The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: Dave W on June 07, 2015, 08:45:46 PM
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Possibly Gibson's dumbest PR move ever: in honor of Les Paul's 100th birthday (Tuesday June 9th), Gibson has announced a contest where entrants can "win" (their words) a 2015 Les Paul guitar, and not only that, you have a one-in-ten chance of winning.
The catch? In order to enter, you have to buy a new 2015 Les Paul on June 9th (any model with the Les Paul 100 signature on the headstock, the one almost everyone seems to hate. And you have to submit an essay which they will judge). So you can't "win" a guitar, you just have a one-in-ten chance of getting reimbursed. Pretty steep entry fee! Sounds like one of those lottery scams.
Reaction on Gibson's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Gibson/posts/10152842702545718:0) has been brutal. A lot of the really blunt replies have been removed but it's still bad. I almost feel sorry for their spokesman who keeps insisting that it really is winning.
Anybody want to buy me a qualifying guitar on Tuesday? :mrgreen: 2015 sales have tanked and they must be hoping for big sales, so we don't want to disappoint them do we? Sure, you could go for a Junior, but why not a $3500 Standard? If I "win" I promise to pay you back. If I don't, you'll be SOL.
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Sounds almost like a scam.
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What a scheiße idea. Shoot everyone in the promotion department - now. 8)
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I just read through many of the comments. I didn't even see ONE positive comment.
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See, having a Thunderbird playing Drag Queen as an endorsing artist doesn't seem even remotely a bad idea in comparison :-*
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Any make of bass is anointed by your DNA, Mark!
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Any make of bass is anointed by your DNA, Mark!
I do try and wipe the instruments down that I send to you - that whole germs crossing international borders thingy.......... :o
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What a scheiße idea. Shoot everyone in the promotion department - now. 8)
Do you doubt even for a minute that Henry was personally involved? I don't.
A meeting with Henry probably goes like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdNCEL5JKF8
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Forgot to mention, the rules (.pdf) (http://images.gibson.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Lifestyle/Contests/2015/Gibson_Les%20_Paul_Contest_Official_Rules_US.pdf) state that the "winners" will receive an IRS Form 1099-Misc. So your "winnings" will be taxed as ordinary income. Some prize!
The rules also give details of how the 300 words-or-less "narrative" the entrant must write will be judged: 33% originality, 33% humor, and 34% how Les Paul would have replied to such a question (of why you like the guitar). Seriously.
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I don't want to compare this too much to Peavey because I realize Gibson and Peavey are two totally different things. But several months ago there was a show "Undercover Boss" which showed how out of touch Peavey was with reality. I think Gibson may need to do its own reality check. Some of these ideas are getting downright bizarre. It really doesn't hurt to actually see what the general public is thinking and feeling. Of course, Peavey's problem was how radically out of touch it was with its workers. A really ugly scenario, IMO.
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Did you know that me and Les Paul had exactly...
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bvVBuliv1Ho/UkcIgRAqGOI/AAAAAAAAOwI/vLAlzG4BNos/s1600/electra+glide+cover.jpg)
Well knock me down with a large slab of mahogany and ebony... I never knew what we shared... anyone care to surprise me with a treat in the morning...!?! :P
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I agree that bad corporate culture contributed to this. Somebody had to know this was a bad idea but kept their mouth shut. Pieces of this promotion make sense. Ask people to write an essay why it's a great guitar, check. Have lots of winners, check. Celebrate Les Paul's 100th birthday, check. Make thousands of your potential customers angry and make 9 out of 10 of your actual customers who buy a Les Paul feel like losers, oops. This could wind up in a marketing text book someday.
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I agree that bad corporate culture contributed to this. Somebody had to know this was a bad idea but kept their mouth shut. Pieces of this promotion make sense. Ask people to write an essay why it's a great guitar, check. Have lots of winners, check. Celebrate Les Paul's 100th birthday, check. Make thousands of your potential customers angry and make 9 out of 10 of your actual customers who buy a Les Paul feel like losers, oops. This could wind up in a marketing text book someday.
This, and their whole 2015 guitar marketing effort could wind up as a case study: the 29% price increase, the mandatory G Force tuners, the goofy headstock signature (being mocked as "leo paul 100") instead of the usual Les Paul Model, the zero fret nut, and the wider neck. I expect all will either be walked back or completely gone next model year, if not before.
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Well knock me down with a large slab of mahogany and ebony... I never knew what we shared... anyone care to surprise me with a treat in the morning...!?! :P
You're turning 100 tomorrow? You don't look a day over 90!
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This, and their whole 2015 guitar marketing effort could wind up as a case study: the 29% price increase, the mandatory G Force tuners, the goofy headstock signature (being mocked as "leo paul 100") instead of the usual Les Paul Model, the zero fret nut, and the wider neck. I expect all will either be walked back or completely gone next model year, if not before.
Which, if they were Fenders, would make them highly collectible in 20 years. Does it work the same for Gibsons?
