Taking it to the streets - on the origins of street teams

The recent Wheat Thins stunt (see this Inquisitr post) got me thinking about the origins of street teams. They didn't originate in the corporate boardroom. You can thank Wu-Tang Clan for them.

Between March 1998-September 2001 there was an explosion in the youth market. Offline marketing Street Teams and online marketing began to grow rapidly out of the music industry's previous traditional techniques. The online street team model was born during this time from work done at Wu Tang Creative, Loud, Def Jam, Jive Records, and AKA.com which was an affiliate of Loud Records. This blueprint would evolve into the now common multi-tier affiliate programs not to be confused with the click through model. In 1999-2000 Wu Tang began offering Wu Wear clothing online in exchange for promotional work in various countries. The idea of a global street team concept was born out of discussions between Loud Records and the Wu Tang Creative department Wu Creative. After a conversation with Rza from Hip Hop Group, Wu Tang Clan which was signed to Loud Records. Gibran [Burchett] suggested building an online community to create stickiness.

More here.