Ocean Yachts
In 2006, the agency’s oldest client, Ocean Yachts, sought Graphicus’ help in the rebranding of its product line. Since the boatbuilder’s founding in 1978, it had marketed its sportfishing boats to offshore fishermen and cruisers alike. Management decided to reverse this 30-year approach to its markets by redefining itself as a manufacturer of fishing boats exclusively.
To accomplish this – dramatically and immediately – Graphicus borrowed the natural emblems of marine power and the prize for which Ocean Yachts contended: billfish. In a series of bold new full-page ads, the agency featured photos of hooked sailfish, blue and white marlin, going so far as to minimize the presence of the product on the page. In vertical interest publications where a product photo “disappear” among similar photos, Ocean’s ads would stand apart.
The billfish became the graphic theme – carried into the individual product brochure, point-of-sale materials, and Ocean’s website, which the agency created and maintains.
Late in 2007, Ocean Yachts premiered the first offering in an entirely new concept in offshore fishing boats, the Billfish Series by Ocean. To establish Billfish as a 
brand apart from the rest of the company’s product line, Graphicus first created a blog in which Ocean’s design and engineering team, as well as its own impassioned sportsfishermen, could “talk up” the series’ first model – the 37 Billfish – informally, while it was still under construction. The agency produced a three-part ad series and a TV commercial spot. The call-to-action of each directed readers and viewers to the blog. The ads and spot, in addition to signage, banners, clothing, and other promotional materials, employ white typography on a black background, accentuated with “silver” lines suggesting the boat’s design scheme. Further distancing itself as a distinct brand, the Billfish line also utilizes a tribal art motif of its namesake in various collateral pieces. The campaign’s bold and decidedly masculine appeal plays to Billfish’s audience profile while separating itself from the manufacturer’s traditional full-color advertising and promotions presentation.
