Today, with check in with a SRH, a smaller brand that targets the surf, skate, moto and music sectors.
National Sales Director Sammy Nigh tells us about SRH’s new interactive ad campaign, the brand’s growth and its interesting, crossover positioning.
Tell me about your brand’s history?
SRH started in 1991 as more of an events and promotions company in Mission Beach, Calif. SRH stands for Supporting Radical Habits.
Owners Ryan White and Kevin Zinger put on shows with bands like Pennywise, Offspring, and Sublime, and the clothing evolved from there.
We started sponsoring our friends who were surfers and skaters that were pushing the envelope. Not typical contest surfers, but guys like Christian Fletcher who were doing airs, and more progressive moves.
From there we started getting guys who rode moto coming to our shows, and we started hooking them up with clothes.
These guys were part of a new breed of moto guys who weren’t into racing but more into free riding like Tommy Clowers and Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg.
SRH also has a record label?
Kevin Zinger still runs Suburban Noise, a record label that has bands like Unwritten Law and the Kottonmouth Kings.
He also has Regime Inc., a management agency with bands and talent like Jason Ellis (former pro skater now on Sirius radio), Unwritten Law and the B-Side Players. Zinger is still part owner of SRH with Ryan White, but Ryan mostly runs SRH, and Kevin focuses more on Suburban Noise.
Who is SRH’s target audience?
Our target audience has always been those pushing the boundaries – surfers, skaters, and musicians.
Our newest ad features Alex “Zadda” Zawadzki charging a crazy wave at Shipsterns Bluff in Tasmania.
We are using this ad to launch a new marketing initiative that ties in print media with digital/video.
On the next page:
About the ad, plus the company’s size, growth and financing
Tell me more about this ad and how you came up with it?
We had an amazing image of our Alex “Zadda” Zawadzki about to get annihilated on a wave at Shipsterns Bluff. When I heard he pulled it, I wanted to be able to show the footage to people rather than having them just see a picture of a guy who looks like he is about to fall.
Through some research we found https://gettag.mobi and decided to incorporate it in our new campaign. There’s a barcode in the ad and when you download the “gettag” program to your phone, you can take a picture of the barcode and it takes you here (https://srh.com/mobile/) to the video footage of what happens after this picture in the ad.
From what we know, we are (one of) the first in our industry to do this. The golf industry uses it. We thought it’d be a great way to tie in print to web and mobile. It ran in Transworld Surf in May.
How big is your company?
Since we are privately held we don’t share financial information. We are coming off our most profitable quarter in our company history and are looking forward to continued growth in the future. For first quarter this year we are up 40%.
What do you attribute to your growth?
A lot of it is that we do a huge at-once business. I come from Fox and Sessions and am used to pre-booking, but retailers right now seem to be receptive to buying products with a small window.
How are you financed?
We are self-financed. We started SRH with no money, and have never taken a dime from anyone along the way. It hasn’t always been easy, but this kind of growth has contributed to us being a financially healthy company and the luxury of doing what we want and not answering to anyone.
What categories are SRH involved in?
We target surf/skate/moto and music. We make boardshorts, walk shorts, T-shirts, and hats. We do a ton of business in tank top mesh jerseys.
On the juniors’ side, we are getting a lot of growth. We just pre-lined Spring 2011, and the reaction was really positive. Even though we started as a music, surf and skate company, we bring a little edge on the juniors’ side. Some can be a little over gunned, but the moto retailers have really embraced it because it’s really different.
Where do you sell?
We currently sell in about 300 dealers including Zumiez, Tilly’s and No Fear as well as internationally to Australia, Japan, Canada and throughout Europe and South and Central America.
What’s next for your brand?
In June, we are launching a comprehensive marketing campaign that will include gettagg focusing on our musicians and athletes together. These ads will run in TW Surf, TW Skate, TW Moto, TW Business, Racer X, ESM, Skinnie, Bliss and Thrasher. There will also be ads on Fuel TV.
