Key Takeaways:
- Anniversary marketing works best when brands translate heritage into signals that matter to people who do not already have an emotional connection to the brand.
- Vans uses partnerships and cultural associations to keep classic products current, while the WSL uses events and editorial programming to connect past icons with emerging talent.
- The strongest legacy campaigns do more than celebrate archives; they use credibility, community and accumulated meaning to tell stories that feel active, timely and distinct right now.
Companies like the World Surf League and Vans, each of which have big anniversaries this year, are among those walking the fine line between playing up deep roots and looking ahead.
This year, the WSL is turning the big 5-0. To celebrate, the company isn’t just popping champagne (although there’s plenty of that on winners’ podiums), but running a yearlong campaign called WSL50.
The campaign’s anthem video, “Imagine What’s Next,” is a 30-second, high-speed montage of big moments across the decades: the biggest barrels, the biggest wins, the toughest losses. With split-second frames of world champion surfers from every era — from Mark Richards to Layne Beachley and Lisa Andersen to Caity Simmers — hoisting trophies, smashing boards, crying in triumph, it encapsulates the delicate line that legacy brands face at milestone birthdays: how do they balance the gravitas of age without seeming, well, old?
The Balancing Act of Celebrating Legacy Without Seeming Dated
“Heritage messaging typically over‑indexes for people who already love the brand,” said Matt Raminick, founder and CEO of Sunnyside, a lifestyle marketing agency. Prior to starting his agency, Raminick spent years on the brand side at companies like Quiksilver and Volcom.
“If growth is the goal, then you have to translate that legacy into relevant signals or creative that means something to a cold audience.”
Why Heritage Messaging Can Miss New Audiences
For the WSL, that meant striving to speak to both existing fans and potential new ones in their anthem while building on that throughout the year.
“The simplistic brief from the outset was a nod to the past, with our eyes firmly set on what’s happening now, and the future,” said Brooke Farris, CMO and president, North America, for the WSL.
“There have been incredible people who have made our sport what it is today, both in and out of the water. Respecting this is a key challenge, because it’s hard to get everyone into a one-minute campaign! Plus, the video archives can also be a bit hit and miss.
“That said, we will do our best to integrate these legends into our communications and channels across each of the world tour stops – and that’s the opportunity.”
Vans Leans on Collaborations to Keep Classic Products Fresh
One brand that has handled that opportunity well, said Raminick, is Vans, which has led the charge with outcome-driving collaborations. From a Supreme x Vans Old Skool shoe in 2015 to a partnership with Nintendo, collabs have been the company’s formula, and it’s worked.
“It’s this balance of massive culture drops to drive these multi‑billion‑dollar revenue targets, but also using the highly limited core skate exclusives…to stay connected with the culture,” he said. “Some of the silhouettes that they’ve got haven’t changed much in years. But the collabs bring them to a new audience and it creates a lot of freshness around it.”
This year Vans turns 60; not quite eligible for social security, but certainly ready for AARP. To celebrate, the company has again leaned into its success with collaborations and its long association with music and skate culture.
They called on music artists like Travis Barker and SZA and skaters like Lizzie Armanto for a birthday campaign that focuses on their first sneaker, The Authentic. Their anthem video, like the WSL’s, is packed with these luminaries in color-saturated scenes. And while the approach is more future-focused than that of the WSL, it still strives to do multiple things at once. (Editor’s note: Vans declined an SESO interview request for this story.)
How the WSL is Framing 50 Years Around What Comes Next
To mark its legacy milestone, the WSL plans to leverage its live events and editorial hub.
“We have the opportunity to connect our storylines across the whole nine months of the Championship Tour,” said Farris. “We’ll continue to lift out incredible moments via the WSL vault, Then and Now posts on social, and Meet the Rookie podcasts. It’s the hero promotion, Fantasy Surfer, WSL50 vault, hyping the next event, specific imagery, and storylines as they evolve.”
The on-site events, in particular, let the league lean into its history while, quite literally, promoting the next generation. At the WSL’s recent Gold Coast contest, it ran an expression session with Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, two of the top male Australian pros from the early aughts to around 2018. Then, said Farris, they chose the best juniors from their local Boardrider clubs to surf with them.
“This was our way of honoring them both and connecting the future of surfing to our rich past. Plus, what an opportunity for these junior surfers to share a lineup at Snapper with some of the best to ever do it there.”
Why Legacy Matters – Especially If It Feels Current
If done right, according to Raminick, that kind of celebratory moment will open new avenues for storytelling, not just navel-gazing. Age can be an advantage in that it gives brands permission to tell stories with a gravitas that new-to-market entrants haven’t yet earned.
“It’s about that bridge between old and new again,” he said. “It comes down to the unlock around creative. So instead of asking, ‘How do we celebrate who we’ve been?,’ it’s more about, ‘How does our history permit us to say something that a newer brand founded last year can’t say? How do you leverage decades of credibility and community and product heritage?’ It’s the creative job to sort of make that still feel alive and current, and not to just put it on a shelf and admire it.”
For the WSL, success will come down to metrics, both qualitative and quantitative, including surfer and fan sentiment, viewership, and engagement across channels for live and posted content.
“Really it’s about people being aware and excited about our incredible sport,” said Farris. “With the scenes we saw with the Steph [Gilmore] and Ethan [Ewing] wins at the Gold Coast Pro, we’re well on our way.”
