SteenAZ Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 When I was at San Antonio last month something popped into my head when visiting the DCI booth selling the corps branded items. When I asked about buying a PR T-Shirt in a particular size I was told it was sold out and then the sales guy offered to me that PR was the best selling item at the show. I realize that Texas shows are going to have a heavy tilt towards PR but the same can be said about the Coats, Cavies and I believe even Scouts. Anyway, this got me thinking... What if DCI measured the sales of corps branded items, single corps DVDs and APDs and used this data to look at popularity trends? For example, if PR is the top seller of APDs this year wouldn't that be a sign of a music book people like? What if they look at T-Shirt sales at the begining of the season and notice that Coats merchandise has begun to outpace SCV at an increasing rate over each show? I am sure that every time I click on a particular video in Season Pass the information makes it into a database. If the Cavies are the top video watched does that tell DCI something about the visual package? Maybe at the end of the season they let each corps know what happened and show them the trends so they get an idea if the public likes what they are doing? I know that many of the items sold end up getting some or all of the profits back to the corps so they have to have at least some sense of demand. Belive me that as a marketing and sales professional I could take a lot of information gathered from the DCI web sites and souvie booths. A very smart marketing person would use that data to shift product to meet the interest of the buying public. This is just basic smart business. I know this sounds purely evil but I had to put this out. I am not one of those people on this board that thinks anything DCI does is wrong. In fact I have great admiration for the organization and aside from one little issue I believe they are taking the activity in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentleman Marcher Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 So, you're saying, you think DCI might consider offering more/exclusive merchandise for those corps who are the biggest hits with fans in a given season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBob Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 So, you're saying, you think DCI might consider offering more/exclusive merchandise for those corps who are the biggest hits with fans in a given season? I think what he's suggesting is that popular APDs = happy fans = good show design = what they should do in the future. He's suggesting maybe there ought to be an explicit correlation between what sells this year and show designs for next year. Personally, I think that way lies madness. Not everyone buys APDs. In fact, I'm willing to bet a very small percentage of drum corps fandom does, which means the sample they would provide would be too limited to accurately represent the public's tastes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodave Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 I don't know about other people, but i don't start "choosing" apd's until i get to 15th place or so. First thru crossmen/spirit is a must have every year. at least twice a summer (june, then S/A). I wish they would sell those darn videos they have. Imagine..mpg's of the show for $4? I'd buy those too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_S Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 I don't know about other people, but i don't start"choosing" apd's until i get to 15th place or so. I buy the first release of every corps, and then pick an choose as the season goes on. For example, I have over half the field from San Antonio, just about all the top twelve, and then the shows I really liked from then on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Bauglir Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 (edited) I doubt that the corps specific merchandise sold at the DCI booth really reflects the sales trends overall. I would bet the vast majority of merchandise is still sold at the individual corps booths, sales that are not recorded or analyzed by DCI. And even presuming that DCI has an accurate model of sales and consumer preferences...what exactly would be done with this information? What is the end goal of this? And as far as my personal actions, I have only bought 2 APDs; Cavies and Bluecoats from San Antonio. I don't think I am gonna get anymore, even from these corps. I'll wait for the CDs to come out so I can have the final products from everyone on my iriver. Edited August 6, 2006 by Morgoth Bauglir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteenAZ Posted August 6, 2006 Author Share Posted August 6, 2006 I think what he's suggesting is that popular APDs = happy fans = good show design = what they should do in the future. He's suggesting maybe there ought to be an explicit correlation between what sells this year and show designs for next year.Personally, I think that way lies madness. Not everyone buys APDs. In fact, I'm willing to bet a very small percentage of drum corps fandom does, which means the sample they would provide would be too limited to accurately represent the public's tastes. Yes that is what I am saying but I am also afraid that even worse could happen. What if someone were to use the download and click count information to influence judging clinics? I am not for one second thinking that this happens but I do know of other judged activites where panels get outside pressure to look at things a certain way. Here is an example. Miss Universe gets big ratings in Latin America. Donald Trump sees this and makes sure that the judging panel is packed with judges that will advance Latino women further in the competition. When was the last time that the five finalist did not consist of at least three or four women from Latin America? The Donald is a smart man and I assure you he knows how to read the veriship data and well as other tools that measure what people like in a Miss Universe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gottalovit Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 I agree this is a tool that could be used in negative ways(or I suppose positive depending on how you look at it). I am sure DCI keeps track of individual APDs and views of clips from shows. And knowing that happy fans means more $$, this information could be used to make more money for DCI. For example if Cavies sell 18,000 apds, Blue Devils sell 12,000 apds, and Phantom Regiment sells 15,000 apds, they can look at this and say, the most people will be satisfied if we place Cavies 1st, Phantom 2nd, and Blue Devils 3rd. The most people satisfied means the most $$. I am not saying they would, but stranger things have happened. It would be like paying to vote to some degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteenAZ Posted August 6, 2006 Author Share Posted August 6, 2006 I agree this is a tool that could be used in negative ways(or I suppose positive depending on how you look at it). I am sure DCI keeps track of individual APDs and views of clips from shows. And knowing that happy fans means more $$, this information could be used to make more money for DCI. For example if Cavies sell 18,000 apds, Blue Devils sell 12,000 apds, and Phantom Regiment sells 15,000 apds, they can look at this and say, the most people will be satisfied if we place Cavies 1st, Phantom 2nd, and Blue Devils 3rd. The most people satisfied means the most $$. I am not saying they would, but stranger things have happened. It would be like paying to vote to some degree. There we go, I didn't want to be the one to write it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Bauglir Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 By making a corps' success directly related to their popularity, you would create a situation where a corps would gain popularity from success which would give them more success and then more popularity and so forth. Because you will always have a large portion of fans who base their purchases off of placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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