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I have never seen a company so hell bent on self destruction. What a bunch of morons.
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Which, if they were Fenders, would make them highly collectible in 20 years. Does it work the same for Gibsons?
]Naw. . .I think it leaves them shunned in the pawn shops. :rolleyes:
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You're turning 100 tomorrow? You don't look a day over 90!
:P :mrgreen:
I wonder how many mugs morons just plain idiots adventurers will enter the competition...?
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I have never seen a company so hell bent on self destruction. What a bunch of morons.
I've never seen anything like it, either. What else can they do that goes beyond this?
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Buy Fender and re-brand... :vader:
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While looking over some news items, I ran across this: another article on Gibson. I must say a number of these comments at the bottom are not really very impressive. Gibson may be making some serious marketing mistakes, but most of the "solutions" I'm seeing from readers' comments at the bottom of the "Gawker" article are pretty ill-informed. A waste of time to read, actually.
http://gawker.com/what-the-hell-is-happening-at-gibson-guitar-1710099770
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Gibson's mistakes have never been more collectible than their best sellers. And from all reports, this year has been a sales disaster.
What Henry J. obviously wants to do is to innovate. His earlier attempts haven't worked (Firebird X, Robot etc.) because Gibson buyers just don't want them. Trying to force it with the whole guitar line was exactly the wrong thing to do. Something tells me he won't repeat this year's mistake, especially after the reaction to this promotion.
I did see American Musical's blurb on FB about today's promo. At least they called it a one-in-ten chance of reimbursement instead of winning.
Gibson will probably sell more guitars today, since there must be at least a few people ready to buy soon who will go ahead and buy today. But that won't increase overall sales, and the blowback might even cause sales to fall further.
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Seriously, the EB fiver was the only Gibson bass that might have been able to do the gig that I do. Stupid to discontinue.
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I heard that from my German shop today too, Gibson is currently in total disarray about missed budgets and failed model lines. And whether the 2015 V will ever see the light of day is up in the cards. It looks like the Continental V (shelved by Henry for being "too Tobias") and the Tobias Growler by Gibson Guitar of Month (shelved by Henry because of the Nashville flood and ptoduction of other models taking precedence once the water receded) fate all over again. 8) Ah, yes, Gibson and boutique basses, not a match made in or for heaven ...
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I have an idea. How's about going back to basics, examine the entire process from the ground up and implement a genuine quality process like, as much as it pains me to say, Lean Six Sigma? Spend a little more money on material and little more time in production but turn out a lots less sloppy crap that saves a lot of money on the back side. Whoever the hell Gibson hired for marketing and R&D should be shown the door yesterday - I mean, really, what research could had justified the Fireturd? :rolleyes:
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I think Henry could hire a troop of Baboons to replace both himself and all the upper management - They could hardly do worse, he could pay them less - plus Henry could take another vacation...
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I think Henry could hire a troop of Baboons to replace both himself and all the upper management - They could hardly do worse, he could pay them less - plus Henry could take another vacation...
:mrgreen:
The baboons wouldn't smuggle exotic woods either. ;D
I wonder if this year's sales fiasco and the reaction to this contest will get through to Henry that he can't force changes on a market that doesn't want it. Maybe he'll learn his lesson. One can hope, but don't hold your breath.
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Maybe he's holding out hope for a federal bailout from his favorite president. Tanking your own business on purpose worked for the Wall Street banks. :mrgreen:
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I posted about the contest on a Dutch guitarist forum. And I also put the link to all the Facebook reactions.
Geetards don't seem to think it is as stupid as we are all convinced it is.
Not many negative comments.
Goes to prove most guitarists are baboons too :mrgreen:
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I have yet to spot a difference. Perhaps baboons aren't as self-centered?
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Perhaps baboons aren't as self-centered?
Really? Weren´t they the first mammals to masturbate?
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Now what is self-centered about that? :o
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Oh, Henry....
Perhaps he inspired the name of the candy bar?
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All they had to do was call it a "1 in 10 chance to win your purchase". Just a bunch of negative nonsense from those who say "My Epihipone is 3x better and 4x less" or "Schecter rulz!" folks don't hold much weight. Yet they look at Gibson stuff all day long....
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All they had to do was call it a "1 in 10 chance to win your purchase".
Exactly right. You would have thought they'd have someone with enough brains to come up with that at least after a couple of days of deep thinking where you took ten seconds.
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I posted about the contest on a Dutch guitarist forum. And I also put the link to all the Facebook reactions.
Geetards don't seem to think it is as stupid as we are all convinced it is.
Not many negative comments.
Goes to prove most guitarists are baboons too :mrgreen:
Maybe Dutch geetards don't think so, but that's not so elsewhere. I first saw news of the contest at the MyLesPaul forum and the reaction has been 100% negative.
Yesterday someone started a poll there to find out if any members bought a new LP on the 9th. I just checked -- out of 99 total votes, only three bought a new one, and two of those bought new 2014s, which don't qualify.