Old meets new in this eclectic, multimedia library. Industrial lighting climbs concrete and wood panel walls, while retro accessories (hey, that’s a typewriter!) accompany more modern hardware.
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Courtesy of: http://www.shareyourride.net/
How relevant is YOUR startup?
Up to this stage I haven’t been completely clear about what ZooLoo is actually all about.
Well, if we were to over simplify our purpose it would be: staying relevant.
Many companies try to tap into a market that has already been tested and defined. They want to do this by creating similar products (as those currently available) and maybe add their own significantly jaw-dropping “spice” to it. This is not a bad thing given that your particular outlook on the line of business is a far more relevant one than your competitors. There is no point in deciding to venture into the expansive bread business but only plan to add one more slice of bread in your brand’s loaf and expect that to set you apart from your competition. Quite frankly, I don’t give a shit if there’s one more slice of bread in the loaf. For starters, I have most of my sandwiches made using an even amount of slices (2, 4, 6… You get the point). So adding 1 more slice of bread will honestly just cause an unnecessary imbalance in my life (wow, that was a petty argument).
How about this, rather make your particular brand of bread have no crust on the edges. Every kid loves it that way. Heck, even I like it better that way- therefore: your “game changer” becomes relevant. Thus, significant.
Reach for a target market that you explicitly understand, delve into the psyche of… Yourself.
That’s what ZooLoo is all about. We are a tri-factor of youthful awesomeness! We understand what our target market (varsity students and young professionals) wants because we are- them. We know what our target market would accept as “cool” because well… We Are Cool.
We are a lifestyle company aimed at creating innovative, relevant and smart solutions for the everyday aspects of Young South African Life. Innovative? My co-founder kicks ass when it comes to creating shit no-one would ever think of doing, not even under the influence of psychedelics! He is a psychedelic.
Relevant? If we want it, you probably want it too or you’ll eventually want it. Our team is so diverse that with only the three of us, we encapsulate the diversity existing within our niche market. Possibly also because we have split personalities (Check out Audio Skillz being his party self).
Smart? We use all the tools available for us in this current technological era. We always think “digital” when we start creating a solution. The Digital Space is where we (the youth) are everyday. Tweeting, messenging, listening to music, Facebooking and watching Gangnam Style on YouTube. So why use a hammer when I can use a nail-gun?
We do everything to ensure that we stay relevant and that we create products and solutions that keep in tune with this aspiration. Being online all the time is key, if you wish to stay in contact with your niche market. Staying in contact IS staying relevant. Once you start riding on the same wave as your market, your business will start encapsulating their needs, their wants and their desires.
Eyes are magnetically inclined to attract towards his presence. Necks break as they try to propel themselves towards every glistening beam of his aura. He is not beautiful, neither is he handsome. He isn’t necessarily dressed well either… in fact, his outfit is rather odd to say the least. We are all looking at him because He. Is. Weird.
We were ‘that guy’ this weekend at Primi Piatto, Maponya Mall. We were co-hosting an event with another group of striders, Collected Effort. The event was set to be a sophisticated gathering of some rather dapper individuals who seek to amass themselves within the spirit of ZooLoo. The crowd that Collected Effort and ZooLoo generated was mixed- but the same. In that, even though many personalities were on display at the event: they were still just a bunch of hip/young kids having a good time at a premium venue. Everything was kosher.
Till #TheZooLooCamp finally decided to show-up donning their symbolically leopard printed vests. Because of this, entry into the venue (of our own event) was a challenge. The dress code was Smart/Casual and the atmosphere at the time was rather- ‘mellow’. We, however, looked like this!
Yes, we are weird- and so are many other people around us. Even you, yes YOU reading this! The only difference is that we embrace this authentic separation from the norm(pop culture). It is our creative prerogative to do so. So why would any young company want to resemble what has been deemed “proper”, “normal” and “business-like”? Well, that’s easy:
to be accepted as business “worthy” and to be taken seriously with every single syllable thy mouth ought to utter. You want to represent a “company”. A corporate structure. Pertaining to the feeble trail layed down by “the pioneers” of last. Everyone wants to become a “Donald Trump” of their own so as to be treated like Donald Trump (an important/superior figure)…. Fuck that.
We don’t live in a world where keeping up with the Jones’s is in the best interest of any organisation attempting to instill positive change within their own ‘market’. In fact, it actually hinders on the whole move towards change. The fact that your business exists means that you’ve identified a gap within that area of industry. A room for change.
Remember, when we once mentioned how your business should not only flow with the natural transition of things but innovate these transitions? So, BE that change. Let what your business is all about resonate throughout every move you make as a business/team.
Unique-ness sets the expectation that the same quality will be reverberated throughout your products. This is what everyone is thinking about right now. Who/what is the next big thing. In the same way that the “weirdo” turned heads. That’s what your company has to do. There needs to be something about you that is left behind after that presentation. Something that is so special that it emerges as a light of: potential. So that even if someone walked in right after you and did that exact same presentation- yours would still be highlighted by whatever it is that sets you apart (the Difference)
Being young is all about being against authority and structure. Why abandon that in order to please some ‘Uncle Toms’ when we’re really just trying to please ourselves? Why not amplify this inherent quality so as to re-create the norm. Making it what we want it to be… authentic; reflective- relevant. This whole “In your face” approach has brought about a lot of success to “organizations” such as Young Money, the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, and the ever controversial Odd Future. All of which are musically orientated groups that have metamorphosed into lucrative businesses.
Odd Future has based its whole “business model” on being so different, so authentic and so reflective of the punk/rebel teenager who just wants to scream out “Fuck You” at every “white lady riding around in a Volvo”. Because of this, many teenagers have responded by creating this massive cult following that has spread across shores. Odd Future hardly makes profits from record sales. Their profits are derived (for the most part) from their concerts and “merch” (merchandise). No one ever really thinks of Odd Future as these “great Hip Hop artists”. People buy their weird shirts and come to their overly eccentric-energy filled-drugged out shows simply because: OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) is weird. They are reflective of change. Of a Difference
We live in a world where being unique is rewarded with Twitter followers, Facebook Likes, Retweets, Reblogs, YouTube views and a bunch of “WOWs”. All of which drive sales of any sort.
So how does your business/startup stick out like a sore thumb?
Next week we’ll be posting up various businesses that attempt to push the envelope.
So just go to our Facebook page, Like the page then write on our wall. Tell us what it is that you are doing to instill positive change towards our generation.
Project ZooLoo 