Why Does AGD Barely Market Itself?

[SpecialBlend2786]

BTW, the Pantera has always been my dream car to own...

same.

I call dibs on the first one seen on ebay btw

[Enemy]

see i have only heard of the pantera once!! now look at another scene like drift all the top drivers are driving 240sx with the sr20det motor mod or they are driving really jdm s-13's s-14's and s-15's... it is the newest hottest thing that and the skyline GT-Rs but yeah those are just wet dreams to any driver in the us!! the fact of the matter is that trends in sports follow trends in its top brackets!!

the tourney scene cannot be over taken but maybe a new design from agd with an aggressive ad campaign and some good teams playing with the gun would do some good.. making a new subdivision isnt really needed as with cars many makers have cheapys and highends!!


the only problem with this "hey why doesnt agd advertise well" i think its because in a scene like this agd thought that the money on advertising would be wasted and only serve to drive up the cost of their product!! why do you think dye charges so much for stuff its not just cuz they can! is agd hurting without PR..yes...would PR help.. i dont know!!

but with the dwindling sales and total revamp of the RT and its cheaper price i think agd should start advertising some how it really does need to make a run for a short time about the ule projects because lets face it noone knows that the rts are lighter than any other gun! or that they have a functioning trigger pull of less than a pound!! or that the valve can be shot up to 26 bps w/o stumbling!! or that the ules look amazing!!

wow this turned out longer than i had ever imagined!!

lastly to those who say why isnt agd doing this and that or i suppose they should advertise more.. get out there and get the name out let new kids on their first day hold and shoot your gun. dont be like im old school and hoard it see a new kid sitting on the sidelines be like hey check this out.. hear a kid saving up for something hey shoot this tell me what you think!!

[Konigballer]

Quote: "but not offering a double trigger frame stock is insane. Name ONE company out there that still doesn't offer a double trigger on even its base model that ISN'T a pump or scenario gun. The DOuble Trigger upgrade was fine in the day, but now it shouldn't be an "upgrade" but a standard item on the gun."

This is a good point, I've never understood why AGD has done crap like this for SO long. People are shelling out bucks for a new RT and find out you have to pay even more buck for a double trigger frame that comes standard on Walmart guns.... That single trigger frame was state of the art back when New Kids On The Block were topping the charts, when many of the teenage AO'ers on this board were babies or toddlers...


Actually, on a Pantera side-note, did'nt Elvis shoot his Pantera when it would'nt start?
'Any car good enough for The King to shoot is good enough for me to drive.'

[LONEWOLFOO1]

I don't think they need to advertise just produce products and stay to the scenioro scene. but i ask you this since they made the tac one where are the accsories tippman is killing them. i excepted why they don't do tournments but no products for there scenioro guns whats really going on.

agd seems to be drifting they decide not to do tournments and stick to woodsball but i don't see them excelling in that as well. i really want to know the direction of this company tippmann,sp,dye,armotech has it clear as glass what they want to do as a company. whats agd direction or goals because i don't know. people see my tac one and think it cool and the first thing ask is agd is heavy in the scenrio scene or tourment. then i say scenioro and then they say wheres the accsories. i say they don't have nothing out right now and there is one company makeing a lonbow for it? they say thats it (after they laugh) and i say yes then the next week they get a tippmann,armotech talk about losing a sale i can't even convince people to buy a agd scenioro gun dam!!!

i would like to know this company direction or at least it mission statement i know about the enginering thing but in paintball they need to make a stand tournment,scenioro. the in between makes a company look weak because to the consumer it looks like the company lacks direction. and no matter how reailable and dependable your products are nobody is going to buy it if you don't take a postion becasue nobody is going to own a marker that may not be around 5 years.

[MadPSIence]

anyone ever think that AGD is on the verge of bankruptcy? the only really worthwhile mags out there are being built by non-AGD people and I believe because they have to order a lot of parts of AGD still, that is the only thing AGD is holding onto. The Tac-One maybe helped a bit but there's absolutely nothing new about it really besides a new body and rail ( ? ).

that's my theory. I am unsure if AGD even has the cashflow or capacity to do the R&D to make a new marker much less market it the way they would have to in order to make a huge comeback.

