Fewer cases.
Built deeper.
Apex publishes one detailed case for every position the firm builds.
Currently
one live working example.
Building a category
position from scratch.
Apex's first mandate. A UEFA Elite Referee with 100+ international matches, EURO 2024 credentials, and zero existing brand conflicts. The challenge: build a portfolio of category-exclusive partnerships that compound over years, with no shortcuts and no false starts. Started Q1 2026.
Five phases.
Real timelines.
No shortcuts.
Mandate signed.
Representation mandate signed with Serdar Gözübüyük. Apex exclusivity on commercial brand partnerships and speaking engagements for the contracted term.
Category mapping
& conflict review.
Eight sectors selected for category-exclusive partnerships. Active brand inventory researched within each sector, then filtered against potential conflicts with the talent's officiating obligations (including UEFA matches involving multi-club ownership groups within the talent's fixture exposure).
Approach &
first conversations.
Direct outreach to CMO and Brand Director level at qualified brands. No agency middleman, no automated sequences, no templates. Each first conversation is one hour, confidential, with the founder.
First partnership
structured.
Where fit holds, Apex drafts a partnership structure with the brand: term (12-24 months minimum), category exclusivity, activation framework, commercial terms, mutual exit provisions. Negotiation handled by Apex directly with the brand's commercial leadership. Talent is consulted but not in the room until terms are agreed.
Activation,
renewal, compounding.
Once signed, Apex coordinates activation with the brand and talent. Quarterly review against the partnership's stated goals. Renewal conversations begin at month nine of any twelve-month term. Never earlier, never later. Each renewal is the chance to deepen the position, not just extend it.
For years, people saw the role.
Danny was the first to connect the dots behind it.
He did not start with visibility.
He started with value.
Serdar Gözübüyük
UEFA Elite Referee · Represented by Apex
Apex builds positions, not media buys. The case above is one. The next will be another, in a different category, for a different brand, with the same operating discipline.
Danny Schuurman
Founder · Amsterdam
What Apex learned
building this position.
Useful to other talent. Useful to brands.
Conflict review
belongs upstream,
not after the pitch.
The first
conversation
is the asset.
Multi-year
commitment
is the structure.
Brands move faster on partnerships when the talent's career arc credibly supports a 24-month minimum term.
Category
exclusivity is
cheaper than reach.
Premium brands with long sales cycles convert better on category-exclusive associations than on shared-talent reach buys.
Six conditions for
a working partnership.
Apex represents one brand per category. Live availability sits on the category status page.
A category position needs duration to compound. Below twelve months, the model returns the partnership rather than diluting it.
Representation is what Apex sells. Activation is what makes it visible. A partnership with no activation is a logo placement waiting to expire.
The first conversation works best when the brand-side counterpart can hold it through to the contract.
A watchmaker fits because the talent wears watches in life. A category that requires a role outside their genuine register reads as advertising.
If the brand sponsors a club the talent officiates, or sits inside a parent group that does, the conflict is not workable.