Big brand marketing (this is a rant I guess)

[Fynn]

I hate marketing in the music world. I understand that marketing does actually work, and when I like a brand, I would obviously want them to succeed. But somehow the marketing we have in the music industry is really awful. Besides all the appeal to emotion, paid promotions from superstars, lifestyle marketing, and all that jazz, there's one thing that especially makes me mad. I'm talking about big brands like Fender, that will try to sell decade old ideas as innovation. Not only is that not innovation when these things have already existed for a long time, but it's mostly not even necessary stuff.
This sort of marketing reminds me a lot of modern Apple. Apple used to be known as a real innovator, but now they make these huge reveals for features such as splitscreen on a mobile device, or being able to freely place icons on your homescreen... Pretty much everything they do has been common in other brands for over a decade.
Fender will add something like locking tuners to their flagship models, and act like they reinvented the guitar. Or that really pathetic rounding over the corner of the neck pocket.

All this wouldn't even bother me so much, if it weren't for all these guitar youtubers, that act like those features are so amazing, even though they have existed on other guitars for literal decades.
A big part of the Fender business model is to appeal to the people that wish for the good old times back. Some people just love the idea of a product that has such a long heritage, with a very similar design over the span of 70 years. But such modern features don't really appeal to those folks. And when they try to make a compeltely new model, or revive some 50 year old idea, that usually fails quite quickly too. I would assume partially because the features and the price don't match modern standards.
Gibson has tried to actually reinvent the guitar a couple times, but usually fails. Fender is quite a bit more careful, but the marketing from all those big brands for sure is scummy. At least in my opinion...

I still love my Mexican parts p bass tho.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Meh. Fender is still selling a 60+ year old design because that is what people still want. The only things out there are prevalent as a Fender P bass are P bass clones. Don't blame them for giving the people what they want.

 

[Fynn]

Meh. Fender is still selling a 60+ year old design because that is what people still want. The only things out there are prevalent as a Fender P bass are P bass clones. Don't blame them for giving the people what they want.

I'm not blaming them for giving the people what they want. I'm blaming them for trying to sell old ideas as new, while the people aren't asking for any of that. And when they try to give people something new, they fail.

 

[tb-player]

I hate marketing in the music world. I understand that marketing does actually work, and when I like a brand, I would obviously want them to succeed. But somehow the marketing we have in the music industry is really awful. Besides all the appeal to emotion, paid promotions from superstars, lifestyle marketing, and all that jazz, there's one thing that especially makes me mad. I'm talking about big brands like Fender, that will try to sell decade old ideas as innovation. Not only is that not innovation when these things have already existed for a long time, but it's mostly not even necessary stuff.
This sort of marketing reminds me a lot of modern Apple. Apple used to be known as a real innovator, but now they make these huge reveals for features such as splitscreen on a mobile device, or being able to freely place icons on your homescreen... Pretty much everything they do has been common in other brands for over a decade.
Fender will add something like locking tuners to their flagship models, and act like they reinvented the guitar. Or that really pathetic rounding over the corner of the neck pocket.

All this wouldn't even bother me so much, if it weren't for all these guitar youtubers, that act like those features are so amazing, even though they have existed on other guitars for literal decades.
A big part of the Fender business model is to appeal to the people that wish for the good old times back. Some people just love the idea of a product that has such a long heritage, with a very similar design over the span of 70 years. But such modern features don't really appeal to those folks. And when they try to make a compeltely new model, or revive some 50 year old idea, that usually fails quite quickly too. I would assume partially because the features and the price don't match modern standards.
Gibson has tried to actually reinvent the guitar a couple times, but usually fails. Fender is quite a bit more careful, but the marketing from all those big brands for sure is scummy. At least in my opinion...

I still love my Mexican parts p bass tho.

I get it. But what should we expect Fender (and Apple) to do? They have the obligation to themselves to build excitement around new features. I mean, who would buy a guitar that was marketed as, " Every other guitar maker has had this new feature for years. Now we do too!" It's just the nature of marketing. Every company does it to some extent. NBD.

 

[Rocket Queen]

I'm blaming them for trying to sell old ideas as new, while the people aren't asking for any of that.

?? This is the very essence of marketing, in any industry. You're expecting marketers ever to be truthful??

 

[Fynn]

?? This is the very essence of marketing, in any industry. You're expecting marketers ever to be truthful??

Good marketers are truthful. I know a lot of them aren't, but I also think a lot of them aren't very good. The problem is, at the end of the day an ad shown to millions of people, is only gonna convince a handful of people to actually buy something. And the rest of the people are at least gonna have that name in the back of their head for a while.
But good marketing can exist without lies. I very much believe in that, especially as a business major. It's just considerably harder to make a good campaign, without a bunch of marketing jibber jabber. It's often a question of focus. When you look at a car ad, the focus often is with the whole lifestyle aspect of what it means to own that specific vehicle. Why doesn't Fender then focus on what it means to own a Fender? A lot of it is a heritage thing. They could talk about that. Why make it about supposed innovation?

 

[Fynn]

I get it. But what should we expect Fender (and Apple) to do? They have the obligation to themselves to build excitement around new features. I mean, who would buy a guitar that was marketed as, " Every other guitar maker has had this new feature for years. Now we do too!" It's just the nature of marketing. Every company does it to some extent. NBD.

I guess I just don't like how much focus it put on that.
Car ads generally don't do that. An ad campaign for a new BMW doesn't generally talk about all the extra little features they added. And if they do, then it's generally because they actually made something new for mass production.

Come to think of it, this could be a cultural thing. I know that marketing is treated quite differently in NA, at least compared to europe. I've spent some time before listening to american radio stations, and watching some american TV, and it feels so different.

