If I were to describe a person to you who had built a large following for themselves online, parlayed that into a job at one of the biggest companies in the world in a given industry, fell ill with cancer, beat that cancer, then started his own agency which is winning national and international awards for its work, what’s the picture in your mind of that person?
My guess is it doesn’t look anything like Suhit Amin. The reason your mind’s eye probably isn’t seeing him? He’s 19 years old. And yes … all of those things I used to describe our imaginary person are not imaginary. That’s the story of his very young life.
Suhit started gaming, then YouTubing at age 13. He discovered YouTube subnetworks and started helping other YouTubers manage their content and advertising revenues. ESL, the biggest gaming company in the world, hired him when he was the ripe old age of 16 years old. One month later, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system — lymph nodes. Fortunately, his prognosis was good, he underwent the necessary treatments and had a clean bill of health two years later.
Instead of returning to ESL or doing what he’d always done, he decided to follow a dream and start his own talent management and influence marketing agency. Saulderson Media works with brands to engage with influential gamers, YouTubers and other creators. His firm won an Influencer Marketing Award last year for a campaign they did with a video editing software.
Suhit and I caught up recently to talk about his incredible journey and the influencer marketing space. He took me through his path from teenage gamer to knowing the ins and outs of the YouTube multi-channel network ecosystem that supports video creators, through his time at EPL and now his goals and growth at Saulderson Media.
Listen and get inspired by Suhit Amin.
Saulderson Media is online at saulderson.com. You can find Suhit Amin on LinkedIn.
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Winfluence Transcript – Suhit Amin – Saulderson Media
Jason Falls
Hello again, friends thanks for listening to Winfluence – The influence Marketing Podcast. If I were to describe a person to you who had built a large following for themselves online, parlayed that into a job at one of the biggest companies in the world in a given industry. Then fell ill with cancer, then beat that cancer, then started his own agency, which is winning national and international awards for its work. What’s the picture in your mind of that person? My guess is it doesn’t look anything like Suhit Amin. The reason your mind’s eye probably isn’t seeing him. He’s 19 years old. And yes, all of those things I described are not imaginary. That’s the story of his very young life.
Jason Falls
Suhit started gaming, then YouTubing at age 13. He discovered YouTube subnetworks and started helping other YouTubers manage their content and advertising revenues. ESL, the biggest gaming company in the world hired him when he was the ripe old age of 16 years old. One month later, though, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system — lymph nodes. Fortunately, his prognosis was good. He underwent the necessary treatments, and had a clean bill of health two years later. Instead of returning to ESL or doing what he’d always done, he decided to follow a dream and start his own talent management and influence marketing agency. Saulderson Media works with brands to engage with influential gamers, YouTubers and other content creators. His firm won an Influencer Marketing Award last year for a campaign they did with a video editing software.
Jason Falls
Guys?! He’s still working on his university degree! He’s 19 years old!
Jason Falls
Suhit and I caught up recently to talk about his incredible journey, not your typical teenage years for sure. And the influencer marketing space as well. He took me through his path from teenage gamer to knowing the ins and outs of the YouTube multi channel network ecosystem that supports video creators. He took me through his time at ESL and now his goals and growth at Saulderson Media. And the interview is kind of a bonus for me because I love listening to the Scottish accent. Suhit’s from Glasgow and the Glasgow area. So get ready for this gang. A lifetime of opportunities, successes, challenges, setbacks, and a bright future ahead. For 19 year old Suhit Amin. Next on Winfluence.
Jason Falls
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Jason Falls
Suhit, it’s almost impossible to tell your story without starting from the beginning, you got into gaming at some point. And then I think age 13 started creating YouTube content around your games, eventually building a nice following there. When did you make the switch from a kid playing games to someone creating content around the game? And was building an audience ever, like intentional from the start or something you just kind of adapted to?
