Giving Red Bull Wings
Surfing is full of great imagery, stories, faces, drama...but how could Red Bull showcase their top athletes in a credible way when so many brands had gotten surfing wrong and alienated it's core audience ?
We connected Red Bull with a unique marketing and branding platform based around a new format of surf competition. Five surfers would be filmed competing for 90 minutes, and then be filmed again as they gather around to judge the video footage of the session.
The judging criteria was based on 5 performance pushing categories that rewarded technique as well as progression and creativity. The criteria also just happened to align really well with Red Bull's brand attributes.The format of the "RB5X" gave top surfers an opportunity to express themselves in and out of the water, giving the audience insight into their personalities as well as what makes for good surfing...and Red Bull a huge branding opportunity.
The concept was developed as a broadcast television series, as well as an interactive website, print media, and regional events all working together to drive adoption of the new competitive format.The RB5X helped change the judging criteria for modern professional surfing, and Red Bull was aligned with driving the progress of a sport that is often impossibly hard for non-endemic brands to leverage.
TV and DVD Distribution
Several episodes of the show featuring Red Bull athletes, including multiple world champions, musicians and guest hosts were filmed on location in California, Hawaii, Mexico and the South Pacific..
Regional Events and Tour
The RB5X ultimately held regional events across the country with distribution of a "Playbook" to foster adoption of the format and expansion into other sports.