It’s all about credibility. Marketing is not only to sell your products today, but also to condition future purchasers.
Overseas in South Africa, Makita Power Tools got their product into the hands of high school boys for use in their wood working classes 25 years ago. It was their belief at brand awareness would stick with the youngsters when they grew up and they would remain brand loyal. In fact it was deemed such a good idea that Bosch copied their example.
Over in the UK Vauxhall do some incredible deals on Corsa’s for driving schools. It was estimated that a large majority of learner drivers who were women bought a Corsa after passing their test as it was the car they learnt to drive in and were comfortable with. The figures for men were lower though.
I remember Facelift slagging off the new smart clamps of Gardiners about a year ago as theirs were so much better. However, we now hear about Facelift’s supplying new clamps to stop the sections spinning; they are careful to not call them upgraded clamps I see.
Will you buy your next pole from Gardiners? I would say that it’s about a 99% possibility that you will. Extending the life of your 2 poles by some discounted upgraded clamps has sold you on their poles in a couple of years’ time. It’s already a done deal. What they have also done is to take the temptation of a potential new buy from another company out of the picture.
Smart clamps = smart marketing.
Spruce, interesting post but clear up some facts... I don't think anyone at Facelift has ever 'slagged' off Gardiners clamps or anyone else's for that matter. Nor has anyone said that 'they are so much better than xxx'. In fact I don't even think 'smart' clamps were out a year ago? It is all down to preference on what people prefer to use, it's an individual matter on which is 'better'.
People will always try out different poles/tools when they need replacing regardless of any marketing involved.
Let me recall the video done at Van Fest by your young Facelift representative.
When describing the poles to Wolfie your rep said.
“First things first on features. This clamp is not a transverse clamp for very good reasons. These levers are extremely robust, extremely thick, its left handed and right handed, one finger no problem at all. Awesome breaking system … clamps that will not trap my fingers in. These clamps will never catch on a gutter.. Transverse clamps have a gap between each single one so you can catch it on a gutter…”
Whilst Gardiners was not mentioned by name, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know which company it was directed against – your main opposition.
We all saw the video where the new Phoenix was compared with an old worn Gardiner CLX pole. The purpose of that video was to compare the superiority of your clamps with that of Gardiners, so yes, Facelift was slagging the Gardiner product off.
Marketing does feature as a priority in all big business as it does have a bearing on purchasers. If it didn’t, advertising wouldn’t be necessary.
Why did Facelift attend Van Fest in 2012 long before your poles were officially released? To promote your product, simple. You wanted to create an interest and you did that with your promotions – it’s called marketing and a very important aspect of it. You needed to give buyers enough reason to hold back from buying an opposition product in favour of yours to be ‘eminently’ released. Why spend the money on these marketing avenues, if, as you suggest, "people will always try out different poles/tools when they need replacing regardless of any marketing involved."
I doubt anyone would have been particularly interested in buying a Phoenix if you hadn’t gone to the lengths you did by aggressively marketing your new product. After all, the Fusion pole is an example. The Phoenix arising from the ashes was the way it was expressed. I remember Mike being a little upset when I questioned the Phoenix name, as in my books, you were admitting your business wasn't good (the ashes) and this new comer would rise and change all that.
Hey! But I'm just a window cleaner; how would I know?