Suhit Amin
Yes, so the initial kind of thought was back when I was younger, I think around is 12 or 13. When I was in primary school, me and my friends, we had the ambition, we’re like, yeah, we’re gonna become YouTubers and content creators, because obviously, you know, as a young kids, you know, majority of kids think about what they want to be when they’re older. And a lot of them think I want to be a YouTuber, you know, we watch YouTube, we look up to YouTubers. So we were like, Yeah, let’s do this, you know, we’re already we’re already big gamers, we love playing games, why don’t play content, and try and try and make something out of it. So we started YouTube channels, just creating, you know, the standard gaming content. But, you know, back then, with little to no equipment, absolutely awful audio quality, really bad at it, saying, you know, there wasn’t really going anywhere. But I mean, we were just having fun with it, you know, we’re young kids. And and yeah, it was it was there that we decided that we wanted to really just kind of create content, and see if we could take and go any further. So I think it was right from the start, you know, the plan was always to do content creation. And, you know, around gaming, really. I
Jason Falls
Interesting. So there was a pivot, though, to building an audience and then being and being a YouTuber, but then at some point you pivoted again, because you discovered more about the YouTube and I think maybe Minecraft sub networks and that sort of ecosystem there, you you pivoted again began focusing on supporting other creators, not just being one yourself. First of all, for someone who has no clue what sub network might be in these ecosystems tell us what they are, who’s involved? And how did you discover them?
Suhit Amin
Yes, so that was kind of like the the big, the big change for me around that time was when I discovered the whole kind of business side of YouTube. And I discovered, actually, this is how YouTubers make money, they monetize our content, to sponsorships, YouTube ads, and ad revenue. And it was in to kind of create Minecraft servers with my, with with some online friends, not even school friends at this point, there’s some people I’ve met online, and one of them kind of introduced the idea to me and another friend about sub networks. And, and essentially, that was where I kind of first discovered what they were. So essentially, just to kind of go back to the real basics. So how the YouTube ecosystem worked back then is slightly changed now, and was that YouTubers could partner with multi channel networks, which were essentially third party content providers who the in the simplest form, the part of YouTube channels, took a percentage of their ad revenues, or whether it was a 90-10 split, a 60-40 split, took a percentage of their ad revenue, and provided them services, such as help with growth or, you know, help with sponsorships, and free access to a royalty free music and whatnot. So they were the ones that can handle their monetization. And they were kind of the third party and third party networks that YouTube had, like partner with did it up. And then within multi channel networks, there had sub network programs. So essentially, anyone could really you know, apply to run a sub network within an MCN. And essentially, that was a smaller scale version of an MCN that you had within an MCN, but the only reason people would become sub networks is because to be an actual full fledged MCN, you’d under direct partnership with Google, and access to a content management system, which is very difficult to get the team. And so I saw my friend had become a sub network of an MCN and I can’t even remember the name of knows that long ago. I mean, six, six years have passed since then. And so he started a sub network. And essentially what we did was try and partner, YouTube creators to help them with their content, help them grow, and then take a percentage of their advertising revenue every month, that was kind of my first real pivot into understanding the behind the scenes of how the content space really worked and how YouTubers essentially made money. No, it’s all changed because YouTube actually did changing their policies, I think back in 2018, or maybe 2019, where essentially the the cold or sub sub networks or MCNs are just MCNs, though and they’re legally not allowed to have sub networks within them because the MCN industry was getting a really bad reputation because of so many sub networks being created and basically partnering channels, locking them into long term agreements and then not actually providing the services that they set out to to do so that so the industry was getting really bad and the reputation was going so you should call other sub networks and now there’s only like a small group of MCNs are trusted by YouTube. Although MCNs have kind of more more so died out No. And there there’s kind of the pivot to more top management agencies really, which are obviously different from MCNs.
Jason Falls
Right. So So for just for the layman out there that doesn’t quite understand the YouTube ecosystem or hasn’t really started their own channel tried to play there and the MCN a, you know, multi channel network or these people who would support YouTubers are basically letting the YouTubers focus on creating the content and then they go out and focus on developing the partnerships, managing the ad campaigns, maybe even promoting that particular channel to grow their followership. Does that sound about right?
Suhit Amin
Yeah, that sounds about right. Yep.
Jason Falls
Okay, very good. So then you got a big break, you were hired at ESL, which is the biggest eSports company in the world. And you were What 16? I think at the time, tell me, tell me about your role there.
