The SBIA Surf Industry Awards held in Sydney on May 26 were a great success, with many attendees haling it as the best we’ve had.
Held at the Crowne Plaza in Coogee, the night attracted over 200 retailers and brand representatives from all over Australia.
It was a full on day, beginning with the retailer v brands tag-tem surf comp held at Maroubra. Although it was billed as a fun event, competition was fierce and there’s a lot of prestige associated with the event. While the surf wasn’t perfect, there were consistent waves on offer and in a tight battle; the brands won 157.5 points to 157. A big thanks to Surfing NSW for organising the event.
The tag team event was followed by an SBIA industry roundtable, which covered a number of topics including the implantation of the digital catalogues, results of the latest consumer survey and a presentation of a new online training platform. You can find the details in the Roundtable wrap-up story.
The Awards themselves kicked off pre-dinner drinks at 6am, which gave those attending a good opportunity to catch-up before things got underway.
Just over 200 people attended the night where both retailers and brands were recognised with 30 awards presented across a number of retail, product and marketing categories.
The prestigious Service to the Industry award went to Australian surfing legend and four-time world champion Mark Richards.
Mark is not only one of Australia’s greatest ever surfers, but also one of its leading surfboard shapers and manufacturers, his famous MR label a familiar sight on Australia’s beaches for over four decades.
In his speech, Mark paid tribute to the Australian surf industry, not only for the support he has received from it throughout his illustrious career, but also for the support the industry has given to pro surfing for nearly four decades.
Mark wasn’t the only Australian surfing legend at the awards with fellow world champs Tom Carroll, Mark Occhilupo and Damien Hardman also on hand to present awards.
There were plenty of highlights in the retail awards, including Saltwater Wine/Stormriders winning the Australian Retailer of the Year for the second year running. The coveted Core Boardstore was won by Slimes, owned by Central Coast surfer and long-time surf retailer Paul Green while Merewether’s Sanbah was named Breakthrough Retailer for of the year.
On the brand side, relative newcomer Vissla has announced its arrival as a significant player when it was awarded the Breakthrough Brand of the year. Rip Curl’s attention to technical details was well rewarded when it took out product of the year in the boardshort, wetsuit and surf accessories categories. The Otis Youngblood won sunglass of the year while Reef was the number one footwear brand.
It was also a big night for Billabong, taking out swimwear brand of the year and the men’s and women’s brand of the year. To cap things off Billabong also won the men’s and women’s marketing campaigns of the year.
Patagonia was another big winner, taking the environment award and also the product innovation award for its R2 Yulex Nexkin wetsuit.
Gold Coast based manufacturer JS Industries won the coveted surfboard of the year for its popular HYFI Blak Box II.
It was another big night and SBIA president Anthony Wilson was delighted with its success:
“It’s nights like tonight that really sets our industry apart, it really did have it all,” “Wilson said.
“We acknowledged 4 times World Champ Mark Richards’s contribution with the Service to Industry Award. We fare welled industry stalwarts, Rip Curl’s Steve Kay and Billabong’s Mike Savage, in style and we celebrated our best in class!”
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The awards were sponsored by Sense (Product Innovation), Brandscope (Retail Awards), Tyro (Retail Awards), Stryker Media. Davidsons Business Advisors (Environment Award), Shop for Shops (Shop fit-out award), Australian Surf Business magazine (service Awards), Coastalwatch, and Surfing World (marketing and brand awards) and Surfing Australia.
About Australian Surf Industry Awards:
The Australian Surf Industry Awards are held annually with entries opening January each year. The awards were launched in 2011 to celebrate the Industry’s outstanding Retailers, Products and Brands. With 30 categories ranging from Core Boardstore to Men’s Brand of the Year the Awards also recognise outstanding Service to the Industry.
2016 SURF INDUSTRY AWARDS – Winners and runners up
2016 Boardshort of the Year
WINNER Rip Curl – Mirage MF Focus
RUNNER UP Billabong Platinum X – Pulse X
2016 Wetsuit of the Year
WINNER Rip Curl – Flash Bomb Zip Free
RUNNER UP Vissla – 7 Seas
2016 Surfboard of the Year
WINNER JS Industries – HYFI Blak Box II
RUNNER UP Channel Islands – Sampler
2016 Surfing Accessory of the Year
WINNER Rip Curl – Rifles Tide Watch
RUNNER UP Future Fins – Generation Series
2016 Sunglass of the Year
WINNER Otis – Youngblood
RUNNER UP Oakley – Latch
2016 Men’s Marketing Campaign of the Year
WINNER Billabong – Life’s Better In Boardshorts
RUNNER UP Rip Curl – The Search
2016 Ladies Marketing Campaign of the Year
WINNER Billabong – A Bikini Kinda Life
RUNNER UP Rip Curl – My Bikini
2016 Sales Office of the Year
WINNER Volcom Australia and New Zealand
RUNNER UP Billabong National Customer Service
2016 NSW Sales Representative of the Year
WINNER Nathan Marsh – The Leisure Collective
RUNNER UP Zoe Caswell – Billabong
2016 QLD Sales Representative of the Year
WINNER John Michaliades – Oakley
RUNNER UP Shaye Newman – Billabong
2016 SA/NT Sales Representative of the Year
WINNER Travis Ochota – Bishop Agencies
RUNNER UP Ryan Anderson – Instant Agencies
2016 VIC/TAS Sales Representative of the Year
WINNER Richie Heenan – Quiksilver
RUNNER UP Lachlan McDonald – Oakley
2016 WA Sales Representative of the Year
WINNER Marty Farrow – Quiksilver
RUNNER UP Kerry Whitford – Rip Curl
2016 Footwear Brand of the Year
WINNER Reef
RUNNER UP Havaianas
2016 Swimwear Brand of the Year
WINNER Billabong
RUNNER UP Seafolly
2016 Breakthrough Brand of the Year
WINNER Vissla
RUNNER UP RVCA
2016 Women’s Brand of the Year
WINNER Billabong
RUNNER UP Rip Curl
2016 Men’s Brand of the Year
WINNER Billabong
RUNNER UP Rip Curl
2016 NSW Retailer of the Year
WINNER Saltwater Wine | Stormriders
RUNNER UP Slimes
2016 QLD Retailer of the Year
WINNER Beachbeat
RUNNER UP Tript Port Douglas
2016 SA/NT Retailer of the Year
WINNER Beaches Apparel
RUNNER UP JR’s Surf & Ski
2016 VIC/TAS Retailer of the Year
WINNER Strapper Surf & Blunt Skateboarding Co
RUNNER UP Red Herring Surf
2016 WA Retailer of the Year
WINNER Hillzeez
RUNNER UP Evolution Surf
2016 Core Boardstore of the Year
WINNER Slimes
RUNNER UP Sanbah
2016 Product Innovation of the Year
WINNER Patagonia – R2 Yulex Nexkin
RUNNER UP The Leisure Collective – SurfEars 2.0
2016 Environment Award
WINNER Patagonia – 1% of the Planet
RUNNER UP Firewire – Timbertek (Ecoboard Certification)
2016 Shop Fit Out of the Year
WINNER Quiksilver Boardriders, Torquay VIC
RUNNER UP Haydenshapes, Mona Vale NSW
2016 Service to the Industry
Mark Richards
2016 Breakthrough Retailer of the Year
WINNER Sanbah NSW
RUNNER UP Beaches SA
2016 Australian Retailer of the Year
WINNER Saltwater Wine | Stormriders
RUNNER UP Strapper Surf & Blunt Skateboarding Co
Want to view more photos from the Awards night? Click here.
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