McIntosh Marketing Question. . .
- Thread starter henry.bowman
- Start date
Josh
Active Member
ron-c said:
I think that is great. You are absolutely right, few companies today would take the time to answer questions like that. Keeping customers is 50% of the game and I know McIntosh has always been very good about that. It is the "get" that I personally think needs some improvement. Obviously, I am not here trying to run your marketing campaign, but with all of the new product lines McIntosh has been releasing, I can only hope and assume that more attention is going to be given to getting the word out and taking advantage of world's most powerful information resource, the internet.
ron-c
Addicted Member
Josh,
You can pick up the phone and call us anytime. Heck, everyone else does! Sure the website could be slicker but it will never be a substitute for one on one communication.
As I look at the current product line today every model has features or in some case the whole model that consumers requested. The build it and they will come thing seems to be working.
Thanks,
Ron-C
You can pick up the phone and call us anytime. Heck, everyone else does! Sure the website could be slicker but it will never be a substitute for one on one communication.
As I look at the current product line today every model has features or in some case the whole model that consumers requested. The build it and they will come thing seems to be working.
Thanks,
Ron-C
william.keith
Super Member
Quote:
"They may be on a bicycle now but some day they will have whatever home system they want...The McIntosh dealer is key to our success since they must present the product to the consumer, install it and complete the interface with the rest of the home."
ron-c, I think the 20 something that is riding a bicycle with a speaker in their ear today is a customer of McIntosh (computer) and Microsoft.
Ron, seriously, it drives me nuts that Home Theater and Home Entertainment here in Houston know very little about McIntosh gear, especially 2-channel. I called both dealers today to get their outlook for the new McIntosh book and of course no one at either store knew what I was talking about. They both recommended that I call McIntosh direct! When I asked them when they thought they might get some of the new Mac equipment in for demo, e.g., MC205, MX120, MVP871, XRT200, etc., there was dead silence on the other end of the phone line. Say what!
Maybe you should come to Houston and let aka members take you to get some good Mexican food and we can talk Marketing. I will host.
"They may be on a bicycle now but some day they will have whatever home system they want...The McIntosh dealer is key to our success since they must present the product to the consumer, install it and complete the interface with the rest of the home."
ron-c, I think the 20 something that is riding a bicycle with a speaker in their ear today is a customer of McIntosh (computer) and Microsoft.
Ron, seriously, it drives me nuts that Home Theater and Home Entertainment here in Houston know very little about McIntosh gear, especially 2-channel. I called both dealers today to get their outlook for the new McIntosh book and of course no one at either store knew what I was talking about. They both recommended that I call McIntosh direct! When I asked them when they thought they might get some of the new Mac equipment in for demo, e.g., MC205, MX120, MVP871, XRT200, etc., there was dead silence on the other end of the phone line. Say what!
Maybe you should come to Houston and let aka members take you to get some good Mexican food and we can talk Marketing. I will host.
mcintoshaddict
Active Member
ron-c said:
Yes, the dealer plays an important part. Most McIntosh customers are highly educated folks with busy lives. We don't always have the time to go to the dealer to get the information we need. (Or make a phone call during business hours.) A large percentage of us prefer going to the Web at a time more convenient to us and not those of our dealer. By going to the Web (maybe even while we listen to our McIntosh systems), we should also be better able to get more complete up-to-date information than was ever possible by to going to the dealer. McIntosh needs to get with the times and realize that the Web is the way to get up-to-date accurate information out to everyone. Let's face it... the dealer performs a service to make money. Why does McIntosh care more about having a better educated dealer than customer? Isn't it possible that by having a better educated customer, it might drive the dealer to also be better educated? As long as the dealer makes the sale, why does anyone care where the customer got the information?
BTW... If you want an example of good modern marketing who know hows to market to all generations... look at Apple. As soon as a story gets posted on Yahoo or any news service about Steve Jobs announcing another new product... you can find it immediately on the Apple Website with all the details.
jim777
Just another McGeek
I read about mac on the net, read all the great comments, got answers from ron by email (does he ever sleep?), I saw him demonstrate the megakit at the FSI show in Montreal last year (and I hope that next time he will show up with more "normal" products). I also can get all the demos I want at my local dealer, that will let anyone listen what they want as long as they want.Josh said:
When I got problems, I got immediate help from ron and chuck. They didn't try to forget me or anything.
