SXSW: Guerilla Gear's Target Market

Since its inception in 1987, South By Southwest (SXSW) has increasingly become one of the premier entertainment conventions in the world. In the span of nine days, it covers the three main entertainment mediums; film, music and interactive. Beginning around the second week of March, the city of Austin, TX becomes one of the most popular and busiest cities in the country with the amount of visitors, exhibitors and artists that converge there. Not only can you show your video or have your band perform there, you can network with some of the biggest names in the industry as well as promote your product at the trade show they have.

What really caught my eye about this convention is that it is geared toward every level of entertainment. Whether you are a new up-start or a savvy veteran, everyone is accepted and can participate in anything they feel would benefit their company, band or themselves individually.

What I’m focused on is the Film Conference & Festival, which has been described as “a five-day crash course on guerilla filmmaking and marketing” (sxsw.com/film/about/history ¶5). During this period, Guerilla Gear would be able to display and demonstrate its product. With as many indie and up-and-coming videographers that attend, the likelihood of our products striking a cord with them is quite good. Our product is aimed at the striving videographer. It lets them shoot with their DSLR camera like a traditional video camera but at a fraction of the cost of other similar products. The market for DSLRs has continued to rise so this gives us the confidence that the market for our product will continue to rise as well.

Since SXSW is looked at as more of a collaborative festival then a festival where many of the films that are there are there to find a buyer, you are more likely to find people who are interested in what you have to offer. We have a product that is attractive to individuals who are just starting out to ones who are in the transition of using DSLR cameras to shoot video. Our product and business model fit in well in this environment and I believe that we could only benefit from going.

SXSW is also a great opportunity to network because of it being a collaborative festival. It is more inclusive so it attracts talent that is still being developed and because so, it is getting more renowned and garnishing more attention from distributors and agents. This can only mean a constant and steady supply of potential customers. As more and more videographers begin using DSLR cameras for their projects, the more opportunity Guerilla Gear will have of establishing a solid foothold in the independent filmmaker market.