RVCA Marketing Stands Out on North Shore

Of all the companies doing marketing on the North Shore in December, RVCA seemed to dominate the space for what it calls RVCAloha week.

The brand hosted several high impact, community focused events, and produced rich social media content, helped by a team of 12 content producers on the ground that captured every moment.

RVCA founder Pat Tenore was also very involved in the North Shore efforts this year and was a big part of many of the activations.

We asked Global VP of Marketing Brian Cassaro about RVCA’s marketing for the week.

It seems like you guys really ramped up with marketing on the North Shore this year.  Was there more this year? If so, why? 

Brian Cassaro: There was more this year. Pat decided to get the house next to our Off the Wall house and it worked out great and got him more involved with the team and planning process.

Pat’s focus was the community and when we decided on the events for the year, we wanted to immerse our team into the Hawaiian culture and give back to the people of the North Shore.

Lyndie (Irons) and Pat wanted to kick off our week with a Culture Day with the Fukumitsu family.  They taught us about the land, their culture and their practice – picture BJ Penn pounding poi next to Alex Knost. It was unbelievable.

Then for Dustin Barca’s movie premiere and for the Mangchi Hammer/Mickey Avalon/Landon McNamara shows, the goal was to make them open to the public so that the community could attend.

Barca’s premiere at Sunset Beach Elementary acted as a fundraiser for the school art program and we were lucky to have partners like Slowtide, Electric and HydroFlask to engage the community and provide gifts.

The North Shore Lifeguards were heavily involved with us as well. We host an annual CPR clinic for all surfers and we had a tremendous turn out from CT and QS surfers.

Plus, Herbie Fletcher’s Wave Warrior shoot was a great way to bring the surfers on the North Shore together to celebrate Pipeline and its history.

We also had a RVCA Women’s influencer dinner and line showing.  Some of our advocates, local influencers and some retailers gathered to see the Fall ‘18 line.

Those are just some of the highlights. The overall goal was to bring people together.

How did you choose what events to do? Was there a special emphasis on RVCA Sport?

Brian Cassaro: The most important goal was to put the community first.  We wanted to be inclusive and provide a platform to give back.

As for Sport, Pat has built relationships with the best gyms on the North Shore, namely The Boars Nest, Sunset Beach Jiu-Jitsu and Kai Garcia’s place, what we started calling Borg’s Nest.

We brought some of the world’s most accomplished Jiu-Jitsu masters together including BJ Penn, Rafa and Gui Mendes and Buchecha, to have seminars for the people of the North Shore. It was a priceless experience.

Also with the sport team, breathing and training expert Brian Mackenzie held seminars for the public and for RVCA advocates and friends.

So the emphasis wasn’t necessarily on sport but with our relationships, and that led to daily activations around sport.

On the social media front, what was the strategy? Several posts looked almost like mini films, like the Mickey and Landon party announcement. How did you guys approach that aspect of the week?

Brian Cassaro: Social media was our platform to get the message out.  We had 12 people from our content team out there taking daily photos and doing daily edits for our advocates and category channels to post.

In addition, our category managers were on the ground working with the Skate, Surf, Women’s, ANP and Sport teams to create experiences outside of our planned events.

We also have some follow up edits that will come out in the next few weeks.  It really was about building great brand content with our diverse group of advocates and letting our fans immerse themselves in it.

How are you measuring results and any feedback on the impact of the week of marketing?

Brian Cassaro: We saw our social numbers increase dramatically.  Our average weekly increase in followers doubled and our impressions increased by 150%.  Profile views doubled and our reach was up significantly as well.

And then, of course, there’s the word-on-the-street factor. This year, I had the best feedback I have ever had from the advocates and industry. 

And, the relationships we created with new people will develop into new collaborations and art projects so that’s something that will have a long-term impact.

On another note, is RVCA opening a store in Haleiwa? If so, when?

Brian Cassaro: Not that I know of.