What do you want more? Seriously?
Honestly, I would vote for a better website. Nothing huge, just up-to-date (just think about the comparaison PDF's) and with no broken links (there are a few of them). I want a HUGE picture of the MC275 and other components. I'm also surprised that I didn't see any MCD201 reviews either.
ron-c
Addicted Member
Where I live (Palo Alto) I am sure some of the bicycles cost more than a pair of 501s. The kids are ridding them to class at Stanford of course..
The salesmen on the sales floors will have a lot of training coming up on the new products. Just remember they have to learn about hundreds of new models sold by dozens of companies. It is all I can do to keep up with McIntosh in a somewhat detailed way. As far as the XRT200 and 300 these were prototypes so no one has a release date at this time since we have not announced one.
Thanks,
Ron-C
The salesmen on the sales floors will have a lot of training coming up on the new products. Just remember they have to learn about hundreds of new models sold by dozens of companies. It is all I can do to keep up with McIntosh in a somewhat detailed way. As far as the XRT200 and 300 these were prototypes so no one has a release date at this time since we have not announced one.
Thanks,
Ron-C
mcintoshaddict
Active Member
ron-c said:
I also live in Palo Alto, and can tell you that those kids got a lot of the information to buy those bikes on the Web. Just check out one of the local bike store website... www.paloaltobicycles.com. It's kept very up-to-date and creates a community around the store and its product. (The store is also very good at the one-on-one thing too.) Your other points really just goes to show how having an up to date website could help everyone.
william.keith
Super Member
ron-c, thanks for hanging in there with us. There is no better example of why so many aka members, and others, are so commited to McIntosh than your and Chuck Hinton's willingness to always take our e-mails and phone calls. You have 'thick skin' and I'm sure that you and the Company will take our comments into consideration.
The Mexican food offer is still open.
The Mexican food offer is still open.
henry.bowman
Active Member
McIntosh does not have a "horrendous" website. It's better than A LOT of audio companies.
Also, I like what Ron said about when they stick to the formula, it works. I had a discussion with a friend of mine today who is heavily into marketing and we were talking about McIntosh. (interestingly enough, the discussion was before the post by Ron on the formula)
Our conclusion was that they might be able to do this, or that, and get more of this, or that. But at the end of our lunch, we both agreed on one thing. . .
McIntosh has a formula that is working. It's working VERY well, and in marketing or business, it only takes one minor change that you think might work well to completely screw up the entire formula.
My intent was not to suggest a change in formula, it was merely to find out more about the formula. I am coming from the perspective of a fan who wants to know as much as he can about the company. That's it.
One thing you all have to keep in mind is that we all are not the typical McIntosh buyer. We are the "super fans" and we hunger for knowledge and exposure to all things McIntosh. Just because we'd like more doesn't mean they're not doing enough.
Also, I like what Ron said about when they stick to the formula, it works. I had a discussion with a friend of mine today who is heavily into marketing and we were talking about McIntosh. (interestingly enough, the discussion was before the post by Ron on the formula)
Our conclusion was that they might be able to do this, or that, and get more of this, or that. But at the end of our lunch, we both agreed on one thing. . .
McIntosh has a formula that is working. It's working VERY well, and in marketing or business, it only takes one minor change that you think might work well to completely screw up the entire formula.
My intent was not to suggest a change in formula, it was merely to find out more about the formula. I am coming from the perspective of a fan who wants to know as much as he can about the company. That's it.
One thing you all have to keep in mind is that we all are not the typical McIntosh buyer. We are the "super fans" and we hunger for knowledge and exposure to all things McIntosh. Just because we'd like more doesn't mean they're not doing enough.
mcintoshaddict
Active Member
I don't think anyone is talking about changing any formulas here. We're simply asking to have up-to-date information being available and getting customer feedback to marketing (if they exist) using methods that have been around for a number of years.
MCBrennan
Active Member
ron-c said:
Ron, is there any chance McIntosh will consider adding retail pricing to the new McIntosh website?
It would be very helpful to those of us who must plan out this level of combination purchasing. For a good example of a simple, straight forward price listing by another high end company, please take a look at Aerial Acoustics.
http://www.aerialacoustics.com/
They have a Retail Price List link at the top of their page.
Most Sincerely,
Matt
