David Ben-David is a young entrepreneur from New York City, he was a big fan of going surfing and to the skatepark. He would always bring a bookbag with but they were always really plain and boring.
The idea hit him, why not sauce up the bookbag category like skullcandy did to headphones or swatch with the watch industry. The first bookbag that David decided to create was a “Hello my name is” bag in 2010 and that bag sold out faster then he thought it would.
From here David started thinking bigger and bolder. He had several ideas that were shot down at first so he didn’t go through with them.
Sprayground bookbags are widely know in NYC and also by several big know names including collaborator Spike Lee. Sprayground is know for their unique design and bold statement that do not mind offending the public. David decided that he was just going to design these bags on how he felt. He knew that some people were going to like them and some people were going to hate them, but as long as he liked them that was a win in his book.
Although David is know for his invention of sprayground and his collaboration with Spike Lee and Shaquille O’Neal he also has a little side hustle that brings in something that’s worth more than money. Since the Corona Virus hit David goes out every Sunday with bags filled with food and mask and gives them to people in need
Although we have a lot of inventions on earth right now, there seems to always be something that someone hasn’t done or done right. I think the idea of these customized backpacks is a great idea, especially in the city where things can get mixed up and lost. It also gives people more personality to their backpack.
I like that he took the approach of just branding his product differently rather than inventing a brand new one. We learned in marketing that over 90% of new products fail because they are either not a good idea or they are an exact copy of a pre-existing idea. By providing a custom design that has never been thought of before allows for a reliable product that people know with a new twist.