Segway, others perspective & what we can do ?

[Tarkus]

In another thread the discussion has turned to the perception of the Segway to the general public. This is a very interesting topic as some see certain uses could "pigeon hole" the Segway.


I have wondered for some time why, being that the common view is that we are all "Ambassadors" for the Seg that few have come up with a way to improve the overall misconceptions of the machine.

How about a Segway Poker Run...for a local charity?
Round up a few Seg friendly restaurants or bars and folks will soon see that a Segway can be ridden to and parked at such places.

And of course the fact that it's all for charity helps.

Or maybe ,for the larger city dwellers a little group of Segway owners helping out Meals on Wheels. That will get some positive attention.

A charity polo event, this may have been done already, would expose many to the "Sporting" side of the machine.

My point is that I hear alot of what the perception is, or may be, but little about how to change it.

What do you all think, remember my use already has me "pigeon holed" !

Years ago my friends and I were seen as a problem on our Harleys, and now they are more likely then not riding for a cause.

The Segway has to be an easier sell.

Regards,
Alan

[BringOnI2]

Library book delivery service to retirement villages?

[Timezkware Tim]

Great topic, Alan,

Many people think that Segway sales are slow because of the high cost. Personally, I don't agree. People spend thousands on items like wide screen TVs and chrome wheels. A transportation device? $5,000 is not expensive at all. From the comments I've heard from hundreds of people, the big issue is identity. Many people think they know what a Segway is all about, but in fact they don't. They think it's pretty much like any other motorized vehicle, except it balances. Their fears about collisions have municipalities and cities calling for bans, even though 25,000 Segs are out there gliding with virtually no problems.

Where do I draw my obsevations from?

I live in the most densly populated area of the US that is Seg legal. Santa Monica is bordered on three sides by the City of Los Angeles. The fourth side is the ocean which draws an additional 300,000 more people a day. I Seg downtown for lunch and errands daily, talking to tourists from all over the world, as well as the locals.

I will easily pass thousands of people daily. Thousands. Many of them want to talk to me. So many, in fact, that sometimes I wear headphones just so I can get where I am going. If you ask the other locals like SEGsby and Mr. Protocol, they will tell you the same thing. We see a great cross section of the world here everyday.

If you ask me, three perceptions are held by the public:

1. What Segway Inc is.
2. Who the Segger is.
3. What the machine is.

1. I think Dean Kamen and Segway Inc generally have a positive reputation. The most negetive thing I've heard about the company is that they over-hyped up Segway with claims that it would change the world. Obviously, anything less than a Segway in everyone's driveway means they failed to do that. Unfortunately, these claims were not from any ad campaign, they were quotes taken out of context from Kemper's book. The two things that gives credibility to Inc is that Kamen has a history of great inventions and the fact that Segways actually work.

2. Unlike Alan's example of the Harley rider, the Segger is not seen as a bad influence. We're certainly not hoodlems out to cause trouble. No one attaches a certain age group or any distinguishable background to the Segger. The only negetive perception is the Nerd/Dork and Lazy lable perpetuated by the media. This is probably more true in the US where lables and image take on much more importance. Portaying a more realistic image of the average Segger wil change that.

3. The machine itself has mixed reaction. Most of the people I meet think Segways are cool, but if you stop to talk to them, at some point they ask about safety. Many people don't understand how safe they really are. The machine's ability to opertate safely is the most important thing the public can learn if sales are going to happen. This is slowly (very slowly) happening everytime there's a Seg tour out there, but seeing strangers on a tour and hearing a testimonial from someone you know are two different things.

Alan is definately on the right track. The more the public sees the Segway in normal operation, driven by everyday people, the easier it will be to accept and sell them.

