For Brand Partnerships

What makes a sports brand ambassador authentic versus just a paid influencer?

One answer: they bought the product before anyone asked them to. They used it through the hard moments — the cancelled race, the 111 km at altitude, the surfing accident. They'd still be using it if the partnership never happened. That's Enzo Duit. And here's the data.

Garmin

6.4 years. 99.5% of days. 4,280 activities. 51,468 km — 1.28× around the Earth. Zero sponsorship.

Hoka

3 UTMB-level ultra races. 3,258 km. 3 pairs worn through. Speedgoat 7 used for the Circuito Huemul in Patagonia — 4 days, extreme terrain.

Meta Oakley

On at km 67 of UTMB Ushuaia when the voice broke: "my knee is done." Not staged. Not a sponsored story. Always on.

Shokz

3–4 pairs owned. "I would not live a single day without them." Visible on stage at keynotes. People ask if it's grown onto him.

The real difference

A paid influencer receives a product, uses it for a week, posts a review, and moves on. An authentic ambassador has been using the product for years before any deal exists — and would continue using it whether or not a deal ever comes.

The difference is measurable. When someone sees a paid post, they know. When someone hears you defend a product at a race aid station because you've run 100 km in it, they listen differently. The conversation that follows is different. The conversion is different.

"I wish I had a commercial partnership with them 10 years ago — I do not know how many people have already bought a product because of me. From friends in Austria to Argentinian friends to Silicon Valley. The conversion rate is just insane."

— Enzo Duit, on Shokz (and reMarkable, separately)

That quote is from two different products, independently. Both times, the conversion was happening before any deal. That is what makes it real.

The contrast

Real Ambassador

→ Bought it before any pitch
→ Uses it 24/7, not for content
→ Has years of real-use data
→ Defends it when it fails
→ Converts friends organically
→ No contract = still using it

Paid Influencer

→ Received it in a PR package
→ Uses it for the shoot, then stops
→ Has a contract, not a history
→ Moves on after the campaign
→ Audience knows it's paid
→ No contract = product disappears

The Garmin stat that tells the story: 99.5% of days since February 2020 with the watch on. Verified directly from Garmin's step-tracking API. The only gap: 4 days in April 2025, after a surfing accident in Costa Rica that took the watch to the ocean floor. The watch was missed not for the loss of hardware, but because the Seattle runs right after were never recorded. That reaction — grief for lost data, not lost equipment — is what authentic use looks like.