YouTube gives you the opportunity to tell a story
When did you start creating content?
That was when I lived in Odense around 2012-2013. I hit 10,000 likes on my Facebook back then and that kind of kicked it all off. So it actually started on Facebook and then moved on to Instagram and YouTube. The cool thing about running on all media back then was that you could reach a very broad audience. On Facebook you could reach the slightly older ones and on YouTube it was quite a few younger people who started to follow along.
Which platforms do you think are the coolest to work on?
I like working with YouTube because you have the opportunity to express yourself a little more. If I want to learn from myself or elaborate on something or tell a story, I think it makes more sense to do it through YouTube, because Instagram is generally a shorter medium, if you can put it that way.
They've tried to outcompete YouTube with IGTV, but it just hasn't really worked. So I think YouTube is super exciting, but of course it requires a little more work. That said, we do a lot for Instagram when we're out shooting a YouTube video, so the two media are somewhat related.
Free rein provides credible and authentic content
In terms of your collaborations, what brands do you typically collaborate with?
Usually, these are brands that have something to do with football. But it can be anything from sponsors of football clubs, the Superliga or the Champions League, so not necessarily brands that sell football gear, but generally brands that are committed to football.
Those who find it interesting to play with us know that it is one of the only places in Denmark where they can find an influencer who has something to do with football and exclusively football.
What would you consider a good collaboration?
A collaboration where the brand also gives the influencer the opportunity to share their knowledge or expertise. When the brand gives the influencer some free rein, I think that also helps ensure some credible and authentic content. It's a balance of course, but I think it's important that there is a strong bond between the influencer and the brand.
And so from my perspective, it's of course great to have a brand that thinks what we're doing is great. We go around helping a lot of people get started playing football or getting moving and getting people to believe in themselves. So that the brand also wants to be associated with the things we do, so that it's not just about them releasing a product, but that they think it's great to work with us because of what we do. And that's also why we turn down some brands that may not share the same values as us.
When do you say no to a collaboration?
We like to do fewer collaborations, but then run some longer or bigger collaborations. So instead of doing maybe 100 collaborations in a year, we'd rather run maybe 10 or 20 or whatever makes sense. We're a little careful about what we advertise with, also because I have a lot of younger people who follow along, so I want to take that into account as well.
It's also important for me to have great trust among the parents, as they think it's great that their children watch something on YouTube where they don't have to be afraid that something will come up that might scare them.
Never fun to appreciate yourself
What do you think are the challenges in entering into collaborations?
Well, there's always the economy. And then we just have to be able to stay within what we say yes to. I don't know if there are any big challenges, of course there are always those brands that just want to have and have without paying a fair price for it.
But it also depends on the brand. For example, if we are doing a long-term collaboration, where you know that a number of posts will be made during the year, and it is not just a collaboration of a few weeks or a month, it is of course a little easier with the negotiation, since we then know that there is some future earnings. Or if it is a brand that gives something different to my personal brand, then it is of course easier to say yes to a lower fee, since it may be beneficial in the long term to enter into that collaboration.
It's always difficult, and not always fun, to have to price yourself. Of course, we have set some fixed prices for some things, but there is still a lot of negotiation back and forth from time to time and it can be challenging.
It seems like you do a lot of long-term collaborations. Is that something you prioritize and why do you think those types of collaborations are cool?
Yes. For example, Shaping New Tomorrow, they go in and outfit my teqball team and soccer golf team, so there are more things I can use the brand for and they also give my company value, besides I do some advertising for the clothes, which I really like myself. I made a clip for Shaping New Tomorrow's Instagram which is probably one of the most viewed clips on their Instagram lately, which is a good example of the way both parties contribute to helping each other in the right direction.
And also the fact that instead of just sitting in a chair and looking good and taking a picture, you can go out and be active in a cool way. And that's also what I can contribute - some branding in a different way, as we kind of go out and be active and some exciting content can be created rather than it just being completely set up - "look, a soda"-like.
If you can do it in an exciting way, I think it's great. But it's also clear that if you do a collaboration for a year and it doesn't work, you don't just continue. Fortunately, I haven't experienced that yet.
