Subject:
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Re: Brad J Brickfest 2002 Keynote Speech synopsis
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.events.brickfest
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Date:
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Mon, 22 Jul 2002 18:17:51 GMT
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In lugnet.events.brickfest, James Brown writes:
> They neither said it was smart or stupid, just that it was.
I didn't say they said anything of the kind. I think I am allowed to
characterize their actions in whatever manner I care to; just as you are
allowed to pose inane, well-known, trick questions.
I am going to guess that very few people imagined that this accessory pack
would be available for so short a time. If LD knew it was going to be a
short run, they might have given everyone the heads up by labelling the item
"new, limited supply!" rather than just "new!" in the spring catalogue.
Again, the usual mismanagement of available information. They want us to
"evangelize" for their product (in the grotesque manner of Guy Kawasaki's
famous Apple-Zombie marketing scheme), but we often get zero consideration
in many instances where it may matter to us and they know it. So **** them!
And I know I am not the only person that would have gotten more cypress
trees if we all had but known the supply was to be limited.
I happen to think that LD, or TLC, or whomever, should keep all kinds of
foliage available as accessory packs -- it just makes sense to have a
cross-theme item readily available to anyone that needs it. To do otherwise
seems inordinately foolish to me. Given that the trees sold out in a
relatively short time, I will assume (absent contrary evidence) that they
sold well (I know they sold briskly). And while I have heard the "molds
cost money" theory many times, I again merely assert that that is the
business TLC happens to be in: making molds to make little plastic bits --
they do it all the time.
I am none too happy about the 3033 blue tubs thing either, BTW -- again, it
just makes sense to make bulk quantities of regular bricks available all the
time. I DO NOT LIKE the trends here...basic stuff is still being denied us
builders at a good price.
Really, it's ridiculous! Only the most tenacious persons would stay with
this blasted hobby -- that's why there's so few of us AFOL, there are no
other reasons when you stop to consider the amount of money, time, and
circular effort required to put together a worthwhile collection of elements.
To cite but one example (which suggests to me that there are many more):
consider the circumstances of one Doyle Nelson. I followed his story
because I knew he would never last here -- and it wasn't even a year or so
before he gave up the hobby for the expense and tedium of trying to collect
certain kinds of light grey bricks. I cannot, and I do not, think his case
is an isolated one. Sure, I know -- it's a children's toy, if it doesn't
hit big with children it doesn't hit it big. That's too lame for words --
smart marketers create markets, not just satisfy existing ones.
Shiri asked about the manner in which TLC markets, or rather fails to
market, to female builders. She knows, as we all know, that there is a real
problem with the way TLC views its own products. Every competing clone
product (MB, Shifty, Best-Lock, etc) has "pink" products in their line.
Think about it...
How many adult or female enthusiasts does TLC turn off to the hobby every
day for the sheer stupidity of their current marketing practices?
-- Hop-Frog
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