American Company 13 Fishing Begins European Conquest with Superson

US based fishing gear manufacturer 13 fishing, owned by Rapala VMC outside the US, makes a strong entry to the European market. The key message 'Make your own luck' appeals to the emotions of anglers. Superson is responsible for the creative planning and implementation of the launch. The planning was made with the agency’s Super Beast -operating model, which is designed to meet today’s customer needs.

In the Super Beast model, a team of selected people from the agency and the client work closely together in a so-called sprint style. Working together brings depth to the work, and enables things that are hard to achieve in a traditional way of working.

“We are constantly up to date what the customer’s needs are. Today the possibilities created by working together are heightened. For this we have created the Super Beast -operating model. It was developed together with The Sexy Beast’s Jussi Solja and Andre Matarazzo. Super Beast is perfect for brands who seek agility, a global level of performance and speed”, Superson’s CEO Samppa Vilkuna shares.  

“It was definitely the best way to have an in-depth collaboration with the agency when we are thinking about such a large project as the European launch of 13 Fishing. Superson's working model also gave us a new perspective towards the way we operate our own marketing department” , states Chris Beldon, Rapala VMC Corporation, Vice President of Marketing & E-Commerce. 

Together 13 Fishing, Rapala and Superson formed a 20 person team, which included representatives from 10 different countries. After this the team was scaled down to 12 persons. The evaluation team consisted of key personnel from the target market and 13 fishing. The work was executed completely through remote connections. 

“We are deep inside the organisation, which is crucial when creating such a wide-scale launch. We had Superson’s specialists from Brazil, United Kingdom and Finland participating in the work. From Rapala and 13 Fishing we had team members from 9 different countries. A few weeks before the sprint started, we worked tightly together with the backgrounds and insights. This way no illegibilities, that would slow down the design, are in our way”, tells Lauri Sankila, responsible for the account at Superson. 

​“Drawing strongly from the American popular culture, the brand would not suit as it was to the European key markets in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. We did background interviews with the target countries sales staff and target group representatives, and formed an understanding of the different market’s similarities and differences. The participation of the representatives of the target markets played a central role in creating the brand’s European identity. During the sprint we received constant feedback straight from the target group, based on which we could design the brand to be as relevant as possible, without forgetting its’ American roots. In order to understand and preserve the brand’s core and attitude in the European market, we cooperated with the 13 Fishing founder team from the start.”

The focal point of the content for the launch is in the brand core: fishing and instinct. Superson adapted the brand to the European market by creating among other things brand style and tonality, story, key messages, launch strategy, campaign guidelines and image concept. The deliverables included also the design and production of a brand film, that will be published soon. 

Superson’s creative team for the account consisted of Strategist Jussi Solja, Creative Director Andre Matarazzo, Photographer Antti Rastivo, Director Antti Nikunen and Producer Jenny Nyman.​