Group Y Live: Florian Klaass | Founder of K&CO on Music, Red Bull and Controversy


Episode Artwork
1.0x
0% played 00:00 00:00
Feb 12 2025 51 mins  

Florian Klaass is the Founder & Managing Director K&CO and ex Head of Global Music, Entertainment & Culture Marketing at Red Bull.

Florian Klaass shares his journey from a punk rock musician to a senior marketing strategist at Red Bull, where he spent 15 years shaping the brand's cultural and entertainment marketing. He discusses his early influences in action sports, the innovative projects he led at Red Bull and the challenges he faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Including a public controversy that led to his departure from the company. Florian reflects on the lessons learned from his experiences and his transition to running his own consultancy, where he focuses on leadership coaching and brand strategy.

Florian discusses:

  • Background in punk rock shaped his creative approach to marketing.
  • His early career involved merging music with action sports.
  • Red Bull provided a unique environment for innovation in marketing.
  • The Red Bull Music Academy a project that fostered creativity.
  • COVID-19 creating a pressure cooker environment for brands to take a stance.
  • Facing public scrutiny during a controversy at Red Bull.
  • Learning to not take the media backlash personally.
  • The transition to consultancy allowed him to explore new opportunities.
  • Building a strong network is crucial for future success.
  • Success requires resilience and hard work, especially in creative fields.

You can follow what Florian Klaass is up to on LinkedIn.

Like what you hear? Please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave a short review. It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference.

The Group Y Live Podcast come out across all podcast players with a new episode every two weeks on Thursday.

Past guests on The Rad Season Show include Stacy Peralta, Wim Hof, Mike Cessario, Gerry Lopez and more.


Contact Oli Russell-Cowan

Thanks for listening & keep it rad!