ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022 - 42

Career ❙ Interview
" We're entering
the world of social commerce "
Joshua BACH (BSc 22) is 20 years old. He is also one of the oldest members of PlaytheHype, the
Hamburg-based " Gen Z marketing agency " he co-founded in September of 2020. A year later, the
company has won multiple marketing awards, generated 7-digit revenues, and is now home to more
than 20 employees - or " family members " , as the founding team sees them. The student, who's currently
in his second year at at ESCP Business School, tells us what it takes to stand out today and connect with
Gen Z, and how TikTok and other platforms will shape the future of marketing and advertising.
Joshua BACH (BSC 22)
co-Founder PlayTheHype
Could you introduce yourself? And
sum up your journey so far?
My journey starts with me attending
a French-German High School. After
moving from the US back to Germany in
2013, my parents decided to place me in
a French-German High School. It was at
this school that I really fell in love with the
language and the culture. After completing
an exchange year in Paris, I decided
to go graduate with the Abibac; the Bac
Français, and the German Abitur, which
was a dual diploma that I could obtain at
my high school. This is what really shaped
me as a person - I started having a lot of
French friends and decided to really commit
to learning their language. And then, at
the end of my high school degree, I wanted
to continue studying in a French environment,
but, in a European scope. That's why
I looked for the universities that suited my
profile the best and discovered ESCP, which
seemed like the perfect choice for me. In
42 ❙
the meantime, I also started developing this
passion for entrepreneurship that eventually
led to PlaytheHype. It's not the first startup
that I've founded, it's actually my third
attempt at creating a successful, scalable
startup. My first try was back in 2018, where
I co-founded a web agency in Germany,
in my hometown, Bonn, to be precise. We
offered web design services, search engine
optimization, hosting - anything that would
help small businesses like barbers, cafes or
restaurants get more visibility online. When
I left that start-up to pursue PlayTheHype,
we had around 30 or 40 paying customers.
In 2019, I was also involved in scaling an
online fashion startup - it was a fashion label
that I had founded with some friends from
school. We tried to bring colorful African
designs and prints to the streetwear scene,
specializing in trendy products like fanny
packs, carrying bags, and tote bags...These
are the two business ventures that marked
the beginning of my professional experience.
They didn't really work out, but I see these
experiences as part of my learning curve
in life. In either case, the third time is the
charm, as they say.
How did you come up with the
project PlaytheHype? When did
you get the idea?
First of all, PlayTheHype wasn't my idea. I
knew that I wanted to consult brands on
how to do TikTok, I just needed some more
manpower to get it done. I looked all over
LinkedIn Germany for possible co-founders,
ESCP Alumni Magazine Special issue ❙ 2022
until I met the perfect match: Neil, Bela, and
Jakob, three boys from Hamburg, that were
looking to do the same thing as me and had
already gotten started on a project called
" PlayTheHype " . I started reaching out to
them on LinkedIn and after a couple of
months, I was part of the team. In order to
understand why I chose TikTok and marketing,
I need to rewind a couple of years.
I've been a content creator since I was 11.
Back in 2012, I started uploading YouTube
videos of me doing backflips or basketball
trick shots. I really thought I was going to
be the next big YouTuber with my 11 years of
life experience. Obviously, that didn't work
out, so fast forward a couple of years to 2019.
During my first summer after graduation, my
dad came up to me one day and said: « Hey
Josh, you have to check out this app. You
might remember it as " musical.ly " , but it has
become the newest social-media sensation
that you have to try out. Content creators
can generate amazing reach and high engagement
rates - just download it and convince
yourself! » So, I decided to download TikTok.
After immediately getting hooked, I started
looking at TikTok trends from the USA and
decided to adapt them into German, with
the intention of testing the platform from
a creator perspective. I found that making
simple videos which were entertaining,
funny, and somewhat trendy allowed me
to reach a lot of people. The first video that
I uploaded back then all of a sudden hit
600,000 views. I was shocked and didn't
know what to do with this achievement.

ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022

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