Aminet 1 (Walnut Creek)/Aminet - June 1993 [Walnut Creek].iso/aminet/text/docs/save_cbm2.lha/cbm_gould

Text File | 1993-02-05 | 25KB | 462 lines

        Irving Gould is quoted as saying once that Amiga users send him
    mail about how few Amigas are sold in the US, yet no one has told him
    how to sell Amigas. Today, I am going to tell you how to sell more
    Amigas in the US. Please listen carefully, as this will undoubtedly
    be the last time I voluntarily provide this information (I have done it
    many times before).

        The number of Amiga dealers has decreased from about 800 to about 300
    over the past few years, which averages 4-6 dealers in each state. The
    number of dealers selling Amiga software has also greatly decreased. The
    Amiga is now third in computer game sales, as the Mac has recently bypassed
    the Amiga in such sales. MSDOS has 82% share, Mac 8%, and Amiga 6%, in
    computer game sales.

        We have to assume that less dealers leads to less purchases of units
    and less software sales. Also, the lack of advertising on the part of
    Commodore does not create a demand for Amigas. Therefor I propose a
    variety of new ideas to increase market share through dealerships,
    advertising, and strategic journalism.


        First, I have heard that CBM recently made it more difficult for a
    dealership to keep dealership status. I do not remember the details, but
    many dealers complained about this (particularly the smaller ones). Also,
    after promising to not allow the sale of Amigas via mail order, recently
    certain machines are available via mail order, and some companies are even
    violating CBM's rules regarding mail order sales. These actions are hardly
    the actions of a company that is trying to increase dealership support.

        I propose a new type of reseller status. Commodore's last hope in the
    US is to start by regaining the low end market, with the A600 and more
    importantly the A1200. And for a long time Amiga users have been known
    to be very convincing and strong advocates of their systems, and have
    continued to 'wow' people who are not familiar with eurodemos, soundtracker
    music modules, and its animation capabilities even on the low end
    machines. To increase sales of low end Amigas, CBM should allow these
    Amiga advocates to sell the Amiga 600 and Amiga 1200.
        If the dealer's price on an A600 is $250 (I do not know for sure but
    this seems like an accurate number), and the street price is between
    $299 and $340, then I think it would be wise to let Amiga advocates like
    myself resell these machines for street prices ranging in the same
    area. I would be more than happy to sell A600's and A1200's for a $50
    profit on each machine, and as many of my friends tell me, no one can
    sell an Amiga as well as I can, having used the machine for three years
    now. CBM would be gaining a strong marketing team of Amiga advocates who
    will surely increase sales by selling such low end machines to friends,
    schools, neighbors, etc. In fact, if this were available to me, I would
    even advertise the machines in my local newspaper.
        A reseller group access like this should have the ability to order
    low end machines and a few peripherals and have them arrive within a week.
    No advanced purchases should be required. I think a yearly fee for support
    would be reasonable set at $50 or so for newcomers. Support should include
    dealer prices and retail prices on numerous Amiga products for the low end,
    plus info on how to arrange sales of commercial products legally, and how
    these sales would reflect on each seller's state and federal taxes.
        If implemented, I believe that a program to allow Amiga advocates to
    sell only low end machines would be a success. I for one am purchasing
    two Amiga 1200's for friends who considered upgrading to IBM machines
    until I spoke with them regarding the new machines.

        I understand that this may be a conflict for those Amiga dealers that
    are available. However, there are many Amiga users who are faced with
    dealers that are a few hundred miles away. My proposal would close this
    gap considerably. Chances are most Amiga advocates own Amigas and would
    be able to demo them, just as a real dealer could. And if it were limited
    to Amiga advocates who are beyond 30 miles from a real dealer, it would
    fill in the gap for these hard to find places.

        And last of all, I propose that a reselling group as I describe be
    known as the Amiga Advocates.






