September 2022 News Letter

USS Networks is building an ecosystem for the young, It's more than just a media company.

Founder Series: Sayed Muhammad & Jeffrey Jouw, CEO & CMO and Co-Founders of USS Network.

Can you tell us what inspired you to build USS Networks with your co-founders?

Jeffry: It started back when I was around 20 years old, as a sneakerhead following Hypebeast trend I often came to several events like Complexcon and Hypefest in the US. Meanwhile in Indonesia, there are fewer players for that kind of event. Luckily, I met Sayed, my partner who is an expert in event organizing and together we created a sneakers event called Urban Sneakers Society in 2017. We don’t want the event to be just a yearly kind of thing, but we also think about the sustainability. We help tenants and local brands to continuously be present by creating a community and provide a media for advertising.

How is USS different from other media and agency companies?

Sayed: USS is not just a media and agency companies, but an ecosystem especially in lifestyle for Gen-Z. We have events, media, agencies, communities, and brands under USS network ecosystem. USS develop the brands within our network to have a pres- ence in not just online but also offline channel as we have a strong community in lifestyle and urban market. For instance, Urban Sneakers Society is an annual event for streetwear, but after the event ends USS still act as a media and keep posting updated news & trends for our community. Another notable example is Karafuru which was started as an NFT, we helped them to do collaboration with Hypebeast US and Atmos Japan to increase the brand value.

What is your strategy in acquiring brands?

Sayed: Previously we created new brand in-house, but as there is new capital injection from investors like SALT, OCBC NISP Ventura, and Tokopedia we started to acquire another brand. Our 10 years’ experience in building brand make us know what do brand owners want. What we offer is quite distinct from other brand aggregators as we leverage our strong network ecosystem both local and international to accelerate the brand growth. Of course, we tried to find brands which suitable with our strength in Gen-z lifestyle.

How do you see Gen-Z and younger millennials’ trends and consumer behaviors redefine tomorrow’s lifestyle? What are the potential implications to brands and how can they continuously adapt to everchanging demands?

Jeffry: Gen-Zs nowadays prefer something that is relevant to them. They are looking for the story behind a brand and also liking more honesty and transparency. They prefer to follow the trend from viral stuffs in Tiktok rather than endorsed influencers. I personally just created Tiktok account 2 months ago and trying to adapt with the different culture. While Instagram is more about aesthetics, Tiktok is more genuine and that is important for Gen-Z.

Are there any special plans or projects that we can look forward to in the next couple of months?

Sayed & Jeffry: We’re planning to hold the annual Urban Sneakers Society in December catering 50,000 visitors in 3 days. Besides, Karafuru NFT which started in Web 3 is in development to be made into Web 2 such as comic and movies.