Mesa's parody on why they aren't at NAMM.

[Gooseman]

It all depends...
Why go? Because in the past NAMM was a show to fill up the order book, hook up with new dealers and distributors and introduce them to new product. Depending on what your set-up is...i.e. a small 10x10 booth, or like Mesa a 40X40 with sound room the price goes up.
Cartage is insanely expensive...at my days at THD we spent in excess of 20k.

so..over the last few years the show has become a lot more like Frankfurt...more tire kicking less actual orders written.
My take would be if I can generate more orders on the phone than at NAMM...why go unless there is a del good reason.

Another great post. I think Mesa is looking pretty smart with their move to not attend NAMM. It helps that their new videos are so great too!

 

[nevusofota]

It all depends...
Why go? Because in the past NAMM was a show to fill up the order book, hook up with new dealers and distributors and introduce them to new product. Depending on what your set-up is...i.e. a small 10x10 booth, or like Mesa a 40X40 with sound room the price goes up.
Cartage is insanely expensive...at my days at THD we spent in excess of 20k.

so..over the last few years the show has become a lot more like Frankfurt...more tire kicking less actual orders written.
My take would be if I can generate more orders on the phone than at NAMM...why go unless there is a del good reason.

$20K to display at NAMM?! I never would have guessed it would cost that much. Damn, I can't believe any manufacturer would attend.

 

[degenaro]

It all depends...
Why go? Because in the past NAMM was a show to fill up the order book, hook up with new dealers and distributors and introduce them to new product. Depending on what your set-up is...i.e. a small 10x10 booth, or like Mesa a 40X40 with sound room the price goes up.
Cartage is insanely expensive...at my days at THD we spent in excess of 20k.

so..over the last few years the show has become a lot more like Frankfurt...more tire kicking less actual orders written.
My take would be if I can generate more orders on the phone than at NAMM...why go unless there is a del good reason.

$20K to display at NAMM?! I never would have guessed it would cost that much. Damn, I can't believe any manufacturer would attend.

10X30 booth...Sound room, booth set-up, gear, etc...was usually 3000 in transport alone. Then draiage from the dock to the hall was like 500 bucks, carpet rental, power, booth rental, air fare, hotels, per diem, union labor for set-up/tear-down...it adds up fast.
If you go bare bones you can get in and out for under 5000 for a 10x10 with nothing in it.

 

[Gooseman]

It all depends...
Why go? Because in the past NAMM was a show to fill up the order book, hook up with new dealers and distributors and introduce them to new product. Depending on what your set-up is...i.e. a small 10x10 booth, or like Mesa a 40X40 with sound room the price goes up.
Cartage is insanely expensive...at my days at THD we spent in excess of 20k.

so..over the last few years the show has become a lot more like Frankfurt...more tire kicking less actual orders written.
My take would be if I can generate more orders on the phone than at NAMM...why go unless there is a del good reason.

$20K to display at NAMM?! I never would have guessed it would cost that much. Damn, I can't believe any manufacturer would attend.

10X30 booth...Sound room, booth set-up, gear, etc...was usually 3000 in transport alone. Then draiage from the dock to the hall was like 500 bucks, carpet rental, power, booth rental, air fare, hotels, per diem, union labor for set-up/tear-down...it adds up fast.
If you go bare bones you can get in and out for under 5000 for a 10x10 with nothing in it.

So .... it sounds like Mesa made the most of their money and decided GREAT videos are a better investment. At least it seems that way by their language ...

 

[Digital Jams]

It all depends...
Why go? Because in the past NAMM was a show to fill up the order book, hook up with new dealers and distributors and introduce them to new product. Depending on what your set-up is...i.e. a small 10x10 booth, or like Mesa a 40X40 with sound room the price goes up.
Cartage is insanely expensive...at my days at THD we spent in excess of 20k.

so..over the last few years the show has become a lot more like Frankfurt...more tire kicking less actual orders written.
My take would be if I can generate more orders on the phone than at NAMM...why go unless there is a del good reason.