Suhit Amin
Yes. So basically, between the age of like 13, and 16, I was very much just doing kind of, like, I’ll work for free, get experience at various different companies and whatnot. And so I was working at loads of different sub networks, different MCNs, at eSports, and gaming, radio stations, just trying to build that expertise in that, you know, network at a young age, and essentially doing a lot of different volunteer roles that would hopefully, eventually capture the eyes of something big, and get kind of a paid role. So it was at the end of 2017, I saw a job offer a job offer even on I can’t even remember what to say, but it was basically for a junior co manager, ESL video network. So basically, he sells the world’s best eSports company. And within there, they have loads of different divisions and teams and whatnot, and ESL video networks, essentially ESL or MCN, top management service and influencer marketing a branch of ESL, and I thought this is perfect one, it combines my passion for gaming eSports and, and combines that with what I’ve kind of gained my knowledge through which is MCNs, YouTubers and content creators. So at the end of season 17, I was in like, early the same, I think, and I applied for this role, not really thinking, you know, really go anywhere I thought, you know, ESL, why are they gonna take a shot on, you know, 16 year old guy. But I got an interview from ESL, and from the vice president of the video network at the time, who, you know, obviously, really, really gave me my big break and big opportunity, his name’s Benedict, and, and the interview and I think he, I think he made me kind of key points he got from there was like, he’s like, I don’t really care what age you are, I can see that, you know, there’s something special you have that drive, you have that hunger, and you know, you’ve gained that experience from a young age. And, you know, he gave him the opportunity. And given that chance, so I got hired at ESL in January of 2018, at 16. And the plan was to work there kind of essentially like a freelance contract, because obviously, I was still in school at the time. And then basically, I would do school, come home, work in ESL and work at ESL, the weekends, and then after I finished school, to basically get a full time role, ESL, and that really was my big break. That’s where I learned like, you know, all the all the ins and outs, and all the kind of key parts that I hadn’t really known about at MCNs, such as kind of direct brand sales and, and working with bigger clients and bigger brands. You know, I was I was on I was on the team who was working on a gaming campaign for you know, Tommy Hilfiger, a huge cooling brand, and just learning about how to pitch to brands pitch to creators, and you’re really, that’s where I started getting involved a lot of bigger influencers and bigger brands at the time. So that really is the that it’s a testament to like, kind of, you know, where my big break was? I think.
Jason Falls
So just just, I’m sure people listening along on the interview. I mean, obviously, I mentioned this in the in the introduction to you in the in the, on the podcast, but people listening along on the interview, just to clarify, we’re talking about all of this is happening when you were you know, 16-17 years old, you’re only 19 now, or have you turned 20 yet?
Suhit Amin
Yeah, I’m 19. Yeah. 20 in March.
Jason Falls
Yeah, so you’re 19 so forgive me now I’m almost 50 years old, and the world I grew up in, you didn’t get killer jobs at big companies like ESL, unless you had two or three college degrees, plenty of work experience. Here you are at 16 having done some amazing things, for sure. But this is not. Is this not the perfect example of how the internet and social networks have turned the world upside down? I mean, that would not have been possible in 1995. And no offense, but 1995 was not a long time ago.
Suhit Amin
Yeah, no, I completely agree the Internet has changed the way that people can do things and you know, get jobs at such a young age like I’m in a community of like this for friends of mine who have all kind of come sit through the same path as me just faint discovering kind of online media online entrepreneurship and just hustling from a young age and making kind of a break yourself. And obviously back in the day, and most standard jobs don’t really you know, you require a college degree, university degree, you know, wealth experience, but the way the online media internet works is that you got a computer, you’ve got Wi Fi, you can you can research you can work your way up, you can hustle and you can you know, get these types of opportunities. No, and it’s just crazy how they can have Internet’s revolutionize that. And you know, I’m very, very thankful to have been kind of brought up in this day and age because you know, if I maybe was further further back, I might have not kind of discovered this kind of this type of path.
Jason Falls
So you start your big gig at ESL, and then I think it was a month later, your life kind of changed forever. So tell us about the bomb that was dropped in your lap at that point?