        A few years ago, my cousins (aged 4 and 5) kept on telling me about
    something they wanted to get. They wanted a 'tendo'. All I heard about
    was the tendo. It took a while, but I eventually found out that the tendo
    is the Nintendo. My father, born in Europe and living there half his life,
    knows what a Nintendo is. So do my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. But
    none of them know what an Amiga is (many have heard of Commodore though
    due to the 64). Why is this?

        It is mainly by word of mouth. And by strategic television advertising.
    You see, parents have the money. Kids have the want. Nintendo has the
    television advertising, so now all those kids who watch the Smurfs and
    GI Joe on Saturday morning cartoons see Nintendo ads. Now some of them
    start begging their parents, and some get the Nintendo. Then they go to
    school and brag to their friends, who then go beg their parents, and soon
    everyone has them. Therefor, to sell low end Amigas, the best place to
    advertise is during Saturday morning cartoons. And stress the games.
        Now, kids are not going to ask for a Nintendo. They will start asking
    for a computer. If you ask most parents today what a computer costs, they
    will answer $1000 to $2000. If they are told they can get one for $300-$400,
    they will be much more willing to get it for their kids.

        Now kids who are a little bit older, say around 16, all want Apple II's
    and Macintoshes. This is due to the influence that Apple has in schools,
    which CBM once had. CBM still has strength in schools and could regain its
    positiom by targetting secondary schools with low end Amigas and productivity
    software. A complete system could easily sell for $600 with a monitor.
    Then those students would start asking them for Amigas. Now someone like
    me, being an Amiga advocate, would go to my local elementary schools and
    gladly demo these machines. If I could make $50 on each A600 I sold, and
    assume that a school might buy anywhere from 1 to 10 of these, I would greatly
    be willing to continue selling to my local schools. Which would cause
    students using those computers to ask for them from their parents.
        I would also hope to have an education packet, which I would leave with
    the school after I give a demo. That packet would contain a few photos of
    each machine, specs, sample educational software like word processors,
    and an educational pricing guide. In fact, I would give them quite a few
    educational pricing guides so that they pass it around.

        But then again, a large company like CBM already has a listing of all
    the public and private schools in the United States and is already sending
    them educational pricing guides, specs, and advertisements for educational
    software. Any aggressive company is doing this. You are doing this already,
    right? Am I right that you are not forgetting such an easy way to reach
    potentially millions of teachers, staff, and students?
        Of course CBM is also donating one Amiga to every high school in
    America, because high schools have larger budgets and more need for
    computers. And CBM also sends over posters and other advertising materials
    so that students will be aware of what is available. Right? Let's just put
    it this way. I went to a local Amiga/Mac dealer. I saw lots of Mac posters
    everywhere. I even saw lots of posters and pamphlets from companies like
    GVP and Supra, advertising third party Amiga products. But I failed to find
    any CBM product advertisements hanging on their large blank walls.
        CBM probably also has a list of all the colleges, universities, and
    community colleges in the US and has of course sent them posters, price
    listings, and advertisements. And of course CBM also has donated some high
    end Amigas to various universities that do not have a large budget or a
    large computer science department. Of course CBM also has Amiga student
    reps at every university who is able to resell machines to students, and
    to demo them to teachers. And for those really big universities with
    large budgets, CBM has already personally walked over there with the latest
    Amiga 4000's and top of the line commercial software and networking. Or am
    I only dreaming?






