Companies Rally to Help Independent Shops

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By Tiffany Montgomery | Published Jun 2, 2020

Industry companies are rallying to help independent surf shops, which have been hard hit due to the coronavirus crisis.

Here are a few examples of how companies are trying to help.

O’Neill – #wewillsurfagain

O’Neill launched the #wewillsurfagain campaign to carry a positive message and encourage surf communities around the world to work together and support each other through this difficult time.

The goal is to support and build awareness for shop reopening dates by leveraging O’Neill’s social audience to bring awareness to these shops and encourage surfers and beach lovers alike to help support them.

The campaign leads with the release of a new #wewillsurfagain video and imagery featuring surf shops all over the country talking about how COVID-19 has affected their business. This goes along with custom POP kits and O’Neill retail signage to support new social distancing guidelines and preventative measures.

“The surf shop remains a crucial part of our industry and integral to every surf community, offering a sense of kinship and belonging outside of the water,” said Matt Sims, O’Neill’s Senior Director of Marketing. “We need to support them as they have supported us and celebrate getting back to business.”

Stores involved in the campaign include:

  • 17th Street

  • A-Frame

  • Coastal Edge

  • Déjà vu

  • Hansen’s

  • Heritage

  • Hi-Tech

  • HIC

  • Hobie

  • Jack’s

  • OSS

  • Proof Lab

  • Real Watersports

  • South Coast

  • Sun Diego

  • Surf and Sea

  • Surf Station

  • Warm Winds

  • WRV

Surfline – #ShredAndShopLocal

Surfline launched the #ShredAndShopLocal campaign which is providing surf shops with $100,000 in free advertising space across Surfline’s website this summer.

Louise Sper, Surfline’s Director of Advertising, answered some questions for us about the program.

Why did Surfline start #ShredAndShopLocal?

Louise Sper:  Surfers have relied on their neighborhood shops for generations. They are an essential part of any beachside community and provide connections, jobs and revenue within their towns, and they help provide shapers and other entrepreneurs a place to sell their products.

Surfline wants to encourage its audience to shop local and ensure surf shops maintain visibility so they can rebuild their in-store traffic and bounce back from COVID-19.

How many shops can you accommodate?

Louise Sper: We’ve allocated $100,000 in advertising toward this campaign, so this will probably accommodate about 50 shops across the country. We want to ensure the impressions delivered in their neighborhoods can drive enough impact.

What kind of shop would be an ideal candidate?

Louise Sper: Ideal candidates are local, independently-owned surf shops serving a specific neighborhood or community.  Due to the nature of this campaign, the shop needs to have a website that we can drive our audience toward for store information.  They must also be able to submit an application for consideration via Google Forms (need a Google account).

How long will the program last?

Louise Sper: We are currently reviewing applications for consideration and will be running the #ShredAndShopLocal campaign with these shops through the end of summer.

Marty CarriganShop Eat Surf, global sales guys, Covid-19, speciality retailComment