Buy stock in Fender...

[Brad Little]

my own opinion that it is not clear that Joe and Jane Consumer will recognize the Fender or Gibson brand when they have a choice, so I don't think those efforts are yet mature enough to be successful.

I don't know about that. I think that Fender and Gibson are pretty much household names, at least for the market for home audio. I mentioned the Fender IPO to a colleague who is heavy into the market, and he said, oh the guitar people. He's not a big music fan or anything, but did recognize the name.
Of course, this is just my opinion. :wink:
Brad

 

[adorshki]

... there needs to be much more work done on brand awareness and spokesfolks who are known to non-musicians.

If we're not careful we could see a bidding war for Oprah's services, or even, horrors, Snookie and JWow... :shock: