Corporate History

As we've grown over the course of our 23 year history, one thing has remained the same. MAC Group was founded by people who love photography, and understand what photographers demand. Accordingly, each employee at MAC Group feels they report to one person: the photographer.

If it involves meeting the photographer's needs, satisfying an immediate problem or just making friends, MAC Group employees connect with photographers whenever they can. With this philosophy to guide them, employees know they will help MAC Group continue to grow and expand, just as we've done for over two decades.

MAC Group founders Henry Froehlich, Paul Klingenstein and Jan Lederman formed an important tenet for MAC Group: take a high-quality but under-marketed product and turn it into a premiere product designed to "enable the photographer or student to create the best possible images."

The first product line we undertook was Mamiya Leaf. This camera was known for its razor-sharp lenses, but the brand was languishing in the marketplace. In its first five years, Mamiya Leaf sales jumped from 20% market share to about 50% market share (in units). The MAC name (Mamiya America Corporation) actually comes from this first product line. Sekonic was the first addition after Mamiya Leaf, and is the photographer's standard brand today for spot, flash and color temperature meters. Sales went from 20% of the market to an astounding 80% today. Profoto, the world's gold standard for high-performance strobes, increased its presence in the U.S. tenfold thanks to MAC Group's efforts. Tenba bags and carry gear increased sales by three times. As of today, MAC Group represents thirteen brands: Benro, Cinevate, Creative Light, Ilford, Induro, Kupo, Mamiya Leaf, PocketWizard, Profoto, Sekonic, Tenba, Toyo-View and X-Rite. Two of those brands, Tenba camera cases and carry gear and Induro tripods, monopods, and heads are marketed and distributed worldwide by MAC Group. The company has manufacturing and distribution facilities in Asia and the U.S. for these two brands.

MAC Group is a family of about 100 members. We work together and "live photography" together, enabling us to accomplish immediate customer satisfaction with a "do unto others" policy. As a result, we've grown from simply a camera company to one providing multiple tools for photographers, video filmmakers, graphic artists and students. Instead of a prism finder, today's viewfinder is a precision monitor; color corrected and calibrated, of course. Instead of a medium format film camera, today's professional photographer uses a Mamiya Leaf auto-focus digital camera that shows detail in a model's eye, every sparkling detail on a diamond ring, or every thread on the newest fashion collection. Photographers covering major sporting events have PocketWizards on top of their cameras to trigger flashes and other remote cameras. Studio photographers looking for a perfectly-exposed and even white background all reach for a Sekonic meter. On and on the list goes, with MAC Group products occupying the top rung for each and every need photographers at all levels require.

MAC Group grew by focusing its energy and efforts toward a carefully-designed vision. We've gone from being solely a camera company to "a sales and marketing company dedicated to supplying photographers, educators and students with the finest tools and knowledge they need to create an image or video."

In order to communicate that mantra to resellers, representatives and consumers, the company started an in-house advertising and public relations company, MACmar. Its team of writers, artists, photographers, marketing specialists, video producers, and Web designers work efficiently as a team with our various Product Marketing Managers. MACmar professionals have an intimate knowledge of the company's products, and can turn on a dime when speed is of the essence.

"The next phase was developing our own brands, with worldwide sales, by manufacturing, marketing and distributing products we identified," says Jan. "This is truly a global market and it's an even smaller one, thanks to the Internet. So far we have Tenba and Induro in the MAC Group Global category, with representation in thirty countries around the world. Our extensive network of professional image creators, educators and resellers continues to assist us in getting the word about these exciting product lines as they compete in the global marketplace."

What about the next twenty years? As professional photographers move into the world of video thanks to advancing technology, MAC Group will continue to provide the necessary tools they demand. "MAC Group is a marketing company first. We build brand image and brand perception with an eye on the future. We'll keep identifying trends and the tools that will figure prominently—the ones that make sense," says Jan. "Then market them with a carefully tailored approach, never forgetting who the boss is. The photographer."

"We simply wanted to provide the highest quality products we could bring to the marketplace for photographers of all kinds."   —Henry Froehlich