[LONEWOLFOO1]

THATS what bothers me i don't expect agd to make guns but i do expect them to make accsories. i want sling for the tac one and a adjustable butt stock. maybe a warp tac body.front grips like a m4 or mp5.

[peewee]

The only really "new" guns to come out in the last couple years are the freestyle & ion. A spyder is still a spyder no matter what body style you throw on it, kingman hasnt changed anything in years except the bling factor ( new boards in the eframe dont count). Has tippmann really changed anything with the 98C or A5? NO... People might need to look at the comment about AGD markers being built by non agd statment. I spoke with one seller about ordering a complete marker with a classic valve instead of an X. The repley that I recieved was that that paticular marker came as a complete package from AGD & couldnt be sold less the X valve. If people are really concerned. I think that we here at AO should start a fund to pay for an ad in a couple PB rags. I'd pitch in some money. I'll look at contacting a couple magazines.

[Number13]

*cough* Ford Pantera *cough*

The Pantera was Ford's Automag.

But could Ford have survived as a company with just the Pantera? I say no. The Pantera, though itself not widely advertised (it was in some magazines at least, here's an example), was actually a marketing tool for the Ford Motor Company. It was one product designed to become a classic and create interest for the company within a very specific niche. People would associate the quality and performance of the Pantera with the Ford Motor Company and want to buy one. Since it was a relatively scarce car, however, many would have to choose less expensive or more obtainable substitute models--models that were more advertised and popular and that yielded a higher profit for Ford. Furthermore, when buying a family or work vehicle, the image of the power and performance of the Pantera carries with the familiar consumer to the show room, prompting them to select a Ford pick-up truck over a Chevy. The Pantera was not a company-wide marketing model, but a tool in the overarching company strategy. Your example actually illustrates the need for marketing and advertising, since the Pantera was only a tool in the comprehensive Ford marketing strategy. The company would not have survived if it marketed all of its models that quietly.

making a new subdivision isnt really needed as with cars many makers have cheapys and highends!!

Which illustrates the reason we shouldn't be drawing analogies with the auto industry. Most car manufacturers, in order to reduce costs, combined into corporations that market across all automobile consumer segments. It is very expensive to design, patent, defend, manufacture, and sell a new vehicle. Prohibitively expensive to most. The setup of the of the popular automobile manufacturers works because it is such an expensive product with high production costs per unit.

Only bad thing is that new players have been brainwashed into thinking they need an Electro to compete.

I'd argue that it's what their familiar with, not what they've been brainwashed into accepting. People, after infancy, generally become neophobic. So if the only familiar options are electros, that's what they'll go with. AGD's not even in the evoked set for the vast majority of players. It's not other companies brainwashing, it's AGD being shy. If AGD has such a great product, and I believe they do, then why are they so reluctant to tell the masses? How many times did Mr. Kaye post here in frustration of rumors and misconceptions about his equipment? Why didn't he initiate an advertising campaign to inform the public?

I think that we here at AO should start a fund to pay for an ad in a couple PB rags. I'd pitch in some money.

I wouldn't. I have paid to purchase my mag, and they can use that money. I want to help AGD, but I am not willing to put it on charity. It is their company and they need to send their own message to the public, I believe. If they do not want to, that is their decision. I'd be interested in knowing why, but I'm not going to throw my money at them and say, "do things my way despite your decision."

[snake_eater]

There's no such thing as scenario paintball... There's only recball or speedball...
Scenario is just another hype word to make people think its different when its not... You either run in the woods, or slide into a bunker...

[VFX_Fenix]

lets face it noone knows that the rts are lighter than any other gun!

A stock 03 Shocker is actually lighter and I'm not sure how it stacks up against an Ion.

The only really "new" guns to come out in the last couple years are the freestyle & ion.

Again, the 03 Shocker is a new gun platform as is the Nerve. The Planet Eclipse Ego is also a new gun and brings back an old concept, Power Feed. There's also one other, I can't recall the name, but it was a boltless design, just had a trap door, anyway....

There's no such thing as scenario paintball... There's only recball or speedball...
Scenario is just another hype word to make people think its different when its not... You either run in the woods, or slide into a bunker...

