Ken, let me add a couple of observations. First you are correct when
it comes to these mega operations sessions. I was invited to
participate in Pro Rail which happened a few months ago here in
Houston. My layout needs some additional "operations friendly'
modifications so I declined to participate--but it was considered a big
deal and I hated to turn it down. And yes many of the layouts were far
from being complete. The rolling stock and power is pretty much off the
shelf stuff. It's just model railroading from a different starting
position I guess.
Next is the catalog. First off I've expressed my opinion regarding a
'composite' type catalog--probably a waste of time. However, it is
important to understand that advertising budgets for most mature retail
type enterprises consists of 10-15% of gross revenues with startups up
to 25%. Therefore if Detroit sells a 20k car they will spend up to
$3000 per car to sell it and be very happy indeed. A survey was done a
few years ago regarding market share; when Coke went through the "new
coke' phase, they lost a couple tenths of 1% of market share by
splitting up their advertising between the different segments and
confused buyers--they lost millions. Now the taste of Coke hasn't
changed in years but they don't dare stop advertising as it will cost
them market share and millions in sales. If you look at advertising
(aka catalog) as a burden of cost your missing the opportunity of
increased sales. One example I might further illustrate this with was
Pacific Rail Shops. Back when 3/16 magazine featured their product,
normally on the back cover, John talked to me about the lack of sales of
his product and the financial drain--I'm sure it was a factor. So PRS
stops advertising and rely on a newsletter that is sent out to
customers. Eventually these customers have a stash of unbuilt kits,
they might move (thus losing addresses), they might switch scales you
name it---but they become part of a less effective and former customer
base. Guess what, past customers don't buy, so sales diminish. The
idea of advertising (aka a catalog, web site, trade shows, magazine ads
etc.) is to keep old customers coming back and to search out new ones in
every way possible. Without that your dead in the water and sinking.
Just what I know.
Bob Werre
BobWphoto.com
mhrywest wrote:
> number of new
> items, does he become a catalog printer and not a model manufacturer?
> I have a difficult
> time understanding why a company in most any market would spend 10,000
> (15,000?
> 20,000?) dollars creating, printing, distributing a catalog if there
> is not breath-taking
> reasons like new things to display. A catalog is just a lost business
> expense, there is rarely
> any return on the catalog. Tell me it gives you some new business...
> If the company is
> doing great they get a 10% return on sales (profit), a 10,000 dollar
> catalog takes 100,000
> in sales to break even. Return on investment is not generating cash
> that does not build a
> bottom line. The NASG has a good website, construct several good
> segments that would
> be FAQ for those considering S. One for the person who had AF when he
> was young and
> is now considering getting back into model railroading, one for the
> prototype modeler,
> one for the operations modeler and whatever other groups you want to
> maket to.
>
> Item two, a video. Steve said good technical things, from my point of
> view, Keller makes
> nice little videos, 20 minutes of content, 33 minutes of video, lots
> of repeat scenes.
> Someone buys them, I personally don't know why. You watch it one time
> then?????? Better
> to find the guy who likes to buy this sort of thing and borrow it one
> time. Perhaps it is
> because most of my videos are historical prototype focused as are the
> magazines I read.
> We take four good S videos, someone might like to see the video one
> time then what? I
> don't know, perhaps I am missing something. The focus Paul Scoles had
> with his video,
> telling a "how to story" with the layout being a supporting actor has
> merit, it would be
> watched a number of times as a person is working on projects that are
> supported by the
> video. Selecting these topics would be tough, the Model Railroader
> series takes a hit in
> my point of view because the "how tos" are pretty basic and don't lend
> themselves to
> watching more than one time. Pieter and John ask the key question,
> what is the purpose
> of the video. If it because HO has videos and we feel left out?
> Promotion? to whom and
> with what distribution. I think a video focused on fine modeling would
> help drive the guy
> returning to the hobby to On3. Are we trying to convince a person in
> another scale to try
> S? What are their needs and how are we addressing them? Better to
> feature layouts tying
> them to specific areas of model railroad interest such as operations
> or prototype building.
> If this is the case, why not build the video segments and then have
> them on the web to be
> deployed on demand. Lower costs to produce and no distribution cost.
> Last weekend I attended AmRail 2008 in Chicago, folks driving and
> flying in from hundred
> of miles away just to operate on fine layouts. Most had no scenery,
> the rolling stock was
> low buck but everything tracked (and coupled) nicely. In my opinion,
> these railroads did
> not lend themselves to the strengths of S which are great detail, the
> opportunity to build a
> great looking model scene. Most of the guys in operations do not care,
> most of the town
> structures were cardstock tents and they were fine with that. A layout
> like Mike Fyten's
> that offers great "operations" with great scenes is a rarity and while
> every operator talks
> highly of it, the huge layout with 3000 Athern cars and cardstock
> signs seems to be what
> takes their breath away.
>
>
> Happy S Scale model railroading guys.
> Ken Zieska
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
