From Brighton with boldness: BJ Cunningham on building brands that dare to tell the truth

Brighton-based entrepreneur BJ Cunningham has never played by the rules. As one of the UK’s most thought-provoking leadership speakers, his journey began with a single, radical idea — and a deep belief in telling the truth, no matter the cost.

Now firmly rooted in Brighton’s creative community, BJ Cunningham is best known for launching DEATH Cigarettes, the world’s most honest tobacco brand, and for championing authenticity in business.

In this exclusive interview with Champions Speakers Agency, he shares hard-won lessons on failure, love-led leadership, and what today’s brands must do to earn the trust of a new generation.

Q: Brighton’s entrepreneurial scene is rich with creative risk-takers. Reflecting on your launch of The Karma Connection, what lessons did that first venture teach you about business, risk and resilience?

BJ Cunningham: “The Karma Connection for me was an act of love. I love classic sports cars and Harley-Davidsons. I always have. I’d been travelling, I used the last of my money to go to Los Angeles. When I was there, I bought a Karmann Ghia convertible, which is a very beautiful—it’s a cheap man’s Porsche, okay? So it’s a lovely, rear, air-cooled engine—just lovely.

“And I brought it back to the UK, and the guy at Felixstowe who fills out all of the paperwork offered me double what I paid for the car. And so I sold it to him. And I took the money and I went back and bought two, brought them back, sold them, doubled my money, went back and bought four. This continued over a two, three year period. I just kept doubling my money and doubling my money.

“And I thought I was just gifted. I thought I was fantastic. I thought I was the bollocks. I thought nothing could go wrong. What I didn’t understand about the market I was operating in at the time—the classic sports car market—was that the whole market was an illusion.

“It was based upon a then capital gains loophole whereby if you bought any vehicle that was over 20 years old and you sold it and you made money, you didn’t have to pay tax on the money you made. So everybody was piling into the classic sports car market. The market was going up and up and up. And I sat happily on the edge of this bubble, truly believing that good value for a Ferrari was 2.5 million quid, and that the whole thing was never going to end.

“When the market collapsed, it collapsed—abruptly collapsed—overnight. The Chancellor changed the legislation, a Ferrari failed to reach its asking price at auction, and the whole market fell out of bed. And when that happened, I had eight containers of Ferraris up the Panama Canal. Panama Canal closed for political reasons. I was up this really big creek with no paddle.

“And I lost everything. I lost—I lost everything. I was 20, I was 23 years old, and I was £876,000 personally overdrawn.

“And I remember I went to my dad and I said, “Dad, I’ve got a problem. Can you help?” He said, “Sure, BJ. I’m sure we can help. What’s the damage?” And I said, “Well, Dad, it’s £876,000.” And there was this silence on the phone. And he said, “You’re on your own. I’m sure you’ll learn a valuable lesson.

“And I did. I learned a really important lesson. The lesson is this—it’s actually—well, there’s—God, I learned so many lessons. I learned first of all, you can’t really ever fail. The fact that you are here now, breathing, is proof of that, okay? You may not succeed in the way in which you want to. And the measure of success is something we place ourselves. It’s our measure of success. But you can’t really ever fail.

“I also learned that if you’ve got a problem, there’s always somebody there—there’s always somebody there who can help you or has to help you. In this case, it was the bank. I suddenly realised that I had leverage over my bank.

“I remember I had a meeting with the bank manager, and he took me into a room I’d never seen before. And there was a chesterfield sofa. And he served really good coffee in china cups. And he started to talk about our problem and how were we going to solve this problem. And I loved that—“we”. I realised I was in a position of leverage.

“And I did a deal with the bank, which in short was: if you’ll lend me £250,000 more and write my current debt down to £250,000, I’ll pay you back the £500,000 over a three-year period based on the following business plan. That business plan, incidentally, was the business plan for DEATH Cigarettes, which then launched my whole next adventure.

“So that was the big lesson—you cannot fail. And also, problems are opportunities, if you’re willing—if you’re willing to see them that way. And the universe always delivers. She will wash you up on a beach of your own choosing. And that beach will be worth exploring. The universe does not let us just end, you know?

