- Partner
- Rusty Surfboards
- Scope
- E-commerce, Website, Social media, Advertising, Newsletters, Media creation, Creative, Asset management, SEO, Human resources, Consulting, Systems and integrations
- Industry
- Action sports and lifestyle
- Engagement
- 2007 · Agency of record since 2007
The situation
A legendary shaper with no digital presence
The relationship began in 2007 with a small ad placement. At the time Rusty Surfboards had a basic website and a Facebook account of fewer than 1,000 followers, and no direct-to-consumer channel.
With each passing year the work widened, from advertising into the website, e-commerce, email, social media, media production and systems, until the two companies were more like family than partners.
What we did
Three moves, in order
- 01
Built the store, three times over
Three website generations, each keeping pace with branding and e-commerce; the custom surfboard builder made the site a Bigcommerce Awards finalist and the top sales driver for the brand. Later migrated to Shopify with Shape3d, POS, Zendesk and QuickBooks integrated.
- 02
Opened every digital channel
Ad accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Google and YouTube; a CRM with automations built from zero to roughly 20,000 contacts; social accounts grown from 700 to over 200,000 followers.
- 03
Owned the media and the ranking
In-house photo and video production building a brand-owned library, and an SEO program that ranks Rusty #1 nationally for "custom surfboard".
What changed
Results
Every figure is stated with its period and its baseline. No number appears here without the context that makes it honest.
90%
Of brand revenue from e-commerce
After a little over a decade vs From 0% before the direct-to-consumer store
7.82x
Average return on ad spend
Three-year span vs No digital ad accounts at the start; individual ads up to 69x
200K+
Social media followers
Today vs From about 700 at the start
Gallery
In their words
“The i9media team brings a personal level of commitment to the company, where they are always going above and beyond, quickly responding to our needs and never failing to deliver. I strongly recommend the i9media team having worked with them for over 10 years.”
