SHMUEL HOFFMAN'S BLOG

I read an awesome article in Inc. Magazine about GoPro, a company that makes cameras that you strap onto your body, and that cancel out wind noise for extreme sports people.  What’s exciting about this article is the path Woodman, GoPro’s CEO, took to make his company own 95% of the sports cameras market.

Here’s what I gleaned from the article about what he did right to make it happen.

GoPro's Nick Woodman

1. He defined his target audience by BEING his target audience.

Woodman is himself an amateur race car driver, a surfer, a snowboarder, and all-around daring guy.  He and his pals who started the company built a product for themselves.  They saw a need because they had the need.
2. It’s a very niche-y audience.

They didn’t just go for athletes – they went for extreme athletes.  The more you target your audience, the better off you are in your marketing.  Don’t try to please everybody, because Abe Lincoln was right – you just can’t do it.  Your crowd will step up and identify itself.

For example, we target Jewish nonprofits.  While they make up the majority of our clientele, we’ve also made videos for Jewish businesses, non-Jewish nonprofits, and non-Jewish businesses.  But because we know our forte, we can plow forward with marketing to whom we know best: Jews.  0.3% of the population.  Most Jews are involved in some kind of charity – either on the giving end, or the making-it-happen end, or both.  So I’d say that’s a targeted audience if there ever was one.

3. He worked like a donkey to make it happen.

Woodman lived for years in his car, in his dad’s basement, working at home with fabric for camera straps covering the whole darn apartment, sleeping in them.  Like my favorite painter, Philip Guston (nee Goldstein), he breathed his material.  It obsessed him.

So many of my friends feel bad for me that Shmuel works longer hours than most.  And I’ve already told you that we’ve had to get rid of the internet at home because of my workaholism.  But I feel lucky that we care about something enough to want to do it all the time.

4. Make it a family affair.

Nick’s then-girlfriend Jill (now his wife) was with him through the whole thing, and is still a big part of sales for the company.  Your family must be behind your obsession, and they must also share – to a degree – your obsession.  Two minds are bigger than 2 – they are exponential.

This may shock you, but a few weeks ago, Shmuel and I were considering not working together anymore.  Our business meetings can get quite heated, as we are both passionate people and care tremendously about what we do and the direction our company takes.  We had all but decided to take our separate ways in business for the sake of our marriage, when G-d sent my dad to step in.

My dad has been in business with his wife Barbara for over 20 years.  They work at home, and their moving and storage business in Boston, All About Moving, is literally their life.  Shmuel asked him what he thinks about not working together anymore.

“Big mistake,” said my dad.  ” The fact that you argue about it means you both care.  You won’t find anyone who cares more than you do, and therefore you won’t find anyone who does a better job.  Between your creativity, Shmuel, and your marketing savvy, Melody (that’s my given name), you two are the dynamic duo.  View your fights as creatively necessary, because they are.  Nothing is birthed without pain; any mother can tell you that.”

Wow.  It was good to have the reality check, and the encouragement.

The toughest problem for many organizations is finding the right team, those who care enough to put in their all and make it work.  If you already have that team, everything else can be worked out.  I think Steve Jobs would agree.

5. GoPro uses video and Youtube as the main event in their marketing.

GoPro’s product lends itself to video marketing – this is a no-brainer.  The same for us – we make videos – that’s what we do.  And I’ve said before that Video is the New SEO.

Here are some viral videos that were filmed with GoPro cameras, and that brought them good PR:

Ouch!

Lehavdil, but doesn’t Cannes look like Jerusalem at night?

Or this one, where a bunch of guys just missed death by avalanche while skiing in the Alps:

Of course, jumping off cliffs and whatnot is sure to garner more Youtube views because of the exhileration.  But what Shmuel does is he finds the urgency in Jewish causes, and he highlights that in his videos.  And I can tell you right now, educating our children is urgent.  Ensuring the future of the Jewish people – whether it’s being threatened by terrorism, assimilation, or even a weakening of our unity – is urgent.  Bringing the light of Jewish organizations to the world is our mission.  We are passionate enough about it to have stuck with it these last 5 years, and we’ll be doing it till Hashem calls us home.

Watch out.  We’re coming.  In the words of L.L. Cool J, “I’m just gettin’ warm.”

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