WHO IS HANS MOLENKAMP?

Hans Molenkamp is a 20+ year professional brand builder who serves as the CEO of Crimson Creative Labs, Triumph United, and Crimson Tactical.

Hans is considered one of the leading global minds in brand development and network connection with a noted history of aligning brands with top-tiered athletes, personalities and events . Hans has acutely recognized trends and patterns early and helped others understand how these shifts impact markets and consumer behavior.

Hans’ primary goal is to develop and work with talent early and assist them in building their personal brands, while aligning them with brands and organizations that can elevate their profiles.

Some of the notable athletes and personalities Hans has worked with include Conor McGregor, Ken Block, Rampage Jackson, Kimbo Slice, Danny Way, Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Leticia Bufoni, Action Bronson, Dave Bautista, Jessica-Rose Clark, Jocko Willink, and more.

Hans is an entrepreneur at heart. He builds businesses, yet his original ambition was to have a career in law. While attending SDSU, Hans was given the opportunity of a lifetime to work for Danny Way and Tommy Caudill on their brands XYZ clothing and Platinum skateboards. During his tenure at XYZ, Hans learned the intimate details of athlete contract negotiation, putting on events, designing apparel, and overall business management.

Following his time at XYZ, Hans worked briefly for the legendary DC Shoes under the guidance of Ken Block. Shortly after, Hans was asked to photograph and write on The Osiris Shoes Aftermath Tour for Transworld Skateboarding magazine, which meant spending months on the road docmenting mega skateboarding demonstrations and autograph signings. While on tour, Hans helped guide the company through a series of logistical catastrophes and also utilized his relationships with the store retailers to assist with event production and activations.

Upon returning, Hans was offered the Marketing Director position of Osiris Shoes, which at the time, was the largest and most lucrative skateboarding shoe brand. For eighteen years, Hans stayed loyal to Osiris and served as Chief Marketing Officer, negotiating athlete and event contracts, designing footwear and apparel, and implementing their first social media strategies, while managing print and TV advertising. Osiris sold globally to sixty-two countries and was one of the first skate shoe companies to cross over into the mainstream. Hans credits his tenure at Osiris and the business that were built at Osiris as the pinnacle of his business education. 

During the time at Osiris, Hans creating numerous brands for the company and for himself. Two of the brands, Throwdown - est. 2004 and Triumph United - est 2007, ventured into a highly controversial new sports category, combat. Hans went all in with combat sports, both from a personal training and competing aspect and on developing brands and helping emerging companies like the UFC, Pride, and Strikeforce. Hans photographed many UFC and Pride FC events from the early 2000s to 2009, personally fabricated the Strikeforce cage for Scott Coker, and developed innovative systems that changed the production of the events.

Hans developed the first direct-to-canvas prints, both printing logos on square panels and sewing them onto the canvas and separating the canvas into three pieces and printing directly on the canvas and stitching them together. Hans used four color process printing for the bumper pads and would also screen print fighters logos on shorts, experimenting with heat transfers. 

Hans’ current marketing firm, Crimson Creative Labs, developed the combat and athletics programs for Monster Energy in 2010 and launched the sports marketing program at cbdMD in 2018. Hans has worked with Microtech Knives since 2017 and launched Crimson Tactical retail in 2020.

Read more about Hans’ brand stories and strategies in the “Brand” section of this site. 

"Never quit. Hold the line and keep marching forward." - Hans Molenkamp