Suhit Amin
Yes. So obviously, I started ESL in January 2018. And then it was actually around this time that that kind of stuff started happening. So basically, they kind of just give the whole story through. I think it was actually, exactly two years ago today, think of it this is season 31st of December, but it was two years ago today, I remember vividly, I was in the car on the way to a New Year’s Eve party. And I felt a lump in my neck. And I kind of just brushed it off. Because when I was four, I had a similar lump in my neck, and it wasn’t anything as to get a coat, it was like it was like a large gland. But I felt this lump in my neck. And I say to my neck, and and, you know, I thought it was nothing. But as time went through, and they went on, you know, this lump continues to grow and other lumps my neck starts to form. And, you know, I told my dad about it. And you know, he’s a doctor. So he was like, Alright, Something’s definitely right here, we got it checked out. And just kind of like through January or February, I was getting different tests, biopsies and whatnot. And we all thought it was related to something I’ve got called IBS. We thought it was just that flaring up but, and in February, unfortunately, after multiple tests and stuff, I was diagnosed with a form of cancer called stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma. So if for those of you don’t know what that is, essentially, it’s a cancer that attacks the lymphatic system in your body, which is like a series of vessels and glands in your in your body, and they help essentially your immune system. So I got this when … diagnosed with this when I was 16. And February, obviously, um, you know, it’s never nice having cancer. But obviously, it can have a really awful time, I’m only 16, still in school, and my fifth years favorite fifth year of high school, which is, so in Scotland, the most kind of important year for going forward in University. I just got this big break ESL, so it all kind of came crumbling down at that point. And I was like, just really in a state of shock and disbelief. Wow, like, a 16 year old could get such a life threatening disease like this.
Jason Falls
So my next question was going to be how did you find your way around that obstacle to not let it just bring everything to a halt? I mean, that would completely derail a lot of people, but it obviously didn’t derail you.
Suhit Amin
Yes. So I I’ve always had, I think it’s been ingrained in me for my parents, when I’ve been younger is that trying to essentially change a negative into positive and just always having that, that mindset around things. So for me, really, at that point, my, my perspective, sort of, I think it took it took a couple of months, but my perspective throughout that treatment sort of sort of changed. And so firstly, you know, I was very lucky. And unlike some, unfortunately, I was very lucky to kind of have have a cancer, which had a relatively high curing rate after the first time getting it. So I was 85%. So obviously, that, you know, kind of was was happy in my head. But for me, I always kind of thought my perspective really changed. I thought, you know, if I’m going to be potentially in that 15% of people who don’t make it, if I’m not going to be here, in one year, two years, five years, I want to go out of this world, doing something really big. And for me, at this point, my ambition was, you know, ever since kind of starting out in the online space as I was 13, and hustling and whatnot, was to be a successful entrepreneur and kind of leave a legacy and be known. So I my preset really changed and I was just like, I’m just gonna grab everything, grab all these opportunities that I have, and just not let this bring me down. So I tried to change this kind of negative and positive I was like, I’ve got this written out, but I’m gonna have a lot of time to, you know, work, I can still get working my stuff, obviously the planet, my team, I know it’s gonna be very difficult, but I can still continue going here. And that perspective is what really after can of ESL really led to my I guess my even bigger break. But I think it’s just that mindset shift for me that kind of kept kept me continuing going. And I think that’s something that I can do, you know, thank my parents or my upbringing for because they’ve always had that ingrained in me from a young age.
Jason Falls
I’ve heard people say before that the most important medicine to fighting cancer is a proper attitude. So it sounds like that certainly applies for you.
Suhit Amin
Yeah, completely. I think I think it completely does because I think if you’re not if you don’t take it positively, just think it’s the end of the world then. It only does it only gets worse like for me. And you know, every time I was having chemotherapy, in those kind of days I was like right? I had 12 sessions in total through over six months, and I was like, right only only 11 more to go, only 10 more to go. I can do this and just get carried into this and kept vision and looking forward to the point where I was like, you know, in six months, I’m going to be done. It’s all gonna be over such a short period of my time of my life. And after that, I’m going to be free to do everything what I’m so young, you know, all and well, I’ll do this in six months. And I just tried to have that positive attitude to it. But then also, I had obviously the opposite, I guess had that contrasting attitude to it was like, right, if I potentially don’t make out here, I’m just going to grab, grab everything grabbing opportunity that I can right now.
