SBC Summit Lisbon 2024: Tony Hawk on Authentic Brand Building

Day two of the SBC Summit 2024 saw skating legend Tony Hawk deliver a masterclass in brand building and the importance of remaining authentic.

Leading sports broadcaster Laura Woods was joined by ‘Birdman’ in Lisbon for a sit-down chat focused on the 56-year-old American’s accomplishments both on and off the board.

As the face of the iconic and self-titled Pro Skater gaming franchise, Hawk has been no small part in publisher Activision selling over $1.4 billion worth of units across 18 titles since 1999.

‘Being authentic is the first priority’

The skater puts a lot of that incredible success down to remaining true to his own values, as well the franchise representing skateboarding culture in a positive manner.

“Being authentic is the first priority. What I learnt in the mid-90s was, just because someone has a degree in marketing, it doesn’t mean they know how to represent skateboarding or action sports well.

“Our video game success was the tipping point in terms of having marketing agencies listen to what we said about representing what we do… there was so much success in that authenticity.”

But, what does authenticity mean to Hawk? 

“I walked the walk,” he said. “I never stopped skating. I’m still living in the realm, and I’m still a huge fan. The desire, the drive has never left me - if I wasn’t skating, I’d just be faking it.”

From running into a fence to world champion

Skateboarding didn’t always seem like a natural career path for Hawk, who recalled first seeing his brother dabble in ‘sidewalk surfing’ when he was eight years old. It wasn’t long after when the California native picked up his first board… and proceeded to “run straight into a fence after not knowing how to turn”.

It was his first trip to a skate park a year or so later, along that ignited his passion for the sport. “I went to a skatepark for the first time about a year later,” Hawk explained. “I thought: ‘How do they fly? I want to do that!’”

After dabbling in mainstream sports, Hawk “didn’t feel [he] was excelling at them”, whereas skating always offered “something new to do.” 

He subsequently turned professional at age 14, joining Rodney Mullen at the Bones Brigade skateboarding team. From there, Hawk went on to become the National Skateboard Association world champion, holding that title over 12 consecutive years and achieving international glory.

THPS1 the kickflip to future success

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, released on the PlayStation almost 25 years ago to the day, catapulted not just Hawk - but skateboarding itself - to the mainstream.

“I first partnered with Activision in 1998, as they heard I had interest in doing a video game. At the time, I was working with a PC programmer, pitching to different publishers and manufacturers. We didn’t have much luck and gave up.”

Hawk was invited to both consult on the game and lend it his likeness - a role he took extremely seriously. “I started getting CD-ROMs in the mail every week for about a year until the first release,” he said. “And I thought: ‘This is amazing; this is inutitive - this is how skate games should be patterned in terms of layouts of buttons,’ etc. And with my influence, I knew we could do something special.”

‘Birdman’ admitted that circumstance definitely played its part in the game being a runaway success, being one of console gaming’s most beloved franchises. 

“It was great timing,” he admitted, “In terms of the rise and interest in skateboarding in the late ‘90s.”

Building a brand legacy

The video game series is just one of a long line of products to which Hawk has lent his name, likeness and expertise to over the years. In terms of being able select those that have best fit his legendary name, his approach is clear:

“Once action sports and the culture of it was more of the radar of mainstream, I thought, ‘What are the missing elements here? What can we do to provide this culture in other ways?’”

Such a philosophy has led Hawk to many adjacent opportunities, such as starting a kid’s clothing brand to better represent skating culture for the youth, or creating his Birdhouse Skateboards brand of equipment.

However, it’s not always been the case. “There have been some very strange partnerships proposed to me, and some that I don’t feel would fit into our realm or my sense of values,” he admitted.

Believing in the products that he’s been asked to endorse is particularly important: “I’ve been lucky enough to partner up with brands I believe in or was already using before they approached me.”

Sometimes now, even in his fifties and with decades of success under his belt, Hawk scarcely believes what his brand image has achieved. “Skateboarding was the most uncool thing you could do in the 80s… the fact that big brands are now looking to us is amazing.”

ICS-digital is in attendance all week at SBC Lisbon 2024. Get in touch to see how we can support your brand ambitions today.