Reckitt Benckiser (RB) announced today to launch an online free runner game called UrbAN THRILL. The online game available on RB.com allows users to mimic the fast-paced, risk-taking and dynamic environment of the FMCG Company by completing free runner challenges across nine countries. The launch of UrbAN THRILL is a significant component of RB’s corporate brand campaign, which was designed to create awareness among graduates and people early on in their business careers.
Mr. Chander Mohan Sethi, Chairman & Managing Director, Reckitt Benckiser (India), said, “RB has a unique culture that’s most suitable for young professionals who enjoy freedom to act, coupled with a fast-paced and agile environment. Our decision to use an extreme sport like free running to showcase the spirit of our fast pace, challenging and dynamic corporate culture in a fun way. To continue our rapid growth we are always looking for ways to make ourselves better known among the next generation of people.”
Free running is a form of urban acrobatics in which participants, known as free runners, use the city and rural landscape to perform athletic movements through its structures. The game allows a global team of free runners to complete challenges over nine of the world’s most dynamic urban settings. From London in the UK, through India, USA, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Germany, Italy and France, runners are pushed to the limit by leaving RB Kites in the hardest to reach places across the globe, with each city visited providing six kites. The game and characters will be branded with RB and its 19 Powerbrands including Dettol, Harpic, Lizol, Veet, Vanish Mortein, Finish and Clearasil. Both free running as an athletic pursuit – and the UrbAN THRILL game itself – are designed to push players to the outer-reaches of their ability, and reward them with the sense of achievement that comes with being at the top of their game.
RB, a global consumer goods giant that produces some of the world’s best known consumer products including Dettol, Lysol, Harpic, Durex, Vanish, Finish and Clearasil, to name but a few and is known for its innovation and market beating financial performance, yet there is lower awareness of its corporate identity. The online game will help to improve recall with the RB brand.
The game has been developed in partnership with ‘The Workroom’ and social media agency ‘TAMBA’, alongside this the agency also contacted free running professionals and used them as the official consultants. Brendan Riley, free runner ambassador comments: “UrbAN THRILL is a dynamic online game which takes the essence of the ‘Arts of Movement’ and applies that same spirit as a metaphor to describe what it’s like to work at RB – a unique and trail-blazing company with fantastic brands that provides an inspiring work environment of self-expression and tenacity to all of its' employees each day.”
The game builds on past successes of a number of RB’s social media initiatives. Last year’s success of “poweRBrands” (apps.facebook.com/powerbrands) game on Facebook (which enabled players to work in a consumer goods company and rise to become global president) showcased how social media games are a great way to raise corporate brand awareness among graduates and early-careerists.
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The game can be found on www.rb.com/urbanthrill and is supported by a social media seeding strategy which targets relevant gaming portals, news groups and communities. As part of the game RB offers the chance to win a flight for two and spending money worth £2,000 to one of the 9 destinations – just start playing and leave your score on the leader board to enter into the prize draw.
The RB free running game is a fiction account of free running. It is humorous and full of recognizable free running actions, but it is clearly only a game.
About RB
Reckitt Benckiser (RB) is a world leader in household, health and personal care. It is a FTSE top 25 company and since 2000 net revenues have doubled and the market cap has quadrupled. Today it is the global No 1 or No 2 in the majority of its fast-growing categories, driven by an exceptional rate of innovation – typically about 35% of net revenue comes from innovations launched in the past 3 years. It has a strong portfolio led by 19 global powerbrands which include Dettol, Harpic, Vanish, Veet, Airwick, Lizol, Easy of Bang, Mortein, Finish, Woolite, Durex, Calgon, Nurofen, Clearasil, Strepsils Gaviscon, Mucinex, Scholl and French’s, accounting for 69% of net revenue.
People at RB are at the heart of the company’s success. They have an intense drive for progress and action and a desire to outperform wherever they focus, including CSR. The company has the most ambitious corporate responsibility programme in the industry through its Carbon 20 initiative.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, RB employs about 27,000 people worldwide, with operations in over 60 countries and sales in almost 200 countries.
For more information visit RB.COM
About The Workroom – www.workroom.co.uk
The Workroom is an award-winning strategic branding consultancy. The agency has been in business since 1990 working on brand positioning, identity creation, marketing and communications campaigns, websites and digital communications.
About TAMBA – www.tamba.co.uk
TAMBA is a multi-award-winning viral, social media and digital marketing agency. TAMBA recently won the Digital Strategy category in The Drum Marketing Awards 2010 and has previously won an NMA Effectiveness Award and a Y Design Award at the London Design Festival.