To manufacture urgency in a retail setting, Tom Rinks's team announced fictitious customer pickups over the store's loudspeaker. This created the illusion of a buying frenzy, encouraging real customers to purchase before items sold out.
To sell an identical leather sofa, Rinks coached salespeople to use different descriptive words based on the customer: "soft and sexy" for women, "strong and rugged" for men, and "a great investment" for families, tapping into distinct purchasing motivations.
To meet with a major retail buyer, Rinks pretended to represent a full surf line. Once in the room with his single T-shirt, he immediately admitted the truth. The buyer was so impressed by his audacity and honesty that she placed a large order.
Rinks observed that a brand's trendiness has a predictable lifecycle. It starts with a core cool demographic, trickles down to younger siblings, and loses all cachet once parents start buying in. This signals that the original audience is looking for the next new thing.
Rinks's branding philosophy suggests combining opposing traits—like Elvis being both a rebellious rock star and a gospel singer. A brand that is simultaneously edgy, sexy, kind, and humble becomes more compelling and appeals to a much wider audience.
To build an authentic surf brand, Sun Bum operated from Michigan but used a Cocoa Beach, Florida, PO box. Staff were instructed to be vague about the snowy weather, saying it was "unbelievable" to maintain the illusion of a beach-based company for customers.
Sun Bum refused to let retailers "cherry-pick" a few products. To get shelf space, stores had to purchase a complete, custom-designed display that included the full product line plus merchandise, making the brand seem bigger and more established from day one.
A key growth tactic for Sun Bum was mass-distributing stickers of its ape mascot without the brand name. This "graffiti marketing" created widespread curiosity, with people calling radio stations to ask "What's this ape?" which drove brand discovery organically.
Tom Rinks attributes part of Sun Bum's success to its name. Including the word "sun" meant customers were already saying half the brand name when thinking about the category, similar to successful brands like Drano for drains or Home Depot for home products.
Tom Rinks, identifying as a creative, knew he lacked the operational skills to scale Sun Bum. Aware that creatives often fail at management, he actively recruited his own CEO replacement to prevent the company's growth from stalling under his leadership.
Sun Bum's unique branding wasn't just "surf culture." It was a deliberate mashup of disparate influences, including 1960s surf, Charles and Ray Eames furniture for its wood grain, European typography, and Japanese streetwear for its mascot design.
Tom Rinks deliberately avoided being the public face of his companies. He believed consumers expected a "surfer guy" for Sun Bum or a "tough guy" for his tequila brand, and his personal story as a designer from Michigan would detract from the brand's mystique.
Sun Bum's exit was driven by the complexities of international expansion. Because sunscreen is regulated as a drug, each country has its own unique set of rules. This creates a significant operational barrier best overcome by a global partner with existing infrastructure.