Rich content with meaning
Do you have an experience or collaboration that you thought was super cool and something you perhaps never expected to experience?
There are many.
We collaborate both in Denmark and internationally. So we have the Danish media where we obviously focus on the domestic market, but we also have some international media that have had some super cool experiences.
I was down to play a match at Atletico Madrid's home ground, an exhibition match, with stars like Yaya Touré and Andrea Pirlo, so you get to go out there and have a wild experience through some international brands. I've also played exhibition matches with Rivaldo three years in a row at Camp Nou. So of course the foreign trips are something really special.
But of course, it's on the international market and it's hard to pin it. Here at home, we've also been to a lot of cool events and fun things - for example, trying to break a world record and stuff. We actually also have a deal with Toyota that would have sent me to Japan, where I was supposed to run with the Olympic torch, but then corona came and that deal kind of fell through, but of course, it would have been a great experience to have it, but it is what it is, I couldn't do much about it.
What do you think makes you and your brand unique?
Of course you can get football content elsewhere, but we kind of create a universe and it will never just be the same type of video or the same type of content.
I've started playing some series 3 after we moved to Jutland again and I set up a camera there and that's where you can show a little bit of everything - now I know it's just series 3 and some fun football, but it's still a lot of fun to show some "real" football too. Then there's futsal in the winter, so you can follow a little bit there and see highlights from the matches.
So you get all sorts of different things all the time. It's not necessarily what gets the most views, because not everyone is interested in football or golf, for example, but we're not just looking to constantly make a video that gets views.
If you make a video that hopefully creates some value for some people, for example someone who sees a video of soccer golf and gets hooked on it and then they think back, why was it that I got hooked on soccer golf, it was because we saw this video. Then you have a lifelong supporter somewhere because you've made a difference, and we really like that.
There are many YouTubers who think that now we should throw in some bananas so that we can get a lot of views, where we might think a little more the opposite. It's better to have 10,000 views on a video we think is cool and it has resulted in something different than to make a video that gets 100,000 views where we just did something that doesn't make any sense - I don't think that's as beneficial in the long run.
Can you try to elaborate a little more on why you emphasize creating meaning rather than getting a lot of views?
Well, it helps all these small football branches that are struggling to get ahead. For the big media and TV stations, they only want to focus on the sports where there is money in them and we think that is very unfortunate. There are so many enthusiasts running around out there and passionate about their sport who are insanely talented - we have 3 Danes who have won the world championship in football golf and they are brain dead talented, but you don't hear about that in the big media.
There are of course different branches of football and it is clear that when all the money is in traditional football, that is also where the media is, but I just think it is a shame that those who go and train just as much, if not more, just don't get any attention and have to have a full-time job on the side.
So we're kind of trying to go in and see if we can create some awareness for these people, because they deserve it too. And for me it's not about whether I'm playing an 11-a-side game, playing with a ball in the garden or playing a futsal match. I think it's fun as long as I get to touch the ball - football is my big passion.
If you could choose, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Uh, I'm 31 now, but still at the top.
No, it's hard to say. Many people say that it only goes one way from now on and that's down, but now I also keep going and train when I don't have jobs, so I'm not going down yet, but it's hard to say what it will look like in 10 years - am I still active, can I still take part in big teqball tournaments, can I still play futsal in the futsal league - it's hard to say.
But of course, we are also building the business in terms of looking at what we can do in the future. How can we ensure that it is not only running well now, but also in 10 years, so that I can maybe relax a little more physically and create something where we can do some collaborations where I may not necessarily always have to be active or present.
So things are going really well for us right now, but it's definitely a bit of a challenge right now. I'm not worried that we'll find a solution. The most important thing is of course to figure out what I want and I haven't figured that out 100% yet, because there are so many things I could like.
A huge thank you to Brizze for giving us an insight into what life as a creator is like.
If you also think that Brizze is a super exciting and entertaining creator, contact Sheer here and we will be happy to help set up a possible collaboration.
Social:
Instagram: @brianmengel (1.1m) @brianbrizze (85.1K)
YouTube: Brian Mengel Brizze (135K)
