Marketing and ERG guitars

[BoW]

So lets say you have a line of 4 items, a 200, a 300, a 800, and a 1000 dollar item. There is a common tactic in marketing when selling items from this kind of a line where you add a 5th item thats a much higher price, lets say 6k, not because you actually care to sell the 6k item, but because you can sell more 800 and 1000 items simply because people know about the 6k item (or sell the 800 and 1000 for more). I think this is happening with signature guitars. First the M8M shows up, and I think, thats a ....ing cool guitar, but for 6k I could never do that. Suddenly some time later, a 1.5K M80M shows up, that has many of the key features of the M8M, and I think to myself, holy shit this is a good deal, I can live without a neck through if it saves me 4.5k. I swear the Steven Carpenter line came out the same way and so did the Rusty Cooley line, but I could be wrong since I wasn't explicitly looking for how they were unveiled. I think the added "make a product no one can afford first" is another strategy to increase buying behavior later based on "scarcity". Make a desire for a product by making it too expensive, or have a limited run, a lot of people feel that want but don't bite because they can't. Then bring out a new product that pulls on the same emotion of desire for the first because the 2nd product is so similar, and people are actually in a position to actually buy the damn thing. My guess is you sell more of product 2 this way than if you did the reveal the opposite direction.

Was I the only one out of the loop or am I just wrong?

Heard about this marketing strategy from a book by Robert Cialdini. He also explains why there are frequent toy shortages around Christmas to boost sales in jan, feb and march of the previously understocked toy. The holiday shortage is on purpose, which is why it keeps ....ing happening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini

 

[MaCkCiTy]

I've been thinking the same thing!

 

[littledoc]

That is exactly what they're doing. And those $$$$ guitars aren't expensive because they're quantitatively 3x better, but because they're made in 'merica where labor is vastly more expensive, and made in limited numbers.

Sometimes they go too far though. Jackson for example has the USA Broderick for approximately $80 billion. Then you drop down to the "pro" for around a grand. And okay, I can live without the Floyd Rose Pro and maple binding. But a Floyd Rose Special? No veneers either, just plain black or white? No ebony board (nothing I hate more than a black guitar with a brown fretboard), when cheaper Jackson models have ebony boards? C'mon....

But I digress. The vast majority of players can't afford $4k guitars (or they're sensible enough to buy 2-3 great guitars for that much), and the guitar companies know it. They make the overwhelming majority of their cash from the lower-end imports, but they gotta give them some prestige.

 

[MemphisHawk]

They gotta stay in business I guess.

Everyone has a price point that they are comfortable with and collector guitars finally hitting 1,000,000 dollars (Eric Clapton's guitar at auction), the manufacturer's know that creating halo instruments that are also super limited runs will keep their name in people's mouth.

 

[Nag]

I made a thread not long ago about discontinued models. in this thread we were shortly talking about some Jacksons, namely the Pro series that got discontinued a few years ago. someone mentioned that these guitars were so good for the price that people only bought those instead of the more expensive USA Select Jacksons... so kind of "overshadowing" the flagship USA range. the Pro series got discontinued so the USA series would sell more again.

What you mentioned about the M8M and M80M is the same mechanism, except reverse because they don't even intend to sell the M8M a lot.

Marketing is weird. For me at least

 

[lewstherin006]

It is sorta the Best, Better, Good sales tactic. You hit them with something expensive, then when the cheaper one comes around the shock of the high price goes away.

 

[BoW]

I'm just glad I'm not the only person who noticed it. Still getting an M80M though... it's too late for me, but the rest of you still have a chance to run!

 

[Go To Bed Jessica]

I picked up my M80M yesterday and am nothing short of totally satisfied. IMO worth every cent I paid for it.

Definitely a valid point re: the marketing strategy though.

 

[jarnozz]

Show to crowd a new guitar like the m8m back in the day. The intention of that model is not to make profit. If the crowd responds are positive, but they dislike the high price they will argue about what price is right and what they would want to pay for it.Then, make a ''cheaper'' version. It's a practical way of doing research. If no one would give a poo the m8m would be out of production and the m80m would have never existed. just to make sure they get their return on investment and desireble profit.

 

[G_3_3_k_]

Generally it takes about 20-30k to set up production of a line of guitars for a CNC, wood stock, etc. Doing a limited run out of a custom shop at a high price both gauges interest and helps build the investment capital to modify the production and assembly lines for mass production. 30k, plus marketing and a host of unsellable guitars is hard to recover from. Especially in a limited market like 8 string baritones.

 

[HurrDurr]

The M8M's sold rather well when they were introduced, along with the TAM100's. I say 'well' as in people actually bought quite a few of them and thus Ibanez knew the demand was there if people were buying a guitar at a price even they knew was ridiculous. So of course, they assume that by releasing a 'budget' model of either of those two would surely have folks shelling out the funds for one in the masses. The fact that I've seen the budget models actually in stock at local shops proves the demand is there and that they are in fact selling these things and their strategy has indeed worked.

EDIT: And for the record, I personally can't justify the $1300~$1500USD price tag. I feel the finishes aren't on par with the Premium lines and the frets aren't exactly smooth either. At least on the ones I've tried out and the few NGD pics I've seen on here. Granted, I guess the fact that they are signature models with specialized parts and designs could account for the increase in price from a comparable model estimate, but I don't think it should add about $400 to it if it truly isn't up to at least the Premium standards. That's just my opinion though, and to be fair the one's I've tried could have been lemony lemons from the Lemanez lemon factory.

 

[G_3_3_k_]

I couldn't agree more. And as much as I love Meshuggah, what am I going to get that guitar, when I can get a Carvin out of better materials and better construction. I've had mij ibanezes up to a JEM7V and a UV777. My DC800 is a better guitar for less money.

 

[Slunk Dragon]

It's like any other business where they offer so many different models of the same product. I can see exactly where you're coming from and it definitely rings true. Either way, they're offering different products for people who can only afford certain things, and it's not too bad when they're lower-cost products like the M80M or the TAM10, which still come out to be excellent guitars.

Plus IMO it also has to do with panning to your audience, and as far as ERGs go, Ibanez's audience is probably 90% members of this forum.