Jason Falls
Well, and you did make it out of there. And you did grab the opportunity. And, you know, I guess 17-18 years old, you’re staring death in the face you and you decide that you’re going to go grab those opportunities. You didn’t stay with ESL. So tell us what happened next?
Suhit Amin
Yes. So basically, in June time of ESL, June of 2018 I was working ESL. So how ESL works is that the video networks was definitely had basically two entities overhead for media network, and it had that kind of use over the network. So they were doing a lot of restructuring at that point. And at that point, I was like, right, I don’t know what the future is going to be here. So I left that job, ESL. And as I said, I had this kind of mindset shift, I was like, I want to go and do something that I really am ambitious about and be successful entrepreneurs. So it was the end of June, I was like, right, I’m just gonna go start my own company. So in July 2018, my current main business and social media was born, and essentially sold us in media is just a mix of all the experience that I’ve gained up until this day. So essentially, what social media is, and what I run is our premium top management and influencer marketing agency and based in Scotland, so we have two sides of the business, we have the top management agency, and we have the influence market, etc. So the top management side is essentially we offer managerial services, agents, Agent services, handle sponsorships, brand deals, schedules, appearances, all that kind of stuff, you would see like a management or an agent doing for new models, actors, musicians, but we do that for online social media influencers. So whether that be your YouTubers, Twitch streamers, Instagram personalities, tech talkers, you name it, we do it. So that’s our kind of service for our creators there. And then on the other side, we have our influencer marketing agency, which is specifically for the brands, we work for the brands, we sign a client and we work with them to understand the marketing goals and craft creative and collaborative influencer marketing campaigns using our extensive network of influencer marketing suite of everything, their creative strategy, execution planning, and tracking, reporting, everything like that. And we’ve we’ve built up a series of normal clients from there. And the reason that I specifically started this sort of business was kind of two reasons. One, this is where I get my expertise is why I was so so passionate about over the years. And so I knew that you know, whether whether or not the business went anywhere, I’m very passionate about doing this anyway, I’m going to love what I’m doing. And so that’s, that’s kind of the reason. Another reason was because through my time working in the kind of MCN industry, I’d seen so many bad businesses really just signing on creators and then not delivering the services that they promised to so many bad forms of management. And as a creator myself, I’d experienced that. So I was like, I want to make a solution, a one stop solution where creators are truly managed in a more personal and empathetic way. And we’re actually create a meaningful relationship and friendship with our creators. And then also because there’s virtually no other influencer marketing agencies up here in Scotland, I still to this day, think really only dedicated influence Marty, and you see, in Scotland, I saw the gap in the market. So I thought we could essentially be the notable name and figure head in Scotland, craft partnerships with other marketing agencies, Scotland and you know, can be beat that can be kind of like a big reason why, you know, we have the reputation in the industry, because everything else is really in the UK, they’re in London, or obviously a US or Asia. And, and yeah, that was where social media really was born in July 2018.
Jason Falls
Very nice. So I wonder you’ve got the two sides of the business. I wonder if there’s a conflict of interest there a bit. Because if I’m a brand manager and I want to engage influencers, my hope is to get an efficient spin for my investment. But if my agency is also representing the influencer, whose broad goal is to obviously make as much money for as little work as possible. I think that creates a little bit of a gap in my mind is does that is there a conflict of interest there when you’re handling both sides of the equation?
