A Brand is Born

The story of Instinct dates back to 1972 when I was in high school. A photographer, Mike Duff, swam out at Dairy Beach in Durban and captured an image of me surfing.

The local paper the Daily News published my first shot ever taken from the water. At 15 I was stoked!

Surfboards back then had not become branding billboards – generally each board had a single, small logo identifying the manufacturer which in my town were Safari, Holmes and Wetteland.

Authenticity

Derek Berry, an artist friend of my Dad’s, created a graphic from the photo and my Dad thought it would look great as a logo on my next board. I was a shy kid. “Oh no Dad, it’s too big,” I told him.

“This is the deal son,” he said to me. “If you are not having the logo, I am not buying the board.” It was a little bit of tough love but my Dad intrinsically understood the value of a simple, powerful and – most of all – authentic logo.

That logo went on to appear on every one of my boards throughout my career. I used it when I founded Instinct and ultimately millions of units were sold bearing the image. The logo became a part of my DNA and I have to thank my Dad for his vision. Every time I see the Instinct logo, I see my Dad.

The Original Experiental Advertising Campaign

Back in the early 80s, surf brand advertising was pretty one dimensional in its approach. Most ads followed the same formula: a famous surfer wearing a pair of boardshorts, surfing an exotic location. 

When Instinct partnered with the Rod Dyer Group, an award-winning advertising agency, the game changed overnight. The agency produced a series of ads that boldly captured the essence of what surfing was about – in and out the water. Everybody, no matter if they’d ever set foot in the ocean or not, wanted to be a part of it. These iconic ads are still instantly recognisable, with tag lines that are still quoted to this day.

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