        Gee, I saw a small spurt of advertising during the Christmas season.
    That was nice. And short. But I haven't seen the Amiga advertise in
    Computer Gaming World, Electronic Gaming, and other US video game magazines.
    Does CBM think that the low end market should be ignored? Well, they
    obviously advertise in Amiga World and Amazing Amiga, even though chances
    are if we buy one of those magazines we already know what an Amiga is. And
    you can tell us about the Power Up program even though Amiga World will put
    it in their news briefings for free, and might even include pics of the
    new computers for free next to their news announcements if you send it to
    them.
        Of course CBM's journalists who write reviews and announcements have
    already written up reviews and sent them to various magazines for publication.
    And they have sent press releases to various newspapers such as the New
    York Times, LA Times, USA Today, etc, announcing the new AGA chip set and
    how it rivals most other personal computers. And of course your team of
    journalists have also sent out your plans for future chip sets and mailed
    them out to various television news programs, such as CNN Weekend Update,
    Beyond 2000, Computer Chronicles, etc.
        And CBM has been holding computer animation contests every few months,
    and has been sending out demo tapes of these animations to TV stations
    across the country, and to large companies who might be interested in such
    equipment for in house use. And universities who otherwise would never
    be able to see an Amiga, but who would later be directed to a student rep.
        CBM also has been sending free units to TV game shows, such as Jeopardy,
    Wheel of Fortune, and various Nickelodien game shows. And of course the
    Boy Scouts of America have received A600s at greatly reduced prices that they
    are raffling off to pay for their field trips and special events.
        And last but not least, of course CBM has been donating Amiga computers
    to business schools, and has been promising free units to those who
    graduate with top honors. Because CBM is smart enough to realize that
    our future businessmen and businesswomen are going to have to purchase
    computers for their companies some day.

        Or am I wrong?





        I gave three demos to NYIT and to SUNY Stony Brook Professors. And
    believe it or not, all of them are now interested in purchasing Amigas
    for multimedia or video work. They have also asked if GNU software is
    available and if there is networking, memory protection, and multiuser
    abilities.
        In fact, one of my professors is coming to my house within the next
    week and I am going to show him how I plug my VCR into my $13 A520 video
    adapter and record animations at 30 fps full screen in HAM6. He thought
    that it would only be a window of 100x100 until I pointed it out to him.
        He already saw the Toaster video demo tape. He already wants to get
    a Video Toaster for his graphics lab. He has already admitted that there
    are not enough machines for his classes, and that he would like for
    students to be able to do work at home. Wouldn't it be great if colleges
    with majors in computer graphics required their students to buy home
    computers that specialize in computer graphics? Might sell anywhere from
    20 - 100 computers per year per university.
        If I had a demo video tape, or some demos in software, I would gladly
    show more demos to teachers at my university, and even other universities
    on Long Island. But I can only do so much on my own.





        Here's an idea. Start a new program that gives students free computers,
    or at least severe discounts, if they get a 4.0 on all of their classes
    towards their major of study. Wouldn't it be nice if teachers told their
    students they could get a free Amiga if they do well in school? I think
    that the word of this would spread quickly across campus, especially if
    noted to the school newspapers. Now, obviously you have to do some research
    and find out how many students graduate with a 4.0, or at least have many
    classes where they achieve 4.0. I hope you take your list of universities
    and find out.

        Of course, all those new small businesses require spreadsheets, word
    processors, data bases, and form generators for their customer receipts.
    If you get the right software, and package it with an A600 and a color
    monitor, you could sell this Business Amiga for $550 or so, and give
    discounts to expanding small businesses such as auto repair shops, book
    stores, libraries, and specialty stores. And when they start expanding they
    will obviously start buying more products compatible with what they have.







        There are two ways to run a successful business. One is to produce
    creative and innovative products. The other is to lie to your customers.
    CBM does create innovative products, but the flaw is that they do not make
    it known to customers that the products exist. I heard Lewis Eggebrecht's
    speech in Toronto, and all I can say is that Apple and IBM would never
    have such a mediocre slideshow. They would be showing wild video demos
    and not old C64 commercials. They would make untrue claims about Ultimedia
    and not demo an Amiga 600 running a game at a trade show.
        You have to have aggressive advertising, and you have to spend money.
    Believe me, it will be rewarding. I used to be an unknown, but now am a
    regular on USENET. I receive mail from people all over the world who know
    of my graphics work and BBS...and it is because I advertise like crazy.
    In fact, more than 50% of my BBS callers are calling from out of state and
    I have fewer local callers. My BBS has been running for one month
    now, starting January 1st 1993.
        A few weeks ago I received a demo tape in the mail for the VIS system
    sold at Radio Shack. I saw an ad for a CDTV tape but never received one.
    I never saw an Amiga demo tape. In fact, I would be willing to help
    produce one if needed.




