<\/p>\n
The chill vibe of the summer is around all year for Sun Bum, the sun-care brand recognizable for its yellow and wood-grain color palette and signature scent that the company keeps top secret (although it may or may not bring on a craving for banana Laffy Taffy).<\/p>\n
Though Sun Bum\u2019s peak season is May through July, according to VP of Marketing Russell Radebaugh, the brand keeps up its marketing yearround. Radebaugh declined to share specific spend figures, but said Sun Bum tries to be \u201cconsistent\u201d with its marketing, even during the dreary winter months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think of Sun Bum as a lifestyle, and our social and our storytelling is an extension of us,\u201d he told Marketing Brew. \u201cYou can\u2019t just go dark for six months of the year and come back up and expect people to be engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Sun Bum is a lifestyle, then it\u2019s a laid-back one, with the top of its \u201cAbout\u201d page declaring \u201cwork less live more.\u201d That energy seems to translate into the brand\u2019s approach to marketing, which includes a mix of campaigns and channels, and a lot of trust when it comes to measurement, Radebaugh said.<\/p>\n
Most people break out the sunscreen during the summer months. Still, the sun comes out yearround, and Sun Bum takes advantage of that\u2014for instance, it partners with ski resorts to display products like face sticks and lip balms, Radebaugh said.<\/p>\n
The brand is focused on driving awareness all year, he said, but the peak spring and summer months are \u201ca little bit more geared to bringing new people in\u201d with activations like its retail displays, which started in local surf shops and now appear in major retailers.<\/p>\n
The company also puts marketing efforts behind raising awareness for skin cancer: It runs a nonprofit, and once put banana suits on statues in all 50 states to make the point that, unlike bananas, people are not naturally covered in a protective layer.<\/p>\n
May\u2014the start of Sun Bum\u2019s busy season\u2014is also Skin Cancer Awareness Month, so during that time, the brand focuses less on \u201cpushing our product\u201d and more on education, Radebaugh said.<\/p>\n
This May, Sun Bum created guides for sun protection and skin cancer screening, sponsored the Skin Cancer Foundation\u2019s mobile skin cancer screening program, hosted its own \u201cblock party\u201d in California, and created content with Lindsey Zubritsky, a dermatologist who has 1 million followers on TikTok.<\/p>\n
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That work \u201cthen leads into summer campaigns that are maybe a little more product or brand-focused,\u201d Radebaugh said, like this year\u2019s campaign promoting Sun Bum\u2019s new line of kids\u2019 products. It included an experiential component in the form of an art contest, as well as digital, print, and out-of-home ads that show kids playing on the beach, according to Radebaugh.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s meant to raise awareness for the new product, especially in target markets like the Sunbelt, he said, but the creative purposefully doesn\u2019t feature much product imagery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an amazing kids\u2019 product\u2026but we didn\u2019t want to just lean on that,\u201d Radebaugh said. \u201cWhat we wanted to bring to life was why we love the kids in our communities\u2026What we wanted to drive through is the emotional connection, and then also be able to talk about the product where it\u2019s appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Sun Bum\u2019s Instagram features some product shots, it\u2019s also a mix of dogs, memes, and food pics. \u201cWe don\u2019t care if you use ours just use sunscreen,\u201d its Instagram bio reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I get excited about is our storytelling and our ability to engage our consumers,\u201d Radebaugh said. \u201cOur social channels are the opportunity where we can tell those stories and have fun. We are less concerned about maintaining brand rank and paid search. It is really about fun content, positivity, optimism\u2026and the engagement has followed along with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even outside of social, Radebaugh said the Sun Bum team isn\u2019t so focused on metrics like lifetime value, customer acquisition cost, \u201cor any of these acronyms\u201d often associated with performance marketing. As long as sales growth continues and customer feedback stays positive, \u201cwe\u2019re going to continue to lean into spending the way that we want to spend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That approach requires a \u201cfair amount of trust,\u201d from the C-suite, Radebaugh said. \u201cI won\u2019t say we don\u2019t look at anything, but it is really [about] feeling and sentiment,\u201d he said. \u201cOr maybe it\u2019s a vibe. That\u2019d be really on brand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n