Is Wilson losing their marketing edge?

[jazdoc]

Reading through this thread I've noticed people interchangeably using product, marketing and branding. They are very different (but interconnected) things and using them interchangeably is confusing.

Wilson Audio manufacturers a product (their speakers)

Wilson Audio communicates to their potential customers (marketing) and their customers communicate back to Wilson (marketing research)

Definining the Wilson Audio brand is more difficult and elusive because Wilson doesn't own the brand. To quote at length from Jerry Bullmore's brilliant lecture "Posh Spice & Persil" (It's a short read but highly recommended. Just do a Google search. After reading it, you'll know more about brands than most CEOs. His books are also highly recommended.)

"Tiresome though it may be to accept, the same is true for brands. The most valuable part of a brand … the added value bit … the bit that protects respectable margins and fills up the reservoir of future cashflow …the bit that distinguishes a brand from a mere product… doesn’t belong to it. It belongs to its public. And for those who are loyal to brands, this sense of ownership, of possession, is strong and often overtly recognised."

 

[JackD201]

So who shares the OP's opinion. So far I see none. I don't and I am not even a Wilson fan (I have a bias against all metal tweeters and have a ribbon fetish). No offense folks, like Debbie said to each his own. I dream of Aston Martins.

 

[DaveyF]

Reading through this thread and the similar Magico thread, it seems to me that an assumption is being made by the OP. The assumption is both of these companies are enhancing their standing in the a'phile community simply and only through marketing techniques. I do not think that this assumption is necessarily correct. It is a well known fact that a superior product will garner tremendous 'word of mouth' without huge marketing campaigns. Up to a few years ago, it was pretty well accepted that Wilson speakers were able to 'deliver the goods' and in many instances better than the then current competition. While this may or may not be the case today, IF Wilson continues to bring superior products to market, then IMO their continued success will speak for itself. Which is probably what Wilson would like to "continue to stand for"...Caesar

 

[mauidan]

IF Wilson continues to bring superior products to market, then IMO their continued success will speak for itself. Which is probably what Wilson would like to "continue to stand for"...Caesar

Well said.

I'll bet that Wilson Audio
has sold more Sashas or Sophia 3s than all of the Magico models combined.

Caesar if you want to know what Wilson Audio continues to stand for, do a search on youtube and watch.

Dan

PS- Jack, I don't dream of Aston Martins. I drive a Toyota pick up. I dream about owning a Grand Banks 47 and cruising the Pacific islands in search of the ultimate dive spots.

 

[jadis]

I don't know if most or all companies have stated what they stand for, I never read about them really, I just want to know what they sound like. I've always thought that Wilsons are the 'accurate' speakers and having just listened only to a pair of Magico Minis in my life, I thought they sounded very musical, reminding me of the Sonus line of speakers. I don't know why Wilsons should not be mated with Spectral and I've heard this tandem many times in HK before and I thought they sounded 'accurate' as well.

 

[JackD201]

Well said.

I'll bet that Wilson Audio
has sold more Sashas or Sophia 3s than all of the Magico models combined.

Caesar if you want to know what Wilson Audio continues to stand for, do a search on youtube and watch.

Dan

PS- Jack, I don't dream of Aston Martins. I drive a Toyota pick up. I dream about owning a Grand Banks 47 and cruising the Pacific islands in search of the ultimate dive spots.

Heckuva great dream Dan. Fortunately for you, you get to drive to some awesome spots right now!

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Reading through this thread and the similar Magico thread, it seems to me that an assumption is being made by the OP. The assumption is both of these companies are enhancing their standing in the a'phile community simply and only through marketing techniques.

As far as I can tell, there is very little "marketing technique" in high-end audio. Can someone point me to a Wilson ad? A Magico direct mail campaign? How about the net? I've spent way too much time on audio forums, leaving a trail that's pretty easy to follow for a decent piece of software. Dealers have found me. Some internet retailers. Not a single high-end manufacturer. In the traditional sense, these guys are all pretty lousy marketers. They count on word-of-mouth, internet buzz...what social media calls viral marketing. It ain't particularly effective, but it's cheap.

I do not think that this assumption is necessarily correct. It is a well known fact that a superior product will garner tremendous 'word of mouth'

Hell, it's an unavoidable fact that, in this business, an inferior product can garner tremendous word of mouth, though I guess that depends on how you judge superiority. Look around. We are high-end audio marketing. Anybody got their check yet?

Tim

 

[microstrip]

Caesar,

Newcomers with quality products are always a good thing, but I think it is still too soon to have a real feeling of the impact of Magico in the audio scene.