“And, I learned something about the nature of money. Money is not a thing. People often think about money as a number or as a thing. Money isn’t a thing—money is a flow.

“And what’s important about that is being in the flow. I mean, sometimes a little drop is landing on your head, and sometimes you’re in a stream, and sometimes you’re in a river, you know? And it doesn’t matter. What matters is where you’re flowing that energy to and how you’re choosing to engage in the world with it.

“So I learned so much from that catastrophic failure. In fact, I’d say this: I’ve learned more in my life from my failures than I ever have from my fleeting successes. My failures have taught me genuine life lessons. My successes have just been welcome breaks along the way.

“That’s the journey. And I love cars. The other thing I learned is I’m not a very good second-hand car salesman. I love buying cars. I was really not that great at selling them.

“The other thing I learned was I can’t read a market. You know, I’ve just got no idea. I’m so full of excitement and optimism about the thing I’m engaged in that I tend to be blind to the wider picture. Which is why it’s really good to have advisors, you know?

“Since that experience, I’ve always brought into my enterprises experienced advisors and partners who can show me the peripheral story that allows me to sort of correct my course.”

Q: From your experience in branding, what would you say are the three most important ingredients for running a successful marketing campaign in today’s environment?

BJ Cunningham: “Oh God, beautiful question, thank you. But here they are:

1. Know what it is you’re trying to say.
2. Say it clearly.
3. And then do what you said you were going to do when you said you were going to do it.

“Sounds simple when you put it like that. It is simple. It’s simple. I mean, I’ll tell you where the difficulty comes in all these things—management. People are confused. Rather than admitting they’re confused, they hide. They pass the ball. They play the blame game.

“Everyone gets in a mess. Everyone’s hiding. No one knows what’s going on. A million quid gets spent on rubbish. It doesn’t generate anything in terms of excitement or interest. Mediocrity rules. And fear is the dominant factor.

“So what is fear? Fear is the absence of love. What is love? Love is the absence of fear.

“The companies that win are the companies that are in love. They’re the companies that love their customers. They’re the companies that love their message. They’re the companies that are laughing in the face of fury. You know, these are the companies that win. These are the glory companies. These are the brands that we adore. Why? Because they are true to who they really are.

“Love is the answer. The companies that love their customers most are the companies that succeed. They are the companies that are fearless. They are the companies that stand up, Don Quixote-style, and just charge everything. They’re the ones. They’re the ones.”

Q: How do you think businesses should rethink branding and communication to meaningfully engage with Generation Z?

BJ Cunningham: “Well, I think—just be who you really are. That’s what Generation Z want. If you can say, “I am being who I really am,” Generation Z—who are basically—think of this word: woke. Okay? Woke. We can take the piss, you know. But what it means is awake. You know, they are—they are awake. They can see. They are post-media literate. They’re post-brand literate. They have a fluidity of vision which we don’t.

“You know, we still—we’re shrouded in—I mean, when I brought DEATH Cigarettes to the market, it was radical. You know, it was unbelievable that a company should tell the truth. That was shocking. Today, of course you tell the truth. You know, I mean—why wouldn’t you? So anything that lives up to the idea of being who you really are will speak to Gen Z.

“And that’s because Generation Z are looking for that. That’s what they want. They want the truth. They don’t want some corporate bullshit. They don’t want a heap of lies. They’re tired of the hypocrisy. They want something they can own and that they can be proud to be a part of.

“And incidentally, I would say that’s not just Gen Z. They just happen to be the point of the spear. They just happen to be leading the way. That’s everybody.

“DEATH Cigarettes was successful because it did that in a time of hypocrisy and lies, particularly within the context of the tobacco industry. The reason why DEATH Cigarettes, as a streetwear brand, is now being successful is because it speaks to the same values that that Gen Z audience already have.”

This exclusive interview with BJ Cunningham was conducted by Jack Hayes.

For More Information: Champions Marketing Speakers