Lincoln Design Co’s Dan Janssen on the rise of action sports – and why IP owners should align themselves with the sector

Dan, we’re here to talk action sports! How has the studio engaged with that world in the past?
We have a 25-year history in action sports design and marketing. I got my start in design at DC Shoes back in 2000. Growing up in San Diego, surf, skate, snow and moto was my passion – and working at DC was a dream. The company was growing and DC was branching out into all the different sports outside of skateboarding. When I left to start my first agency in 2005, DC was one of our first clients – along with a bunch of other skateboard brands.

Licensing-wise, what makes this an exciting space at the moment?
Over the last five to seven years, mainstream media and fans are finally recognising this industry. With skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding in the Olympics, more eyes are on these individual sports. You even have X-Games relaunching with team-based events and judging.

This ‘Skate, Surf and Snow’ culture helped build the fashion and design industries… Some people got into design based on their love for skateboard graphics and marketing. And when it comes to core sports and design, the skateboard industry is at the top.

Licensors can only benefit by aligning their brands with these core companies – and you see a lot of food and beverage companies deep in this industry. There’s a direct connection between the two. Whether it’s energy drinks, events, athletes, chip brands or commercials, they all want a piece of the action.

Do you see new players impacting creatively on how some of the more traditional sports brands – like the Olympics – present themselves?
Yeah, for sure. Take a company like Liquid Death. They’ve disrupted the water and beverage space from day one – and we’ve been fortunate to be a part of their creative team for the first five years. If you look at the roots of Liquid Death and the founder Mike Cessario, it all came from skateboarding and punk rock music. To get attention in today’s marketplace, you have to have an edge.

How do you approach capturing that edge and the kinetic nature of these brands in creative?
You have to lean into the heritage of the brand. Each brand should have a story, background or at least a ‘why’. Authenticity is very important in the action sports category. Licensing companies usually look to trend boards for the next year’s inspiration – but if you’re looking at these in this space, you’re already behind the curve. You need to be thinking about creating the next trend, not following it… The skateboard industry has always done a great job at creating trends and sticking to its roots, not following what the next big thing is.

We’ve seen brands like F1 and the Olympics embrace brand collabs with IP like LEGO, Disney and Sonic. Do you see the world of action sports lending itself to collabs?
Yes! As these big moments in sports start to show up, every brand is looking to capitalise. We’re currently working on two large collaborations for F1. I can’t say what the brands are yet, but it’ll be fun work when it finally hits the market. The action sports industry’s been doing collaboration since the beginning, but more and more brands have started collaborating outside the industry.

What’s a good example of that?
Just look at collaborations like Primitive Skateboards and Dragon Ball Z, or Welcome Skateboards and Harry Potter… Some of these are very unexpected, but it does open up a whole new demographic to the brand. You even have larger deals like Monster Energy and Lando Norris.

Nowadays, the sky’s the limit when it comes to licensing deals and collaborations. I wouldn’t say they all make sense, but opportunities are out there.