Testify wrote:I remember being on the
GW boards when I was about 15 (damn that's nearly 9 years ago). People were saying
GW was crashing then, too. Despite rising profits
I also fail to see how
GW's marketing is rubbish when they sell out of new releases almost immediately. But I guess you guys know better
I have to say the whole "Oh, I suppose you know better then do you?!" (said in Hattie Jacques' voice) every time someone voices an opinion that you don't agree with is starting to wear a little thin Testify. Could you at least try and make a logical argument as to why you think that?
It is possible that
GW is making a mistake in not taking the marketing/hype building route. Am I sure about this? No, but my experience is telling me they most likely are, and you could make the argument that their sales would be
even higher if they made any attempt to pull their fanbase into new releases. I mean this isn't exactly quantum theory we are dealing with here - the advantages of marketing and promotion of products, of creating a hunger, a
desire, in the customer base, are integral components of the free market. Marketing is a
massive business, and it would not exist if it was just suspended on half-proven theories and hot air.
But the point is, and I have mentioned this in another thread, and the root of this policy is that
GW think they have a monopoly within the wargaming industry. This isn't my own thoughts, but rather the words of
GW ex-big wig Rick Priestley, who said as much when he left the company a year ago or so, in an interview with
40K radio. As far as
GW are concerned, they are the only company in the 'Hobby'. If you do have a monopoly, then the situation changes massively - the fanbase have
no option other than to wait with baited breath for each new release, and as such I think the company would indeed benefit from not warning about upcoming releases, as it could impact the sales of those items already on sale.
But, and this is the key here, the industry has arguably never been less of a monopoly since the late 80's and early 90's when
GW became the dominant figure in the fantasy miniature wargaming market. Nowadays some estimates place Privateer Press as having a similar market-share percentage to
GW in the US, and the other companies have started to make some serious inroads. To give a personal example, I've heard from a friend at Games Day (who had spoken to one of the sculptors) that
GW has had a 'Demiurg' (or otherwise 'dwarf in space' line) sat on the shelf and ready for release for some time. It's an army I've wanted for years, but it just so happens that Mantic have released their Forge Father range which is competing directly for demographic of fans who want dwarves in space suits with laser guns. Had I known
GW had their own release coming further down the line, I might well have waited. Similarly, the Daemons release took me completely by surprise and I was kind of annoyed that I hadn't had at least a few weeks heads up. Again, I might have waited, but my 'hobby budget' (or the amount I can spend without going on to a diet of ramyen) had already gone a few weeks previously on the new Dropzone Commander (which was fantastically marketed) and one of the Kickstarters.
So, I think the 'no marketing' idea could be appropriate, but it is predicated and entirely reliant on
GW being the only player in the marketplace. The moment that changes, then it completely loses its efficacy, depending on how large you view the demographic of wargaming fans who
only know about
GW to be. Again, in the age of the internet, I would argue that it has never been smaller.
There are many other pieces of evidence which would seem to corroborate this information: The lack of new games being released, the prices rises far and away above competition, the lack of creation of new technologies, the finecast quality-control issues. There are many more. All of these are evidence of a company that thinks it has nothing to fear from any other company within the industry. Unfortunately for
GW this is not the case, and for each one of those things that other companies do 'better', they will lose customers. I for one would love them to realise that they have to fight for their throne - with new and dynamic releases, sensible pricing and release schedules, and really use their size and muscle to try and knock some of these younger upstarts out of the ring. Perhaps fortunately for the likes of Privateer Press, for Corvus Belli and Mantic amongst others,
GW have been a little slow on the uptake and with each month that passes those other company's chance of success in the market place becomes more assured.
There are worrying precedents for
GW in the gradual fall and decline of the motor industry here in the
UK. In the latter's case it didn't happen overnight, and was a long, painful and drawn-out series of myopic management decisions. The similarities are many, and I can only hope (and I genuinely mean this - I
want GW to do better) that they catch on to the warning signals faster than the now long deposed bosses of the likes of Austin, Rover and many more, who also thought their companies to be in the dominant position when controlling a massive market share.
My thoughts on the matter in any case, sorry for the bit of a wall o' text!
Night Lords (40k): 3500pts
Klan Zaw Klan: 4000pts
