Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Scott Imbrie, CEO and Co-Founder of Original Skateboards. His passion is longboarding, a popular new form of skateboarding that also blends elements of surfing and snowboarding. Scott started Original in 2002 with his brother, Brad. The brothers began selling longboards shortly after Scott's 20th birthday, when Brad was just 17. Original distributes its products in most surf, skate, and snowboard shops on the East Coast of the United States and in many other areas around the world.
When my brother, Brad, and I first started Original, we were a small company in an unknown sport. We realized right away that we needed to connect with a broad spectrum of potential longerboarderss to introduce the world to longboarding. We also needed to connect personally to our customers and show them an entirely new kind of product. If we could find a way to do both of those things, on any scale, large or small, we felt we would be successful.
We theorized that by creating videos that viewers connected to on a more personal level, we could generate interactivity between our customers and Original to build brand awareness. With this mentality, even a small amount of exposure could be profitable. If we could achieve a large amount of reach while maintaining personal connection, we might be able to see big results at a fraction of the expense of traditional broadcasting. We integrated ourselves as characters, and filmed our first project.
In June 2007, we discovered YouTube. It was the solution that would allow us to share our videos with the world. We uploaded our first project and kicked our small business into high gear. Upon uploading, sales jumped 40% and steadily climbed.
Our YouTube channel now has over 105,000 subscribers. We refined our business model with online video at its core, and our business has continued to grow exponentially.
Find out more about how YouTube has driven our success as a company.
Posted by Serena Satyasai, Marketing Manager, The YouTube Team
