Korg marketing strategy is mystifying!

[JOHN GARGANI]

Korg continues to have a marketing strategy that makes you scratch your head in wonder.

First there was the grand ballyhoo about the Italian Piano, which was featured in an upgraded Kronos, that NEVER actually made it to the market.....

Now, the Italian piano re-emerges with the "new" Nautilus....

Once again, flooding the market with ballyhoo about this keyboard, but what happens when you go to look for it? NOBODY HAS IT.......

"pre order now" is all you get from the major onlines, also, naturally, the way things are done now, forget about walking into a musical store and actually trying one.

I just don't understand where they are coming from on this: Why trumpet something that you don't even have ready for the market?

And then, just like I-Phones, and all other technology of today, there will be the rabid 1st buyers who end up with a machine with multiple bugs that have to be ironed out with updated software....

Whenever I go back and try out various combination sounds on my upgraded Kronos 61, I am reminded of just how fabulous this company is capable of in terms of quality of sound, but communicating properly between us, the consumer, or with the dealers: this is where they are still sorely lacking.

[GregC]

Korg continues to have a marketing strategy that makes you scratch your head in wonder.



Once again, flooding the market with ballyhoo about this keyboard, but what happens when you go to look for it? NOBODY HAS IT.......

"pre order now" is all you get from the major onlines, also, naturally, the way things are done now, forget about walking into a musical store and actually trying one.

I just don't understand where they are coming from on this: Why trumpet something that you don't even have ready for the market?

And then, just like I-Phones, and all other technology of today, there will be the rabid 1st buyers who end up with a machine with multiple bugs that have to be ironed out with updated software....

Whenever I go back and try out various combination sounds on my upgraded Kronos 61, I am reminded of just how fabulous this company is capable of in terms of quality of sound, but communicating properly between us, the consumer, or with the dealers: this is where they are still sorely lacking.

Hi John, new product pre-announcements are common. Roland did this for +20 years ,using NAMM as way to announce.

Simply, to me, Nautilus is for the non-Kronos owner. Many Kronos owners have underlined this in their own way.

IOW, Nautilus makes sense if Kronos never existed.

[bpoodoo]

Yeah I think this is pretty standard pre-release, pre-sale marketing blitz.

The Nautilus sound demo videos and manuals are available. These are good resources to assess whether Nautilus should be on your short list. But of course, be wary of advertising and marketing hype.

My least favorite management-speak catchphrase attributed to this product is "Streamlined Workflow." Some Korg artists have apparently been coached to repeat this phrase "Streamlined Workflow" whilst demoing/promoting Nautilus in videos. As far as I can tell, this refers to a tweak in the setlist editing function (and perhaps to the deletion of Karma.) Whatever they are referring to, I don't consider it sufficiently grandiose to dub it "Streamlined Workflow."

But if you get enough experts to repeat the same talking points over and over, most people will believe it without additional detail or supporting information.

[danmusician]

As far back as the '90s, vaporware has been a thing. The school where I taught bought a Yamaha V50 FM based workstation. There was a lot to like about it at the time. I was considering buying a V80 for myself. Had the printed brochure in hand. Never made it to market. Vaporware. Sometimes they run something up the flagpole and not enough people salute.

[signet]

Korg continues to have a marketing strategy that makes you scratch your head in wonder.

First there was the grand ballyhoo about the Italian Piano, which was featured in an upgraded Kronos, that NEVER actually made it to the market.....

Now, the Italian piano re-emerges with the "new" Nautilus....

Once again, flooding the market with ballyhoo about this keyboard, but what happens when you go to look for it? NOBODY HAS IT.......

"pre order now" is all you get from the major onlines, also, naturally, the way things are done now, forget about walking into a musical store and actually trying one.

I just don't understand where they are coming from on this: Why trumpet something that you don't even have ready for the market?

And then, just like I-Phones, and all other technology of today, there will be the rabid 1st buyers who end up with a machine with multiple bugs that have to be ironed out with updated software....

Whenever I go back and try out various combination sounds on my upgraded Kronos 61, I am reminded of just how fabulous this company is capable of in terms of quality of sound, but communicating properly between us, the consumer, or with the dealers: this is where they are still sorely lacking.

John: I preordered a Nautilus 88 from a reputable stateside dealer, and have yet to see any definitive info on when mine will be delivered. To top it off, I payed with PayPal, so my money is already out of my hands, and into theirs. I sure would like to have some definite info on when this thing might arrive! I am long-term pianist, and need the RH 3 keybed to keep my chops up!... (m.)

[meatballfulton]

Late response here but was reading business section of the newspaper today and there were two articles about the effects of semiconductor chip shortages.

One was about cars...GM had to stop production of certain models because of a shortage of chips for the electronics. Dealers were having to talk customers into buying models with fewer options (imagine that). Supposedly Ford and other makers are having similar problems.

On the same page was a mention that some broadband providers are backordered on routers by an entire year! With the increased demand for online access due to the pandemic they can't supprt the demand for new boxes to either new or existing customers.

Add to the chip shortages the problems with shipping worldwide and you get a perfect storm. The manufacturers can't build the product because some components are backordered and then they once built can't ship the finished product either.

I see an awful lot of synth gear from online dealers listed as "expecting more soon"...in some cases listed that way since the beginning of the year!

Korg may also have underestimated demand for Nautilus. I recall that when Minilogue first came out, US dealers were sold out in less than two weeks and then there was a four or five month delay before they could get any more.

[GregC]

Korg may also have underestimated demand for Nautilus. I recall that when Minilogue first came out, US dealers were sold out in less than two weeks and then there was a four or five month delay before they could get any more.

The chip/device component shortage situation is not new news - its been reported for over 1 year. There have been considerable changes in Asia, at the factory level.

Most co's dependent on component supply lock down supply inventory for a rolling 90 days quantity.

Co's that do not plan correctly end up dealing with more 3rd parties at higher costs.

That " just in time ' manufacturing approach is almost gone.

For sure, the container mess created a temporary perfect storm recently but that only commenced Feb 1 2021, not last year , 2020, when Nautilus was assembled in Asia.

There are other ways to get product to the mainland. Well run co's should adapt and have alternative logistics.

To wait for orders to swamp in at retail is not necessarily a measurement of ' success'.

it could be marketing speak when a co has +100's of impatient
customers who were promised Nautilus in February.

[ianmilld]

It is due to a large flow of scammers on the Internet. After all, it is much easier to steal a user’s data this way. Therefore, I was skeptical about this kind of business for a long time. However, time passed, and I had to change my mind. Therefore, I use https://belkins.io/inbound-appointment-setting to promote the sales of my product now. Btw, I had never thought I would succeed in this industry. I have worked as a government lawyer all my adult life. Now I am selling phones and TV sets.

[icecoldrocker]

There are numerous music stores in the US alone
I saw it coming years ago when synth makers were soon to not have their synths sitting in stores as a demo-model and then have it beat in to submission by someone in playing it.
Many are the times when I would show up to a music store to test a new KORG SYNTH and someone is already there monster-mashing the buttons and banging on the keys. After a while that gets expensive
don't think for a second that is not known.
GuitarCenter has just about no KORG synths to demo
in the 2000s one could test any high-end synth
However there was no YouTube back in those days
It's all MIDI controllers I see being offered a-long with some hardware newcomers such as Arturia
Korg Yamaha and Roland have pulled to background with having those expensive synths hanging out to demo.
Myriad of reasons why too