My First Brand Deal
// The start of the journey
My first exposure to skateboarding was at school - I’m sure its the same with every school (even nowadays) but there was a group of kids who would always skateboard everywhere and I was supremely envious - it was the group that had no worries and were almost serene like in their approach to life. They had parents who owned camper vans and the camper vans always had a windsurfing board attached to the top.
Then it progressed and it was Tony Hawks Skateboarding games - they weren’t very good and I lost interest I think because I didn’t know the difference between a turnpike and an ‘olly’ - it wasn’t that interesting to see a few pixels twist around on a skateboard when you can’t perform the move in real life.
I never asked for a skateboard for Christmas and I never really wanted one growing up - my confidence was such that I knew that I wouldn't be that good at it and I was far more into football than anything relating to wheels and a wooden board. I would ride my bike and the comparable effort to get to the same place on a skateboard seemed ridiculous.
Whenever I rode to school, there was one kid who rollerbladed the entire way - it was a 2 mile journey from my home in Elmore Avenue (Lee-On-The-Solent) to Bathhouse School and there was absolutely no way I was going to skateboard that.
Then around 8 years ago, I saw Joe Wicks (yep, the Body Coach guy) on Instagram testing out his new electric skateboard (called a Boosted Board back then) and I was obsessed.
Why?
// A youth well spent.
I spent a lot of my childhood in my own head, I would create inventions that I thought would materialise and try to design how they would look - one of the ‘inventions’ I created was based on the 1989 film (I was 9) Back to the Future II - it was obviously the Hoverboard and whilst I knew, at age 9, the physics weren’t going to be realistic enough to be able to float.. I wanted to create a ‘hover’ board or in plain English - a skateboard which was the same as a hovercraft.
You see, where I lived in Lee On the Solent - we had the countrys first hovercraft museum and just a short hop away in Southsea was the hovercraft which goes to the Isle of Wight so I was heavily influenced by my home town.
The design was simple - it would be the same board as a skateboard but it would have a large fan built underneath and a hovercraft curtain which would keep the air underneath and allow you to ‘float’.
Now, I know what you’re thinking - how would you steer? How would you control the speed and what could you do when the air inlets on the fan block up but remember please, I was 9 and I was in my element designing things.
The mind of 9 year old me was forever dreaming up things that I wanted to play with - things we could never afford and things I could only dream of.
So when I saw Joe Wicks on his electric skateboard on Instagram, I was blown away.
It was before I discovered the work of Casey Neistat and his love of Boosted Boards (which was only around 3-4 years ago to be honest) and it lit the fire underneath me that meant I could live a dream almost 30 years in the making.
// The board.
Buying things which fulfil a dream from your childhood don’t often go to plan for two reasons - firstly, the quality of toys in the 80’s and 90’s were surprisingly robust and you could leave them outside for several weeks, go back to them and you’d be able to pick up where you left off - an incident where I buried my Optimus Prime toy in a sandpit springs to mind but do that today with the reduced manufacturing times and lower quality (i.e cheaper) plastics and you’d be lucky to even identify the toy, let alone play with it.
Secondly and more importantly - you should never meet your heroes. Toys in the 80’s and 90’s had far more advertising spend, took up more screen time (we only had 4 TV channels and no social media) and therefore seemed more important. About 5 years ago, I bought my wife a Mr Frosty Ice Crusher for Christmas after discovering that we’d both wanted one as kids and we’d both never had one - it then sat in the box for another 2 years before being sold - it lost it’s allure.
The other thing about buying things when you’re an adult who want’s to fulfil a dream from your childhood is that it’s not really a main priority and there are many more competing interests, especially if you have kids.
But at the end of 2021, I was in a privileged position - I earned a healthy bonus and had some disposable income in January 2022.
I finally had the opportunity to fulfil the dream and ride an electric skateboard (despite having never ridden any type of skateboard ever).
I did some research - the famed ‘Boosted Board’ brand went bankrupt in 2020 and therefore wasn’t an option so I needed a different brand - surprisingly most of the electric skateboard brands nowadays are Chinese and I wanted a brand with which I could communicate with (in case of customer support) and I also wanted affordability - something that wasn’t too expensive.
I settled on Exway - it seemed like a brand which had a supportive community of riders, they seemed to be at the forefront of skateboard manufacturing and the price point of their X1 board (my first one) was reasonable.
I bought my X1 Max board at the end of January 2022.
You can get the same board as me here.
// The first experience.
Having never ridden a skateboard and having never ridden an electric skateboard - it was a scary first ride. For the first 25-30 mins, I never got out of Gear 1 (yep, there are ‘gears’) - I trundled along at less than 10mph and for the main part, kept my balance. I quickly picked up the basics of leaning to steer and then switched it up to Gear 2 and then progressed all the way up to the fabled Gear 4.
