Billabong and Ocean & Earth Win Big at the Australian Surf & Boardsports Industry Association Awards
Taree Marsh and Erika Loredo of Billabong. Photo courtesy of SBIA. Photos courtesy of SBIA
Billabong and Ocean & Earth won big at the Australian Surf & Boardsports Industry Association Awards last week in Manly.
Ocean & Earth won five awards, the most of any brand, including:
- Brand of the Year – Small to Medium.
- Surfing Accessory of the Year and Product Innovation of the Year for its Apex Board Covers.
- Account Manager of the Year, Matt Bilsborough.
- Sales and Customer Service Office of the Year.
Billabong won a total of four awards, including many high profile ones:
- Brand of the Year – Large.
- Boardshort of the Year.
- Swimwear Brand of the Year.
- Ladies Marketing Campaign of the Year for the “Coral Gardens” campaign.
Several brands have shown repeated dominance in their respective categories by winning awards in multiple consecutive years including:
- Rip Curl won Wetsuit of the Year, the only brand to ever have won in the wetsuit category in the 13 years that the awards program has been held, according to SBIA.
- Volcom won Men’s Marketing Campaign of the year for the fifth time in a row for its “All Day Every Day” campaign.
- Reef won Footwear Brand of the Year for the sixth time in a row.
- Otis won Eyewear Brand of the Year for the fourth time in a row.
- JS Surfboards won Surfboard of the Year for the sixth time in a row.
Several retailers also showed their dominance, including:
- Star Surf + Skate won the award for Australian Independent Retailer of the Year – Single Store for the third time in a row.
- Surfboard Empire won the award for Australian Independent Retailer of the Year – Core Board Store for the fourth time in a row.
Other winners included:
- Dylan Schultz of Strapper Surf, who won Store Manager of the Year.
- Coopers Surf won the award for Australian Independent Retailer of the Year – Multi-Store.
- Patagonia won the Environment Award.
- Red Herring Surf Co. – Hobart won Shop Fit Out of the Year.