Rip Curl continues to evolve the surfing landscape with the Spring 2023 launch of the world’s first virtual surfing competition – ‘The Rip Curl Virtual Pro, presented by Tourism Fiji’.
The digital event was based around surfing data from ‘Rip Curl Search GPS Smartwatch’ users whose performance were automatically entered into the contest whenever they logged a session during the 10-day virtual competition. The surf data logged was analysed and scored by a unique algorithm based on five key criteria – distance paddled, surf time, total waves surfed, top speed, longest waves and the number of surfs – which culminated in a final score.
The data sets were then turned into unique visualisations which the contestants could download as a video and then share with their social communities. Once these were shared, they were in the contest with the winner and four friends scooping a surf trip of a lifetime to Namotu Island in Fiji – courtesy of event partner Tourism Fiji.
Thus, many of the participants in the brand’s inaugural virtual surfing competition didn’t even know they were competing.
Taking place across seven continents and 1,600 surfers over 10 days: qualifying surfers (existing SearchGPS users who logged sessions during March and who had opted-in to receive marketing emails from Rip Curl) were asked to check their inbox to find a personalised Virtual Pro entry video and then to share the personalised video on Instagram as a Reel with the hashtag #RipCurlVirtualPro which automatically entered them into the contest. Competitors were then asked to ensure their Instagram accounts were set to public to enable the brand to confirm the entry.
The winner will be announced on 5 June.
The virtual competition was promoted through an integrated campaign developed with agency VMLY&R Sydney and pitched as the world’s biggest surf competition that you didn’t even know you were part of.
This was anchored by a hero ‘Rip Curl Virtual Pro Presented By Fiji’ spot which dropped across the brand’s digital and social platforms from 26 April.
The next round of the ‘Rip Curl Virtual Pro’ will be open to the public and thus will enable non-professional surfers a chance to compare skills with other amateurs and with elite pros around the globe.
Rip Curl Head of Brand and Marketing James Taylor commented: “Aligned with our vision of being ‘the ultimate surf company, the development and launch of our GPS Watch technology was a pinnacle moment for Rip Curl and the launch of The Rip Curl Virtual Pro is another display of leadership in a rapidly changing surfing landscape.”
“We’re thrilled to bring the second part of our partnership with Rip Curl to life and align with a brand bringing an innovative lens to surf culture,” added Tourism Fiji’s Head of Global Marketing Srishti Narayan. “The Virtual Pro is a truly unique competition, and we can’t wait to see winners in the ultimate surf destination, Fiji, later this year.”
“Brands are always searching for ways to utilise data. The Rip Curl Virtual Pro is something with meaning that connects with surfers and leads to more engagement with our product,” outlined VMLY&R Australia Group ECD Jake Barrow. “I love that any surfer who participates can effectively surf against mates, strangers or even the pros.”
The campaign was briefed in by a client team at Rip Curl which included Head Of Brand James Taylor, Chief Customer Officer Michael Scott, Account Manager Sam Hopgood, Content Director Zoe Neilson, Brand Manager Angus Forrest, Marketing Manager Angus Forrest, Producer Johnny Hawken and Content Manager Emily Vines.
The group which worked on the project at creative agency VMLY&R Sydney included Chief Creative Officer Paul Nagy, Chief Strategy Officer Ali Tiling, Group Creative Director Jake Barrow, Creative Director Jack Delmonte, Managing Partner Katherine Chen, Project Manager Julie Galinas, Strategy Director Clancy Walsh, Account Director Charissa Martin, Executive Producer Rachael Rider, Digital Producer Maddison Fricker, Design Director Elliot Owen, Head Of Art Lewis Brown, Designer Brock Willis, Experience Designer Mark O’Brien and Consultant Zander Williment.
Production was handled by a team at EyeJack which included Technical Director Lukasz Karluk, Digital Producer Alex Neville, Creative Technologist Conner Meehan and UI Designer Milosz Karluk, with post-production and VFX run by a group at VMLY&R Sydney which included Editors Alex Janev and Opie Sayner-Hassall
The marketing team at sponsor Tourism Fiji was led by Head Of Marketing Srishti Narayan and Marketing Specialist Anaseini Bakaniceva.
Comment
The first Rip Curl Virtual Pro was possible because of Rip Curl’s innovative Search GPS technology (which VMLY&R helped work on during the original build) which, since 2014, has tracked more than 50,000 surfers across 76 countries riding 25 million waves at 2,400 different beaches.
Yet, despite the impressive innovation and all the opt-in measures, we can’t help but feel that this kind of campaign still brings up the issue of device data privacy.
The initiative leverages a notable rise in global surfing: the International Surfing Association’s latest report states that the number of surfers worldwide has increased by 25% over the past decade with more than 35 million people now enjoying the sport.
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