It also might be because the music industry has a very focused customer base, which is mostly people who play music as a hobby. Most people who buy cars, or groceries, or such things, do that mainly because they need it. They don't care about features, they care about getting the best deal for the most part. While people who buy new music gear are often mainly concerned with that exactly that gear does. Then it's a consideration of price and value.
But then I would question why they make such marketing decisions, when it's pretty easy to assume that most of the customers are highly informed.

 

[KenD]

Oh yes we are the consumers running in the race
Buying up the bargains in the ol' marketplace
Another sale on something, we'll buy it while it's hot
And save a lot of money spending money we don't got

- "Stompin" Tom Connors

 

[57pbass]

Having worked in a major NYC ad agency for several years that had major clients ( Verizon, Chase, United, Burger King plus many other major companies ) the effort that goes into the ad campaigns is remarkable. Since there are several mediums to advertise ( TV, Internet, Print, Radio, Signage) the huge teams are made of seasoned professionals, interns and everyone in between. The amount of research that goes into these campaigns is deep. Those internet ads we all see are so closely monitored .. they know how many people clicked into the ad, how long they spent looking, if they purchased or clicked through.. amazing. All that data is presented to the client and they decide if they continue the campaign or go in a different direction.

I don't know if Fender outsources their marketing or if it’s in house but I’m pretty certain that they are looking carefully at all the data that’s available before they launch new product..they are probably lurking here to see what’s going on ans well as Reverb, eBay and social media sites..
treasure troves of data for them.

The market is ever changing with people aging out and newbies entering so they need to address all of this..

I think they have over saturated the market with so many different versions of their classic basses..

Marketing is everywhere…everything Fender does is calculated.

The “ Can You Hear Me Now “ guy was paid massive amounts of money to stay off the airwaves for a few years after that ad campaign ended.

 

[Chrisk-K]

Fender’s marketing is nothing compared to PRS’s.

 

[J Wilson]

The thing is something a music store mgr told me once that I've seen all these years around all this.

He remarked that no matter what era, from Bill Haley right up to today, that musicians who fancy themselves as hip and The Next Big Thing will always still play the Teles, Strats, LP's, 335's, and Fender and Ric basses, just as their fathers and grandfathers did.

So in a big way, Gibson, Fender, and all the other usual suspects are locked into building and $elling those legacy
instruments, modern, sometimes tweaked, legacy instruments regardless of what they might like to do . . . . or what we think they should do.

 

[Freekmagnet]

The solution is simple. If it seems to you like Fender and Gibson are spending more on marketing research that creating new, innovative products, then switch to another brand or support independent luthiers. There are plenty of cool instruments out there.

 

[Geepers]

A big part of the Fender business model is to appeal to the people that wish for the good old times back…

Yup. “Nostalgia” was originally considered a sickness. It’s only in modern times that it’s come to be equated to something good. Fender’s (and all corporations) marketing departments know that humans are suckers for believing that the past was better and will spend money trying to recapture it. The nonsense of this strikes home when you realise that the days we’re living in now will be considered the “good old days” a generation from now!

 

[Craig22221]

Fender is without equal when it comes to rehashing the same instrument (P and J basses) market. Most popular bass today is the P bass. Gotta give the people what they want (or think they want). AVRI. AV. AO. Vintage. The list goes on and on. "this one is closer to the 'xx year than any before it!" It's even better than the Original....

 

[Fynn]

Yup. “Nostalgia” was originally considered a sickness. It’s only in modern times that it’s come to be equated to something good. Fender’s (and all corporations) marketing departments know that humans are suckers for believing that the past was better and will spend money trying to recapture it. The nonsense of this strikes home when you realise that the days we’re living in now will be considered the “good old days” a generation from now!

One thing that just came to mind is how Neve is still making some of those old designs, while Rupert Neve the guy, is actually making new designs for audio gear that he deems superior. Two seperate companies, one living in the past, and one living in the present.

 

[Fynn]

The solution is simple. If it seems to you like Fender and Gibson are spending more on marketing research that creating new, innovative products, then switch to another brand or support independent luthiers. There are plenty of cool instruments out there.

That's not quite a solution for me, because I'm not looking to switch. I bought products from Fender before, but I can still think that their marketing isn't good. Not like I'm looking for another place to buy pickguard screws for my MIM P bass.

 

[Killing Floor]

Maybe these things are new to us and you’re a terminator from the future trying to blend in.

 

[Bass Motifs]

You get something "classic" that's got something "new". That's a win-win in marketing terms.

Personally I find the hype around players who say they're doing something new (but aren't) more annoying. But you have a choice

 

[Freekmagnet]

That's not quite a solution for me, because I'm not looking to switch. I bought products from Fender before, but I can still think that their marketing isn't good. Not like I'm looking for another place to buy pickguard screws for my MIM P bass.

Well, that's just the thing about it, though. From another perspective, Fender's marketing is excellent. What Fender is selling the experience of owning a product that both a luxury item and an item that is accessible their appeal to everyone. And it's working - everyone wants (or thinks they want) a Fender. Today, they have Hello Kitty on their home page, and I guarantee you that every single one of those pink guitars will be sold.

If you're looking for new ideas or new innovations, Fender isn't the place to look. Fender has no reason to change anything - they already have a product people want. Fender just wants more people to buy they same thing they've been selling since the 1950's.

 

[halcyo]

One thing that just came to mind is how Neve is still making some of those old designs, while Rupert Neve the guy, is actually making new designs for audio gear that he deems superior. Two seperate companies, one living in the past, and one living in the present.

It’s the exact same as Fender. Leo sold in 1965(!) and only stuck around a few years to consult.

What’s wild is that G&L today is made in the exact same factory as the original Fenders. Leo innovated but the company he spawned has done nothing but chase the past.