Surfing beyond the Horizon with an open Heart

2022 | 5 min reading time

We recently met some people from Loyalsea. Loyalsea is a group of researchers and filmmakers, of surfers and strategists, of people who work 100% remotely, spread across two continents and five countries.

INTERVIEW Maja Hoock

The international team has turned its passion for travel and diverse lifestyles into a business model - with the aim of sustainably influencing our perception of brands (and people) for the better. Following paths other than the beaten track. Meeting people with an open mind.

Advertising images sell a scenario, a space of possibilities. They generate resonance and therefore relevance (because that's what consumers spend money on). We all long for relevant stories and representations in which we can find ourselves, for "role models" that come from the center, relatable, exciting and real. Loyalsea's goal: to make diversity the new norm - not just as a stopgap solution to make amends after the last shitstorm.

Five questions to Katharina Kiéck

Meeting exciting people and their stories, discovering the world and having fun at work. What could you want more?

Katharina

We want to move away from glossy content and role models that put false ideals in our heads and that content agencies can no longer believe in. We want to provide food for thought, sensitize people to sustainable encounters with nature and encourage our clients to question their own clichés.

What is important to you in your work? And how do you avoid clichés?

Katharina

People: They are and will always be the most important thing. We involve athletes, artists, activists, etc. in the production to an extreme degree. We don't try to show our or the customer's vision, but rather the understanding of a sport or lifestyle from the perspective of the people we are filming. I don't shoot a scene in which a downhill mountain bike dramatically churns up sand when the athlete tells me that you should respect the track. That it looks cool, but is seen as inauthentic and wrong among riders.

Your models are not the usual smooth personalities. How do you cast?

Katharina

We are not talking about casting or models. We keep getting to know exciting personalities through our network and try to involve them in projects. It's not always easy when shooting because you have to plan more time and "produce" a lot more real emotions, but it also makes it so much more exciting.

A client would like to have pretty bikini girls in front of palm trees on a surfboard. What advice do you give?

Katharina

Don't produce it, because you won't win a flower pot with it nowadays.
2. Ask someone else if you still think it makes sense!

You want to establish new role models. But your Insta account looks very nice and smooth. Do you need to remind yourself of your resolution?

Katharina

Definitely. We have a few principles (which need to be expanded) that help us. For example, we don't retouch people or touch faces and bodies in post-production. There are extensive behavioral briefings on set for sustainability and against sexism, etc. But we also learn every day and work on living up to our values more and more.

This article is from our BAM Magazine. Find out more about it here.

BAM Magazine

Tags: Bock auf Morgen, Diversität, Diversity, Haltung, Marke, Werte

Katharina Kiéck

CEO | Loyalsea

The anthropologist and passionate surfer originally wanted to become a museum curator or mixed martial arts professional - a far cry from her current approach of bringing more diversity into today's media productions. In between, she has worked as a futurist, brand strategist at Twitter and CSO at an artificial intelligence start-up.

loyalsea.com