Skateboard Culture & Advertising

Skateboarding and its Culture are a favorite for advertisers to target a broad demographic, from youth, to pop culture, even sport and the Olympics now. Skateboarding in advertising has been used to sell everything from cereal, insurance, phones and fast food.

What’s Changed and why its important to understand a communities culture and an advertisers involvement in it.
1. Skateboarding is an Olympic sport, and has a number of pro tours globally and here in Australia.
2. Our Skateboarders here work really hard to develop their careers and reputation.
3. Skateboarding has a participation problem, its numbers have doubled in 3 years, and it needs to support these people.
4. Skateboarders and the sport rely on publicity for their income.

Skateboarding in Australia has close to 4 times the participation of Rugby League in Australia, this is through competition, recreation and transport. It is a broad group of people, that have nurtured it into pop culture itself, through hard work and dedication. Where skateboarding is at right now is in a growth stage, it needs investment in the skateboarders themselves, the sport, competitions, tours and coaching programs, and broadcast.

Where is the System breaking?
Brands in Australia are using skateboarders and their culture to sell their products, but these very same brands are investing millions into other sports. In some cases, even running ads with their product with skateboarders on it during the broadcast of the very sport they invest in.

Skateboarding is being utilized to sell products due to its community building an appealing culture, but then sales from utilizing skateboardings culture is being invested away in other sports. The brands utilising skateboarding in their campaigns need to make sure they are supporting the very culture they are using to sell.

Its great for skateboarding to have exposure, but not at the expense of our athletes and development programs.

How can we improve this?
If your brand, organisation or Ad agency is looking to utilize skateboarding in its campaigns, think about the community you are using to sell your product. You can make simple changes by:

1. Hiring aspiring or current professional skateboarders to do your content, not actors.
   2. Investing in skateboarding, the Pro tour, Grassroots programs, Community events.
   3. Pay a skateboarder as an Ambassador and expand your athlete range.
   4. Hire professional skateboard filmers to film your content.
   5. Actually advertise to the audience themselves, through broadcast, events, magazines.

   These little changes will go a long way in supporting the next generation of skateboarders here in Australia. You will also get buy in from the community itself, as they will see you supporting and giving back, and having an understanding of the culture.

A Standout Example

One of the best examples of a brand utilizing skateboarding culture is the restaurant chain Mad Mex.
Mad Mex currently support skateboarding by:
1. Having a dedicated program with support for up and coming skateboarders.
2. Promoting these skateboarders in their content and campaigns.
3. Supporting Tour events.