It’s not everyday you launch a new global product without telling anyone about it. But that's what we did for Rip Curl's Search GPS 2.

Rip Curl were one of the first brands to adopt wearable tech back in 2013. They wanted to give surfers an elevated experience, one that generated useful data that helped them improve their skills and also compete against each other. To launch their new device they wanted to stay true to their vision, and create a truly unique brand experience that re-engaged lapsed users but also got the global surfing community clamouring to get involved.

Rip Curl’s watch the Search GPS 1 hadn’t been updated since it launched in 2013. While other brands are constantly rolling out new features, surfers everywhere were leaving the brand behind for gnarlier competitors. To launch our Search GPS 2, we wanted to give surfers a reason to come back to the brand, while celebrating every sesh they wore their watch.

What could we do with surfer’s data to surprise and delight without being invasive in data conscious world? Creating the world’s first digital surf comp and launching it by not telling anybody about it, seemed like a sure fire way to tap into that ‘Locals Only’ surfer mentality whilst also gaining widespread talk-ability and earned media. Proving that when it comes to wearable surf tech, Rip Curl is still ahead of the game.

Even though surfing is the fastest growing sport in the world, the sub-culture is still difficult to break into and is strongly driven by the idea of “surfing localism”.

Even for a brand founded by surfers, like Rip Curl, it’s hard to connect with the counter culture driven community if you don’t play by the rules of the community. We took the cultural nuances of surfing and applied them to key mechanics of the Rip Curl Pro:

1. Locals Only: Territorial at the best of times, surfings stick to the breaks they know best. So while the competition was global, you only needed to surf local to take on the rest of the world.

2. No kooks: Surfing is hard to break into as a beginner (Kook) and we didn’t want beginner’s on our breaks. So only surfers who owned the GPS1 or 2 could compete.

3. Share the surf: We didn’t share locations, but we did share stats surfers care about. We ensured all the data was easily compiled and enabled to be shared within the surfing community and outside of it.

To launch the Rip Curl Search GPS 2 we needed to show off how the watch worked, how it tracks your surf and how that data could make you a better surfer. But surfers care more about style than do about decimal points. So we needed to connect it with something they do care about, competing.

We created the “Rip Curl: Virtual Pro”, the only global surf competition you didn’t know you were a part of. The Virtual Pro was powered through the watch itself and took the data that surfers didn’t used to care about and pitted those stats against every single person on the planet who wore the watch in the water. The data created a total score for each surfer forming a global leader board. We then crowned the winners at the end of the comp and sent the surfing world and Rip Curl sales into frenzy.

Despite being a popular subculture, participated in by millions, surfing is predominantly a solo endeavour. Sure you’ve got a few others out on the waves with you, but when you hit a barrel, you’re alone. It’s hard to compare your performance to anyone else’s out in the surf, and the closest insight into other people's ability is watching competitions reserved for pros, from the shoreline.

But Rip Curl’s Search GPS 2 tracks surf data like nothing else on the planet. Every data point the watch collects is your own personal indication into your ability as a surfer.

The idea of the Virtual Pro was born from this insight, and the tech not only enabled surfers to compete digitally through their watch, but allowed them to assess their ability and compare it with a global surfing community all without ever leaving your local break.

Everyone who surfed while wearing their GPS 1 or 2 automatically and unknowingly entered the Virtual Pro. Over a 10-day window (The span of a surf comp) we collected their surf data such as distance paddled, wave speed and wavelength. Using that date we created a unique scoring algorithm that scored surfers and placed them on a global leader board.

Each surfer was provided with a bespoke data visualisation, which relieved their best surf. Those videos then became social posts serving as the entry mechanic into the final round of the competition.

The winner was announced live on Sunrise (An Australian breakfast TV news show) receiving an all expense paid trip to Fiji with 4 of their mates and a stable of Rip Curl pro team riders. The total prize package was worth over $40k, a pretty sick prize when all they did was surf like they always do.

The Virtual Pro gave surf wearable tech a whole new dimension, reason to purchase and cemented Rip Curl at the forefront of surfing culture and ingenuity.

The competition was such a success it’s now an annual fixture on the WSL global surfing calendar ( Just like Pipeline or Bells Beach.) After the competition period Rip Curl saw a 220% rise in people using the Search GPS device regularly and 36% increase in search GPS Watch sales.

From a tiny $50k media spend we reached over 14 million people globally.

The campaign received over 3 million dollars in earned media and Rip Curl brand love spiked higher than it has in the past 10 years.

The Virtual Pro was picked up by national and international press including segments on SunriseTV in Australia as well regular segments in internationally renowned surf mag ‘STAB’.