Anyway, a good friend of mine got some gorgeous looking Sasha in Aston Orange. They are playing really good music in his well decorated living room and we can feel his pride when the family friends comment on the sound and look of the speakers. Boxy black aluminium speakers would never had entered this room.

IMHO, Wilson is not loosing their marketing edge - they are wisely managing to broaden the number of potential customers.

 

[JackD201]

As far as I can tell, there is very little "marketing technique" in high-end audio. Can someone point me to a Wilson ad? A Magico direct mail campaign? How about the net? I've spent way too much time on audio forums, leaving a trail that's pretty easy to follow for a decent piece of software. Dealers have found me. Some internet retailers. Not a single high-end manufacturer. In the traditional sense, these guys are all pretty lousy marketers. They count on word-of-mouth, internet buzz...what social media calls viral marketing. It ain't particularly effective, but it's cheap.



Hell, it's an unavoidable fact that, in this business, an inferior product can garner tremendous word of mouth, though I guess that depends on how you judge superiority. Look around. We are high-end audio marketing. Anybody got their check yet?

Tim

They run the ads as a series highlighting not the products per se but the people that contribute to the design and construction of the final products. Their ads showcase the attention to detail, artisanship, commitment to quality but most of all the pride every Wilson employee has in his work. The campaigns are serialized both in print and on viral video. The videos are particularly good because you're taken on ride that's part human interest and part factory tour. What you're shown is hard working people in a very well spec'd and functional production facility. It could be in an episode of How is it Made.

As far as campaigns go I think they've got the differentiation part down pat. Contrast that with say YG ads whose product literature looks uncannily identical to another company's about 10 years ago and claiming it's all new.

I think the Wilson campaigns are probably the best around these days, at least they are the best I've personally seen in audio.

So there lies my disagreement with the OP. My take is that Wilson is projecting itself as a purveyor of quality and not necessarily positioning themselves as "the most accurate". IMO the latter is fool hardy for any company to do because the market knows it can bend a neutral loudspeaker one way or another to taste. Come to think of it, I don't even think Magico is doing this in their campaigns. I'm not counting what reviewers are saying, just the company's own material. It's YG that's taking this slant.

 

[caesar]

I would welcome you to contact John Giolas, Wilson Audio's Marketing Director, if you would like an in depth discussion on what Wilson's brand stands for.

With that said, I wish you all a very pleasant weekend!

PS - Ferrari is a car I could own only in my dreams... I own a Suburban

Debby, I didn't realize what your role was. Per you previous post, I thought you were a Lear jet flying, Ferrari driving marketing executive for Wilson worldwide. (Now I am starting to think - and this could also be wrong- that you are a Mom in a Suburban helping out with the family business.)

Can you then please get John Giolas to chime in here? I think both WBF forum and Wilson could benefit if he clarified the meaning of the brand.

 

[caesar]

Definining the Wilson Audio brand is more difficult and elusive because Wilson doesn't own the brand. To quote at length from Jerry Bullmore's brilliant lecture "Posh Spice & Persil" (It's a short read but highly recommended. Just do a Google search. After reading it, you'll know more about brands than most CEOs. His books are also highly recommended.)

"Tiresome though it may be to accept, the same is true for brands. The most valuable part of a brand … the added value bit … the bit that protects respectable margins and fills up the reservoir of future cashflow …the bit that distinguishes a brand from a mere product… doesn’t belong to it. It belongs to its public. And for those who are loyal to brands, this sense of ownership, of possession, is strong and often overtly recognised."

Jazzdoc, good clarifications. Philip Kotler, who literally wrote the Marketing textbook (now in its 14th edition) defines marketing as: "Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves."


I would only add to your excellent quote that the company doesn't own the brand, but through their actions, tactics, and strategies, it definitely influences the brand.

 

[caesar]

As far as I can tell, there is very little "marketing technique" in high-end audio. Can someone point me to a Wilson ad? A Magico direct mail campaign? How about the net? I've spent way too much time on audio forums, leaving a trail that's pretty easy to follow for a decent piece of software. Dealers have found me. Some internet retailers. Not a single high-end manufacturer. In the traditional sense, these guys are all pretty lousy marketers. They count on word-of-mouth, internet buzz...what social media calls viral marketing. It ain't particularly effective, but it's cheap.

Hell, it's an unavoidable fact that, in this business, an inferior product can garner tremendous word of mouth, though I guess that depends on how you judge superiority. Look around. We are high-end audio marketing. Anybody got their check yet?

