What's it take for a newbie to win big at NAMM?

[Mickey_C]

Any advice for a NAMM newcomer? I want to go for the purpose of interesting dealers in carrying our new pro-series amplifiers. I am thinking about the 2010 NAMM show (as it's going to be too late to set our best foot forward this January - at least I think that's the case).

- What do you need to bring?
- Need a team to cover all hours?
- Need a demo player, or what?
- lighting, backdrop, or booth equipment?

Every bit of advice would be appreciated.

[ScottR]

a bit of advise...don't put all your amps in one basket. Try and get your amps into other booths, maybe swap with guitar builders by placing their guitars in your booth if they'll return the favor. that way you can maximize your products exposure. especially since it seems that all the new.smaller guys get the tiny booths in the basement. anyway that's my $.02 Good luck to you.

[Mickey_C]

A 10x10 booth is 2995, is that in the basement or the main floor?

Good tip on placing equipment - thanks!

[Reason]

Mickey,

The cost of the boot at NAMM will be less than half of your total expenses. Besides your booth, you pay extra for carpet, extra for electric and extra for them to retreve your freight from the marshalling yard, take away your empties then return them... If you trailor your gear in, you'll likely be forced to "rent" a motorized cart and two teamsters to watch you load and unload their cart. Our neighbor did that last year - $600 each way.

Including freight both ways, travel for three, meals and accomodations, sinage and brochures we paid over $10K to be there.

Just something to consider.

[Boggs]

I suspect that price is basement... I am told that the main floor for a booth that size is $7500 for Winter 2009... Don't let the basement thing be a put-off. A lot of folks go specifically for the basement product shows because that is where a lot of innovative products are located. It gets LOTS of traffic and was my (and many folks I talked to) favorite part of the show last winter. I saw one guy with only 2 guitars in his booth because he sold everything else he had!

I will be demoing a guitar for one of the hardware manufacturers and they estimate their main floor booth to be around $15,000 just for a 10x10 and to get their products and personnel out there. That's a shoestring budget for the main floor.

You need both product and presentation. Somebody who knows both your product and competitive products needs to be there at all times. Having a strong player (and excellent guitar) who knows your product inside out and how to show off its nuances is critical. Having a good guitar to allow others to play through your amp(s) is also necessary. Don't have so much stuff in it that groups of people cannot make their way into your booth either. Layout is important.

That's all I have for now...

[Mark Kane]

Your money would be better spent traveling and doing one on one's with nationally recognized "great dealers" like Fat Sound, Make-n-Music, Ultrasound, Destroy all Guitars, chuck Levin, Wildwood, Dave's Guitar, Larkstreet Music, etc.... big shows in all industries are mostly just circle jerks with wanna-bes and hanger ons taking up most of the real estate. The sales guys on expense accounts will tell you different but that's what they do. Even shipping sample amps out would get you a better return. Don't get stars in your eyes, use common sense.

[Mickey_C]

The $15,000 Anthony mentioned is a lot of money to layout - I am indeed thinking about what else I could do with that money - that's a full year of vintage guitar player full page ads (just for example - I don't think I would do that ).

;-)

[Last Nerve]

What is your approach:
-to obtain dealers?
-to sell directly?

IMO, from only being to ONE NAMM though, it is more focused for builders to obtain dealers and orders (maybe someone could back me up on that), at least on the main floor.
Sure, you get the artists and whatnot coming through, looking for the next cool thing, but those are usually the established musicians with their favorite gear shadowing right behind them.
If your main focus is selling direct, I think there's more value in different advertising for your company.
Maybe try to obtain a pass somewhere, and just visit this year, to see what you think before committing?

[big mike]

You'd be better served to go to some retailers directly and try to get them to stock the amps. That's a lot of money to spend. Namm you'll get tire kickers. It's less about 'business' anymore, and more about the public...that's not actually supposed to get in...

[Reason]

I agree with Big Mike and the above. Most of the dealers walking the NAMM floor are looking for show specials on Line 6 amps. That is not to say you'd walk away empty handed, but a small operation can very likley spend that money in more effective ways.

[stvnscott]

I would add that it makes a lot of sense to do several smaller shows to learn the ropes before laying out that kind of dough on NAMM.

We haven't done NAMM and can't keep up with orders that are coming in anyway. Guerilla (sp?) marketing can indeed be your friend.

[Last Nerve]

I'd agree with the post above about doing the smaller shows first.

You're coming to the L.A. Amp Show I see.
There's some big shows in Austin, there's summer NAMM (probably not near the cost of "regular" NAMM), the NY Amp Show, and some more I can't think of. Maybe focus on attending some of those in the near future.

[Reason]

Originally Posted by Mickey_C

Since your company has done this (and I assume you will be doing it again): Why do you go, and what do you get out of it?

Can any other of the "boutique" builders here speak to why they are going? I thought it must have a positive impact on sales (much more than the outlay of cash) or they wouldn't bother. I know 65 amps attends regularly - and they have driven their product to national recognition. Doesn't Brown-Note also go?

We did NAMM 08 and we got very little direct benefit. There were a couple things held us back- one, we went in cold. No one had heard of us, so they weren't looking for us. And two, we were in hall D (the drum room.) Hall E (the basement) was full, so we got bumped upstairs.

We learned some things for sure, but we're sitting it out this year. We'll go back when either $15K is chump change or we have a product that needs NAMM type exposure.

[Mickey_C]

Originally Posted by Last Nerve

I'd agree with the post above about doing the smaller shows first.

You're coming to the L.A. Amp Show I see.
There's some big shows in Austin, there's summer NAMM (probably not near the cost of "regular" NAMM), the NY Amp Show, and some more I can't think of. Maybe focus on attending some of those in the near future.

I am planning on many shows this next year, including both Amp Shows. I was talking about NAMM 2010 - and thanks for the advice!

Originally Posted by Reason

We did NAMM 08 and we got very little direct benefit. There were a couple things held us back- one, we went in cold. No one had heard of us, so they weren't looking for us. And two, we were in hall D (the drum room.) Hall E (the basement) was full, so we got bumped upstairs.

We learned some things for sure, but we're sitting it out this year. We'll go back when either $15K is chump change or we have a product that needs NAMM type exposure.

Thanks for the detailed answer Anthony - that's exactly what I was wondering! We've just signed up for 18 months of Premier Guitar "sponsorship" both printed and online, and we're putting together more advertising for Vintage Guitar Magazine (though I doubt we will do more full page ads - that was just TOO EXPENSIVE) as well as evaluating other advertising means.

It seems the only way to make a living at this would be to sell 500+ amps a year... I can't see how to do that without advertising and shows to get dealers on board. Doing small numbers of amps simply doesn't work, as it leaves me with two full time jobs, not one.

When I have tried speaking directly to dealers about our products the most common response I've gotten is "Sorry, I've just never heard of your products, and we have too many lines of amps already."

It's a hurdle I am trying to cross, without much luck.

[ford]

If you can't make Arlington in October, get thee to the Dallas show in April I believe. Both shows are huge and well attended.

rock

bford