December sees the World Surf League launch its first ever global campaign ‘Chaos Theory’ with a TV spot called ‘You Can’t Script This’ – perhaps illustrating that what was once a niche sport is moving towards the mass market.
In fact the month is perhaps WSL most exciting ever with a nail-biting climax to the Billabong Pipe Masters competition in Hawaii, the opening of its own WSL Studios and the Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee’s proposal that surfing to be included in the 2020 Olympics.
So has surfing’s international growth seen the sport cross over to the mainstream? Its sponsors will certainly hope so.
In recent months the WSL has been integrated several new, mass market partners (like Samsung, Jeep and Tag Heuer) into its portfolio (alongside core surf brands like Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong and Hurley).
2015 even saw global partner Samsung’s emotional ‘Every Day Is Day One’ scoop a Film Gold award at Cannes Lions Ad Festival.
Such landmarks surely vindicate the WSL’s brave, fan-centric decision to commit to a ‘digital first’ strategy – which has seen it scoop activation awards, including its innovative 2014 Snapchat-led ‘Surf + Snap‘ (under its former ASP moniker).
This saw 6.2m tune in to the YouTube live stream of its flagship Billabong Pipe Masters (an impressively similar-sized audience to that of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals).
Based partly on a commitment to maximising audiences before short-term revenue and partly on the fact that the surfing audience are typically early-adopters of technology (no wonder Samsung Galaxy latest WSL initiative is an immersive Virtual Reality experience).
(Activative’s own favourite surf campaign of 2015 was, of course, Quicksilver Japan’s wonderful ‘True Wetsuits‘.)
