Press Release:
FRIDAY 30th MARCH 2012: Australia’s Surf Industry celebrated in style this week at the gala Surf Industry Awards dinner held at Sydney’s Novotel Manly Pacific. Hosted by Australia’s Surf Retailers Federation the Awards night was held on a picture perfect autumn evening overlooking Australia’s spiritual home of Surfing Manly Beach.
The awards celebrated the Australian surf industry’s best Product, Brands and Retailers and were hailed an overwhelming success.
“There were a lot of memorable moments throughout the night, the big ones were naturally the Brand of the Year awards with Hurley taking out the coveted Mens Brand of the Year, Rusty winning the Ladies Brand of the Year and Havainas the Footwear Brand of the Year” enthused Surf Retailers Federation President, Anthony Wilson “a really special moment was Billabong’s Andrew Flitton receiving a standing ovation as he collected both Mens and Ladies Marketing Campaign Awards”
Bragging rights were settled with a tag team surfing event held barely an hour before the Awards night kicked off. Western Australia Retailer Ian Macpherson dominated with the highest score leading his “Retail Allstars” team to victory over the “Brands United” team.
Quiksilver took out the judged category for Online Channel Brand of the Year and the hotly contested Sales Rep of the Year went to an excited James Lanyon from Volcom Victoria while the Sales Office of the Year went to the team at Billabong New South Wales office.
Product awards saw Ocean & Earth win the Product Innovation of the Year with their ONE Piece Leash and Go Pro pick up the Surfing Accessory of the Year award. Hurley took out the coveted Boardshort of the Year, Rip Curl dominated the Wetsuit of the Year and Channel Island’s “Fred Rubble” model, which Kelly Slater rode to a World Title last Year, was crowned Surfboard of the Year.
“What a fantastic night to bring our industry together, we are really honoured winning Sunglass of the Year” said Oakley Australia’s Damian Campbell.
The Retail categories kicked off with Surfection Co Op Manly judged as the Shop Fitout of the Year. The Retailer of the Year categories saw Star Surf + Skate taking out Western Australia Retailer of the Year, Coolum Surf won Queensland Retailer of the Year and JT Surf with South Australian Retailer of the Year.
The big retail winners were Saltwater Wine taking out NSW Retailer of the Year and Online Channel Retailer of the Year and Strapper Surf taking out the Victorian/Tasmanian Retailer of the Year and the hotly contested Core Boardstore of the Year.
A stoked Michael Di Sciascio, owner of Strapper Surf, accepting the awards said “I am blown away to receive these. This is a credit to my fantastic staff and their shared passion for surfing. We are committed to our Surfboard Factory behind our Torquay shop and always strive to do our best for our customers”.
Surf Retailers Federation President and Founder, Anthony Wilson was honoured with the award for Outstanding Service to the Surf Industry. “I’m speechless” said Wilson who also acknowledged his family and team “this is totally unexpected, and while the recognition is obviously nice, it’s not the motivation. If the Surf Retailers Federation and these Awards end up being the glue that binds the Australian surf industry together then I’ll be stoked.”
Please see page 2 for a list of winners…
The full list or Winners and Runners up are;
BRAND & PRODUCT AWARDS
Brand of the Year
MENS BRAND OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Hurley
MENS BRAND OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP Billabong
LADIES BRAND OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Rusty
LADIES BRAND OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP Billabong Girls
FOOTWEAR BRAND OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Havaianas
FOOTWEAR BRAND OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP Vans
Marketing Awards
MENS MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Billabong – Life’s Better in Boardshorts
MENS MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP RipCurl – Mirage Boardshorts
LADIES MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Billabong Girls – Bikini Lover’s Guide to Summer
LADIES MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP ROXY – Home is Where the Heart is
ONLINE CHANNEL BRAND OF THE YEAR (Judged) 2012 WINNER Quiksilver
ONLINE CHANNEL BRAND OF THE YEAR (Judged) 2012 RUNNER UP Oakley
Sales & Customer Service Awards
SALES REPRESENTATIVE OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER VIC – Volcom – James Lanyon
SALES REPRESENTATIVE OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP NSW – Billabong – Jackie Trives
SALES OFFICE OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER NSW – Billabong/GSM
SALES OFFICE OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP QLD – Billabong/GSM
Product Award Categories
PRODUCT INNOVATION AWARD (Judged) 2012 WINNER Ocean & Earth – ONE Piece Leash
PRODUCT INNOVATION AWARD (Judged) 2012 RUNNER UP Hurley – Phantom 4D Boardshort
BOARDSHORT OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP Rip Curl – The Mick Fanning Mirage Sonar Boardshort
BOARDSHORT OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Hurley – Phantom 4D Boardshort
SUNGLASS STYLE OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Oakley – Holbrook
SUNGLASS STYLE OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP Oakley – Batwolf
SURFBOARD OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Channel Islands Surfboards by AL Merrick – Fred Rubble
SURFBOARD OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP JS Industries – Revolution
SURFING PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Go Pro – Go Pro HD Camera
SURFING PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP Hurley – Phantom 4D Boardshort
WETSUIT OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER Rip Curl – E Bomb Pro Steamer
WETSUIT OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP O’Neill – Superfreak Steamer
RETAIL AWARDS
Retailer of the Year
CORE BOARDSTORE OF THE YEAR 2012 WINNER: Strapper Surf
CORE BOARDSTORE OF THE YEAR 2012 RUNNER UP: Aloha Manly
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR NEW SOUTH WALES 2012 WINNER: Saltwater Wine
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR NEW SOUTH WALES 2012 RUNNER UP: Slimes
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR QUEENSLAND 2012 WINNER: Coolum Surf
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR QUEENSLAND 2012 RUNNER UP: Goodtime
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR SOUTH AUSTRALIA 2012 WINNER: JT Surf
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR SOUTH AUSTRALIA 2012 RUNNER UP: JR’s Surf & Ski, Colonnades
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR VICTORIA / TASMANIA 2012 WINNER: Strapper Surf
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR VICTORIA / TASMANIA 2012 RUNNER UP: Mordy Surf
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2012 WINNER: Star Surf+Skate
SURF RETAILER OF THE YEAR WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2012 RUNNER UP: Country Waves
Fitout of the Year
SHOP FIT OUT OF THE YEAR (Judged) 2012 WINNER: Surfection CO OP Manly
SHOP FIT OUT OF THE YEAR (Judged) 2012 RUNNER UP: Surfection CO OP Melbourne
Online Channel Retailer of the Year
ONLINE CHANNEL RETAILER OF THE YEAR (Judged) 2012 WINNER: Saltwater Wine
ONLINE CHANNEL RETAILER OF THE YEAR (Judged) 2012 RUNNER UP: MV2
Service
OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE SURF INDUSTRY 2012: Anthony Wilson
About Surf Retailers Federation Inc.
The Surf Retailers Federation Inc (SRF) is a non profit organization, founded by, and run by Surf Retailers. The association serves as the preeminent voice for surf retailers on a grassroots level with manufacturers, suppliers, and other associations.
The Surf Retailers Federation works to improve the overall vibrancy and business opportunities for the surf industry and its members. Central to this are its two annual flagship events;
– the SRF Industry Awards / Mini Summit and
– the Surf Industry Summit
For further information please contact; melissa.bawden@surfretailers.com.au.
