a good article about Gibson....

[jim_n_virginia]

Seems like there has been a lot of discussion about Gibson and where there are heading, sales etc.

I read this article tonight and maybe it answers some of the questions. Seems like Gibson has a vision and there is nothing wrong with that I guess.

One thing I think some of us forgets is that not many of us (I assume but who knows maybe Bill Gates visits the Cafe!) have much experience running a multi-million dollar company and know what it really takes to survive in this global economy. Because once you are "out of business" you are OUT OF BUSINESS...kaput, broke...go find another job..

I reckon Gibson has some people giving global business strategy some thought.


My appologies if this link has already been posted.
http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/04/01/46246977.shtml

[JeffS]

Interesting article. So Juszkiewicz wants to be number one. I wonder how far he's willing to go and to what expense? What is more important to a musician, having an instrument from the #1 leader in sales or having one of finest quality? I think I know how upper management would answer that question. I hope I'm wrong.

[jim_n_virginia]

What is more important to a musician, having an instrument from the #1 leader in sales or having one of finest quality? #
good point Jeff, but it seems to me if you don't make a good quality product it would be awfully hard to stay number one....

[JeffS]

Well that all depends on how you calculate number one. You can be number one in quality or you can be number one in quantity. I read the article and understood Gibson wants to compete with the number one in quantity, Yamaha. I think that is a tough task to do and maintain a high standard of quality. This is probably just Juszkiewicz trying to inflate his ego and get Gibson to a point where he can make a killing off an IPO. But what the heck, it is his company.

[grandmainger]

not many of us have much experience running a multi-million dollar company and know what it really takes to survive in this global economy
Absolutely true. However, there is no such thing as a successful company without customers http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I'm not an expert in marketing, but my understanding is that restricting sales points and price fluctuations is usually a strategy designed to raise the profile of the product, making it a harder-to-find item. It would be interesting to know which product range lead gibson to adopt this policy... It may well be that mandolins sales are affected only because it is a corporate-wide policy.

C'mon, isn't there a marketing expert on the cafe somewhere http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Germain