Battle of the Brands: Hurley v.s. Quiksilver

Author: Julia Gil

With more companies emphasizing their CSR practices, more consumers begin to value and choose products based on ethical practices rather than economic reasoning. Consumers then instinctively rate these sustainable companies based on how well they manage to integrate their “sustainable concepts” with their products and services.

This is where we, Branding for Good, would like to introduce our audience to the very first edition of Battle of the Brands featuring Hurley and Quicksilver. Both these companies are similar in terms of what services and products they offer yet both of them take a very different approach when it comes to being sustainable.

Hurley began and still continues it’s initiative called H2O. Since the start of H2O it’s mission has been to provide clean water for everyone. They have partnered up with many amazing organizations and individuals such as Jon Rose from Waves for Water, and Evan Marks from the Ecology Center. Their partnership with Waves for Waves focuses on a program called Clean Water Couriers, which involves surfers, who travel to third world countries carrying DIY filtration systems. They set them up within local villages providing clean water for the community. Their partnership with the Ecology Center created a free interactive exhibition, in 2010, called ‘Splash! How Good Water Works.’ This exhibition brought attention to the fact that an average Southern Californian uses more than 1,800 gallons of water every day. Hurley also has an H2O line where all it’s profits goes towards the H20 initiative.

On the other hand, Quiksilver practices sustainability within their company, and within their charitable foundation called the Quiksilver Foundation. Their company is launching their Green month this June, with their new pen called the ‘B2P’ (Bottle to Pen) made from recycled PET. Their Boardshort series, also made in part with recycled PET, has a portion of it’s sales go to the 5 gyres organization. They have also decided to support a local organization called Garro Domain. While the Quiksilver Foundation recently supported the Kuta Beach Sea Turtle Conservation by giving them approximately a $7, 800 check, has already launched their recycled bag line, and renewed their partnership with Coeur De Forêt to complete their Water Guardians project.

Continue reading the orginal article on Branding for Good on Hurley v.s. Quiksilver.