Rip Curl takes beach culture to the city in search of artists
Boardsports brand Rip Curl is more naturally found by the sea but, in a bid to align itself with a wider free spirited ethos in urban environments, it's come ashore in Singapore in search of artists.
Rip Curl Artist of the Search
The brand has launched a campaign set around the idea of finding artists to interpret its core message of “The Search”, a term representing the adventurous nature of its employees and customers.
Local artists in Singapore have been tasked with translating this philosophy, with the activity peaking at a party in the city tonight which will showcase the art, as well as local musicians.
Rip Curl Southeast Asia marketing manager, James Hendy, said Singapore helped take its brand away from its core community at the beach and into the city. “Rip Curl has great retail stores concentrated in the city so that makes sense for us to do that here as we can use them to communicate our message. Singapore is also a large University city and is highly regarded as the gateway to Southeast Asia for travelers from all over the world. By hosting the event here it gives us the ability to communicate across both audiences.
“We are a very strong brand in the beach lifestyle /core surfing community, so by having campaigns like this with a more urban focus, it helps extends our reach to a broader market,” he said.
The events will also take place in Thailand and Indonesia, with the three winners receiving a prize to go to Art Basel in Hong Kong, win spending money and work with the brand on a collection for 2017.
Hendy said that having core values and being aligned to wider passion points like sport or culture meant brands could travel across fragmented regions like Southeast Asia much more easily.
“The audience in Southeast Asia can be fragmented between very diverse cultures. However, we believe the boardsports loving audience is a very broad. Our core surfing customers are a very small minority in the region but our brand ethos and attitude generally appeals to a wider audience who are into music, travel, art and fashion. We promote a free spirited lifestyle and want to inspire our audience to have fun,” he said.
The event is open for anyone to attend and is being promoted via social media.