Thousands flocked to Huntington Beach for the recent Honda U.S. Open of Surfing and Bank of the West Beach Games.
It’s one of the largest action sports and music events in North America, and draws a slew of Orange County surf and skate brands. They get big exposure: hanging banners along the pier plus lots of TV time.
Among the biggies: surfwear maker Santa Cruz-based O’Neill Inc., which has its clothing division in Irvine.
O’Neill is a sponsor of the U.S. Open while its Irvine-based sibling Lost Clothing sponsors the Lost Junior Pro.
Other OC companies with sponsorship roles included San Clemente-based Pick Up Stix Inc. and Huntington Beach-based BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery.
Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., the biggest clothing name in surf, sponsors its own surf contest series, and isn’t as active as some others at the U.S. Open.
The U.S. Open is about the surf competition, though that sometimes got lost in the flurry of activity.
During the 10-day event, there were music jams, skateboarding and freestyle BMX riders doing tricks in the wooden vert bowl. There also was a volleyball competition.
Plus, some 60 surfers unofficially shattered the world record for the most surfers riding on one board. The riders crowded onto a 40-foot long, 10-foot wide surfboard, which weighed 1,200 pounds. They rode it to the beach, breaking the previous record of 47 riders that was set earlier this year in Australia.
Among those on the giant board: surf industry veteran Peter “P.T.” Townend, owner of Huntington Beach marketing and consulting firm The ActivEmpire Inc.
The U.S. Open of Surfing has been held at the Huntington Beach pier since 1959.
The competition included more than 500 athletes from a dozen countries chasing an $185,000 prize purse. Andy Irons of Hawaii won the men’s event with Julia Christian taking the women’s title.
The event has helped propel alternative sports,surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding,into a multibillion dollar industry.
The U.S. Open, previously called the U.S. Championships, was the first action sports event to be filmed by ABC Wide World of Sports in 1962.
Duke Kahanamoku (Olympic swimming champion, Hollywood actor and Hawaiian folk hero) attended in 1963 and was mobbed by hundreds of fans while Sports Illustrated chronicled the event. ESPN picked up coverage in 1983.
The U.S. Open also helped lure mainstream corporate sponsors to the action sports world, such as Honda Motor Co., the current title sponsor. Target Corp. sponsors the Women’s Junior Pro event.
Cleveland-based International Management Group, which bought the U.S. Open of Surfing event in 1991, has brought in other big names, such as Royal Philips Electronics NV.
The event was free, spread across 12 acres and drew more than 300,000 people.
One section, dubbed TransWorld Surf Village, featured displays from a number of OC brands, such as Lake Forest-based Sole Technology Inc.’s etnies skateboard shoe brand.
Jack’s Surfboards and Huntington Surf & Sport, two popular surf shops across the street from the pier on Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, also had displays.
Throngs of people hit the autograph area. Team riders from Irvine-based Billabong USA and Irvine-based Rusty were among those signing garb.
Ad Flap?
A couple of weeks ago, I asked some of Orange County’s executives to sound off about a somewhat downbeat advertising spending forecast reported in trade publication Advertising Age.
The paper said that ad spending trackers recently cut their forecasts.
New York-based TNS Media Intelligence predicted a 3.4% increase in ad spending this year, down from a February forecast of 5.1%. Robert Coen at Interpublic Group’s Universal McCann now expects a 5.7% jump, down from a December forecast of 6.5%.
I heard from Jim Harrington, president of Newport Beach-based O’Leary and Partners, who said that despite the negative news he was optimistic about ad spending, particularly in OC.
I’ve heard from another top ad executive.
David Murphy, North American managing partner of Young & Rubicam Brands in Irvine, brushed off the outlook.
He said the “predictions are of little value” since the shop uses a variety of strategies in its marketing mix.
“We will continue to invest in media that deliver the best audience at the best value,” Murphy said. “If a magazine, Web site or network cannot deliver value they will lose share.”
Murphy said the shop takes a “much more progressive approach to media when evaluating ways” that it can help clients achieve marketing goals.
“We blur the lines between traditional and new media and are not hindered by distinctions that are out of step with today’s dynamic marketplace,” Murphy said.
For instance, Murphy said Y & R; recently created a Web site, www.TheTrueSUV.com, to show off Land Rover North America’s LR3 car.
“This Web site is the focus of our local newspaper and radio advertising,” Murphy said. “So is this a media campaign or a digital marketing campaign? The successful marketers and agencies will be those who are able to synchronize all points of customer contact.”