$20K to display at NAMM?! I never would have guessed it would cost that much. Damn, I can't believe any manufacturer would attend.

10X30 booth...Sound room, booth set-up, gear, etc...was usually 3000 in transport alone. Then draiage from the dock to the hall was like 500 bucks, carpet rental, power, booth rental, air fare, hotels, per diem, union labor for set-up/tear-down...it adds up fast.
If you go bare bones you can get in and out for under 5000 for a 10x10 with nothing in it.

But you would not have the memories of drunk dorks grabbing your doublenecks and making stupid poses with it to post all over the internet, what fun is that??

 

[degenaro]

It all depends...
Why go? Because in the past NAMM was a show to fill up the order book, hook up with new dealers and distributors and introduce them to new product. Depending on what your set-up is...i.e. a small 10x10 booth, or like Mesa a 40X40 with sound room the price goes up.
Cartage is insanely expensive...at my days at THD we spent in excess of 20k.

so..over the last few years the show has become a lot more like Frankfurt...more tire kicking less actual orders written.
My take would be if I can generate more orders on the phone than at NAMM...why go unless there is a del good reason.

$20K to display at NAMM?! I never would have guessed it would cost that much. Damn, I can't believe any manufacturer would attend.

10X30 booth...Sound room, booth set-up, gear, etc...was usually 3000 in transport alone. Then draiage from the dock to the hall was like 500 bucks, carpet rental, power, booth rental, air fare, hotels, per diem, union labor for set-up/tear-down...it adds up fast.
If you go bare bones you can get in and out for under 5000 for a 10x10 with nothing in it.

But you would not have the memories of drunk dorks grabbing your doublenecks and making stupid poses with it to post all over the internet, what fun is that??

very true...
on the other hand...and I just bitched about this on my Facebook.

So I'm in this NAMM booth and the guy that runs the company is bugging me to come to their NAMM gig to play...I have no relation ship with that company-just as I'm talked into it, it was Ed why do you never play in our booth, pointing to their demo stage. My reply...because u haven't fucking paid me. This idea that it's okay for me to work for free is fucking incomprehensible.

 

[TeleBlaster]

Yeah it's a little weird they didn't go.
Bigger companies conduct a lot of business at the NAMM show. Dealer meetings, show only promos to obtain limited run products, face to face with the manufacturers' biggest distributors. Feedback in a meeting setting of what the dealers feel will sell. Smaller companies can benfit greatly as well, by inking sales to distributors for X amount of units, and also getting exposure if they have a great idea and salable product, that a national distributor may have never been exposed to otherwise. It is an efficient forum to get everybody in one place to buy and sell, the focus not being on individual sales but at the manufacturer/distributor/dealer level. This is why NAMM continues to be stringent on admission and badges, and endeavors to keep out the GP, in an effort to drive the industry and refrain from the show becoming a carnival sideshow. It is a great venue to network with distributors and dealers if you are a smaller manufacturer, and the show provides large manufacturers a tool to communicate their products and marketing strategies directly to their dealers. Lots of money in the business, and though the economy is terrible, the music products industry has not been hit as hard as other sectors.

 

[sinfish]

Mattias "IA" Eklundh is the guitarist for the intro music of the first clip. Great player.

I could be wrong but I think it is someone that is attempting to play like him. IA is much cleaner than that.

 

[Digital Jams]

Yeah it's a little weird they didn't go.
Bigger companies conduct a lot of business at the NAMM show. Dealer meetings, show only promos to obtain limited run products, face to face with the manufacturers' biggest distributors. Feedback in a meeting setting of what the dealers feel will sell. Smaller companies can benfit greatly as well, by inking sales to distributors for X amount of units, and also getting exposure if they have a great idea and salable product, that a national distributor may have never been exposed to otherwise. It is an efficient forum to get everybody in one place to buy and sell, the focus not being on individual sales but at the manufacturer/distributor/dealer level. This is why NAMM continues to be stringent on admission and badges, and endeavors to keep out the GP, in an effort to drive the industry and refrain from the show becoming a carnival sideshow. It is a great venue to network with distributors and dealers if you are a smaller manufacturer, and the show provides large manufacturers a tool to communicate their products and marketing strategies directly to their dealers. Lots of money in the business, and though the economy is terrible, the music products industry has not been hit as hard as other sectors.

