Tavik and Surfrider have partnered up to air a public service announcement at gas pumps about the importance of clean beaches and a clean environment. The PSA is set to be broadcast on more then 500 gas pump TVs all over the west coast. The spot will run regularly throughout the summer and over the next few years.

The problem with this campaign is that I don’t think it will effectively reach the right demographic at the right time in order to make the intended impact. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for going green and nothing gets under my skin more than a dirty beach or litter floating past me as I’m waiting for a set. I just don’t think gas pumps are the right place for this kind of ad. A message that talked about alternative fuels and the evils or big oil would be much more effective. But then again they’d also have a snowballs chance in hell of showing up at a gas station.

The point I’m trying to make is this campaign would probably have a better effect if it reached people as they were participating in some kind of beach/ocean related activity. Regardless, this is a valiant effort from both Tavik and Surfrider and they deserve credit for doing the right thing and trying to make a positive impact.

Tavik
Surfrider foundation

There seems to be some very common trends happening in the apparel industry lately. One that I’ve noticed recently is companies collaborating with artists to launch limited-edition collections. Today Oakley jumped on that bandwagon with the announcement of a new limited-release eyewear series called the Oakley Artist Eyewear Series. The series is a focused extension of the company’s SQUARE O collection. It includes custom design treatments by influential artists, musicians and designers from around the world.

The collection features unique Oakley designs that are inspired by the lifestyles of its athletes as well as their cultural influences including music, art and fashion. Oakley president Colin Baden says.

Influential artists, musicians and designers will use some of our most sought-after frame styles and contribute original graphical frame treatments, imaginatively rendered logos, and logo icons formed from special materials to create unique eyewear editions.

Oakley has also developed a proprietary multi-layer print process to achieve the highest level of graphic resolution possible. Each of the artist series will be available in limited quantities and only available at exclusive retailers. Oakley expects to release an ultra-exclusive Collectors Edition once every quarter.

Oakley

Nixon joins the likes of DVS, Billabong, and O’Neill to collaborate with Jack’s Surfboards to release special edition products for Jack’s 50th anniversary. The special edition watch from Nixon, called the ‘Lodown‘, features a gold plated case and buckle with a custom engraved caseback.

The watch also sports a slick tide chart for 200 beaches programmed for the next 15 years. Other features on the watch include dual time, alarm, countdown timer, wave counter, chrono and light. This watch is exclusive to Jack’s on is on sale now for $170.00.

Nixon

The RVCA skate team is touring across Canada this summer on snowmobiles and dog sleds. They’ll also be camping in igloos and hunting seals. The tour kicked off today in Vancouver and ends in Quebec on July 22nd. I guess that means its only a week long tour and not the whole summer, bleh.

You can follow the team on their blog where they’ll be making daily updates.

By the way RVCA: What’s up with the blogspot blog in an iFrame? And where are the RSS feeds? That’s a rant for another day and another post though.

RVCA

Salt Lake City based WhiskeyMilitia.com launched today. The way this site works is that it offers one unique blowout deal every day. Every night at midnight there is a new piece of clothing or gear listed on the site at a clearance price. But that item is only available for 24 hours or until it’s sold out, whichever comes first.

Whiskey Militia is very similar to the highly successful Woot, not that there is anything wrong with that. They certainly aren’t the first company to apply the idea to a unique niche and they certainly won’t be the last. The only difference is that Woot is exclusive to tech and gadget items.

The one thing I don’t like about Whiskey Militia is that it displays the number of items left. Woot doesn’t do this, although they do have an animated bouncing icon when supplies are limited. The reason I don’t like that they display quantity is that it takes out that urgency to make an impulse purchase. If I look and see that 100 t-shirts are left in my size I might decide to hold off on my purchase only to later forget or change my mind. It also adds a little more fun not knowing how many items are left because supplies could literally be gone any second.

There is still a little bit to be desired on the execution of WhiskeyMilitia.com but overall they did a pretty decent job. I’m more interested to see how their marketing strategy is going to play out. Will they be able to garner the same grassroots vibe and cult following that Woot has? I’m not sure but I’m excited to see that someone has taken a successful Internet model and brought that to our industry.

Update: I just noticed they’re offering back to back deals all day long. I’m seeing some pretty sick deals on some sick gear.

whiskeymilitia.com

It seems like everyone is going green these days, nearly every new ad in the mags touts something about being Pro Planet. Volcom has joined the ranks of Eco-Friendly brands with their new V.Co-Logical Series of clothing products. The Summer product line which consists of two pairs of pants, 12 shirts and a hoodie are made of different types of Organic Cotton, Hemp and Fleece combined with low impact screen printing. Most of them have Eco V.Co friendly designs displaying plants and nature.

