With its online magazine Hiphop.de, ManeraMedia GmbH runs the most widely read pop culture magazine in the German-speaking world. The company has also set itself the task of embedding hip-hop culture in brands - and in football. How does that work? VIVID spoke to managing director Tobias Kargoll.

Tobias Kargoll originally came to Düsseldorf from his home town of Kamen to study social sciences and then become a journalist. A passionate hip-hop fan, he met some fellow students on the Rhine one evening and got into a conversation with a man about gangster rap. It wasn't until a few days later that he realised who he had been talking to: Christian Fu Müller, founder of the online magazine Hiphop.de. A few days later he applied to Müller for an internship. Tobias Kargoll initially worked as a freelance journalist for media such as Juice, TAZ and Hiphop.de, before becoming editor-in-chief of the online magazine a few years later. He is a firm believer in the potential of the hip-hop platform. In 2012, he founded his own company, ManeraMedia, under which he still publishes Hiphop. de today. "From the beginning, it was important for Fu and me to be open to other concepts that have certain synergies with the magazine," says Kargoll. The history of Hiphop.de has always run parallel to the ongoing digitalisation. "There is no longer a blueprint for how to run a magazine successfully, because the digital world is constantly evolving. New platforms with their own mechanisms are constantly changing the way you can reach people. You also have to constantly work out how to finance yourself.”

Tobias Kargoll and his agency ManeraMedia create 'cultural marketing': a brand is rooted in hip-hop culture without appropriating it.

To find out how best to market journalism on the internet, Tobias Kargoll started reading marketing books. His idea was to authentically integrate brands into the content of Hiphop.de, such as the car brand KIA. "As part of our 'Time Travel' format, we drove around a rapper's city in a KIA and visited the stages of his career. Other brands such as Snipes will follow suit, working with ManeraMedia and Hiphop.de to better position themselves with the target audience. Tobias Kargoll calls the concept behind ManeraMedia's brand collaborations "cultural marketing". "Our task is to root a brand organically in the hip-hop culture, so that it contributes to the culture instead of appropriating it. This started with brand collaborations for Hiphop.de and has led us to offer market research, strategy development and campaign implementation that goes far beyond our magazine.” Hip hop is not just music, but also fashion, graffiti, street art and dance. In principle, therefore, the culture is suitable for almost any product. And there is obviously a target group that is willing to buy: according to a survey by YouGov, a total of 14.9 million people between the ages of 12 and 49 in Germany identify with hip-hop culture; among Generation Z, the figure is as high as 65 per cent.

It is therefore natural for ManeraMedia to link hip hop with another culture that is at least as widespread and has long been part of our everyday lives: football. This link has long been established with some major international clubs. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), for example, have had their shirts designed by Nike Jordan and have also collaborated with fashion brands such as Bathing Ape. French club Olympique Marseille, from a city where hip-hop is omnipresent, even has its own rap label. In this way, each club can find its own link to the theme. ManeraMedia has now successfully realised a cooperation with Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. For Tobias Kargoll, who grew up near Dortmund, this collaboration is a matter close to his heart. "I have been a BVB fan since childhood and have attended almost every home game since 2008. There is a new generation of football fans who identify with the game through the players. The sport is also competing for scarce attention with countless entertainment options. A football club has to find answers. The BVB is playing an active part in society. So it makes sense to get involved in pop culture as well.

Rapper Miami Yacine and Tobias Kargoll, seen here in the stands at Signal Iduna Park, not only share a love of hip-hop, but also of the BVB.

Video shoot for 'Classic' at the Signal Iduna Park: Matthäus Franke, Creative Principal at Borussia Dortmund (centre) and Julian Jammoul, Founder and Managing Director of grjnd.agency (far left).

Tobias Kargoll and his team had an intensive exchange of ideas with the BVB. In the end, it was a planned collaboration between the club and the Dortmund Concert Hall that proved decisive, as BVB wanted to bring together players from the city's most diverse cultural areas. With success: Dortmund rapper Miami Yacine, violinist Sanjar Sapaev, principal second violinist of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra, and rap producer Juh-Dee recorded the song "Classic" together. Children from the "Nordstadtliga" play the main role in the accompanying video: 400 youngsters from Dortmund's deprived Nordstadt district, where the BVB was founded, train and play in the social project. ManeraMedia partner grjnd.agency and director Julius Pfeiffer, who normally produce street fashion and rap videos, were responsible for the video. Guest appearances include BVB legends Marco Reus and Dédé - as well as Miami Yacine, who wears a black-and-yellow shirt that was unknown at the time of the video's launch: BVB's official home kit for the coming season. The premiere of the video in May not only attracted press attention, but also generated six-figure views on YouTube. Marius Happe, Head of Marketing at Borussia Dortmund: "We want to go beyond football and be part of the reality of life for our fans and our city. For us, this means creating an area of identification that finds its place within cultural phenomena". This is in line with the project designed and implemented by ManeraMedia, which aims to convey the club's core values: honesty, team spirit and credibility. "We want to break new ground, but always in line with our values. That's why we're delighted to be working with artists who represent Dortmund, love the BVB and can get to the heart of the matter in a song," continues Marius Happe. Tobias Kargoll adds: "It was about showing the common denominator: what connects hip-hop, Miami Yacine, BVB and the Nordstadtliga. It was about a song that works just as well for rap fans as it does in the South Stand (oder Südtribüne).” Next season will show what kind of performances “Classic” and the new shirt will inspire the BVB team to. •

Words: Katja Vaders
Pictures: Jannis Kersten, Melvyn Ivy, Mads Hesmert

The Hip-Hop DNA