing products within the e-mails, but there is a link to Jockey.com in the e-mails and constantly on display at the bottom of Jockeyhoops.com.
E-mails promoting JockeyHoops.com will go this month to people who opted in to receive e-mails from Jockey.com. Smith would not disclose the size of that database.
Jockey.com would not give a specific number of how many people who have played the game opted in to receive further e-mails, putting it between 400 and 700.
Nearly 1,000 people have registered for a related online sweepstakes, which is to run through August. The winner selects one of three prizes: going to a sporting event with a sports legend; a Home Comfort Zone, including a big-screen television, leather recliner and DVD player; and a trip to the NBA Hoop-It-Up finals in Atlanta.
