Overview
Launched in October 2017, this two-month initiative connected local surfers with social justice activism through FAS Movement brand ambassadors. The campaign increased brand awareness, improved engagement across all channels, and established a sustainable network of surfer partnerships dedicated to social change, integrating humanitarian action with the promotion of surf culture. The initiative leveraged surf workshops and clinics into fundraising opportunities, raising $50,000 for a surf clinic in Sierra Leone. Through integrated lifestyle branding, the campaign successfully bridged recreational surfing with meaningful nonprofit impact.
BRANDING & STRATEGY
Brand strategy development · Social justice advocacy · Social impact campaigns · Partnership development · Photography & videography
- Duration: October–December 2017
- Partners: RedBull Ambassadors
- Team: Fas Lebbie, Lance Lowry, Nick Jones, Parker Welbeck, local surfers
WHAT I BROUGHT
Developed a cohesive brand strategy and visual direction to improve surfers' relations towards impactful social activism narratives.
Directed photography, videography, and documentary-style content with local surfer ambassadors, capturing authentic lifestyle and advocacy imagery.
Built and managed ambassador partnerships, organized surf clinics and events, and raised $50,000 for social initiatives.
Campaign Background
The Forever a Surfer campaign taps into the vibrant intersection of surf culture, travel, and social responsibility rooted in the global surf community. While other nonprofit organizations struggled to connect with surfers, we saw an opportunity in surfing’s deep connection to world travel – where passionate surfers often find themselves in surf locations in the Global South, seeking the perfect wave. Surfers who travel globally often encounter underprivileged communities but lack structured ways to make a positive impact. Our challenge was to authentically integrate the nonprofit’s social justice mission with local surf culture, while leveraging the sport’s adventurous spirit to increase brand awareness. Surfers want to give back to communities they visit, but only a few actively participate in surf-related humanitarian work. We zeroed in on surf communities where passionate athletes were already working on social justice platforms: Orange County’s competitive surf scene, Hawaii’s traditional surf heritage, and California’s progressive surf culture. Each location offered unique perspectives on how local surfers who travel to places like South Africa, Bali, and more could become vehicles to create a positive impact on local systems.
My Approach
I employed three strategic frameworks: mapping community needs and values, identifying relationships among surfers, competitions, and humanitarian missions, and developing pathways from ambassador recruitment to social impact outcomes.
Design Process
The research aims to understand how surf culture can evolve from a recreational activity to a lifestyle with the potential for social impact. I combined deep local insights with an analysis of existing surf-based humanitarian organizations to reveal opportunities to integrate our nonprofit mission into existing cultural narratives. Each surf community offered unique cultural dynamics that shaped my research. In California, where surf competitions drive community engagement, surfing symbolizes both athletic achievement and lifestyle identity. Hawaii transformed it into a deeper connection with nature and traditional values. Surfers travel to remote areas of the Global South to engage in surfing adventures, but only a few have meaningful interactions with local communities. This campaign aimed to create a fundamental shift, prioritizing authentic cultural connections and social responsibility over traditional recreational status. While established surf brands remained anchored in performance and lifestyle marketing, our target audience sought genuine humanitarian engagement, allowing surfers to integrate social activism into their lifestyle naturally.
Our implementation had three strategic phases, beginning with cultivating ambassadors through organic, peer-to-peer relationships rather than formal recruitment, growing from 12 to 18 surfers by month’s end. November’s activation phase integrated our message into 12 existing surf competitions, launched youth clinics, and released documentary-style videos that achieved 8.7% engagement (far exceeding the 2.3% nonprofit average). The final phase formalized our ambassador program, finalized the $50,000 Sierra Leone initiative, and developed brand partnerships for sustainability. Throughout the implementation process, we prioritized authentic engagement over traditional marketing metrics, adapting our approach based on community feedback.
Phase 1 Strategy
Collaborating with surfer ambassadors across Orange County and Hawaii to create authentic lifestyle stories, turning everyday surfing into purposeful narratives.
Design Interventions
Lifestyle Branding & Photoshoots
Collaborated with socially conscious surfers on lifestyle photoshoots, weaving the Forever a Surfer slogan into authentic visual storytelling and competitions, enhancing brand identity and campaign relevance. These photoshoots elevated campaign visibility across Orange County and Hawaii, driving engagement and aligning surf culture with social justice narratives.
Phase 1 Strategy
Improving local relationships and surfers’ stories into social activism, merging the lifestyle of individualism with community and global humanitarian impact.
Design Intervention
Surf Photos
Partnered with surf ambassadors to host clinics for underprivileged youth across Hawaii and Sierra Leone, transforming events into fundraising opportunities and raising $50,000 for surf initiatives and travel funding. These clinics fostered cultural exchange and established meaningful relationships with local communities, thereby solidifying the campaign’s humanitarian impact and brand credibility.
Engagement
Documentary videos achieved 3x nonprofit average of 2.3%.
Raised
Funded Sierra Leone programs and artist partnerships.
Short & Long-term Impact
The Forever a Surfer Campaign successfully improved how surfers engage with social justice initiatives, creating immediate pathways for humanitarian impact through surfer-led content creation, local cultural integration, and service-based workshops. The campaign successfully achieved its goal of traveling to Sierra Leone, West Africa, where surfers taught underprivileged youth through surf clinics that fostered confidence and encouraged positive lifestyle choices. Long-term impacts were beginning to be realized as the ambassador program grew organically, with influential figures approaching the team and demonstrating a deep resonance with our activities. This community-driven approach evolved into sustained partnerships, shifting perceptions within the surf industry about the compatibility of social justice work with authentic surf culture, and inspiring a new generation of surfers to view their recreational passion as a vehicle for meaningful global change.
Next Steps
- Expand the ambassador program to include surfers from our next trip in South Africa.
- Develop a mobile app connecting traveling surfers with local humanitarian opportunities.
- Create a standardized surf clinic curriculum for implementation
- Establish partnerships with surf equipment manufacturers for gear donations
- Launch annual “Surfers for Change” conference, bringing together athlete activists
- Develop a documentary series that follows surfers on humanitarian missions around the world.
