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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: RMAF06 Show Report
Post Subject: I see your disagree and raise you one.Posted by Jim Smith on: 10/31/2006


I completely disagree.  Let's be honest here, the majority of audiophiles are atypical people (wierd, anal, eccentric, driven, insecure, etc.) and plenty of them require handholding, comforting, and assurance.  Unfortunately, as manufacturers, we not only supply audio equipment, but we are also expected to fill these emotional needs.  Those making the most money in this industry have focused on that fact and exploit it for gain.  The shows help to answer this call. I understand your motivation.  I had it too.


But my comment was specifically about CES.  A lot of high-end manufacturers go to CES for little more than a defensive position.  I know - I've talked to a bunch of them.

Heck, some dealers from the east just don't go to CES anymore.  At least not year in, year out.

The manufacturers don't like the way CES has shuttled them off to the side, don't like the union hassles, and they definitely resent the expense.  They'd rather spend their money with face-to-face, one-on-one meetings with their dealers and prospects.  But they dare not skip the show.

When you ask them "How did CES do for you?" they will usually give a surface answer that sounds OK.  But if you talk to them in a little more depth, more often than not, they are not really happy with the results for the money and effort spent.  And for them, the bottom line was "At least we showed that we're still in the game." 

To be a bit clearer, I'm referring to those faced with a fairly large expense in effort and resources in general, and who already have a presence and brand awareness in the community.  Probably with at least 15-20 B&M retail dealers or more. For a lot of those guys, CES yields a very poor ROI.

When I did Avantgarde in the US, I usually looked at a minumum of $15-20,000 per show, when ALL expenses were included.  That's a bunch of money for almost anyone but the really big dogs.  During those years, I had 20-30 B&M dealers.

To add maybe a Stereophile Show, and maybe a RMAF, that's really getting up there, probably north of $40,000.  Although RMAF is cheap compared to the other two.

FWIW, I could do four color, full page ads in every issue of Stereophile and TAS for maybe 15% more.  And they do produce results, if the campaign is effective.

For the smaller guys, it may well be very different, and you are probably 100% right.

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