How Well is the Percussion Industry Holding Up?
Some areas of our industry have done relatively well during the recession. Some have not. Perhaps the hardest-hit sector has been pianos. Fewer homebuyers equals less people with space for a piano. People with less money equals fewer “discretionary” purchases, such as pianos.
However, accessories have continued to chug along at a good pace. Lower-priced guitars have been selling. But what about percussion products? How well are they doing? Well, let’s ask. How about we ask Yamaha’s Dave Jewell, SABIAN’s Wayne Blanchard, and Vic Firth’s Mark Dyke?
Question No. 1: Are we seeing an economic recovery yet? If so, what are you doing to take advantage of it? If not, when do you foresee things
getting better?
Jewell: “Not at this point. Summer is really a bad time for musical instrument dealers to recover. Everyone is on vacation or they’re not in their lesson routines. Even in a good economy, the summer is always tough. However, I think there are signs that the fall will get stronger. Just like everyone in any business today, we have had to get very aggressive with pricing and incentives for both the dealer and customer.”
Blanchard: “Things might or might not be improving, but, in some markets, there is a growing desire with dealers to move forward, especially with the holiday season looming. That being said, many are still cautious about their degree of commitment, due primarily to the uncertainty of the general situation. As for ‘taking advantage of it,’ Sabian is doing whatever it can to make buying and selling easier for its dealers. The overriding problem for the market is confidence; even a slight upturn could create the desired shift toward the positive.”
Dyke: “Yes, Vic Firth is seeing an increase in ordering activity and the orders are once again getting larger. To ensure the best scenario for our partners with our product range, we chose not to make any cuts to our marketing, promotional, or educational programs. In fact, our promotional support to our partners has increased so they can provide better service to their customers and develop strong relationships for repeat business. Our marketing program remained intact, so we continue to create global end-user demand for our product range. We have added several features to our Web site to help our partners know about merchandising options for our products, know about current value pack offers, assist the percussionists to get information they require easily for product selection decisions, increased the educational features to assist band directors, who are not percussionists, choose the best product for each percussion instrument, added international drum festival coverage for the drummers, added new ‘family artist’ posters for customer giveaways, just to name a few. Expanding our distributor, dealer, and customer support has helped us avoid the significant year-to-year losses others have endured. All of this activity is backed by our strong inventory of finished products, so we can ship our orders within 48 hours with greater than 95 percent fill rates. This service is critical for the distributors and dealers to support their customers’ needs.”
Question No. 2: How has the drum industry held up in 2009? Are you optimistic about times ahead?
Dyke: “The market for accessories is different from the higher-ticket products. Drummers need our products to play their instruments, so we continue to discuss programs that will keep our customers (dealers and end users) loyal to the Vic Firth brand and quickly supplying our products to the dealers to fill the customer demand. Fortunately, the demand for Vic Firth products has been steady for the first half of 2009 and, with the economic news getting more positive, I believe the current increases will continue. We are optimistic about drumstick and accessory sales in the second half of 2009.”
Blanchard: “There’s no denying that the industry has suffered a serious economic bruising. That being said, it has provided Sabian with the opportunity to re-evaluate and introduce new efficiencies to benefit our agenda and the business of our partners. Optimistic? Always! With our current focus on core lines promoted with our ‘What’s Your Sound?’ program and this year’s Vault Tour, Sabian is well positioned for when the market kicks back into gear.”
Jewell: “Slightly optimistic. But, if you look at the data, in general the drum industry has been slightly down, though the sale of electronic drums has helped lessen the decline. Unfortunately, this is at the expense of acoustic drums.”
Question No. 3: As dealers gear up for the holiday season, what percussion products/accessories should they be purchasing now, and why? (You can answer this question with specific products you sell or with a general type of product.)
Blanchard: “The Chopper, the Alu Bell, the multi-holed O-Zone Splash, and the new Vault Nano Hats are popular effects and add-ons. The pre-pack Performance Sets in all series are consistently high-demand items. And innovative designs including the O-Zone Crash, the X-Treme Crash, the X-Plosion Crash, and Raw Bell Dry Ride—different cymbals with different sounds that appeal to the majority—are always popular. Consumers want personalized and niche ‘boutique’ items, and our innovative product design program ensures there are many of those to be had.”
Jewell: “Why, they should stock every piece of drum hardware they can. Buyers in these times will most likely add to a kit rather than purchase a new one. Same of cymbals. Stock up on cymbals; especially the Paiste brand with all the price points and sound selection they have to choose from.”
Dyke: “Dealers simply cannot run out of Vic Firth drumsticks and accessory products. We encourage the partners to increase the stick selection so drummers know they can visit their local shop and choose the stick that feels best for their playing style, get a practice pad for traveling, pick up some stick tape, or purchase headphones to protect their hearing. When the drummers have a good shopping experience with these required accessory products immediately available, they will be inclined to visit that shop again in the future and usually bring some friends. Stocking the top-selling accessory brand is critical to maintaining, or even increasing, the shop’s sales.”
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