“ Organic garments from the Volcom V.Co-Logical Series represent Volcom’s socially responsible attempt to sustain and protect our planet’s rapidly shrinking natural resources. By utilizing sustainable alternatives like 100% certified organic cotton, hemp, vegetable dyes, organic stains and other low impact production methods, the Volcom V.Co-Logical series incorporates progressive Volcom styling with an environmentally clear conscience.”

The Volcom logo for the Earth friendly sub-brand is the Stone made up of recycle signs which is clever but this was not the first choice. They originally planned on calling the product line “Verde” (green in Spanish) but after being called out by some bloggers for copying the name and the artwork from another company called “Verte“(green in Italian), they suddenly removed the content from the old page and launched V.Co-Logical.

Volcom has also joined the ranks of 1% for the Planet which means they donate 1% of their Gross Revenue to a pro environment organization. Whether you believe in being green or not it is good to see companies donating profits to causes they believe in. It is also a good way to put their money where their mouth is as “going green” can be seen as a marketing tactic for buzz and monetary gain. I doubt the organic production of 12 items will off-set the harm of hundreds of non organic products, but it will be interesting to see if they slowly convert their entire line (or the majority of it) to more Eco friendly products.

Whoever is in charge of marketing for the Earth needs a raise! The Green Wagon is full and getting it’s hands into a large majority of brands in the action sports industry.

Volcom

TransWorld Surf announced today the release of their first surf film. The film is called Tomorrow/Today and is set for full release on October 15th, 2007. TransWorld Surf teamed up with Metalstorm Entertainment to produce the film and it will be sponsored by Quiksilver and DC.

There is a short trailer featuring Clay Marzo available on the TransWorld Surf website, you can view it here.

TransWorld Surf

Billabong relaunched their girls site today with a whole new look and feel. They also added a new section to the site called ‘be social’ with features like contests, video clips, photos, interviews, and a blog.

To be honest, I’m not very impressed. Don’t get me wrong, the design is great. But I expected a lot more from the ‘be social’ section of the site. What is it about this industry and failing to keep up with innovation on the web? I mean seriously, there’s nothing even really social about the site at all and to me it sounds like they’re just trying to hop on the bandwagon by using the latest buzzwords.

First of all, the only portions of the site that are actually social by nature aren’t actually on the Billabong site. Instead they’ve included links to their MySpace page (which is pretty bad itself), Fantasy Surfer, and their blog that’s on Blogspot. Come on! Blogspot? My mom hosts a blog a Blogspot. It’s no place for a brand or company to setup a blog. Instead they should have set one up on their own site. At the very least they could’ve added a forum. Even though forums are becoming dated at least it would allow people to communicate and actually ‘be social’.

Billabong

O’Neill is preparing to launch a new program called ‘Generation Next’ that will team high school students up with company executives so they can get a better understanding of the career options in the action sports apparel industry. The program will focus on creative elements such as; graphic design, apparel design, marketing, and merchandising. Generation Next is set to launch on August 7th, 2007.

Those lucky enough to be selected for the program will shadow O’Neill executives for a four-week period. They won’t just be observing either; students will get hands-on experience designing apparel, planning events, and creating advertising campaigns.

This will be a huge opportunity for those fortunate few that are selected to be in the program. I wish there was something like this available when I was in high school. Not only would the experience be awesome but making connections with these executives is priceless. Remember kids; it’s not what you know, but who you know and how well you know them.

Those interested in applying will need to send an email with 150 words or less and an image to GenerationNext@ONeillClothing.com by July 20th. The email needs to be titled “Generation Next” and what department you’re interested in learning more about.

O’Neill

Reef, whose best known as a footwear company, has been making a strong push into apparel with the latest being their full line of girl’s swim and sportswear.

Reef first launched its full line of girls-specific sandals 10 years ago. They have since expanded into closed-toe footwear and handbags. They’re now planning a massive launch that includes both swimwear and sportswear for females. Girls Brand Director, Trisha Hegg has this to say about the line…

“Our target consumer is 17 to 24 years old and wants hip styling that still ties back to the beach. She has an active lifestyle connected to the water, but still wants to be fashionable.”

The swimwear collection will launch with 34 suits with tops prices from $38 - $46 and bottoms from $36 - $44. The sportswear line will launch with around 90 pieces in the $24 - $78 range.

Reef says they are backing the launch with a huge marketing campaign and in-store push. This will include a new logo, a new trade show booth, premium retail fixtures, and an ad campaign in Teen Vogue magazine. I haven’t seen any mention or evidence of an online marketing campaign yet which would be a huge mistake for Reef.

New media channels offer a great place to create mindshare and connect with consumers on a more personal level. Most 17 - 24 year-olds spend a good amount of time on social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. Lets not forget search either; Reef will be missing out on the opportunity to reach the millions of people who search for girl’s surf wear on Google.

Reef