If there is a creator in Europe who has mastered the art of clapping, that would be our next guest, Damien Broderick, a content creator from Dublin, who with over 1.2 million followers on Instagram and another million followers on Tiktok, he he became worldwide famous in the fashion industry thanks to his 'Click, click, clap' video intros.
In 2021, Damien relocated to London to work for luxury menswear magazine The Rake. His goal is to inspire gentlemen worldwide and give them the tools to dress better, feel more confident, and unlock their potential.
Damien recently relocated to Italy and we love following his journey, so we thought of sharing our conversation with him, to inspire you on how to make your content stand out from the rest, like he always does.
"Click, Click, Clap!"–Let's go:
A. Who are you and what are you known for in social media?
D: My name is Damien Broderick, I'm known for getting dressed on the internet everyday :)
A. Can you tell us what video/videos/picture made you go viral?
D: I don't think I have any particular viral video, my most viewed video is just under 10M views on tiktok, but on average most videos do over 500K views, I'd say it was a matter of consistency more than a single viral video.
A: What is the best part of being an influencer?/and the worst part?
D: Other than the obvious perks of being invited to nice events like movie premieres or getting gifted nice pieces or being paid to do work that never feels like work, Id say the best part is building a community, a group of like minded people that truly invest in you and what you do.
The worst thing is probably people that think being an influencer isnt a real job, "Hate" comments don't really bother me.
A. A lot of influencers complain about gifted collaborations... what are your thoughts around this topic? How of a necessary evil are they?
I think no matter how big your following is there is a time and place for gifting, for example if something is handmade or custom made for you by a small business that might not have the budget to pay, or maybe it's a really big brand and the piece you're being gifted is very expensive and it's a good way of starting and building a relationship with that brand. I also think it depends on the brand's approach, as long as it's done in a respectful manner.
A.Tell us 3 things you love to read when a brand or agency approaches you and 3 things you hate to see in a proposal for a collab?
D: One of my fave things to do with brands is press trips, so when I open and email and it says "we'd like to invite to place X" I get really excited. Obviously major pay collabs as we all have to eat or pay rent. My least fave is probably when a brand is asking for loads of deliverables but only offering gifting.
6. I am sure you have many followers who admire you and want to be as successful as you are, can you give them 3 tips to grow their followers and ultimately get more paid collabs?
D: Find your style, let your personality shine through your content, be yourself and enjoy it, create content you love and enjoy, and everything else will follow.
A:.You mentioned one of your dreams is to live in the coutnryside with lots of tweed and some dogs– what breed?
D: Oh yes, the dream, a nice big house, lots of waxed jackets, wellington boots and dogs, I love spanuals, golden setters, but also love dalmationals.. any of these or one of each maybe haha
A. What have been 3 of your favourite brands to collaborate with and why did you like the collaboration so much?
D: Oh thats a good question, Raymond Weil was a great opportunity as they're a lux swiss watch brand, as as someone who has lots of tattoos normally those brands don't want to know, they even used my photos as commercial advertising becoming the first brand to use influencer created content as commercial advertising and only the second swiss watch brand to use someone with tattoos as the face of their ads, the other being Tudor and their model being David Beckham, so not bad going for little ol' me from Ireland, getting to launch a car with Mini cooper was also a really fun job, and maybe Nokia in collaboration with the james bond movie no time to die. I put the phone on a gimble and hung out the back of a moving car to film a classic MG driving through the mountains, that was fun.
A. In order to become a better creator, many influencers follow accounts or are members of online platforms/groups on facebook or other places such as discord, linkedin, reddit etc where do you find inspiration and interact with other creators?
I'm not like that, I like to take inspiration from lots of different places, instagram, pinterest, music, film, but I'm easily influenced sometimes so i think if I was a member of any groups like that it would do more harm than good for me haha.
A. What creator would you like to nominate for our next interview?
D: Oh thats a good one there are so many.I'll nominate @Lira_karina, Kaina is a vintage blogger from Ukraine and came to Ireland as a refugee and we became really good friends, she's since spent a lot of her time in portugal to make the most of her bog and content as little old ireland is tough to work in especially if you're not living in Dublin and part of the "click" Karina is such a gem and really knowledgeable and passionate about that she speaks about.
Thank you Damien for speaking with us today and we look forward to tomorrow's outfit from Italy :)
We hope you liked Damien's story and don't forget to check his IG and Tiktok out, you'll understand why he went so viral pretty quickly.
All the best to our super community,
Andrea :)
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