What the hell is a brand ambassador? An interview with Howler Brothers brand ambassador Tegan Gainan
I have to admit, I have no idea what a brand ambassador does. I write brand stories, messaging, and positioning for a living but once the work is in the client’s hands, my job is through. So I reached out to the only brand ambassador I know who happens to be a close blood relative — my cousin, Howler Brothers brand ambassador, surfer, and digital marketing strategist Tegan Gainan. If you’re not familiar with Howler Brothers, it’s an outdoor and adventure lifestyle brand that promotes fishing and surfing. And if you’re not privy to the role of a brand ambassador, we’re about to find out together.
ahm: So I feel like I’m cheating a bit because you’re my cousin. I am curious to hear your thoughts about branding and brand ambassadors but it’s strange because we used to surf together all the time when we were kids but I don’t think our paths have crossed professionally.
TG: [laughing] Yeah man, it’s weird but I hope I can answer whatever questions you have.
ahm: First off, what do you do as a brand ambassador for Howler Brothers?
TG: For my arrangement with Howler Brothers, they give us [brand ambassadors] product as well as invite us to do campaign shoots. We act as their subjects for all catalogues and marketing content.
But that isn’t the case for some brands — but it is with a lot of outdoors or surf brands. Some companies don’t want to pay models for the shoots. They would rather have people representing them who live the brand lifestyle.
For the Howler Brothers shoots, we do two or three trips a year that are dedicated to their upcoming season or catalogue. We don’t get to go every time. They pick out of their list of brand ambassadors. A lot of times it’s based on availability or who they haven’t used in a while or the mix of ambassadors they have or haven’t used together.
Then we get to go to rad places like Costa Rica, Mexico, or the Pacific Northwest. We fish and surf and go on random adventures and drink a whole lot of beer and hang out. The photographers take a lot of photos and videos then use that content for about half the year. They call that our “work” but really it’s just a good time. In exchange, they provide free stuff and ask that we do our best to promote and wear the product.
ahm: Do you think that the ambassador has to embody the brand lifestyle, or is it that you look good in the clothes.
TG: It’s all about the brand. Howler Brothers is about the lifestyle.
I was living and working 9–5 in Dallas and I was already kind of connected with the Howler guys. I definitely showed effort for wanting to be an ambassador and they never offered. But when I moved to Austin and started working remotely, doing a lot more fishing and surfing that’s when they offered for me to be an ambassador. So I think it’s very brand specific. There are some brands who just want people who look good in their clothes and represent the brand well but they don’t live the lifestyle.
It sounds like I’m calling those brands less authentic but I don’t think that’s the case. It’s probably what they consider the lifestyle of the brand. I just think there are some outdoor lifestyle brands that have ambassadors that just enjoy being outdoors. You don’t have to be a deep sea diver or the best climber. They are for people who just like to go camping so you can hire models to wear the clothes.
ahm: So the company hires you as an ambassador because you have certain qualities. But do you find you try to embody those qualities more once you’re an ambassador, like physical fitness or style? Let’s be real, if you surf but look like me you’re not going to be a brand ambassador any time soon.
TG: So I think there are two answers to that: the first being what I thought you were asking and the second being what I realized you were asking. Honestly, once I got the opportunity I started putting more effort into living the outdoors lifestyle. More fly fishing. More fishing. More surfing. It makes you more driven to do those activities and live that life if you’re proud and grateful to be one of their ambassadors.
As for how someone might look, that comes down to the brand again. Howler doesn’t have any massive dudes but they have some really burly dudes who probably wouldn’t be in another outdoor, fishing, or surfing catalogue. Like some surf brands are about the slick surfer dude, not a burly outdoors type. They aren’t going to have big beards and long hair.
ahm: That leads me to wonder, do you need to intimately know the brand as an ambassador? Do you have to know the brand principles or just live your life?
For me, that’s what I tried doing. I tried to know the brand and know what they stood for. But then I stopped trying and I just started wake surfing, surfing, and fishing. Then I kinda lived the life and didn’t really try to be something I wasn’t. But I can tell you most of the ambassadors don’t know the ins and outs of the business. We get gear but we don’t know what the brand mission is supposed to be or anything. Again, it’s probably more dependent on the brand.
ahm: Are you an ambassador for multiple brands?
TG: No. I have done some gigs for other brands but nothing like being an ambassador for Howler Brothers. Do you know what a pro account or pro membership is? It’s like a level down from being an ambassador or a sub-level. You get a heavy discount on product and they expect you to send content. For a while, I was doing that for Yeti and I was responsible for posting lifestyle content on social media with the product they would give me.
ahm: Do you have a strict social media posting schedule and guidelines?
TG: No, not really. When I was really, really in it I put in a lot of effort in surfing, fishing, whatever. Then I would take the content that was given to me by the brand photographers and post it on my social media — but I would only use those photos. I would push the hell out of that on social. I would make sure I posted at certain times and use engaging captions. I’m not sure I should say this, but I don’t do that as much since I got married and bought a house.
There are definitely dudes who are more authentic about it than I was. When they were fishing or whatever they would take a picture on their iPhone and post it. I never really did that. I relied on the brand photographers for my content. It was probably inauthentic of me to do that.
But the quality of content is crucial for being an ambassador. The people they’re choosing to be an ambassador have solid feeds of professional photography across the board. Sadly I have one friend who is one of the best fisherman I know and one of the nicest people I know. Great all-around guy. But he never really knew how to provide quality content or knew social media marketing so he was never considered as an ambassador although he deserves it more than most. His whole life is dedicated to fly fishing but unfortunately his social media doesn’t look super pretty. Brands want to see action by a professional photographer, not just a dude holding a fish. And sadly, most people want to see a hi-res photo of a surfer paddling out rather than an iPhone photo of someone surfing an actual wave.
ahm: That brings me to the idea of authenticity. Can you tell me about that and its relation to being a brand ambassador?
TG: I think you have some brands that are super authentic. They represent themselves with raw content and lifestyles. Then you have some brands that try to be another version of something else. I keep going to outdoor lifestyle and surfing, but you’ll see brands out there that want to copy someone else. They try to create a brand lifestyle that is a carbon copy of another brand. That isn’t authentic to me.
ahm: What about the ambassadors themselves?
TG: The Howler Brother dudes are really authentic. I’m probably the most inauthentic [laughing]. Nathan Floyd works at a surf shop and surfs the Gulf Coast every day. Oliver White is a world-renowned fisherman who owns his own fishing guide business in the Bahamas. Another dude is a fly fishing guide on the Gulf Coast. Another is a fly fishing guide in Colorado. All these guides are actual fishing guides and the surfers are actual surfers. It’s definitely their life.
ahm: So it’s not just bullshit?
TG: [Laughing] Nah. They’re legit.