Suhit Amin
So yes, so a lot of people and and this is this is a lot of things for the kind of a thing that we’ve we faced and it’s something that you know, we’re very aware of is that a lot of brands, when they go to talent management agency know that the talent management agency doesn’t particularly care about the results of the brands they only care for, as they’re in getting the best deal and the most revenue. However, we have a completely unbiased approach to how we do so we very much try to have something that we’re doing very much student 21 as well as really separating the entities a lot and making that clear division. So anything that happens on the bright side, where we’re working for the client is all completely unbiased. If an influencer and our top management isn’t suitable for it, we’re not going to pitch them, we we have, we have a non exclusive network of creators that you can tap into, we’ve activated our campaigns, and we essentially are working for the brand. So we’re going to present whichever the best creators are for that specific campaign, if one of our inclusive creators is then of course, they’re going to get put in the pitch, but we’re not going to be prioritizing any of our exclusive creators in our pitches, because that’s unethical in our opinion. And obviously, we want to be creating long term partnerships for the brands. So we want to be ensuring that we can produce the most efficient ROI. And so we try and essentially make that division very clear. And we never prioritize our creators when it comes to our brand clients. And then again, on the talent management sides. As completely separate. If a brand comes to our Creator, we’re working for our Creator, ensuring that they get the best deal essentially out of it.
Jason Falls
Very nice. Well, and you’re obviously doing some great work that I came to know you from the Influencer Marketing Show where you guys won an award for a campaign you did with I think Filmora9. Tell us about that campaign. What is the campaign like that look like for you guys?
Suhit Amin
Yes. So that’s a, that’s a very interesting one that was kind of our first long term client, I’d say. So that campaign that we want them was a marketing word for was actually the first kind of when we did with Filmora. And now we’ve been working with them long term. And so we’ve been working them since December 2018. And to this day, in December 2020, we’re still working with them long term, month to month, and which is really great that that’s coming from there. So that initial campaign was our kind of first, and like our first kind of taster with them. So obviously, a lot of brands when they’re first working with a new agency want to try and test the budget to see, you know, whether this age is going to get it delivered the results. And then, obviously, you know, for a small agency, they want to make sure that you know, they’re not pouring a lot of money into something that they don’t know so this was our first kind of small budget with it with four more nine so that’s that’s kind of campaign was craft their own kind of at the end of year and kind of end of year to New Year kind of sale around Fimora9 and trying to be silly. And it was the end of like a new year’s resolutions thing. So basically, a new year, new year and kind of resolution that people can learn and learn and develop new skill, which could be video editing. So we worked with a series of creators to create a essentially pretty simple and but not a strong message and YouTube integrations where they were basically crafting a message around starting a new skill around video editing, and for more unnamed being the perfect partner, because it’s such an easy to use simple editing software for beginners, but also professionals. So we essentially had the kind of guarantee KPI for them. And that obviously, you know, cuz this is this is the first one, you don’t want to take the risk. And if we didn’t have that KPI, then we wouldn’t, you know, we would obviously have to work to work to hit that within our within our own costs. And that we were able to perform, and we guaranteed them 1 million impressions and think at that time we stopped tracking, we got 6.4 million, and and then after that we’ve been working with them month to month in different campaigns and long term from there. So that was obviously a very successful one. This led to us working with them for a very long time across a lot of different projects and campaigns. And we’re actually wrapping up one with them. Just know, and, and obviously, we’ll be going forward working with him in 2021.
Jason Falls
Very nice, just out of curiosity, when you guarantee a million impressions is that, you know, you guarantee that the creators you choose are going to be able to create that organically. And you’ll backfill with maybe paid impressions, or how do you guarantee a number like that.
Suhit Amin
So for that for these campaigns, we specifically focus on organic only, we’ve never, we don’t really particularly look at paid advertising with our within our work at the moment. And so it’s all organic. So we basically guaranteed that the creators content within a 30 day period would hit 1 million impressions. And if if that wasn’t hit the 30 days, then we would have to work it away within our own within our own agency fees or, you know, lost to basically work out how to how who would hit that impression number.
Jason Falls
Interesting. Well, I guess if you if you know your creators well, and they, you know, have a consistent level of performance, it’s probably not hard to put a guaranteed number down so that’s good. So I think for some people in the mainstream marketing world eSports and probably to an extent, even Gen Z consumers seem like a big puzzle. A lot of this sort of traditional brands are still trying to figure out either eSports or Gen Z or both. So you live in that space, but in eSports, and certainly I think Gen Z consumers are right in your target area, what brands need to do to what do they need to bring to the table to successfully connect with either or both of those audiences?