        Okay now you might notice my tone is going to become a bit more harsh.
Why? Well, let's just say that whenever I come back from the bookstore or
school library I tend to be angered after reading the magazines. For example,
CBM posted a message about New Media ignoring the Amiga in the last issue.
Well, they sure as hell ignored it in the current issue about 2D Animation and
3D modeling software! I don't think New Media gives a damn about the Amiga.
I remember when they first came out and advertised that they were going to
support the Amiga. I also remember reading that they were owned by some PC
magazine company. Why did they suddenly drop support for the Amiga?

        Could it be because CBM never advertizes there? Could it be because
third party Amiga companies never send press releases there? Does CBM send
press releases to ANY magazines out there? Could it be because when their
reader service cards are returned no one checks the box saying that they own
an Amiga? Well, I suggest you make a list of all the magazines out there that
you would like to see Amiga coverage in, including PC only magazines. Then,
make a file containing all the addresses and phone numbers for these magazines,
and write a short message about all the issues when the Amiga was relevent yet
ignored. Then send this text file to every BBS and FTP site out there, with the
request that Amiga users start letter writing campaigns. Notes on BIX about this
isn't going to help that much...nobody belongs to BIX. It is one of the smallest
services out there. And for the Amiga community to start spreading it around
it takes too long. Make a huge database as I describe above, and request Amiga
BBS Sysops to include this in their auto-add files. An auto-add file is
automatically added to everyfile on a BBS, so whenever a file is downloaded the
user will see the message about the letter writing campaign. Don't wait for me
to do this for you; it will make you look worse than you already do. Because if
I do not receive any comments from anyone at CBM within two weeks of mailing
this out I will make such a file, and I will include this letter. I also will
upload it to the 20+ major BBS systems I call on a regular basis along with
every BBS in my area code and every FTP site I can find. I will make sure it
will spread. Where will you stand when I do? It will only take 2 or 3 days for
this to arrive in West Chester, so move fast. You are failing in the US, after
all.




        On a side note, I bought 5 Amiga 3000's and two Amiga 500's. When
I got my first A3000, there was a sticker sealing the case to stop people
from opening it. When I got my second one, the sticker was there but I could
open the case without breaking the seal. Now I want to know what CBM has against
me putting an expansion card in my Amiga. People have reported that CBM
officials told them that it is okay to do so, while other CBM officials state
that it voids the warranty. I highly suggest you decide what the stupid seal
is there for.




        Now we are going to talk about your current cartoon ads. I am going to
refer specifically to page 25 of the February 1993 Amiga World. First, I like
the new cartoon guy very much. I like the way the borders are done and the
typestyles. I also like the shots of the A4000 and A1200! They are very good,
except for the mouse on the A4000. Now I know I complained about the borders
before but now that I think about it i like it a lot better. Here is my review
of the eye-catchiness of the other ads in that issue:

cover-page  good
supra ad    good
pro page 4  bad
gvp IV24    bad
glock       bad
gvp page 5  good
gvp page 7  good
pro write   good
phonepak    good
sound zone  good
image fx    bad
final copy  excellent
real 3d     good
softwood    good
ami-back    bad
vistapro    excellent
amax II     good
cbm         good
megachip    bad
sunrize     excellent
opalvision  excellent
progressive bad
scala       bad
brilliance  pitiful
dctv        almost excellent
morph plus  almost good
alfa data   bad
bars&pipes  bad
sas/c       good
creative    excellent
dtv world   bad
lemmings    good
computab..  good
digital ps  bad
manta       bad
AW videos   pitiful
scen anim   bad
creative    good
smartsoft   bad
safe harbor good
soft hut    pitiful
grapevine   good
sideline    pitiful
devine      pitiful
videografix pitiful
tristate    almost good
amigaman    almost excellent
memoryworld decent
tool chest  bad
bix         pitiful - very pitiful
tenex       good
dev ware    bad
vortex      bad
briwall     good
cando       almost good
toaster     excellent


