John Florence’s brand rides the wave of Olympic surfing

When John Florence competes in the Paris Olympics surfing competition, which begins this weekend, he will be more than 9,000 miles from the host city. That’s because the surf spot is in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia, one of the world’s most famous and remote surf spots in the South Pacific Ocean.

While Florence was eliminated in the third round at the Tokyo Games, he heads into the 2024 Games with a mile-long lead in the World Surf League standings. He’s also a legend on the iconic waves of his hometown Pipeline, on Hawaii’s famed North Shore, and here at Teahupo’o. That makes him a favorite among a deep field that includes American Griffin Colapinto, Brazilian Filipe Toledo, Australian Jack Robinson and South African Jordy Smith.

The combination of talent, competition, waves and the scenery of Teahupo’o makes surfing one of the most anticipated events of the Summer Olympics. And while Florence is there first and foremost as a competitor, he is also there as an entrepreneur. His brand, Florence (formerly Florence Marine X), launched in 2021 and has since become one of the few startups redefining what a surf brand is and can be. The Paris Games represent a unique opportunity for the sport and the brand.

To learn more about these opportunities, I called Florence President Pat O’Connell and caught him driving along Oahu’s North Shore where he was preparing for the Molokai 2 Oahu paddle race. He says one of the most exciting aspects of Olympic surfing is the fact that many of the surfers competing aren’t well-known in the surf industry.

“If you follow professional surfing, it’s dominated by Brazil, Hawaii, America and Australia, and sometimes a few Europeans,” says O’Connell, himself a former professional surfer and part of the famed Momentum generation. “What’s exciting about the International Surfing Association is the way it’s built a global presence. So now we’re going to see surfers from China, surfers from Japan, surfers from El Salvador, from Canada, everywhere. The idea of ​​the sport expanding beyond those traditional geographies is really good for the long-term growth of the sport and the industry.”

Surf industry in trouble

Last fall, once-powerful surf brands Quiksilver, Billabong, Volcom, Roxy and RVCA were all acquired by Authentic Brands Group in a bargain-basement deal, representing a significant contraction of a once-booming industry. The result was an epic purge of professional surfers from paid sponsorship rosters, in what Surf Mag Stab Surfing has been called “the most difficult sponsorship climate in modern surfing history.” This commercial reality contrasts with surfing’s record growth in participation and popularity. A recent study found that the number of surfers in the United States has increased by 35% over the past decade.

O’Connell believes that the struggles and lack of growth of traditional surf brands are partly due to an over-reliance on their glory days of decades past. “The traditional surf industry lacks innovation,” he says. “They weren’t built around innovation as a priority. They were built on the work that was done in the past. And that’s not a criticism of them, that’s just their business. But for us, our approach is the exact opposite.”

The company is recording triple-digit growth year-on-year. Florence is heavily involved in the company’s product development, and O’Connell says it keeps the company honest. “The first question he asks us when we come to him with an idea is, ‘Why do I really need this? What’s the point?’” O’Connell says. “That’s a great question because it gets back to the idea of ​​making fewer, better products. It goes against what a lot of brands are doing, but it works for us.”

Olympic dynamics

Florence is not an official sponsor of the Olympics and therefore cannot promote her participation. The company has produced a limited-edition board short that Florence will be wearing (already sold out on its website). In anticipation of the IOC Rule 40 marketing blackout, the brand has released a short video tribute to its namesake, featuring locals from her hometown of North Shore, including popular surfers and vloggers like Florence’s brother Nathan, Jamie O’Brien, and Koa Rothman.

“Of course, if John does well, it’s going to be a huge boost to our brand, but for us it’s just about rallying behind him,” says O’Connell. “I see the Olympics as the athletes’ moment, not the brands’ moment. If John won, we’d get a lot of attention downstream because he’d be on TV, he’d be doing interviews and more people would know about him. But you can’t do much with the brand.”

Of course, there is the unintended benefit of having a brand founded and named after one of the best surfers on the planet.

“We laugh about it, just his name on the back of the jersey, it’s like he wears a designer outfit every day.”

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