SUP brand ambassadors?

[Luc Benac]

I guess that from my point of view if the new Canadian Infinity distributor for 2018 carries enough models of their line and these can be accessed for trials and so on. It would resolve many things. I could still test boards from a brand that I like but without having to buy $$$ and bring specially from the USA. Might also be able to purchase the board with the best "mojo" :-)

[Bean]

Available for immediate sponsorship:

[ukgm]

I have been sponsored a lot over the years in a variety of sports. I've been picky and seen the relationship as a two way street and one that should have contractual obligations so that nobody is confused or upset as to the role and what will be delivered in any given year. Because of this I've always found good sponsors and had good relationships with them. Nobody should expect a free lunch.

I was sponsored by a big SUP brand for the last two years but I have decided to step from this for 2018 - partly as I feel I can no longer meet the reasonable requirements the role entails and partly because my passion for sports technology is conflicting with the constraints of being aligned to one brand only.

[supuk]

Ambassador's.... hummm

You must be totally happy with the brand, because it could limit your personal growth, if they don't keep pace with YOUR needs.

Tricky to be sure, but I am glad stoked people are out there promoting and sharing their boards and experiences.... it may be the only way someone will have to try a brand.

Most relevant aspect of Ambassadors?
They are people that the average buyer can relate to.
Hearing their stoke is more useful to me, than brand advertising or Pro rider opinions.

I wanna know what other big, old dudes are riding
Others want to know what young ladies are riding
IMO: Ambassadors are effective and appreciated

Mascots, on the other hand........

Im going to come out strait and say it.. and its nothing against you personally but if I ever had to purchase a board the amount of sunova stuff that you and a few other post on  ambassador have posted on here has some what put me off them and im probably not the only one.

Although its a little quieter nowadays sometime you can have too much of a good thing. 

[Luc Benac]

I have been sponsored a lot over the years in a variety of sports. I've been picky and seen the relationship as a two way street and one that should have contractual obligations so that nobody is confused or upset as to the role and what will be delivered in any given year. Because of this I've always found good sponsors and had good relationships with them. Nobody should expect a free lunch.

I was sponsored by a big SUP brand for the last two years but I have decided to step from this for 2018 - partly as I feel I can no longer meet the reasonable requirements the role entails and partly because my passion for sports technology is conflicting with the constraints of being aligned to one brand only.

Would you say that sponsorship and "ambassador" are two different level of services from both side?

All the comments have been extremely helpful to help me figure out what I was really after and what I would/could provide in return.
I think that a situation where it is possible to rent and test new boards for a reasonable period of time would simply be ideal. Like Burchas was able to do in Hood River.
Of course not all places are like that and most definitely it is not quite possible in Vancouver where in many cases, if you want to paddle a board, you need to pre-order it and import it into Canada. Except for Starboard's most common models to which many racers have access to at a slashed price.
I have contacted the soon to be Canadian distributor and Dave to inquire about future access to new models locally. Will see what comes out of it if anything.
In the meantime, I still have my 2016 Whiplash and multiple fins configuration to play with :-)

[TallDude]

Speaking of being aligned with only one company,
Unique to where I live, I'm friends with, grew up with, hang out with, race with, and surf with the owners and shapers of at least 8 well known SoCal sup board companies. It's easier to just ride my own, or some non-local maker's boards than hear the grief. I still wear T shirts, trucker hats, sport some stickers and rack pads on my car that support our local brands, but that's about the extent of my water bound ambassadorship. I wish them all the best.   

[Luc Benac]

Speaking of being aligned with only one company,
Unique to where I live, I'm friends with, grew up with, hang out with, race with, and surf with the owners and shapers of at least 8 well known SoCal sup board companies. It's easier to just ride my own, or some non-local maker's boards than hear the grief. I still wear T shirts, trucker hats, sport some stickers and rack pads on my car that support our local brands, but that's about the extent of my water bound ambassadorship. I wish them all the best.

I guess that in your case, it is more a question of too much rather than not enough :-) Ride one and piss-off seven?

[supuk]

to me the amount some one sponsors is equal to what is given back by the person being sponsored. if they give a wet suit that's worth $300 they get $300 worth of time or what ever if they give a $2000 board they get the equivalent. However what sponsors don realize is time is valuable. I know people who spend a hour a day or more posting social meada stuff for there sponsor,  so lets say you charge your self at a modest $30 x 365 days in a year that is $10,950!! that's a lot of boards and wetsuits they are going to have to give just to cover that!

[PDLSFR]

The whole SUP ambassadors thing reminds me of that funny Pepsi or Coke commercial where they catch the truck driver drinking the other brand soda.

I can understand a true SUP sponsored paddler being extremely brand faithful and in some cases over the top about their product, but can any ambassador honestly say they don't have a desire to try a different brand, it could maybe be next best thing (until something better comes along)?

I do agree that when all you read about is that and that, and then get 1,000,000 pictures and posts about it, I am turned off and almost despise that product and will never try it nevermind spend a penny on it.

Maybe the SUP ambassadors should think about what and why is the company using them for their products, it is their skills and knowledge of the sport (maybe such as elite racers and surfers), is it a popularity contest and just like in high school if mister popularity Skippy thinks its cool than I gotta have it too.

Bottom line, a brand is out to make the most amount of money possible and they will use whatever or use whoever to accomplish that goal and from I can see with certain brands it's working and with others it's failing.

Also like the movie critics, I could five two craps about what they think, I know what I like and thats that.