Most anyone can get into namm these days, I had access to 4 different buyers tags if I wanted them and I am a nobody basement hack. By Saturday the place is almost standing room only and most everything has been sold already. Mesa I am sure was tired of one legit buyer for every 100 tirekickers, internet experts, the Tone King, etc.....................Kurt is right, it is a GC fuckfest at some of the booths. Some kid wearing more spiked braclets whaling away on some $3000 fiddle or turning amps on and off incorrectly.

But I will say that as a gearhead I enjoyed going to namm very much, not often a n00b like me is checking gear out before anyone else plus the company I had while there was pretty awesome. If you are a true gearwhore you have to go to namm at least one time.

 

[rupe]

Here's my take on it, being a Marketing guy by trade:

1. In a down economy, one of the first areas where most businesses make cuts is in their marketing budgets. This has always seemed counter-intuitive to me but it's the reality of the situation.
2. Trade show attendance is a function of marketing.
3. With a scaled-back budget, corporate marketing folks are forced to rethink the way they want to promote products. This has led to a decrease in trade show attendance across almost all industries.
4. Trade show dynamics have shifted. Pre-internet it was the way for manufacturers to show their wares to distributors and retailers and business was done on the convention floor. Now, this is really no longer necessary as a complete product demo can be done via the web, as can a business meeting.
5. Many manufacturers are becoming more focused on marketing directly to the consumer rather than to their actual customers, the wholesaler/retailer. This change from a push though model to a pull through model has made traditional relationships less strategically important...if the people demand it, sellers will carry it, so the need to market to them lessens in importance (NAMM/trade shows are not about the end user). Tranferring influence/power away from the middle-man has been going on for quite some time now, very much driven by the internet IMO.

Quite frankly, if I were the Marketing Director/Brand Manager of an extremely popular brand like Mesa, I would most likely look for more effective ways to utilize my budget as well. The ROI on trade shows rarely makes them worth it these days for a company who's products have high demand/significant market share.

 

[TeleBlaster]

Most anyone can get into namm these days, I had access to 4 different buyers tags if I wanted them and I am a nobody basement hack. By Saturday the place is almost standing room only and most everything has been sold already. Mesa I am sure was tired of one legit buyer for every 100 tirekickers, internet experts, the Tone King, etc.....................Kurt is right, it is a GC fuckfest at some of the booths. Some kid wearing more spiked braclets whaling away on some $3000 fiddle or turning amps on and off incorrectly.

But I will say that as a gearhead I enjoyed going to namm very much, not often a n00b like me is checking gear out before anyone else plus the company I had while there was pretty awesome. If you are a true gearwhore you have to go to namm at least one time.

Ya if you know someone and think about it early enough you can get a Guest badge pretty easy. Four different Buyer badges? You have some very good friends! Not everyone has this kind of access. NAMM does scan the badges and you do have to plan ahead if you wish to go. I have heard tales of NAMM getting more restrictive, maybe if they can't fill most all the booths and/or several major manufacturers boycott the show, then perhaps they will modify the process. A Guest badge will get you snubbed at some booths, but Buyer badges are the key to getting good treatment and even into some meetings. Fender and Peavey I know for a fact (and most likely other major manufacturers) have special shows, events, meet and greets for their dealers only, I got in some places with the GM of a company that was in some of these events as a legit dealer, at Peavey and Fender.
Sounds as if NAMM should cut down on the number of Guest badges they issue. The video is exaggerated, maybe somebody at Mesa got butthurt after an incident or some product stolen, who knows? Unfortunately you do hear stories of gear getting ripped off.