Surf and Boardsports Industry’s outstanding brands, retailers, and products were acknowledged at last night’s SBIA Awards with 20 coveted trophies on the way home to revel in the well-deserved glory!
Held at Sydney’s Coogee Bay Hotel, the annual awards night saw over 170 retail and brand peers gather for an evening of celebration and camaraderie. The event recognises Australia’s best brands, products, environmental initiatives, retail performers, sales agencies and marketing campaigns, playing an important role in celebrating the uniqueness of the surf and boardsports industry.
The Awards night was preceded by a Retail Summit and an Environment Round Table, which play important roles in strengthening the relationships between our brand and retail members, providing transparency and insight into vital topics to continually equip our members with the tools they need to elevate themselves.
The 2022 Australian Surf Industry Awards were sponsored by Brandscope, the National Retail Association and Retail Doctor Group (Retail Awards), McCartney Design (Shop Fit Out), Arch & Hook and Take 3 (Environment Award), Shop! (Marketing Awards), Stryker Media (Product Innovation) and Surfing Australia and our MC’s for the Awards night were SBIA’s Damien Campbell and Lyndall Browning.
From a brand’s perspective, it was a HUGE night for Rip Curl with a massive 5 trophies heading back to their Torquay head office including the top gong for Brand of the Year | Large as well as a record-breaking 10th year in a row for Wetsuit of the Year!
The Environmental Award, presented by Mandy Marechal, co-founder of Take 3 for the Sea, went to Varuna Surf for their sustainable practice as a brand to manufacture ONLY wooden surfboards while regenerating rainforests in Indonesia. Meanwhile, JS and REEF went back-to-back taking out the Surfboard of the Year and Footwear Brand of the Year respectively. Billabong excelled yet again in the Ladies Marketing Campaign of the Year category, taking it out for the 8th year in a row! This year it was for their Billabong x Steph Claire Smith Collaboration (2.0). The team from Volcom were in fine form with their win for Men’s Marketing Campaign of the Year; showing us just how much fun marketing really can be with their campaign “Welcome To Beer’a’dise”.
OTIS entered the winner’s circle yet again with Sunglass Brand of the Year, as did Creatures of Leisure who took out the Surfing Accessory of the Year award and Brand of the Year | Small to Medium!
Product Innovation of the Year was awarded to Slater Designs for their Endorfins fins. Reid Young Agencies made SBIA history as the first-ever recipient of the Sales Agency of the Year award, and you could see the absolute stoke on Daniel Jenkin’s face as he won out as the Account Manager of the Year (Australia-wide)!
The top Australian Independent Retailer of the Year awards went to Surfboard Empire for both Multi Store and Core Board Store, with Star Surf + Skate taking out the win for Single Store Retailer of the Year! Shop Fit Out of the Year also went to Surfboard Empire for their innovative new store in Kawana. Stellar effort, retailers!
We would like to acknowledge and thank all our brand and retail members for their participation and continued support of the SBIA Awards. We truly value your efforts!
Check out our gallery from the celebrations here
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