More on Gibson Bankruptcy

fronobulax

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New to me. Interesting.

  1. Research spending, demographics and ancillary interests for this segment – Let’s imagine:

  • 45- 65 year old males
  • $1200-1500 price points
  • Clearly messaged on Facebook, musician’s focus groups and boating and car sites.

I note that there is no demographic data behind this - it's just one person's opinion for illustrative purposes - but it is interesting to compare to what we claim/imagine Guild's demographic to be. I note that on LTG the Facebook haters tend to be vocal and when people talk about other sites they are active on, that are not music/guitar, I seem to recall motorcycle sites being mentioned a lot.

Back to the article I hope someone who has the authority to make changes at Gibson is thinking along these lines :)
 

adorshki

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I seem to recall motorcycle sites being mentioned a lot.

Same veteran demographic that's fascinated with WWII vintage warbirds and needed something to keep the adrenalin flowing once they got tired of the return to peaceful civilian life?
wild-one-opendin-scene1.jpg
 

dreadnut

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Lots of buzz-phrases and hucky-pucky in this article; I would suggest a couple things are crucial for their survival as a brand:

1. Don't manufacture junk.

2. If you do, don't ship it; change the manufacturing process until you're not making junk any more.

The name will stand on it's own, but not if they can't make great guitars.
 

Mr. Lumbergh

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Lots of buzz-phrases and hucky-pucky in this article; I would suggest a couple things are crucial for their survival as a brand:

1. Don't manufacture junk.

2. If you do, don't ship it; change the manufacturing process until you're not making junk any more.

The name will stand on it's own, but not if they can't make great guitars.
I would add:

3. Listen to your customers and give them what they want. Don't condescend to them by putting on features such as robotuners they've been clear they do not want out of some notion that you know better than they do.
 

Quantum Strummer

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IMO Gibson should keep experimenting but in a smarter way than they've been doing. And make stuff like robotuners optional, maybe as part of a build-to-order program. The market for '30s–60s guitar nostalgia is likely gonna die off with boomers and early post-boomers…you don't want all your eggs in that basket.

-Dave-
 

Grassdog

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Interesting article. I think we have to remember it's written by a consulting firm, not necessarily by someone who has full inside knowledge of the company's matters. There's a lot of familiar modern day "corporate speak" here like putting the customer at the center of everything, changing the culture, and KPI's (key performance indicators). I will just say this from working in the financial services industry with some distressed companies - all of this is a lot easier said than done. If they're able to survive and remain independent, it will take a long time, require a lot of unpopular decisions, and it will be painful. It will be like one step forward, two steps backward at times and there will be junctures where it doesn't look like the plan will work. And it will require patience on behalf of those invested in the company (bondholders, creditors). The former CEO inflicted a lot of damage to this company. I hope for a brighter future for Gibson, but I think in reality this Chapter 11 is a bridge to them eventually being sold (to the likes of a Yamaha).
 

Mark WW

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Gibson makes way too many variations of individual models and to be honest way too many models. Their thinking is why not offer this at $5,000 and sell 100 instead of 1,000 at $1,200 - $1,500. Standardization and consolidation can be very painful but it is absolutely necessary to stay focused and healthy.
 

dreadnut

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True, not only do you need manufacturing precision, you also need to manufacture the right things.

I remember a story about an automotive carburetor manufacturer that made the unquestionably best quality carburetors in the industry, only to watch their orders fall off after the advent of fuel injection.
 
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