“My big goal in 2010 is to have as many dogs playing Christmas music as possible.”

Interview by Kelsey Meyer
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Man’s best friend is now man’s newest addition to the music industry, enter: The Woofer.  The Woofer is a dog coat that lets you play songs from your Ipod or other MP3 players on their back.  Matthew Baron from Philadelphia, PA invented this dog coat to enable more dog interaction in our lives beyond eating biscuits and barking.

Matthew Baron comes from marketing and advertising background.  He eventually got tired of marketing other people’s products that all do the same thing.  He then invented an entirely new advertising medium within The Woofer.  Each Woofer is hand-made in Philadelphia and available in sizes to fit every breeds of dogs from 20 to 100 pounds.

MO:
The idea seems simple enough, dogs and music, there is nothing not to love.  Can you explain how you came up with this idea, and what gave you the confidence to actually take it to market?

Matthew:
I very simply took apart a dog coat and a purse with speakers built in.   Then I worked with a seamstress and made the first ever Woofer.  She made the pockets for the amp and iPod to the sizes that I gave her and we were off.   Then I presented it to a lot of smart business owners and people I knew that were much smarter than me, and dog owners.  They all told me that I have to turn this into a business.  I listened to them and took the prototype to a veterinarian to see that I was on the right path.  I worked harder than ever to pay music engineers and industrial designers and fashion designers and website designers, all with more expertise than myself, to help me build my company.

MO:
What in your background of marketing and advertising has helped you in launching this product?

Matthew:
The website design and the video marketing are the industries that I have the most experience with.  Many years producing the advertising for computers, cars, and food on radio and television has given me a demand for good music quality.  I could have made a product in two weeks if I was not concerned how it sounded.  The challenge of introducing a new product will always be quality versus quantity.  I feel that since I am the first to the market, I can afford to deliver a more expensive product that works really well.  If I am going to sell this product to people in the music industry (if they have a small garage band or are Beyonce herself) they have to represent their own music clearly to people on the streets or in the parks.  This falls under respecting the customers and the music, podcasts, or audio books that they want to play.

MO:
I see on the website you have three different sizes for The Woofer, do the larger sizes have more speakers, making them louder on larger dogs?

Matthew:
Most people in America have small dogs.  Not only that, but also most of the people that dress their dogs have small dogs.  So, I have two challenges.  First is disappointing small dog owners.  The speakers and amp that I would put on an 8-pound dog would be so small that you would have to hold the dog to your ear to hear the music.  It makes for a funny image.  My second challenge is convincing owners of large dogs that their dogs should and can wear coats.   Big dogs have a love of carrying stuff for their masters.  It can also be debated if a 5-pound dog and a 50-pound dog have a similar desire to get dressed up in costumes.  To answer your question, the sound system is the same for all three models.

MO:
What has been the largest challenge in selling The Woofer?  Do you have the goal of getting it into stores nationwide or do you want the sales to remain solely online?

Matthew:
My belief is that The Woofer should be the same price no matter who you are.  I have customers that want different things from The Woofer.  Some customers are rich and just want something new and fun to show their neighbors.  Some customers are poor and love music.  Other customers want locally made products and that drives them to me but there is no way that they are going to buy a $200 dog coat.  My decision is to not make a high end Woofer for the rich and a low end for the poor.  I make the best quality that I can and both of them get it for the lowest price that I can deliver it for.  In the end, each of these customers will be promoting my product every time they take their dog in The Woofer to a park or party with other dog owners.

MO:
I really enjoyed the YouTube videos featuring The Woofer, what other creative marketing techniques have you used to spread the word of The Woofer?

Matthew:
My favorite use of The Woofer is seasonal.  For Valentine’s Day, I play love songs.  During Chanukah, I play Hebrew songs.  During the Saint Patrick’s Day, I play Celtic Irish music.  My big goal in 2010 is to have as many dogs playing Christmas music as possible.

MO:
I’m assuming you have your own dog that is a frequent wearer of The Woofer.  What breed of dog do you have?

Matthew:
Shana is a Yellow Labrador and the inspiration for The Woofer.