Will Segway ever do a national ad campaign?

[jgrohol]

No. Here's why:

1. It's not cost effective, as their growth target markets generally are not consumers in the U.S. (Perhaps overseas it's different, but here in the U.S., their target markets are specialty niches, like police and security.)

2. They are a small company with small budgets. Despite the hype surrounding the company's launch, they're now operating as any company their size would be expected to. Companies that are Segway's size don't have the marketing budget of $10 - $20 MM to do an effective national advertising campaign.

3. It would largely be a waste of money. The Segway brand has very good brand recognition amongst consumers already (because of the launch in 2001, but some of this has faded in the intervening time). They can't always tell you want it is, but they know they've heard it before. And the opposite is true too. If you ask consumers if they've ever heard of or see one of those 2-wheeled upright scooters, the vast majority of them have.

John

[wwhopper]

Never ever spends any money on advertising.

But..... You always see them covered in news stories about Segway Tours, or at least a picture of their tours in another article, you can always tell by their logo, used to be because they used gen one machines, but that is changing.

Why, because they know that press releases and news stories are better than putting an advertisement out there, plus there is no way they could ever get that same kind of placement.

But Segway does offer from time to time co-operative funding for ads with local dealers. I know that at Segway of Annapolis and Tri-State Segway ran an ad last fall in the Washington Post.

And Segway is working on something for this summer as well, that will be an opportunity to work with dealers in their local market.

[quade]

Will Segway ever do a national ad campaign?

No. Here's why: . . .

Speaking in absolutes is almost always open to debate.

If you can't imagine Segway Inc. ever having competition then I suppose you might have a point, but I do envision a time when the patent has expired and Segway Inc. does have a product that competes with them. I also envision a future where the basic idea of the Segway device is fiscally viable in the eyes of the market for short transportation and the market is ready to use it.

If a competitor popped up at that time and advertised their device, I'm fairly confident that Segway Inc. would instantly reverse their previous marketing ideas and find the value of advertising as well.

I would go so far as to say that large portion of the "problem" with the Segway is there is no viable competition.

[JohnM]

Speaking in absolutes is almost always open to debate.

No it isn't.

[SegwayDan]

He's not speaking in absolutes. "Never" might be an absolute, but "ever" just looks far into the future, and "ever" doesn't mean "never", unless you're on the pessimistic side.

I think the existence of competition would imply that others also recognized a market or were willing and able to create one. I don't think much competition is likely in the foreseeable future. Potential competitors may just want to wait like jackals for Segway to come home with whatever they might be able to catch, and then see if there's anything "edible" left over.

As it has turned out so far, perhaps Segway Inc was overly optimistic, or perhaps they were prepared for what has happened and are willing to hang in there and develop and even create new markets for the PT.

I don't think the absence of a national ad campaign is all that significant.

[jgrohol]

I don't think so either.

I also don't think the market floodgates would open if this were priced at $999, contrary to many opinions. But I do think that once you get below the $1k price point, you're talking to a different audience than the current set.

Like Apple or BMW, however, Segway may very well have no intention of ever offering "cheap" models, as it isn't consistent with their design or brand. Inexpensive for Segway might be an under-$3k model. But for the vast majority of consumers, that wouldn't register so much as a blip on their radar screen.

How long is patent protection good for nowadays anyway? 20 years from first grant?

John

[bentbiker]

How long is patent protection good for nowadays anyway? 20 years from first grant?

I think it is 20 years from initial filing date, in the US nowadays.

[KSagal]

He's not speaking in absolutes. "Never" might be an absolute, but "ever" just looks far into the future, and "ever" doesn't mean "never", unless you're on the pessimistic side.




I don't mean to split hairs, but I believe the absolute was not in the "will Segway ever do this" question, but in the answer...

"No." That seems pretty absolute to me.

Still, I agree that the competition issue will be the most likely thing to drive ad campaigns. If Segway is the only game in town, then people have to find them. If there are alternatives that make themselves more readily available, then advertising the differences may be needed...

I suspect that they are already advertising in Police Gazette, or something similar, so that mall cops buy the segway instead of that trike or some other similar seeming device.

Now, we all know that they are not the same. We don't need to be educated. But the purchasing agents, who see an ad for a mall trike, and do not see an ad for a segway, may need some education that they do not have now... Or maybe a prod to get them interested...

When the Q scooter was marketed, and first came out, it clearly was a cheap copy of a segway. IT was marketed as a segway for those who cannot afford a segway. I have read several stories about people on this chat, who bought one thinking it was similar. We know better, but the purchasers did not. And they did sell many.

Because that scooter was not good hardware, it proved itself to be no real competion. The next one may not be so cheap and poorly engineered, nor so poorly copied. If that happens, then there may indeed be a need to advertise. (At least in specific national markets)

I don't know the market that segway is currently most interested in. If they are looking for a general cross section of everyday people, they may mass market. At this point, I think they are not doing it, because they are focused on smaller markets, and leaving that one to the dealers to crack or not...

[jgrohol]

The Q was a cheap copy because it had to be a cheap copy in order to compete. With no balancing technology (because its patented), any copy until the patent runs out isn't going to compete with the flexibility and durability of a Segway.

When the patent runs out, who knows what the market might see? But I was talking about now and in the forseeable future (e.g., 10 years), not "forever."

John

[Segwaiian]

Say, as I was just musing on another thread ("You're invited to Segway Social!"), maybe we are the national ad campaign, via Segway Social. :D

Aloha,
Roger

[quade]

. . . maybe we are the national ad campaign, via Segway Social. :D

Based on how well social.segway.com works . . . they better not count on it!

Nobody will ever be able to find where to buy them. :)