Austin Scott, Chief Creative Officer at Unruled Outdoor Agency , on Why “Earn Your Strikes” Refused to Play It Safe

Unruled Outdoor Agency submitted the work because the numbers demanded it: a 42% increase in conversions, a 633% increase in new website audiences, and North American sales outperforming global markets for the first time in decades. When work performs at that level, you don’t just write a case study — you put it in front of the industry.

Winning reinforces that Unruled Outdoor Agency doesn’t just talk about dominating the outdoor space. The agency proves it through results.

To close the gap on the category leaders, Raymarine needed a campaign the competition would never have the guts to run. We started by speaking with more than 350 offshore anglers to understand what truly drives the most committed people in the sport.

What came back was nothing like what the category was selling. They shared real footage — hooks through hands, a fisherman nearly taken out by a marlin, and brutal conditions most people would run from. These anglers don’t just accept that reality — they define themselves by it.

That footage and research became the strategic foundation for everything. “Earn Your Strikes” wasn’t a positioning statement invented in a conference room — it came directly from the people Raymarine needed to win over, which is exactly why it resonated so powerfully.

We rejected comfort. Every other brand in the category was chasing the same sunny, smiling consumer. We went in the opposite direction entirely — gray skies, 15-foot waves, no-nonsense copy, and a manifesto film that dropped viewers into the storm instead of letting them watch safely from shore.

That creative courage was backed by real insight from more than 350 anglers, so it wasn’t just edgy for the sake of being edgy. It was true. And when creative is rooted in truth and executed without apology, it stands alone in the field.

The biggest challenge was resisting the instinct to soften the work. There were moments throughout the process when the pressure to make the campaign more broadly palatable was very real. Brands in difficult competitive positions often want to play it safe — appealing to more people rather than resonating deeply with a smaller audience. We held the line because the research was clear: the committed angler segment doesn’t respond to broad, safe messaging.

They respect specificity and grit. Earning their loyalty was far more valuable than appealing to a wider but less engaged audience. The conversion and sales numbers ultimately proved that strategy right.

It sharpens our position as the outdoor agency that doesn’t flinch. Any agency can claim outdoor expertise, but this campaign — the results, the awards, and now the Gold win — gives prospective clients something tangible to measure us against.

We want outdoor brands that are tired of being outmaneuvered in their own category to see this and know there’s an agency willing to fight for their position with real strategy and real creative firepower. That’s the long game.

Raymarine’s team was energized in the way clients become when they see something that finally feels true to who they are. The ICAST tradeshow booth — an immersive experience that brought the campaign to life on a larger scale — generated the kind of visceral reactions you simply can’t manufacture.

And from the angling community, the response validated every research finding. Committed offshore anglers saw themselves reflected in the campaign — not a polished version of who they are, but the real version. That’s the reaction that matters most.

Do the research most people skip. We spoke with more than 350 offshore anglers before writing a single line of copy. That’s where “Earn Your Strikes” actually came from — not a brainstorm or a brief, but real people telling us something real. Sometimes that comes from a survey, and sometimes it comes from a deep dive into Reddit.

Outdoor consumers will see through anything that isn’t earned. So earn your understanding of them first, then build creative that reflects what you found. And when you uncover a brave idea, protect it.

The industry is evolving fast, but authenticity doesn’t change. The ideas that cut through are still the ones rooted in real human truth. I want to stay at that intersection — using new tools and channels while always grounding the work in something real and meaningful.

If the work is honest and the results are real, the competition is simply a venue — so put the work in it. Preparing an entry forces you to articulate the strategy, the insight, the idea, and the outcome with precision. That clarity is valuable whether you win or not.

But when the numbers look like they did for Raymarine, you owe it to the team to let the world see what was built.

Stop making safe work for brave brands. Outdoor consumers demand more, and the brands that serve them deserve more. Find the insight no one else is willing to act on, build the idea no one else is brave enough to run, and measure everything so you can prove it worked.

That’s the wild side of marketing — and it’s where the best results live.

The Unruled team — the strategists, creatives, and producers who poured themselves into this campaign. And the Raymarine team, for having the courage to reject what the category was doing and pursue something more honest. You can’t create work like this without a client willing to step into the storm with you.

“Earn Your Strikes” positioned Raymarine as the definitive brand for hardcore offshore fishing by rejecting the category’s sunny-day playbook and building a campaign around the grit, chaos, and earned pride of serious anglers.

We’re continuing to build Unruled into the agency that defines what outdoor marketing can be — more integrated campaigns, more brands willing to break from category expectations, and more results that prove brave creative and measurable performance aren’t mutually exclusive. The water’s wide open. We’re just getting started.