2011 NAMM - your thoughts

[JOYCEfromNS]

Firstly anyone hear if Larrivee going

January 13 to 16 in Anaheim California you goin

Hearing any rumours of new offerings

What are you hoping from Larrivee besides attendance:?

[OutWithTheBlue]

Hopefully I can get there. I'm looking forward to it.

Edit: Just looked on the Namm site, didn't see Larrivee listed anywhere.....kinda bummed.

[unclrob]

Alot of companies haven't been doing the show's lately.Some find the expense not worth it.Alot of shops have also stopped going for the same reason's.

[ronmac]

Participating in a major show like NAMM is a huge commitment for a company like Larrivee. For a small shop all resources in this economic climate are likely best spent on building product and looking after the dealer network/customer.

My SWAG (Scientific Wild A$$ Guess) of cost and resources:

$50k ~ $100k for both hardware and space rental
Several weeks building and prepping "NAMM Models"
One week prep time for sales/marketing tem
Time at show (usually senior members of team plus some support staff)
Lodging/food/schmooze
Several days to decompress after sow and get everything back to normal

So, likely $150k to participate. How many guitars do you have to sell to get that investment back?

[unclrob]

Ron if they spend that much double it.Thats a friggin lot of guitars that need to be built and sold.

[ronmac]

Unless you have something new to show, and you expect it to make the factory hum for the next several months, participating in that mayhem just isn't worth it.

I use to work for a company that displayed at COMDEX shows and it was a grind. $60k for a 10'x20' booth rental, another $60k for design, lighting and displays, along with the aforementioned disruption in routine and staffing. Even though we were always able to write a couple of million$ in orders over a 3 day period we stopped participating at one point. We could do just as much business, and have a healthier bottom line, by offering some "show specials" a week before the big show. We would blitz the smaller dealers with email, fax and phone calls and spend some quality time in a more relaxed environment with our major customers.

So you gotta ask yourself, would you rather spend 3 days at the big show wolfing down hot dogs (when you got a chance), or a few nice meals at the best restaurants in town schmoozing with the big boys?

ps. The only positive thing I ever got out of one of those shows was a feature interview on a national TV news show (1995) explaining how the home computers and the internet was going to change the way we retrieved/stored/played back our audio visual entertainment.

[Strings4Him]

I agree that NAMM is quite an expensive thing.

However, I do hope that Larrivee has some money budgeted for advertising in 2011.  Like all other Larri owners, I am proud of my guitars and want others to read about , watch, and listen to Larrivee guitars.

[JOYCEfromNS]

However, I do hope that Larrivee has some money budgeted for advertising in 2011.  Like all other Larri owners, I am proud of my guitars and want others to read about , watch, and listen to Larrivee guitars.

Me too!!!!

Ron never would have dreamed that expensive Wow!!!!! Interesting for sure.

[petevee]

First of all I doubt it's a hundred grand but even if it is it's money well spent. There is no better opportunity to sign up new dealers than NAMM an no better place to sell a bunch of guitars yo your existing dealers than NAMM. Shoe specials via emails and cold calling don't even come close. It's also the best place to thank you dealers with a smile, a handshake and some free swag..

[ronmac]

Perhaps the Music Industry is different than the world I know, computers and home electronics.

I was going to do some research, and then I realized "Hey, I'm semi-retired. I don't need to think about this stuff."

Time to play some guitar.... 

[AZLiberty]

Last year Larrivee did not have a booth, but Jean showed up to meet with friends, associates, and buyers.

[tadol]

Last year Larrivee did not have a booth, but Jean showed up to meet with friends, associates, and buyers.

Which probably brought them as much new business as having a booth. Since they are in Oxnard, I imagine any serious meetings or negotiations would be easily arranged.

[unclrob]

I've been to one NAMM and a couple of hundred guitar show's.When looking at new product I found that being able to hear it was always a good idea.The one thing you can't do is hear stuff.Theres a thing called sensory overload and at tese events its amazing how fat that happens.The one show I went to we didn't buy anything because I couldn't hear anything and if I'm going to sell guitars I need to hear them.At guitar show's we went to sell mostley.For me it ment sitting at a table taking guitars apart making sure that it was real not a fake vintage.Large show's like this aren't really the place to be.I got all my NAMM show specials via a phone call from my rep.Save airfare,hotel,taxi and food $$$.Which ment I could buy more guitars.

[Danny]

                                  NAMM

                                  Not Any More Money

[GA-ME]

10X20 booth woulld be $5600 dollars at NAMM 2011 if the Sq. Ft. cost stays the same as 2010. I doubt in this economy that there would be a major increase in space fees.

http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2010/articles/exhibitors-benefit-namm-show-value

[Walkerman]

Every time I make a donut run to Yarnell Place, I see Wendy and Matthew hard at work making guitars.  If Jean is not abroad buying wood, he is working...hands on....making guitars.  Last week, he was sanding bodies.  The point being...I am not sure they can just drop what they are doing, and pop off for a few days.  I also suspect that until the economy picks up, the "rewards" of going to NAMM would
not be worth the time and/or effort.  IOW, in this economy, I doubt if there's a lot of buyers. 

[JOYCEfromNS]

Every time I make a donut run to Yarnell Place, I see Wendy and Matthew hard at work making guitars.  If Jean is not abroad buying wood, he is working...hands on....making guitars.  Last week, he was sanding bodies.  

Marketing it seems always has been Larrivee's last priority. Gibson, Taylor on the other hand

Could you imagine if Larrivee had Taylor's marketing prowess.

The 03 model would stand for $3000 range  the 05 - $5000 range etc etc

[tadol]

                                  NAMM

                                  Not Any More Money

I thought it was Need Alot More Money ?

[ronmac]

....just got a PM from someone who should know, and he stated that my original estimate was "extremely accurate". So, IMO, not a good cost/benefit ratio for a small company, at this time.

I think Larrivee has done a great job at marketing themselves, over the years. And that is a very important point. It takes years to work up goodwill in any industry, and Jean and family have done that by being open, friendly and offering a product line that is great value. True, they have advertised more heavily in the past, and that has pushed their market forward. Sometimes you have to lay back and wait for the opportune time to push ahead again. They don't have to be like anyone else to be successful at what they do.

[JOYCEfromNS]

Larrivee could do a lot better marketing. I am far from a business expert and know even less of this industry but I am continually running into experienced guitar players who's 1st words to me after seeing my RS 4 is " I didn't know Larrivee made electric guitars!!!!!)

A guitar this nice shouldn't be a Forum secret