In all my time riding my electric skateboards (now at 3) - I have only ever fallen off just 3 times.
The first two were in the early days where I was still unstable and learning to ride - both at very low speeds (almost stationary) and the final one was when I was drunk and clearly in no fit state to ride.
But the skateboard I got was everything I hoped it would be and more - the experience of gliding along on tarmac, with very little effort was something 9 year old me wanted and it was something that 41 year old me was experiencing.
The riding was effortless and just like when I drove a Tesla for the first time, the smile just stuck.
The other wonderful thing about riding an electric skateboard (instead of an electric scooter) is that they are not that common - people don’t see them that often and they are unique.
// Step One - The Opportunity
So I owned my board for just six weeks and then..
I didn’t know much about brand deals or free stuff on my initial journey but one morning in March 2021, I was laid in bed and I got a generic marketing email from Exway which was presumably sent to all their customers on the lookout for sponsored riders and brand ambassadors - they wanted people to represent the brand.
Now you’ve probably seen these emails before from brands but on this one, I thought I’d shoot my shot and take the risk. I put my name into the hat and then researched on the people who ran the brand and those who were looking for the brand ambassadors in the UK - turns out that the campaign was being run by two people.
The first was the ‘lead’ representative in the UK for Exway - someone without a large following on social media but a fairly decent audience on Youtube - Ammar was the UK lead for the Exway brand and someone who was promoting the brand. The second was the Head of Marketing in China - a chap called Jimmy but there was very little social media or presence for Jimmy.
The opportunity was there - it was a new-ish brand which wanted to grow and I had a unique proposition - I wanted to show off the brand of Exway not only in the UK but across the world as I travelled because when I went for this opportunity, I was in a job which offered plenty of travelling opportunities.
// Step Two - Alignment
The thing about every opportunity and every possible chance in life is that nothing is set in stone.
The opportunity that was emailed out to the masses was one which meant that 'every’ rider would receive an Exway Atlas board - this is their most expensive board and one which costs over £2000 - I knew it would be a stretch to get them to commit to spending £2000 on a board and send it to me (especially when I had never ridden a board until just two months before - although they didn’t know that) so I adjusted my expectations, took a look at the Exway website and began tailoring a plan which satisfied both sides - I saw they did a board called the Exway Wave which could be taken on a plane and it was much cheaper than the board they were offering.
I got in touch with both of the people running the campaign and set up the potential of working together in a way which wasn’t in line with what everyone else was doing.
This was the first step - I wanted to stand out.
Everyone (including me in all honesty) wanted to have the Exway Atlas board as it was their best board, the most expensive and obviously the most desirable but if I was like everyone else then I wouldn’t stand out.
So I asked for something different - I didn’t follow the conventional path and I didn’t ask for what they were offering.
I offered something which was out of the ordinary but also fit with one of their products - something that I hadn’t seen on their socials.
I aligned my interests with their interests and made sure that I had an offer which no-one else had so that they had variety in their marketing campaign.
What this did was to get me an interview - a foot in the door.
// Final Step - Enthusiasm
Every brand owner, every business owner wants just one thing.
Someone to be as passionate about their product/service as they are.
The (Zoom) interview went the way I wanted it to (obviously) - I couldn’t sit still and I channelled the nerves and excitement for the brand into sheer physical energy - I was bouncy in my chair, I smiled and used my hands a lot and I spoke fast and excitedly about the product.
There were a few other touches that I made sure happened in the interview - I made sure I had my Exway X1 in view on the camera. I wanted to make sure they knew that I was already bought into the brand, that this wasn’t just a ‘product grab’.
I wore plain ‘non'-branded’ clothing to make sure I didn’t clash with any pre-existing beliefs around brands and to make sure I wasn’t adversely affecting my opportunities.
But ultimately, I just wanted to be excited about the opportunity.
I left the call feeling positive and followed up call with an email sharing my excitement and my enthusiasm.
Two weeks later, I got the nod and just one week after that, Exway sent me their Exway Wave to showcase on my social media.
I still have discount codes active and I am still a brand ambassador for Exway.
// Summary
If you’re looking to be associated with a brand or you want the opportunity to work with a brand (even if you don’t get a free product) then I would suggest the following -
Find a brand which you want to be associated with and one which you’re passionate about - the latter is more important.
Be excited and passionate about the brand - showcase your excitement in everything you do.
Don’t accept their terms - work out a way that you can offer something unique.
Find a way to stand out - everyone who wants this opportunity will want the same thing.
Do something extra - do your research and make sure you know who you’re ‘pitching’ to.
Refrain from trying to brand yourself in the pitch - you want them to picture their brand on you - not overcome an existing brand.
Be a partner, not a pest.
Don’t expect anything - you don’t have to win all the time.