Magnus Midtbø is a rock climber from Norway who competed at an elite level from the time he was a child. However, equally as impressive as his climbing career was his ability to create a brand surrounding his name and his craft.  Magnus retired from professional climbing in 2017 which also marked the time he began making his YouTube vlogs. Over time he amassed a huge following of almost 2 million subscribers who watched as he collaborated with countless other large YouTube names like Larry Wheels, Juji Mufu, and Eddie Hall. Magnus’ continued success on YouTube allowed him to branch out and make his own brand of active apparel called Rungne.

Creating his own brand allowed Magnus to let his creativity flow freely as he designed his own ideal active clothing that many others wanted. By taking advantage of his already large YouTube following, Magnus is able to advertise his brand in house instead of having to pay for advertising like many other smaller brands starting up. Magnus also wanted to differentiate his brand from other active brands by making his clothes have a more regal design while still maintaining the comfort of standard active clothing. Overall, I think that Magnus’ career has been full of great decisions to fill niches that many people didn’t know existed. He was able to think of creative ideas for vlogs that captivated an audience who had never seen anything like this done for the sport of rock climbing. His continued creativity opened up opportunities to make money and expand his influence further to the point of creating his own brand. Perhaps his biggest strength is making the most of what he has, Magnus was always a great climber but never a gold medalist on the pro level. In a sport like rock climbing it’s hard to get recognition unless your the top dog, so Magnus’ brilliance comes in the form of marketing himself even though he might not be the biggest name within his sport.