    Now, focus on the following from that issue:


    page 16 & 17    - notice how well the Amiga 3000 is shown. The style of text
                      on the comparison chart is of low quality, along with the
                      middle screen shot. Otherwise an excellent job!

    page 20         - the screen shot of 3D characters and spheres over a water
                      texture is very good. Too bad the rest of the ad looks
                      bad

    page 23         - awesome picture of a landscape. Excellent text layout.

    page 27         - beautiful ad...notice the shot of the ADSP chip, and
                      the shadowing of the components, although it is not good
                      to place objects perpendicular to the page

    page 28 & 29    - excellent screen shots. The title, OpalVision, has an
                      excellent texture mapped onto it. The three pics on the
                      left are all excellent choices, although the ones on the
                      right do not compare. The backdrop with everything shooting
                      out does not look good.

    page 30         - excellent picture

    page 47         - excellent choice of screenshots, but the left hand side of
                      the guy sitting there is not as good

    page 87         - shots of the A2000s are very good, along with the layouts
                      of the others. Note the use of shadows in the pics of the
                      A2000.

    back cover      - great screenshots, although I like the top two better
                      excellent logo and layout using black/white reversals.


    page 25         - cbm's ad - good pics of the a4000 and a1200, but the mouse
                      on the a4000 is still the old mouse (I mentioned this
                      once before). Good choice of pics for the workbench. The
                      locale prefs is a good snapshot. Also, the guy running is
                      very good. The camera is acceptable but should have
                      been shown in a 3d perspective. The text and the AMIGA
                      logo are very well done, unlike some of the older CBM ads
                      I have seen from a year ago. I do not like the oval shapes
                      of the screen shots. Use sharp square edges. The pic on
                      the A4000 of a chessboard is excellent. the hamburger is
                      cute, but the plate detracts from the beautiful detail
                      of the burger.





    Now I am going to tell you something else. I noticed that you have been
rotating your ads well as opposed to using the same ad in 12 issues in a row.
Now, the best scenerio is for everyone who buys a PC magazine to open that
magazine thinking "Where is that new CBM ad? I want to read it first!".
Impossible? No, of course not! Just think...what could you do to attract
people of all ages and computer backgrounds? You could offer a competition
to win a million dollars...or you could make each one original...such that
it stands out...well, the BEST answer is to make each one so funny that it
makes the reader die laughing! Then when they get the next issue of their
favorite magazine they will actually look forward to the Amiga advertisement.
Now, I would like to suggest that you get help from a well named Amiga user
named Daniel J Barrett. He is hilarious and very well know for very humorous
posts on an almost weekly basis. He is an avid Amiga user and would probably
be more than willing to help create an attractive topic to read about every
month. If there is anything that you ever do, this is the one I suggest the
most. Dan is one of the best assets you will ever find. His usenet email
address is [e-mail].




        Now, you make the choice. Keep in mind, Mr Gould (or should I say
Mr Gould's Secretary), that your company spends 1/3 the amount of money on
research and development, compared to Apple that spends almost 8 times
as much as you do (and releases more products). Keep in mind that you do
receive a larger yearly income than any other home computer CEO, and your
business is doomed for failure! Keep in mind that you advertising budget is
SEVERELY lacking as opposed to other SUCCESSFUL companies.

        Do you want to triple your profits in the next three years? If so,
then take out some of that spending cash, stop playing stock market games,
and invest in your company. You seem to be doing well enough off that you
could spare more than a few million a year. Are you in a race to see how rich
you will be when you retire? Is all that money REALLY going to do you any good?
You will be known only as a failed businessman who ran a failing business.

        I am often ashamed to own a Commodore computer.