Re: [CR]Campagnolo - The Italian Bully

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Avocet)

Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 08:44:29 -0700
From: "Steve Maas" <smaas@nonlintec.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Campagnolo - The Italian Bully
References: <1bc.a3a247.2a035e60@aol.com>


One of your comments is telling:

"....and they would keep a lot of good old customers COMING BACK (are you reading this, Richard?)."

It seems to me that, if Campagnolo really wanted to support their customers, they could offer the manufacturer a no-cost or minimal-cost license to produce the hoods. That way, they could keep control of the use of their logo and make sure that it was done the way they wished; for example, they could require the manufacturer to state clearly that the hoods were not Campagnolo equipment.

However, if their goal is to force people to buy new stuff by making the old components obsolete, they've taken the logical route. Unfortunately, like most obtuse American managers, they may think they can make money by forcing people to buy things they don't want. Those of us with three-digit IQs realized, long ago, that such tactics don't work. They drive away customers in the long run.

Steve Maas