Pieter et al --
When I was still an NASG officer, I proposed a simple promotional approach:
That ads in scale-oriented magazines show equipment with scale-size couplers
only, and ads in hirail-specific mags (e.g., Classic Toy Trains) show equipment
with AF-compatible couplers only. When this didn't happen, I went after both
John Foley (who was responsible for the content of the RMC inside-cover ad) and
one of our on-list manufacturers (who shall remain nameless) to do something
about it.
Foley protested that he felt he shouldn't alter vendor-provided photos, so I
suggested that he use Photoshop to fade out the lobster claws. He never did.
The nameless vendor responded that he thought I was correct -- that showing
hirail couplers in a scale magazine made no sense. So instead of replacing his
photo, he decided to permanently pull his ad!
Let me be clear about another point -- marketing to the scale modeler coming
from other scales. While it is true that today's sales are mostly to
AF-compatible hobbyists, AF is fading into the sunset as hobbyists over 60 fade
into the great trainyard in the sky. How many sales will there be to
AF-compatible hoibbyists ten years hence? At some point, S marketing emphasis
has to shift if S is to remain after AF is finally stone cold.
Dick Karnes
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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