[Bean]

It really comes down to a form of permission marketing.  A topic that was recently discussed here. 
If the value of the content is percieved by the viewer to exceed the pain of the marketing component then it's a win win.  For instance, I could watch Kai videos for hours even though I know it's mainly marketing. 

[Eagle]

"partly because my passion for sports technology is conflicting with the constraints of being aligned to one brand only"

Variety is def the spice of life.

Insofar as ambassadors -> way prefer when a board or paddle or fin does the talking and not some biased pimp.  We know exactly what we like. 

[stoneaxe]

LOL...I always kind of wondered why anyone would want me as an ambassador. The same reason I tell people not to take my recommendations too seriously unless they are 6-4, 280 lbs with balance compromised by a brain tumor...then maybe (still maybe) my opinion matters. I can speak to relative quality of construction and stuff like that (somewhat) but that's about it. I always tell folks to demo....and that I think is the biggest value of ambassadors.......demos sell boards.

I still say the very best effort to share info on brands/boards was the Board and Paddle showcase that Pono put on......subjective opinions on boards by a wide range of people of different size, age, gender, ability, etc...all in one place, all surfing them on the same waves on the same day. It allowed you to see trends very easily and to narrow down what might work for you. Of course it would be impossible to replicate today...50 boards on the beach represented most of the manufacturers back in 2008. Today you would have 300 (at least)

One individuals opinion doesn't mean much to me unless I know they closely match me in all the important factors. And even there it can get tricky. My brother and I match up pretty closely when it comes to surf. If he likes a board there is a good chance I will too but his balance is far better than mine....the comparison goes out the window on downwind boards. Nobody that has been on a SUP as long as I have sucks at DW as bad as I do... . I can't stand on boards he paddles with ease.

In defense of Creek i will say that his becoming an ambassador came long after he was stoked on Sunova. His reason for  posting board reviews even pre-Sunova was always because there was so little real info out there....and what else is a retired old Supper to do when the waves are crummy but edit videos....   And even though I don't come close to matching up with him he gives accurate assessments of the good qualities of a given board based on his skill level. But that doesn't mean what he says applies to me directly.

Everyone needs to remember that regardless of what anyone tells you....it's all very personal.

[Eagle]

Have been asked a couple of times to be a SUP ambassador but refused.  Was always too restrictive and muzzling for my taste.

But still am an ambassador of a well known and very respected mtn brand.  Difference is have absolutely zero strings attached and can say or do whatever I want.  Would take all the fun and stoke away if was forced to limit or stifle any opinion I had -> and not freely state all the cons along with all the pros.  Just cannot pimp myself out like that or limit my choices using better equipment from another brand.  Def no brand or product is best at everything.  So was way too restrictive and not worth any savings. 

We really like our specialized equipment quivers that are fantasic in certain specific conditions but really quite crappy elsewhere.  As over the years have tried lots of so-called "do everything" products -> but found they do everything just kinda plain joe average or even sometimes even real crappy.  But to each their own.

[Area 10]

Ambassador's.... hummm

You must be totally happy with the brand, because it could limit your personal growth, if they don't keep pace with YOUR needs.

Tricky to be sure, but I am glad stoked people are out there promoting and sharing their boards and experiences.... it may be the only way someone will have to try a brand.

Most relevant aspect of Ambassadors?
They are people that the average buyer can relate to.
Hearing their stoke is more useful to me, than brand advertising or Pro rider opinions.

I wanna know what other big, old dudes are riding
Others want to know what young ladies are riding
IMO: Ambassadors are effective and appreciated

Mascots, on the other hand........

Im going to come out strait and say it.. and its nothing against you personally but if I ever had to purchase a board the amount of sunova stuff that you and a few other post on  ambassador have posted on here has some what put me off them and im probably not the only one.

Although its a little quieter nowadays sometime you can have too much of a good thing.

I feel exactly the same. I'd never now buy a Sunova because of the excessive pimping, particularly by supthecreek. Part of the problem is that he's revealed his politics on this forum to be, to my mind, too similar to those of the young guy who allegedly ran over and killed an anti-fascist demonstrator at Charlottesville recently. So now I think of Sunova boards as "the fascist's choice".

No doubt this is unfair, and that supthecreek is the most delightful guy to all sections of society, and regularly volunteers at refugee centres and has a "Black Lives Matter" banner in his window. And I am sure that many here will now leap to his defence (especially the Trump supporters). But none of that will change my mind, so it does underline a main problem about being a brand ambassador, which is that you really shouldn't risk saying anything that is going to offend others. You need, publicly at least, to keep your opinions to yourself, especially on matters of eg. religion, sex/gender politics, or politics itself. Otherwise you risk associating the brand with a particular set of views that might turn a lot of people off it.

So you have got to put a price on that as well. Is it worth just a few dollars to have to watch everything you say and do, in order to avoid offending a potential customer? That will likely depend on your own views and personality. Perhaps those with strong views and a willingness to communicate them are not the most obvious choices for brand ambassadors.

[Dusk Patrol]

While I have enough of a contrarian streak to identify with the concept of being turned off a brand by excessive pimping, I don't actually go there, but instead recognize the situation for what it is, and try to separate the ambassador from the product and determine based on all inputs the relative quality/attributes of the product.

That also holds true if the politics of the ambassador are different from mine.

That said, if the 'bad politics' belonged to of the owner of the brand, be it an individual or as an organization, then I'd stay away from the product no matter how good.