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Dano the Great!
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Postby Dano the Great! » Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:37 pm

I hear you guys, but your missing my point a bit. What bothers me is Best’s approach to marketing (hyping) & selling (undercutting). Yes, this is my issue & I must deal with it.

So why is Best just about the only kite company that chooses to use sex (women) to sell their kites??

The others have pics & videos of top riders doing amazing stuff. Take a look at other industries and see what type of companies resort to sex to sell and you decide what category that puts Best in???

We all know that the Forum is a small minority of the kiting population; However, every one of us is a real person that kites at the local beaches and travels to other locations to kite. Some of us even instruct kite surfing and those who have been in the sport for 4-6 years are often sought out by newbie’s for advice on gear, etc. This is where the word of mouth marketing plays and Best seems oblivious to...

Even if I think a Best kite is just as good as another brand, I don’t think I would recommend it to someone because I see the way Best conducts themselves and don’t support it.

I really don’t care all that much about this discussion, I just think it is an interesting case study in Marketing and company ethics and the MBA in me wants to probe further to understand what is going on and learn more about consumer dynamics.

So SQ, I’d love to try that new Yarga & Waroo. Just PM me for my address so you can send me a couple of test kites. I’ll write an honest review and send the kites back or give them to a local dealer.

Hope to see ya up here in the Gorge sometime for some riding & beers. PM me if your ever up this way. Cheers, D

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sq225917
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Postby sq225917 » Sat Jan 07, 2006 8:11 pm

i'm not sure what the issue you have with undercutting on price is, could you explain. if you'd like to pay more i'm sure every kite retailer would be more than happy for you to pay over MSRP on all your kit.

or is it that best broke the monopolistic, behind the scenes price embargoing that had existed in the market previously.

i'm kinda lost on the whole 'sex' thing. help me out here, slingshot produce a dvd with a guy pissing in his own mouth, and has cut away scenes of some hottie in swimsuit that is just cutting her in half, and we get bagged for panning the camera onto some girls backside..

wheres the equality......


i hear what you are saying,but i'm not seeing everyone being looked at with the same stick.

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Postby Windfreeeek » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:34 pm

Why not send him the kites, or arrange through the local Best dealer a demo?

He asked a straight forward question. Perhaps this is the answer he is looking for?

Let's reduce the slagging and move on.

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sq225917
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Postby sq225917 » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:53 pm

dano,if you want to try them that badly, why not just order them, keep them for 29 days then send them back....

there's a retailer in the gorge you can demo at.

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Postby vietkiter » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:04 pm

Dano the Great! wrote:I hear you guys, but your missing my point a bit. What bothers me is Best’s approach to marketing (hyping) & selling (undercutting). Yes, this is my issue & I must deal with it.

So why is Best just about the only kite company that chooses to use sex (women) to sell their kites??
Forum is quite tolerant of (to paraphrase stoner) "polarized views"... polarity is a great way to understand different perspectives and view points... but the caveat is it has to "add value"... that means either facts, insights, provocative, or humor... your problem is you continue to fail any of these modest hurdles... the problem is you don't have a point...

I believe that you are sincere in how you feel... but you clearly misunderstand how a successful society functions... it's a relative value system... not absolute...

1) Why is "hyping" bad? Because it may mislead a customer into buying something that he will be unhappy with. That's the obvious part.

2) What is not obvious to you is the concept of "gross" versus "net". Ideological people look at "gross"... successful society is based on "net net."

A few examples: gun rights, speech rights, patent rights, profits rights... all these can be abused, but we believe on a net basis, more good comes from protecting such rights (but clearly a debate exist on magnitude of e.g. guns, etc.).

3) Understand the concept of "gross" versus "net". No one "gross hypes" more than Best. But on a "net" basis, Best (and WW) have the least hyped marketing due to the contractual 100% satisfaction guarantee. In our society, a contractual guarantee is infinitely more valuable than a "promise."

4) So let's assume the big brands "hype" less on a gross basis... but no one will deny that they still hype big time... and that they all have a history of bad products at times... but without a contractual refund policy, the customer is more at risk of paying for an unsatisfactory product... therefore, it should be obvious big brands hype infinitely more on a "net net" basis.

5) So until you can demonstrate how the big brands protect the customer from "unhappy purchases" better than Best... it's ideologically dishonest to claim Best as be the biggest threat to kite "clients".

6) Sure you can always say Best can do better on an absolute basis from "your perspective and value system." But on a net net relative basis, you will find that at this point, Best is the most consumer friendly kiteboarding company with its low price leadership and its money back guarantee. The great thing is... you don't even need to buy Best to benefit from Best's price leadership!

****************

PS... no kite company has a more blatant lewd sex compaign than Jimmy Lewis. Start with that first. Also, keep in mind that if you find Best offensive... don't visit Europe... things are much more "sexed" there...

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sq225917
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Postby sq225917 » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:04 am

jesus, viet, that was lucid and to the point........ :wink:

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Postby No Pump ReQuired » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:15 am

sq225917 wrote:jesus, viet, that was lucid and to the point........ :wink:
THis is code from SQ for " gee boss , great post...can you give me the marketing director a pay rise?"

come off it guys, we all know viet kiter is the Best slut.

NPR

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Postby fat blokes can fly » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:52 am

And so what if he is? Big deal! Maybe he just likes the product & service.

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sq225917
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Postby sq225917 » Sun Jan 08, 2006 3:17 am

NPR, maybe it's me..

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Rockstar
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Postby Rockstar » Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:15 am

sq225917 wrote:i mentioned naish and slingshot in response to the poster who compared best to them, as an example of his own narrow minded view of each company, affecting his choice.


it's more a reflection on his own prejudice than the fact that slingshot riders like the taste of piss....
There you go again,slagging off at the opposition !

I'm sure that the vast majority of Slingshot riders DO NOT like the taste of piss !

Here it is in black and white,straight from Simon, Its a fact that Slingshot riders like the taste of piss....

"


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