How Billabong is Activating at the Billabong Pro Pipeline and Beyond
The crowds have turned out for the contest – Photo courtesy of Billabong
The Billabong Pro Pipeline, the start of the WSL 2022 Championship Tour season, kicked off this week in pumping surf on the North Shore of Oahu. This contest marks the first time in the league’s 45-year history that the world’s best women are competing in a WSL Championship Tour event at Pipeline.
Shop Eat Surf caught up with Billabong’s Men’s VP of Global Marketing Evan Slater and Women’s VP of Global Marketing Stephanie Hendrickson to find out about the brand’s marketing around the contest, as well as the value of supporting the event and partnering with the World Surf League.
Billabong had to scale back some of its plans to entertain retailers at the event, but did host a crew from City Beach in Australia, Hangar 94 in San Diego and Greg and Dillon Mesanko from the Billabong partner door in New Jersey. The brand also spent time with local retail partners, including Leigh Tonai from HIC.
What are the key marketing themes tied into the contest this year for Billabong?
VP Men’s Global Marketing Evan Slater: The Billabong Pro Pipeline is a new chapter in our long, storied history of supporting events at the most important stretch of beach in the world. Going back to the Billabong Pro in the mid ‘80s, a mobile event that created unforgettable moments at Pipe, Sunset, and huge Waimea through to today, where we’re partnering with the World Surf League on the 2022 Championship Tour season opener and the only Pipeline event with world title implications.
As with all events we sponsor on the North Shore, our focus is on giving back to the community that has given surfing so much and making sure this event will always be the Greatest Show on Earth.
Billabong’s Know the Feeling campaign – Photo courtesy of Billabong
VP Women’s Global Marketing Stephanie Hendrickson: This also marks the first Women’s Championship Tour event at Pipe in the League’s 45-year history, and we wanted to mark this historic moment with the respect it deserves to the competitors, the local Hawaiian surf community, and the female surfers who laid the path for the women competing in the event today. On the women’s side, Billabong created two powerful content pieces.
First is Know the Feeling Hawaii. Part on an ongoing content series, KTF celebrates the magic of surfing and that feeling that connects us all. Five inspirational women share how important surfing is to their culture and how it is a vehicle for community, identity, and belonging.
Second is Pioneers of Pipeline, a four-chapter tribute to the women surfers who helped pave the way to this historic first women’s WCT at Pipeline. Narrated by Coco Ho, it pays homage to everyone from Joyce Hoffman to Moana Wong’s masterful performances today.
Both were created with love and respect and showcase the social values we hold dear.
Who came up with the Pioneers of Pipeline Series? Will there be any retail activations around that beyond the contest venue?
North Shore lifeguard and bodysurfer Mark Cunningham – Photo courtesy of Billabong
Evan Slater: To follow up on the “50 Heaviest Moments at Pipeline” series we created last year, we wanted to make sure we continue to provide more context on the world’s most famous wave and the men and women who rode it best.
We decided to partner with two amazing storytellers, Tim Burnham and Jack Murgatroyd from Hunt House Pictures, and they pitched us on telling the tale of Pipe through the eyes of the legendary North Shore lifeguard and bodysurfer Mark Cunningham. The decision was easy for us. As part of the series, Mark even created a “found object” art installation featuring artifacts he’s collected over the years from diving Pipe’s notorious reef. The exhibit is on display at the event and up for sale via auction, with a portion of proceeds going to the North Shore Lifeguard Association.
With women included in the contest for the first time, did that change things for your company and how you went about activating around it?
Stephanie Hendrickson: This significant milestone in women’s surfing did not escape us. We made every effort to acknowledge and welcome all competitors calling out the women specifically, through a special blessing and opening ceremony that included a traditional Oli, Hula dancing, and custom gifts from local artisans.
We created a complementary, four-chapter Pioneers of Pipeline series to honor the women who paved the way, and we created a short campaign film focused on five powerful women in the Hawaiian surf community.
What retail activations are you doing around the contest on both the men’s and women’s side? Are they running in Hawaii, the US, and internationally?
A Billabong window at Hi-Tech on Maui
Evan Slater: With Covid concerns still on high alert, we canceled or scaled back our initial ancillary event plans. That said, we rolled out our inaugural Billabong Pro Pipeline merch for both men and women worldwide, and all regions bought into the program significantly. The artwork is courtesy of celebrated local PowWow! artist Kamea Hadar. We also have a men’s collection with Kamea that just launched and is being promoted on the beach and on the broadcast.
Stephanie Hendrickson: Our digital exposure spans far and wide with content shared across all our digital and social channels globally. Retail specific executions can be found in North America and Hawaii specifically, where there are some beautiful executions of both the event art and the women’s Know The Feeling campaign.
How important is it as a brand to be partnered with the WSL? What’s the key goal of the partnership? What do you get from the WSL in return? Do you collaborate with them on the broadcast?
Stephanie Hendrickson: As the governing contest body, it is important we have a strong partnership with the WSL. The WSL have been incredibly supportive of women and promoting equality. We are proud to partner with them and the milestone of including women for the first time in a WCT event at Pipe was an important step for both WSL and Billabong. We aim, together, to elevate women’s competitive surfing, to encourage participation and interest in women’s surfing, as well as story tell around our social values and the cultural importance of this destination.
A Know the Feeling display at Ehukai Beach – Photo courtesy of Billabong
Evan Slater: We invest in the sport and culture and the World Surf League has been an important partner in providing the best platform for the world’s best surfers in the world’s best waves. Whether you’re into surf competition or not, the top men and women inspire all of us to spend more time in the ocean.
For us, the goal is to support events and experiences that keep doing just that. And when the world’s best are competing at perfect Pipeline, many of surfing’s most iconic moments inevitably happen. The WSL are very collaborative – we work closely with them to make sure our goals are met both on the broadcast and through all of our collective digital channels.
When the contest was the last one on the schedule and deciding the world champion, was that worth more to the brand than kicking off the tour with the contest now?
Stephanie Hendrickson: Kicking off the tour gives us an opportunity to create anticipation, excitement, and energy for the year ahead. It’s a chance to set the tone for the year and shape the story.
Evan Slater: Keep in mind that in the past 20 years, only two world titles were actually decided in the water at Pipe – most recently the 2019 title won by Billabong rider Italo Ferreira. So, of course it’s valuable when all the stars align. They just don’t align very often.
