Steve,
I'll say it again. Marketing is everything; always has been and always w ill be. Politics is marketing, more so than ever. Marketing is marketing , and more so now than ever. The science of marketing has probably been taken to the "highest level" by the government and political spin doctor s. Personally I'm opposed to marketing for myself. There are two types o f market generally speaking. The marketing through education and there i s marketing through a certain amount of manunipulation and deception. Yo u decide which is which. The reason the second type works so well is mos t people are not knowledgable enough in the area in question (try gettin g the proper answers to important questions in order to make an informed and responsible political desicion from a politician) and therefore we are all ripe for manipulation. We are anxious for information; the quest ion is is the information accurate, unbiased, and proven? Most of the ti me in advertising it is not. Even the hamberger on the menu board at the fast food resturaunt looks nothing like what they hand you to eat when you buy one. Most advertising is slanted, uses every fallicy of logic in the book, and has only one intention in the end. Alter you thinking and reasoning in most cases. Personally, I'm just not a fan of the concept. Of course I pay the price too. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
After I write stuff like this I generally get a bunch of personal email, some disagree, and others see things my way. Disagree with me all you l ike. Take offence if you have to. It's your right.Doesn't change anythin g for me.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA OK, enough horseing around. I've got work to do.
One last rant on this subject.
Yesterday I took my chrome Rossi out for a spin, ended up at a bagel
place in Manhattan Beach, an affluent seaside area, for lunch. A couple
people saw my bike, asked me about it, and admired it. This happens
almost every time I go out on one of the classic bikes--literally,
almost every time! People in cars stop beside me at traffic lights and
ask about whatever bike I'm riding. I get toots of the horn from drivers
and a thumbs-up sign. And so on.
There is obviously a lot of appreciation for elegant, classic design and
construction that shows a high level of aesthetics and craftsmanship.
Here in LA, for sure, there are plenty of people with the money to buy
high-end frames, and there is no lack of willingness to spend it. There
is no need to expect people to support KOF efforts because of a sense of
charity and good will, which, we all know, is just not going to happen,
and certainly is not a valid basis for a business. The problem is to tap
into that market. I'm not sure how to do that, but it seems obvious to
me that this is the key to making a business out of high-end frame work.
Steve Maas
Long Beach, California