I’ve just received a marketing email from Hunt wheels. I’ve c&p’d the first paragraph:
Black Friday: All Year Round
As we’re sure you’ll agree, it’s been heartening to see the number of brands stepping up to the plate and standing against the idea of mass consumption that Black Friday has come to embody. Even outside of the context of 2020 and the global pandemic, Black Friday has never felt right to us, which is why we’ve never done it. This year, it feels even less morally justified. So, to all other brands taking a step back from it, we salute you.
I can’t decide if I admire this, or if this is marketing spin on ‘why the hell would we offer discounts in a time of unprecedented demand?’
It’s all marketing and it’s working.
See I wasn’t even thinking about Hunt until I saw this post. And probably many more might check out their wheels.
For all we know you are a Hunt spy muhahahaha!
To translate, “We wouldn’t want to offer our products at more attainable prices when so many consumers have less money or are potentially unemployed due to a global pandemic. We will go ahead and continue to offer our products at full price so that they will definitely decide to keep their limited resources in their pockets and not spend on frivolous wheelsets. Rest assured it is not because we recognize that we don’t have to cut profit margins when we know our retail price is still lower than our competitors’ sales prices.”
I like Hunt, but this sort of rubs me the wrong way. They could have, ya know, just not said anything?
Maybe due to a number of different companies going out of business, having lower income or other problems to make ends meet, they are against people ‘demanding’ discounted prices from everyone?
As in: if manufacturers offer discounts, people also expect discounts from local bike shops and the latter may not be able to afford that?
I wouldn’t think that actually. There is the rational consumption world based on need and limited resources, then there is the world we actually live in based off of desire, the availability of credit, and kicking the bill down the road.
Sending out that email is not protecting the consumer that shouldn’t be buying the wheelset.
Very true.
Covid was actually a big wakeup call that I should not be kicking that can down the road so often. Fortunately my finances did were not affected by the pandemic, but I’ve worked very hard to get myself out of debt this year. It’s like taking a huge weight off my shoulders.
To be fair to Hunt they send out a similar email every year, stating they stand by their prices 365 days not just one. That said true value never really needs bragging and the current climate, less so.
I believe what they’re getting at is the wastage that goes on, due to both the extra shipping and packaging due to the surge in purchases, and the number of unnecessary purchases that are soon either chucked or simply left to gather dust. It’s been suggested by some other companies employing similar strategies
If so, it’s kind of an odd stance for a company that builds and sells stuff, relying on the reality that the product they sell is essentially non-essential, and a luxury in any real sense of life in this world.
I get the push to working on things like packaging, recycling and all the related stuff with making the future of consumerism sustainable. I think it’s great for companies to make a change in a direction like that (ex: Trek and Cannondale and their packaging changes announced earlier), but I don’t like the shaming that is inherent with Hunt’s approach.
This can all be done in a positive light for them without necessarily directly kicking at the other guys in the process.
Exactly…Look at how REI handles Black Friday. They aren’t shaming anyone, saying the practice is “immoral” or anything else…they just opt to give their employees the day off so they can go enjoy the outdoors.
And the simple reality is that these sales are going to happen regardless…people will buy stuff for the holidays and sales dominate this time of year (by “sales” I just mean retail purchases, not discounts). So the challenge is to get your customers “open to buy” before they spend it somewhere else.
Now, if you believe your products are of sufficient value that you don’t need to participate, and understand that as a result, you’ll lose potential sales because the consumer bought a competitors wheelset, good for you. But to take this morallistic approach is honestly quite grating.
