How Santa Cruz Skateboards Merged Print, Promo, and Apparel for a Collector-Ready Line of Skateboards

Brendan Menapace

Pokemon trading card collectors are always on the hunt for rare variants, like holographic Pokemon cards or other special-edition cards.

Skateboard collectors like having rare, one-off or limited-edition decks, too, as they serve as something like a time capsule or special piece of art that can’t be found again.

Santa Cruz Skateboards merged the two ideas with a line of skateboards that come blind-packaged in a special packaging, replicating the feeling of unwrapping a pack of Pokemon cards. From there, they’ll receive one of 15 random holographic prints with a different Pokemon, or can get one of five special gold foil prints.

People have been posting their “unboxing” experiences on social media, showing of the branded packaging, which comes double-layered. On the outside there is the silver packaging that shows the possible deck decorations. Inside that, there’s another colorful packaging that people unwrap to reveal their skateboard.

This really has everything a promotion could ask for. It uses exclusivity to drive demand, and the branding aesthetic extends beyond the actual product (either screen-printed or heat-transferred, as most skateboards are these days), and into the packaging. It molds hard goods and packaging to create a whole experience that’s not only exciting for the moment the end-user receives it, it lives on through social media posts, too.

The promotional campaign extends beyond just hard goods and print, though, and also includes a special co-branded apparel line, really bringing in almost every facet of the promotional space in one.

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