🛹 RIDING TO THE NEXT LEVEL 🏄🏂

Eagle-eyed readers might’ve noticed a few mentions of boardsports over the last few weeks; including the opening of Trifecta, Asia’s first snow, surf and skate attraction (happening in Singapore tomorrow) and the most recent Asian Games. At the games, nine-year-old Filipina Mazel Alegado impressed in the women’s park finals while Thailand’s Sukasem Vareeraya and Nawakitwong Nathtiyabhorn (aged 11 and 12, respectively) did so in the street skateboarding finals. With boardsports having a moment in SEA, let’s unpack what it means for brands…

💡 OUR TAKE

Trifecta and the Asian Games might have put boardsports in the spotlight recently, but buzz has been building for a while: earlier this year, the legendary Thai comic series KaiHuaRor teamed up with local skateboard brand Preduce on an exclusive skateboard deck collection, while the largest outdoor skate park opened in Singapore in April. The community has also become more diverse: the Longboard Girls Crew has thriving chapters in Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand, while surfskating exploded in Bangkok coming out of… you guessed it, the pandemic. 

For a long time, young people in Singapore (and SEA in general) who wanted to participate in specialty sports faced accessibility issues. Not only was the culture around these activities less established, the physical (and geographical) infrastructure didn’t exist. Global exposure — aided by social media — fueled improvisation and helped create highly engaged grassroots communities. Now brands are finally taking notice; a venue like Trifecta will allow Singaporeans to enjoy their passion point closer to home. 

At the same time, new infrastructure could also help broaden the appeal of a specialist passion point. Aware that skating, surfing and snowboarding can have relatively high barriers to entry, Trifecta has a cafe and space for spectators. A two-day music festival is also planned for November, with film screenings, art exhibitions, and a community market in the works, all to attract a more general audience.

A final point to end on. Trifecta is part of a redevelopment project for Singapore’s Orchard Road, and the latest example that retail spaces are evolving away from commerce-based activities to passion point-based experiences. For further evidence, look to Los Angeles, where clothing brand Supreme’s flagship store includes a free-floating skate bowl. 

So if a new retail initiative is on the books — how might your brand drive commerce through culture? But more broadly, think about the role your brand can play in introducing new cultural ‘hardware’ that facilitates better access to passion points for underserved communities.

For those of you born before 1997, ‘fax, no printer‘ is Gen Z speak for ‘undeniable facts I agree with’