Tim

Phelonious, I couldn't agree more. The state of marketing in high end audio is really amateurish. As a customer who is very busy and looking at the over-crowded, over-communicated morass that is the high end audio market, I would like the brands to simplify my life and let me know what they stand for. This clarity would allow to make easier purchase decisions. Other than Magico, which was in great part defined by Valin as "accurate", yet fumbled around by Wolf and Company who don't really get marketing in its fullest sense, I really don't know what the other brands stand for.

For those who disagree with me, which is fine by the way, I would like to know what Wilson stands for in your mind.

 

[microstrip]

(...) As a customer who is very busy and looking at the over-crowded, over-communicated morass that is the high end audio market, I would like the brands to simplify my life and let me know what they stand for. This clarity would allow to make easier purchase decisions. Other than Magico, which was in great part defined by Valin as "accurate", yet fumbled around by Wolf and Company who don't really get marketing in its fullest sense, I really don't know what the other brands stand for. (...)

Caesar,
Your desire for simplification is leading you to curious conclusions. Do you consider that the Magico's can be summarized as "accurate"? After listening to them several times (BTW, in my country the Magico and Wilson distributor is the same, so I can listen to both in similar conditions), having read several reviews and seen a few measurements I do not consider them "accurate". Excellent speakers, very musical, but why do you call them accurate? Just because they do not have box coloration's does not make them accurate.

 

[Randall Smith]

The state of marketing in high end audio is really amateurish. As a customer who is very busy and looking at the over-crowded, over-communicated morass that is the high end audio market, I would like the brands to simplify my life and let me know what they stand for. This clarity would allow to make easier purchase decisions.

I think this is the problem with your argument. Most people shopping for a pair of speaker that cost as much as the Wilson or Magico speaker are audiophiles. Most, if not all of these audiophiles have heard the speakers before the purchase, so the marketing really has no bearing on the purchase. Other people hear of a brand like a Wilson or a Magico are drawn to the description read on audio forums and/or in reviews. At that point, they may choose to hear only a couple of these brands and then make a decision. YG Acoustics advertises their speakers as the "Worlds Best Loudspeaker". Is this statement true? Not at all, but this statement and many rave reviews grabs your attention and immediately raises their name recognition. YG then goes on to show a few speaker measurements that demonstrate the impressive engineering of the speaker. Then they have different musicians state that they listen to their own recorded music on a YG speaker because it is as close to the real thing as they have heard. What about that is poor marketing?

Wilson wants you to feel that not only are you buying a great loudspeaker, but you are also buying into a family. A company that is run like a family business and a community of owners that share an incredibly strong bond. In their ads, Wilson Audio shows a guy who is very meticulous in the cutting the x material. In another, they show Dave talking about a revelation he had while sitting in a concert hall listening to an orchestra. They want you to feel that their company is different than your average company. They are superior in not only sound, but in the way the build the speakers and run the company. What do you not get about that?

Finally, Magico mixes the two up. They show you their measurements and also show you their extreme build quality. They also use brash statements that grab your attention. If you like the Magico sound, you embrace the quote. If you dislike the Magico sound, you hate the quote. If you have never heard a Magico speaker, does it make you want to hear one? I have heard a Magico speaker and I get what the quote is trying to say. Is it really that hard to understand?

You seem to think that a speaker manufacturer must sell his/her speakers sight unseen. These products are not mass produced. They exist in a small audio vacuum where the word gets out pretty quickly. Audiophiles have heard these speakers. They have read the reviews. They know the reputations. These ads feed into that. Sure, it may not be textbook marketing, but it works.

 

[Gregadd]

YG Acoustics advertises their speakers as the "Worlds Best Loudspeaker". Is this statement true? Not at all,...

Really? Why not? Who is th best?

 

[Randall Smith]

Really? Why not? Who is th best?

There will never be a unanimous best. The jury will always be hung.

 

[naturephoto1]

Really? Why not? Who is th best?

Bose.

Rich

 

[jazdoc]

To elaborate on Randall's post...Just thumb through the exhibitor listings at this year's RMAF. How many of those companies have more than 10 employees? How many have 5 employees? I'll bet the overwhelming majority of the companies are 1 or 2 person operations who are audio manufacturers when they aren't doing their day job to pay the bills. Keeping a website current is difficult enough for these type of operations let alone a sophisticated marketing campaign. As Randall alluded, most of the product cache and branding is by word of mouth within our little circle of fanatics...

 

[microstrip]

Bose.

Rich

Bose 901 series V with a bottle of Gordon dry gin.

 

[Gregadd]

There will never be a unanimous best. The jury will always be hung.

Their self proclamation of "worlds best" is their opinion and not a statement of fact. It's not fair to call it "untrue." It would be better to say you don't agree or that there is no consensus to that claim. Or even name a few speakers you deem better.