Several examples of PR events in Alan's post are great. Newsworthy events that involve Segs are a great way market the machine. Seg America is on the right track to help local chapters organize. When local clubs form, Poker Runs and Polo Games can be organized at the local level. When I was president of a classic car club here in So Cal, the presidents of clubs throughout this part of the state would meet twice a year to discuss our various projects and shows. Ford would help us organize and schedule these events, as well as help to advertize them.

One grass roots idea I just thought of is to have some kind of relay style event inviloving several segs. Something would be transported across a large city (not unlike the Olympic torch) by a Seg relay. For example: the "thing" transported could be a gift for a sick child in Long Beach Hospital. The gift could be a signed ballcap by one of the Lakers at the Staples Center, delivered by a relay of Segs each going 4 or 5 miles through the city, passing the cap from Seg to Seg. Funds for the kid or his disease could be collected by the Seggers, not unlike an Aids or March of Dimes walk event.

The local dealer (are you lurking, Jason?) could donate the use of 6 of their PT ad thingys (they would say somethiong like, "2007 Lukemia SegRelayRun, sponsored by New Balance Shoes") which, of course, would also be an ad for Segway LA. When the cap is delivered, the kid also gets a demo on Ginger right there in the hospital. The local Seg club would organize the event, including getting the cap signed and finding the recipient.

An event like this takes planning, time, effort and a little money, but mostly elbow grease. Any Seg event these days is newsworthy. You may not get Kobe Bryant to sign a cap, but you might get a recently retired ballplayer to do it. Once they agree, if you send out a press release, it WILL get covered. If you're lucky, it will be picked up by local TV news. If you're REALLY lucky, AP picks it up. After all, how many seg-relays-across-the-city-for-charity do you see these days? People will get a glimpse of real people segging amongst pedestrians, not just Weird Al acting like an idiot in a scripted video.

Whatever ideas there are, it can only happen successfully if there's oganization. The best thing we Seggers can do is to Support Seg America and our local chapter. If you don't want to be a member, send them a few bucks, lick envelopes, or just show up at the next Polo game for support. We can all do something to help promote Segway. We don't have to, but those of us that do will mean more Seg fun for everybody.

Tim

EDIT: God, I've been on message boards for a dozen years, and that's the longest post of my life. Thanks for reading. :)

[polo_pro]

I like the topics brought up in this thread. For once people seem to be thinking outside of the box. Too often we brainstorm along the usual lines of thought.

I think if segways are incorporated into any charity event, they must not be the focal point of the event. Segways are great for drawing additional attention to anything. That's why so many promotions/marketing companies use them. Segways inherently draw eyeballs to it and encourage people to interact with whomever is on it. When I think about it, maybe this is why security/police use it, eh?

But I'd hesitate to build a charity event around them like segway polo. Also, without going into details I'd considered making my long distance glide back in May a memorial ride, but I opted not to.

I think the best way to do this would be to approach established, well known charities that have annual events and offer to participate with them in whatever way they feel is appropriate. Check out http://forums.segwaychat.com/showthread.php?t=12498 where back in June a segway dealer in Minnesota and a bunch of folks collectively road an XT for 500+ miles over two weekends all for the American Lung Association. They raised $500+, but I bet they'd have raised more if they'd done the stunt in conjunction with the AMA's annual fund raiser.

[Timezkware Tim]

I like the topics brought up in this thread. For once people seem to be thinking outside of the box. Too often we brainstorm along the usual lines of thought.

I think if segways are incorporated into any charity event, they must not be the focal point of the event. Segways are great for drawing additional attention to anything. That's why so many promotions/marketing companies use them. Segways inherently draw eyeballs to it and encourage people to interact with whomever is on it. When I think about it, maybe this is why security/police use it, eh?

But I'd hesitate to build a charity event around them like segway polo. Also, without going into details I'd considered making my long distance glide back in May a memorial ride, but I opted not to.

