Experience with influencers and athletes at CrossFit

When Bileven was born, I analysed possible athletes who could represent the brand. I found a certain Aniol Ekai and Helena Avendaño, who at that time had around two thousand followers. They were boys from Blanes who I sensed had personality and potential to succeed in sport. That's how the relationship with the first two Bileven athletes began.

A few months later, on the Training Culture Cafe podcast that had just started, I heard a certain shark from Zarautz, Pablo Cazalis, speak. My connection with him was immediate, and I thought: “I don’t care if this guy succeeds or not, he’s unique.” I never took into account Instagram followers or engagement, I valued what they could contribute to the brand, each of them being special in their own way. If you’re reading this, you know the rest of his careers.

After several years, each relationship comes to an end for different reasons. Along the way, new brands are born, CrossFit tries to become more professional, different preferences or visions separate paths. Life is like that, cycles that begin and end. It is the moments lived and the mutual growth that will always remain looking back. I could mention other athletes who have helped Bileven grow such as Fabi, Sara, Anasagasti, Calum, Pinsolle or Iurii.

But now I would like to share my ideas after these years of experience and offer you the reality, opinion and conclusion regarding influencers and athletes in CrossFit. I am sure that some friend like Adri, from Uperform, will agree with me on some points (thanks for your encouraging comments, faithful reader).

Working with other people to generate content and convert it into sales requires communication, understanding and a way of doing things that are as similar as possible. Without this, collaboration is doomed to failure. And most importantly, to prolong it over time. It is always difficult to maintain motivation, to fit in with the way of working or the expectations that one expects from the other.

A structure based on many athletes is not my style. I adopted the idea of ​​having a maximum of three representatives. I think that in order to transmit specific ideas that identify with Bileven, that is enough, and even then it is difficult. I also recognize that sponsorships are never economically profitable.

I came to a conclusion about this topic a long time ago, and that is that there is no better representative of a brand than the brand itself. And by this I mean that there is no better marketing than a quality product that speaks for itself and a good after-sales service (including free size changes). I decided to invest more in this and let the community be the greatest reflection of Bileven's identity.

As I said at the beginning, I never cared about followers or how important you are in this world, I care about what you can contribute. The clearest portrait is Conrado. He started out as one of Bileven's loyal customers and it caught my attention that a guy from Almería who emigrated to Dublin as a CrossFit trainer was interested in the brand. I contacted him and suggested he join the project. Again, who better to represent Bileven than someone who is so enthusiastic about it? And I couldn't be happier. Iurii is a similar case, a great Italian athlete with a lot of style who almost forced me to collaborate because he bought everything we launched, even when he was competing. These are the kind of people who trust me, I want with me, always.

It's funny when you see a brand and you ask yourself, what athletes does it have? As if it were a football team. You should look at the product, the design, the quality and the models they use. That's when you'll realise what kind of brand it is and if it fits you.

An influencer or an athlete represents themselves, nothing more. And you only have to look at the one who is sponsored by twenty brands or when they change to a different one every year, regardless of the design, values ​​or quality of the product. I don't know about you, but I don't trust someone who "prostitutes" themselves like that when trying to sell me a product or service. I trust the faithful.

My experience with Pinsolle defines this respect for his principles. When I started the conversations with him to represent Bileven in France, I was surprised that he didn't work with any other brand. He told me that they had tried several times with a Spanish and a French brand, both quite famous, and although they offered him more than Bileven, he didn't like either of them. This made me appreciate Alexandre's decision even more, because he put his values ​​and style above everything else, no matter how much they offered him.

We aim to create a conscious and committed community that likes what we do and identifies with the values ​​we try to convey. I think that nowadays the number of Instagram followers is the least valuable metric, the loyal community you can have, whether it is larger or smaller, is much more valuable. So don't hesitate to tag us, you are our greatest influencer.

I don't want followers, I want a community. I don't want influencers, I want followers with values. I don't want athletes, I want personality and style. It's hard to learn what you want, but even harder to learn what you don't.

As Always, With Dedication.