And I'd beg to differ, there's a HUGE difference between recball and Scenario ball. RecBall and Woodsball, about the same meaning. Both imply a casual level of commitment to the game and includes the "newbies" to the sport. Scenario Ball is to Woodsball what Recball is to Tournament Speedball. Scenario games see teams of players which practice together, huge attendance, and generally some sort of loose storyline with objectives beyond "eleminate the other team and hang the flag". Scenario games run for long periods of time (upwards of 3 days) for a single "game".

Saying scenario paintball doesn't exist is like saying that the NPPL/PSP/NCCS/etc. etc. etc. don't exist, that's it's just speedball.

[bound for glory]

heres my take on this. i've been playing scince 1985. i am proud to say i jumped on the adg bandwagon well before adg had a bandwagon. when everybody was shooting 68specials and pmi3s i shoot an automag. i'm proud to have owned every mag from adg and even a micromag. when i bought my emag i could have gotten ANY marker i wanted. i chose to stick with agd. i don't need hyped up adds to sell me what "people" consider the next great supergun "this week". yeah, i play rec ball. and plenty of people ask me about my emag. i could care less if they go buy one. the product speaks for itself. and as for adgs possible financle woes, well, i'm sure if they go under someone will still fix/upgrade the markers. what bothers me most is it takes a guy like chris of devilmag fame to make the e/xmag into what it should have been in the first place. that devilmag is awsome! now why can't adg do something like that? now wheres that extra $350 to get my emag converted into a devilmag

[VFX_Fenix]

Glory, that's great, you're sold and a solid believer in AGD, that isn't the problem. The problem is that new players don't know what AGD or the Automag are. Without a steady income of new players to build such brand loyalty as you have AGD NEEDS to make themselves known to new players. I'm willing to bet that I'm the only one with a Mag within 100 miles of my home field. I'd be further willing to bet that I'm the only one with an E-Mag withing 200 miles. I mean, I could be wrong, but before I met Carbon in Windsor, I'd never even seen another person using an E-Mag... check that, a Mag period since 2002. The first E-Mag I'd ever seen was *gasp* my own live and in person.

Would I have even bought a Mag if I looked at what was around me? No.
Why did I buy a Mag? Because when I was a pup in 1998 a friend of mine upgraded from his Spyder SE to a 68 Classic then a Retro Micromag. I had my Spyder TL and I was just blown away by those Mags and made me want one. Arguably the first gun I ever wanted beyond my Spyder.

I had exposer to a product, I'd seen the ads in APG and even my local Pro Shop had a couple on the wall.

Where are the Mags now? Print ads are non-existant, Product in stores is non-existant, Product on the field is also, guess what, non-existant. I realise I'm deep in the heart of what was once Autococker turf and now Bob Long and Smart Parts land.

How can you expect a new player to want a product that they don't even know exists? You can't, and AGD will die because of it. Right now it seems like the AGD user base is simply inbreeding on itself, players swapping parts and guns between eachother with AGD sitting on inventory that should be going to new buyers, not just repeat customers.

EDIT: Remember, what's good for AGD is also good for its user base. If AGD Flourishes, guess what, more aftermarket companies will make stuff for the Automag, everything from bodies to rail to frames of all kinds. There was a time when Mag upgrade and cosmetic parts were plentiful, right now, the best you can hope for is a custom work from Tunaman and the like. The attitude of, "Screw everyone else if they go and buy a mag or not, they don't know what they're missing." isn't an attitude that will help AGD as a company, Eventually parts break and wear out, if AGD dissapears, then where will the 3rd parties go? That's right, they'll go bye-bye too. Look at Tribal, there's a very loyal group of guys and gals who love their guns, but their company is gone and spare parts are dwindling. Think about it.

[MarkM]

Maybe not a paid for ad but take a look at page 23 of PGI

[Jack & Coke]

Why no marketing?

Maybe because there's nothing new to market?

FROM:

http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=917003

tzustrategy wrote:

I just called AGD, and talked to the new president Dave...

I asked: "can I keep my fingers crossed regarding awesome new stuff from AGD?"

his response: "eh...I wouldn't really keep my fingers crossed. Non of that superstitious crap. I really wouldn't look too hard for anything new in the near future..."

Man, my heart sank.

[VFX_Fenix]

Well you don't need something new to market, given the obscurity of AGD right now I think just tossing a ULE Mag ad into a magazine would be "new" enough. How old is the Level 10 and X-Valve? I mean, WGP's been pushing the same Autococker for how long with just different dressing?