Kids do the footwork for Streetwise's promotions.

At Streetwise Concepts & Culture LLC, life is a mix of online content and offline contact.

The agency started as a guerrilla marketing venture and is now a mainstream player with Fortune 500 companies as clients.

Streetwise was born in 1998 when David Benveniste became manager of the band System of a Down. He spent his afternoons on a computer with a dial-up modem, visiting chat rooms and asking people if they had ever heard of the group. Then he'd give them his home phone number.

When the phone rang, he would hold a tape player to the receiver and play a song. If they wanted more, he would write down their address and mail them a demo tape--all for free.

The giveaways caused some friction with the record label.

"A lot of the higher-ups at Columbia thought this was crazy to give away music," recalled Benveniste, now chief executive at Streetwise, "But I knew if we could invest in these demos, we would create pockets of support across the country."

Since then, System of a Down has sold nearly 20 million records. The band owns a minority share in Streetwise, which now has 20 employees and a client list that includes Coca-Cola Co., Activision Inc. and Time Warner Inc. The agency sends out its army of volunteer marketers to promote the launch of a movie, video game or other product for the companies.

The agency's list of music fans has grown to a database of 200,000, who help Streetwise market for its clients. When Streetwise signs with a company, it e-mails people on the database to recruit a team for the project. In return for kids' participation, Streetwise offers gifts--such as backstage passes to a rock concert or the download of a new song before it hits the radio--or free products.

For the movie "I Am Legend," Streetwise distributed ID number-bearing bracelets at stores and concerts. The ID numbers enabled fans to access a special Web site offering perks and prizes.

"We targeted youthcentric retail outlets and concerts with the bracelets," said Ryan Okum, Streetwise president. "The codes were shared online in a viral manner. We made it easy for people to get into the site."

Streetwise also handled the Charlie Oscar Delta campaign for the launch of Activision's video game "Call of Duty 4." Although the agency developed an online community of 750,000 members, Okum admits that traditional marketing played a big role. Activision ran commercials on ESPN directing viewers to the Charlie site.

Some advertisers aren't a good match. Benveniste turns down brands he doesn't think kids would want to promote. "Our corporate numbers are lower, but our reputation is what's most important," he said.

And not every company is going to want Streetwise's services.

"Marketing to consumers on social networks is really about engaging audiences on a topic they're already interested in," said Denise Shiffman, author of online marketing book "The Age of Engage." "The key is taking on the language, behaviors and openness that are standard in these environments, and not all companies are comfortable doing that."

BY JOEL RUSSELL

Staff Reporter