Photo by Sean Nolan
Whose is Whooz?
Apple chargers are like socks and hairties — an endless cycle of buying and losing. Maybe you forgot it, maybe someone stole it. Everyone’s got a story. We wanted a solution so we created the brand and company Whooz, LLC and started designing a world of characters to turn boring white chargers into friends that would stand by our side no matter what. With over 30 skus and worldwide distribution, Whooz customers have included Urban Outfitters, MoMA, and Uncommon Goods. In 2015 we sold the non US portion of the company to our Asian affiliate. We continue to manage sales in the US.
Branding Strategy
Whooz is a fun, whimsical brand that was created to turn the conflict of charger confusion into a source of amusement and connection. The brand is exclusively character based with accompanying bios for each character. Packs include multiple characters arranged by theme and are intended to be shared with potential thieves. Whooz aren’t just stickers, they’re people and creatures with feelings and histories and that want to be experienced.
Design Strategy
Maximal market. Minimal Competition.
Whooz was the result of an ongoing brainstorm to come up with a hero product that had a large market, but little to no competition. Tech accessories seemed a likely category.
Easy to Manufacture, Ship, and Store
As a first business venture into e-commerce, retail distribution, and sales, starting simple was key. Whooz could be manufactured locally in small runs, shipped in an envelope, weighed 1 oz, and had an impulse purchase price point of $12. We launched on Kickstarter, raised 20k, and shipped our first production run 2 months later.
Flexibility
Because of its flexibility we were able to easily scale production quantities to meet growing demand, which allowed us room to experiment with the business. We explored countless combinations of production, distribution, sales and operation. At one point we were so local, I was running the whole operation from my living room and literally riding my bike from the diemaker to the diecutter, printer, and kitter. We moved production to China for one year and opened up a 2nd headquarters in Malaysia. In the end, we settled on a manufacturer in the US. Whooz is now completely automated and distributed exclusively through Amazon and Uncommon Goods.