ISLE

How Brand Strategy Fueled ISLE’s Path from Challenger to Category Leader.

By 2018, ISLE had become a dominant player in the DTC stand-up paddleboard industry, experiencing hockey-stick growth. However, as the market became increasingly crowded, sustaining its competitive edge became a challenge. With potential acquisition partners evaluating long-term viability, ISLE needed to evolve beyond a high-growth, commoditized player into an enduring market leader.

As the brand strategist leading the cross functional team through this transformation I wanted to maximize acquisition readiness by strengthening ISLE’s brand equity and positioning it for long-term success. Here’s how it happened…

Strategic Planning

I felt that an in-depth strategic planning process was very important to the success of this project. So I began by identifying brand vulnerabilities, market opportunities, and consumer insights that could drive ISLE’s sustainable growth. Here’s a snapshot of that process:

Defined Strategic Objectives: Established clear goals to increase brand awareness and customer lifetime value.
Stakeholder Alignment: Conducted cross-functional interviews to ensure internal buy-in and strategic cohesion.
Competitive Landscape Analysis: Audited the category to pinpoint brand weaknesses and whitespace opportunities.
Consumer Sentiment Insights: Leveraged social listening tools and customer reviews to assess brand perception.
Audience Research: Conducted qualitative and quantitative research to map consumer behaviors and preferences.

Ocean waves with "Better in Balance" text overlay.

Market Positioning

The insights from the planning process showed that there was a significant disconnect between consumer preferences and competitors' positioning of stand-up paddleboarding as an intensive athletic pursuit reserved for highly fit individuals. Instead, target audiences expressed stronger affinity for paddleboarding as a restorative activity—an accessible and balanced approach to personal wellness that provides holistic benefits to the mind, body, and soul.

Leveraging these insights, I strategically repositioned ISLE's brand to reflect the concept of balance—both literally, through the act of paddleboarding itself, and metaphorically, as a response to modern lifestyle stressors. This repositioning helped transformed the brand from a high-growth, yet commoditized, DTC player into a differentiated lifestyle brand with deep emotional resonance.

While hockey-stick growth can often be fueled by aggressive performance marketing, sustaining momentum—and more importantly, commanding a premium valuation for acquisition—requires a brand that stands for something bigger than its product.

Waterfall backdrop with text overlay: "Our Mission: To help people live better in balance through quality stand up paddle boards for the mind, body, and soul."

Product Strategy.
Marketing Strategy.

As growth stabilized, we knew that brand strength was going to increasingly hinge on consistent, exceptional experiences. So I partnered with the creative, product, performance, and eCommerce teams to elevate ISLE’s brand value across every touchpoint in the customer journey:

Visual Identity & Brand System: Developed a sophisticated, calming aesthetic with earth-tone palettes, inviting imagery, and an approachable brand voice to enhance emotional connection.
Product Experience & Packaging: Aligned design language across the product portfolio, refining packaging, the unboxing experience, and sustainability messaging to increase perceived value.
Customer Engagement & Digital Experience: Strengthened digital touchpoints to drive engagement and reinforce brand storytelling.