- Brian Morrissey

NEW YORK Timberland has made its first foray into video blogging by sponsoring sports rapper Paul Brogan.
 
Timberland worked with MySpace to integrate its brand with Brogan's World Series vlog entry, posted earlier this week. In it, the performer wears Timberland boots on his hands, a Timberland T-shirt, and he briefly dons one of the brand's straw hats.

The outdoor footwear and apparel company is running 5-second pre-roll video ads before that clip and all others on Brogan's MySpace TV channel for the rest of the year. Banner placements are also in the mix.
 
The move is part of a client effort to find new ways to reach younger consumers as it tries to lower its demographic base and better target men, 18-34. That means showcasing Timberland products outside traditional ad placements in TV, print and on billboards, said John Moore, director of ideas and innovation at Interpublic Group's MediaHub, the Mullen media arm that brokered the sponsorship.
 
"Young men are without a doubt the most challenging target," Moore said. "You need to create content they want to seek out."
 
Brogan is a 22-year-old from Tacoma, Wash. His clips typically involve humorous raps that cover topics in sports.

The in-stream ad placement features a man standing on top of a mountain and shows the brand's "Take it on" tagline. Leagas Delaney, Timberland's lead agency, handles creative chores.
 
MediaHub sought an innovative, non-interruptive way of reaching young consumers, Moore said. That led the agency and client to focus on a key behavior of the demo group: sharing short videos. The shop spoke with the top video destinations, YouTube and MySpace, but chose a MySpace program because it offered more than the standard fare of options.
 
"I like YouTube as a vehicle, but I didn't want to do a YouTube user-generated contest because I find that a big yawn now," Moore said. "How many people have done that? It was novel two years ago."
 
Brands are starting to tap into smaller producers of online video to reach niche audiences. Companies like Blip.tv, Next New Networks and Broadband Enterprises broker deals with independent artists. YouTube has also matched brands and producers.

Moore praised MySpace's willingness to go the extra mile to make the program happen -- a willingness to work with advertisers that sometimes gets overlooked, he said.
 
"All of the press and energy is around Facebook, and the reality is, in terms of advertising opportunity and scale, I'm as bullish on MySpace," he said. "I don't think they are getting the credit they deserve."
 
The deal marks the first sponsorship of Brogan's work, which appears on MySpace and YouTube. The video has received over 62,000 views so far, along with 150-plus comments.
 
The payoff for programs like these goes well beyond adding reach, Moore said.
 
"People really love this guy and look forward to his next video," he said. "Because he's independent and people know he's not wealthy, they understand Timberland is enabling him to do what he does more often and better" than he could have otherwise.
 
The push is slated to wrap up by the end of the year, but MediaHub considers it a possible template for a bigger push in aligning the brand with indie Web artists. Like all comparatively untested programs, however, it stands the risk of elimination in a tough economic climate.
 
"There will be some intrepid marketers that understand even in downtimes they need to continue to push the envelope," Moore said. "But when budgets are tight, this [innovative[ stuff will go before Google search."