I think the best way to do this would be to approach established, well known charities that have annual events and offer to participate with them in whatever way they feel is appropriate. Check out http://forums.segwaychat.com/showthread.php?t=12498 where back in June a segway dealer in Minnesota and a bunch of folks collectively road an XT for 500+ miles over two weekends all for the American Lung Association. They raised $2500, but I bet they'd have raised more if they'd done the stunt in conjunction with the AMA's annual fund raiser.

I totally agree. The focus of a charity event has to be the charity, otherwise, it would make the Segway's involvement seem self-serving.

If you study other charity events, (I've been involved in some), the main event is whatever sporting, art, theatre, or concert event chosen as the day's activity is, but the promotion is all about the charity, every time a pitch is made, an ad is announced, or a pledge is asked for.

But we don't have to only rely on already established charity events. Working a Segway into an already established event is the easiest way to get the most exposure, but we can also come up with our own, as long as the focus is the charity.

Any Segway event that also raises funds through ticket sales or pledges will do.

Feel free to contribute more ideas to this thread. Somewhere out there, an idea might fit a certain local or two. The relay delivery thing was right off the top of my head. Somehow, I'd like to see a newsworthy image of a Segway travelling a few miles with pedestrians involved. That was my influence.

Tim

[RAG1247]

imo, one of reasons for far less than the anticipated sales forecast still remains the $5k price tag and I doubt very much whether this price point can ever be substantially lowered without sacrificing the safety and innovative features of the segway. Sure many people buy hd tvs, boats, jetskis, etc. but they probably get far more use than if they bought a segway. if a family is involved it almost requires that 2 units be purchased or $10k. A lot of people, including young families with children cannot spend such an amount particularly if they have young children whose college costs are going to a large expense.

secondly, there is absolutely no advertising at all. New innovative products like computers, etc have always taken time to get off the ground, but in all cases, such firms have relied on, and achieved higher sales success with advertising and lots of it. Sony, Apple, Nikon all rely on continuous advertising. When was the last time you saw a paid ad in any major publication or magazine for segway. You see some news releases, some articles or newspaper reports but alas no advertising. Advertising gets a product in front of its potential buyers. No doubt part of it involves the fact that the segway is the first product that segway/deka has ever sold directly and not as was the case with ibot or the portable dialysis unit where the rights of sales and manufacturing were sold to others to market, sell, manufacture.

charity events will put the segway in front of more people, but advertising is the only way to get it in front of the masses and those people who can afford to buy one.

another problem that will no doubt occur, as more and more units are sold, is that more and more municipalities, out of fear and/or ignorance, may seek to restrict or prohibit segway use.

if you woke up tomorrow and there were suddenly 78 segways going up and down your street, you can bet that your municipality will be looking into possibly controlling segway use and those without may also complain.

I think in the beginning segway thought that early adopters would be segway disciples and spread the word and therefore help new sales.

I've given hundreds of demos and have purchased 8 units over the last 4 years and I really am not aware of any one who has bought a unit, with the only exception being a demo of 2 I167 units that i was selling.

My biggest concern is will segway be there 2 years from now when one needs a new battery. DK told me a couple of years ago that they will always be there, with parts.

They have spent millions and millions of dollars on development and probably a few thousand if that on direct marketing and advertising efforts.

[teekay]

Tim, if you need Kobe to sign a cap let me know, he lives two doors down from my friends house.

[Timezkware Tim]

Tim, if you need Kobe to sign a cap let me know, he lives two doors down from my friends house.

DUDE! RIGHTON.

Actually, does he glide? He should come to polo.

Thanks. I will absolutely check back with you if we do something with a sports star. That wold be awesome.

If there's enough interest in an idea like that, the kid will also have lunch with the star. I've hosted Make-a-Wish lunches with NBA stars having lunch with kids with cancer. Charities are always looking for newsworthy events to promote their cause. Anything involving multiple Segways in an organized event is not only newsworthy, it's like free advertizing. It will get camera time, big time. It's a great way to see Segs in real life, with real people. It's also great when you can raise money for a great cause.

Tim