Suhit Amin
I think for Gen Z, specifically, it’s all about relatability and Gen Z as well have a really, I think there’s kind of some stats that Gen Z has like a really short attention span, and comparison to potentially past generations. So Gen Z are very much they want to be engaged by something. So they need to see something that’s fun and exciting, engaging, creative unrelatable. To them, they know what they’re not going to want to see, you know, an ad from someone that is in maybe mainstream, but for an older audience, they want to see some, you know, they want to see an ad by someone that they watch the respect, and they can really relate to, I think that’s why the power of influencer marketing is so, so, so powerful for Gen Z, specifically, because, you know, we’ve been brought up in this world of watching content consuming social media, and we relate to, you know, these social media influencers, these creators, we kind of see them as friends in some sort of way. And so kind of having brands partner with creators that are relatable to that to Gen Z, and essentially kind of crafting an engaging safety message really captures their attention right from the start is something is very important, because it really needs to be fast, fun and exciting, because its attention span of Gen Z’s really sore, which is why Tick Tock is actually captured Gen Z so quickly, because it’s such a short form content, which is just really fun, and fast and entertaining. And for eSports. It’s a very, it’s a very difficult one for for most mainstream brands to enter, but some have done it extremely well. And for example, as a couple, you know, food brands like KFC, and Cat Cat, who have captured eSports, extremely well on gaming in general. And I think the the audience of gaming, and eSports specifically are very, I don’t want to say niche, because they are broad, but they’re very kind of like specific. So they have specific culture specific communities. And each game, and eSports also has a very specific community, you know, the Dota 2 community is going to be completely different to how the FIFA community is, so it really is all about how you’re going to try and target it, you know, whether a brand is going to try and enter and specifically go down, you know, maybe a FIFA route or then a call of duty route is going to be a different strategy for each because each community is going to be very different. And you need to make sure that you’re kind of aligning your strategy around that community, and which is why some brands have done it so well, because they’ve come in and you know, a lot of brands at moment are really focusing on Call of Duty, and they’ve come in and really just captured what that community is wanting, and which is, you know, one of these definitely is Call of Duty tournaments is a really big thing. So they started and with influence working with influencers and running huge scale tournaments, which is creating a huge amount of content, a lot of areas watch, because people want to watch their favorite posts competing. And, and just again, as well, a relatability is a huge thing with influencer marketing and eSports as well, and just making sure you fit that culture because gaming has got an Esports fans of a very specific and very specific culture. And if you’re not essentially being authentic within that space, then it’s not really gonna go anywhere. And it’s why KFC, and KitKat, for example, become really, really successful in that space. Because they know that culture, they know what kind of members and kind of tweets these people are gonna want want to see in Lake and engage with. And that’s why it’s become very, very successful. And I think as well, within eSports and gaming, specifically, creativity is 100% needed, you need to have creative and sculpt creative campaigns. Long gone are the days where you can do really specific really general ad reads, you know, in the past, you could do an ad, we’d be like, Okay, this computer has got really powerful processing, no one’s want to see that, you know, if they need to find that information, they can go search up, what’s going to catch their attention is doing something really creative and fun spin. And those are the things that usually perform a lot better. And that’s what brands see a huge ROI on in the kind of Esport s and gaming space.
Jason Falls
Interesting. It’s a it’s an interesting, interesting puzzle, especially for someone like me who I’m, I’m still of the I’m of the age where I don’t I still don’t understand why people get excited watching other people play video games, but I understand it’s there. I understand. It’s a big deal, but I don’t get it.
Suhit Amin
So I think in ways it’s like, it’s like sports, I guess. And obviously, you know, people enjoy watching other people play football, you know, I guess the same for you know why people enjoy eSports you know, it’s something that anyone can really do. Anyone can really get on their computer and play CS GO. So they enjoy watching other people do that anyone can go out and kick a football. So they enjoy people watching that. It’s just another form of really sports and eSports is really becoming like a, I guess, a world A world known and respected sport in a way. I mean, it’s been traveling Olympics and the Paralympics and whatnot. And I think it’s just the fact that it’s actually quite easy entry to market that anyone can start playing a video game. So it’s something that The they’re excited to watch and get behind and the fans are so religious like, like football fans and want to like I’ve, I’ve had that I’ve had the pleasure of going to some big FCS school tournaments, through ESL and just work and just seeing how the fans rally behind their favorite team is just exactly the same as you would see fans get behind a football team is just that same culture. And I think it’s, I think it’s the same same thing really as any sort of sport that people get behind.
