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chrissydamage
Silver Member
United Kingdom
180 Posts |
 Posted - 11/13/2009 : 14:12:54
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quote:
Originally posted by Laurie
I guess it depends on what the actual market looks like. I don't know what the percentage split is in the consumer base... I *think* these are the potential buying groups:
1) Professsional musicians (sole income from playing music)
2) Part-time musicians (augmented income from gigging)
3) Part-time musicians (doing it for fun)
4) Venue/group equipment owners (houses of worship, etc.)
5) Professional people who used to be in a band when they were younger and now have income but no time. Basement "full of gear".
6) Mature people just getting started on the instrument (with disposible income)
7) Younger people just getting started on the instrument (with no disposible income)
8) Collectors
Any others? Anyone care to hazard a guess as to the biggest sector (from a $ spent perspective)? I'm going to say #5.
If we understand this... we can maybe guess where Boss is heading (and make some realistic suggestions about where they should head).
I disagree- 5) I doubt that 5 is a substantial market for Boss at all (a lot of people here probably fall into that category) and realistically how much do we spend on new Boss pedals? I've only bought 2 new pedals in my entire life from Boss, (MT-2 and RC-2) the rest came from ebay and pawn shops!
Same for collectors and professional musicians- most of them are just not interested in new products and want to aquire stuff cheap and 2nd hand or vintage.
The biggest slice of the pie without doubt is 6 and 7- every day around the world about 10,000 people decide they want to play guitar, a month later 9,500 of them have probably given up. Doesn't matter though, because tomorrow another 10,000 people will pick up an axe and be taking their credit cards down to the nearest music shop. Just because the kids in group 7/ have no income now, their parents may do- and in a few years time they will have disposable income themselves and Boss would like to have some of that income for themselves.
I think on that basis 7/ would be the target market- they are young and have no preconceptions of what is good and what is bad. And if they can be converted to the brand they hopefully will remain loyal and buy a lifetime of product potentially. These folk are not interested in old vintage stuff, they just want a box that does as much as possible for as little as possible (and one that looks whizz-bang and modern).
The big spenders are in group 6/ though I think, again, the same philosophy will probably apply as for the choice of product.
How many people have you met in your lifetime that start playing the guitar, buy loads of gear, and then never use it?-
But like I say while those groups alone may probably account for 75% of all sales- Boss have a product aimed specifically at each individual on that list- numbers 1-5 and 8 too- its just all those people don't spend as much as the new players- they already have everything they need in a lot of cases ;) |
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PaulH
Gold Member
535 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2009 : 14:55:04
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I'd like to see Boss do a VST of their classic pedals.
Add in their COSM amp modelling.
My guess is, if they got it right (and didn't have any need for dongles), they'd outsell Line6's POD-Farm in an instant.
I'd seriously consider buying it. |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2009 : 15:53:13
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quote:
Originally posted by PaulH
I'd like to see Boss do a VST of their classic pedals.
Add in their COSM amp modelling.
My guess is, if they got it right (and didn't have any need for dongles), they'd outsell Line6's POD-Farm in an instant.
I'd seriously consider buying it.
Yeeeeessssss... that's got some real merit. Interesting idea! |
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Right Foot Boss
Gold Member
USA
881 Posts |
Posted - 11/18/2009 : 16:07:30
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Quite an interesting read. I leave the forum for a week and this crops up. 
The reissue idea could be a good one, but I can't see Boss doing true reissues. That would almost be saying that they have come this far, realized they are making pedals wrong, are now proclaiming that once they had them right, and are now making them right again. If they were made they would be digital copies of the analog classics. Which would be cool by me. That being said, PaulH's idea seems more likely, and is also very good.
As far as market share I think chrissydamage is right on target. Look at Boss' best selling pedals. They seem to be starter pedals. MT-2, DS-1, SD-1... You can't scroll through a page in ebay with out seeing one or two of these. There is a reason why the DS-1 has been in production for over 30 years. Can any other pedal boast that claim? All Boss has to do is keep doing what they have always done, cheap starter pedals in uniform housings.
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Boss on the market place
