Meet ROKKAN

John Noe, Chung Ng, Charles Bae and Jim Blackwelder lead ROKKAN without fuss. More often than not you'll find any one of them in jeans and sneakers playing video games or taking co-workers out for drinks (or karaoke night). The long-time friends are the foundation of ROKKAN, an interactive agency with a reputation for devising some of the most successful and beautiful online campaigns, applications, websites and games for the largest brands in the world.

"We're really good at getting the job done," John Noe, CEO of ROKKAN says. "We're realistic about our projects, their expectations, their timelines, their business objectives, etc... but at the same time we're incredibly ambitious."

There are big interactive agencies and there are small interactive agencies. ROKKAN is neither. With a full time staff hovering in the mid 30s ROKKAN has launched websites, campaigns and applications for global brands including adidas, Coca Cola, Virgin, Virgin America, Intel, the NBA, Nintendo, Rockstar Games, Warner Music Group, and Sharp Electronics. For ROKKAN, the mission isn't to surround themselves in trendy buzz words like "innovative" or "cutting-edge" or pile up cute gold statuettes in their lobby (although they have plenty) but about creating real life websites for real people who just want to find stuff easily, shop safely, and have fun online. And with launches under their belt like VirginAmerica.com, the NBA.com, adidasBasketball.com Virgin.com and the upcoming Atlantis.com, ROKKAN proves to be a leader in building some of the brightest brands and businesses online.

ROKKAN began with humble beginnings opening its "doors" nearly ten years ago in a living room in Jersey City, NJ with zero funding, no clients and a collective 2 to 3 years experience. Now the office's main headquarters boasts an impressive location in New York's SOHO area with a second office in San Francisco. In fact, the firm has outgrown its current offices in both locations and is continuing to expand. Revenue has increased from $10,000 in 2000 to over $4 million in 2008 with continued revenue growth expected in 2009.

But what makes the story of ROKKAN a unique one is less about the work or the awards, but the history of its origin, the personalities of its leadership and its obsession with company culture. Culture is everything for ROKKAN and they've been maintaining a noticeably happy work environment for the past 9 years. Reminiscent of the glory days of the dotcom era, ROKKAN enjoys regular bonding events like happy hours, bowling nights, karaoke, dim sum, barbecues, pool parties, hot dog eating contests and more.

"A talented studio is worthless if the culture is egotistical, rigid and impersonal," says Charles Bae, Executive Creative Director.

Inside ROKKAN:

This creative shop, with offices in San Francisco and New York City, was among the first to anticipate and develop solutions for the changing needs of clients in an interactive world. ROKKAN creates strategic partnerships with its clients and brings a comprehensive, solutions-driven approach to interactive.

ROKKAN is led by John Noe - CEO and Account Director, Chung Ng - COO and UX Director, Charles Bae - Executive Creative Director and Jim Blackwelder - VP of Technology. Its service offerings include Digital Strategy, Account Planning, Project Management, User Experience and Information Architecture, Design, 3D/Motion, Web and Application Development and Online Games.

Recent Awards:

Over the years, ROKKAN has collected over 60 awards and recognitions from the FWA, Cannes, Webby and more. The following are some of our most recent nods.

• 2009 Cannes Cyber Lion - Short listed - Stride Gum Spit it Out Adventure Interactive Game
• 2009 Webby Awards - Official Honoree Best Visual Design - Stride Gum Spit it Out Adventure Interactive Game
• 2009 Webby Awards - Official Honoree Best Use of Animation - Bioshock PS3 Website
• 2008 Webby Awards - Official Honoree Best Visual Design - Function - VirginAmerica.com
• AdTech 2008 - Best Business to Consumer Transaction Site - VirginAmerica.com
• FWA Site of the Day - Intel's InTru3D website
• FWA Site of the Day - Bioshock PS3 website
• OMMA 2008 - Best Travel Site - VirginAmerica.com

Recent and Upcoming Projects:

• Virgin America.com - ROKKAN designed the User Experience, Information Architecture and Interface for the VirginAmerica.com website. ROKKAN currently serves as Virgin America's Web AOR and works closely with VirginAmerica on its booking website, loyalty rewards and community websites.
• Rachael Ray Mag.com - ROKKAN launches RachaelRayMag.com with the Reader's Digest Association. The website serves as the digital accompaniment to the widely popular Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.
• 2K Games' Bioshock 2 - ROKKAN has launched every Bioshock website to date for 2K Games and is currently working on the website for the highly anticipated Bioshock 2.
• 2K Games' Mafia 2 - ROKKAN launched the Mafia 2 website, one of 2K Games' flagship games for 2009.
• Virgin.com - ROKKAN recently launched the global redesign of Virgin.com along with a robust content management solution using ROKKAN's Rokkit solution, a cms and community engine which will power a number of upcoming sites in the works. Virgin.com takes a unique and daring approach brings community and social media to the forefront of its corporate communications.
• Umbro.com - With their friends at Anomaly, ROKKAN launches the first release of the Umbro.com website. The site aggregates relevant football/Umbro content from across the web using popular social sites like Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and more.
• adidas.com/Basketball - With their friends at Droga5 and Riot180, ROKKAN launches the adidas Basketball site in over 40 countries and 11 languages. The site is built to provide fans deeper and broader content related to its products, players and basketball in general.

About ROKKAN

With offices in New York and San Francisco, full-service interactive agency ROKKAN is a solutions-driven company with the right blend of creativity, energy, and innovation. ROKKAN works directly with clients and also partners with advertising agencies, delivering a wide range of strategic, creative, and technical solutions. From interactive, rich-media marketing campaigns to enterprise technical applications, ROKKAN is equipped for all client needs. ROKKAN's core expertise includes: Digital Business, Brand Activation, User Experience Design, Traffic Generation, and Technology. Recent campaigns and websites include projects for Virgin America, Adidas, Jose Cuervo, Rockstar Games, Time Warner, UGO Entertainment and 2K Games. Visit www.rokkan.com to learn more.