Jason Falls
Interesting. Alright, so you’re 19 years old, you’re running a successful agency, you’ve beat cancer, you worked at ESL already. Do you have any goals left? What’s next for you?
Suhit Amin
Yes, so we have a lot of big goals for 2021. So I mean, the agency has know been running for around two and a half years now. Because we started in July 2018. And obviously, you know, we’re, we’ve become fairly reputable in the space. But we’re still seems a small agency, we’ve done had a very successful end of 2020. And no really want to scale up in 2021. And my vision for 2021 is to really kind of go the small leagues, and start kind of competing in the big leagues with a lot of these other big UK agencies that, you know, are well known and respected and are working with mainstream brands. And so, got a lot of goals. Again, I’m making a couple of big hires in 2021 and really want to scale the business in the end growth, what were some big mains … mainstream brands that aren’t maybe endemic to gaming eSports already because we’re very much been focused around gaming and eSports and people can annoy us in that space. We want to really branch out and expand other verticals what with mainstream companies and and really grow, grow and scale up the business um in 2021 is the main thing I’m very, very passionate and and very, very pumped for it for the next for the next year ahead. And we have a lot of a lot of big plans and a lot of big goals.
Jason Falls
That’s That’s amazing. I can I can you can you can hear the passion in your voice, which is fun. One other question before I let you go? Are you are you still in university? You’re still working toward that degree? Is that right?
Suhit Amin
Yes. So I still do University I’m in second year of university have a four year degree. And I do Economics and Management in a university up in Scotland. So it’s an interesting one managing that with business. And it’s obviously been a bit easier this year with you know Coronavirus and everything beyond ln and not having to as such, you know, go out to lectures and classes and won’t normally be able to just do that well set up my computer at first and second year also doesn’t require as much time as maybe third and fourth year well, so next year, and and the year after is going to be an interesting one. But my hope is that as we scale and expand this year and bring on more people on the team, I can kind of delegate a lot more to you know, senior members of the team and essentially have a really streamlined and good workflow and operations so that for example if there’s times when I’m you know, in university in third year where I really have to focus in and crack down in the work that the business can still run really smoothly. And then once I’ve once I’ve finished my degree then it’s just going full steam ahead on on on the business and other opportunities that will hopefully arise after that as well.
Jason Falls
Well, I get the feeling from reading a little bit more of your background. I know I think both of your parents are doctors, I get the feeling that mom and dad probably would not let you get off without finishing University. Is that about right?
Suhit Amin
Well, you see to be fair for when I’ve been going through through kin in my younger years that’s that’s very much been the case. I’ve always been a really kind of academic kind of person in school you know, it’s always been again ingrained in me it’s you know, do well in school, get good jobs University, but once they started seeing the success of the company and see my passion really around it, and just you know how much adrenaline I get over my mom literally last night gently thought said to me, you’re you’re looking at adrenaline junkie for your business. And they’re there, they’ve actually questioned me they’re like, do you want to do university? Like do you want to just go full time or, you know, if you want the dropout, you can leave they’re not forcing it upon me anymore, because they know that you know, my real passions and successes so far have lead with the business. But I personally do still want to do University and complete it for a couple of reasons. And so yeah, it’s not it’s not so much that they’re putting that on me anymore in the past definitely But no, it’s very much my own choice to continue.
Jason Falls
That’s That’s great. You can obviously I mean as mentioned earlier, you can kind of hear the passion in your voice and your I can’t imagine you’re not going to be an incredibly successful not only finishing that degree but building the agency. Congratulations on your success I’m certainly thankful and grateful for your health as well and that the world has people in like like you in it to inspire and amaze us so so hit Keep up the good work, sir and thanks for joining us.
Suhit Amin
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me on the podcast
Transcribed by otter.ai
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