Lets bring back OO gauge.
I will play the lottery this week.
John Armstrong
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Werre
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 11:07 AM
Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} RMC Feature
To all,
Any magazine that sees a way to make advertising bucks, perhaps satisfy
some reader curiousity while at the same time not losing customers will
put together a supplement for their readers & advertisers. The nitch
market thing is good for those who are curious about things on the
fringe of the typical HO/0 three rail market served by the various
magazines.
If we use Classic Toy Trains as an example, they generally include one
feature about AF while the overwhelming bulk will be Lionel--that's
their usual fair. If they suddenly devoted an issue mostly to AF it
would be great--but if they devoted a whole year to AF the magazine
would likely die. If the S Gaugian devoted an issue with strong Erector
content, that might work, but again if they ran a whole year of the
stuff, subscribtions would fall. So I commend RMC for taking a chance
on this wild bunch of old geezers. Remember if they do it
again--hopefully they will have better content. The only problem right
now is that was intended as a promo piece for the entire organization.
This will be your 'tax dollars' at work.
Model Railroader sends me a monthly newsletter talking about where they
will put special emphasis thus trying to encourage advertisers to spend
their dollars on that particular issue in order to make it 'special'. I
believe the July issue will feature N scale, while August will feature
the National Train Show part of the NMRA. Remember, the August issue
will hit newstands in late June. Are we in that issue pushing our
commintment to that show, or how about our participation in the
convention itself?
The real tough thing about advertising is the time it takes to really
get things rolling, if the market is tough. Case in point, I was
approached by a new one man company who introduced a device that mounted
a spotlight on the top of a pickup/SUV. His personal experience of
getting his boat out of the water, camping and trying to find tools at
night lead to this product. He designed and produced the product for
about $20. I shot a wonderful color ad for the guy, which he ran in
some 'truck' magazine. Trouble was, getting the product made and
running that first ad took most of his money. He went and hired a
person to take mail and phone orders--after the ad ran he sold 14
units! What were his problems (this guy was a marketing pro with many
years of experience)? Well, first off they're tons of 4 Wheel, Pickup
trucks, SUV and car magazines, so the market was split just like our's
is. Second he didn't have staying power, it takes years of running ads,
promotion, marketing and some luck to get a brand recognized (again in a
tight market). His third problem was he didn't sell to dealers, face it
a good dealer will do much of the marketing for you. Fourth, you had to
cut a hold in your roof--many guys aren't going to do that (just like
many guys won't do scale wheels on SHS cars)! To finish up, the company
did succeed somewhat by going after the industrial market, but it never
really made it with the SUV crowd.
If we were trying to start a new scale (call it X scale)--give me two
million, two years and we'd be talking some serious turn-around!
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
> (snip)
> > well. No other magazine is doing something like that. You also don't see
> > a 16-page insert of "This is N-scale" or "This is G-scale". They singled
> > out S, and I think that is fantastic.
> (snip)
>
> RMC has been doing these yearly inserts for several years now. I think
> last year was on traction, before that there was one on laser-cut kits,
> Civil War modeling, etc. They seem to be selecting niche areas of
> railroad modeling, but I do not know their selection criteria.
>
> Take care
> Bill
>
> --
> == Scale Model Railroad Products ==
> == Manufacturer - Retailer - Importer ==
>
> Bill& Diane Wade
>
> B.T.S.
> RR 1 Box 141A
> Belington, WV 26250
>
> Phone: 304-823-3729
> FAX: 304-823-2901
> http://www.btsrr.com
>
> We wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas.
>
>
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