If I were the CEO... of XYZ model train co... how do I promote the hobby?

My kids have had Brio since they hit 2 years old. Thomas runs on the TV all the time (along with Bob the Builder) when they're allowed to watch, we've got a Fisher Price Toots the Train I bought second hand (it works by buttons on the loco, or a wireless voice activated microphone). I can't get the kids away from either of them.

Brio and Thomas are single handedly two things that engage the kids at a young age. Go to a local train show, and which layouts get the most interest from the little ones? The ones with Thomas and Friends models running. I know that's where we spend most of our time.

After that, there's kind of a gap. Until they reach an age where maybe HO is appropriate.

As for the Toots set, my kids would rather push or push the buttons on Toots himself, rather than use the microphone to tell him to go to the station, farm, Stop, Go, etc. Not sure if it's an age thing, or being more immersed in the play more.

 

What I showed was not what I would necessarily do, but looked at the marketplace to determine where it made sense too enter. Part of determining what you are going to produce has to be what you can do to separate your products from the competition. If you don't analyze the competition, how will you know what can be done? The integral part is getting a 5 year plan in place before starting any production. You need to know what you are going to make before you can market it and entice folks into being customers, whether that is existing modelers or new modelers.

Software - Make interactive applications to learn about wiring, scenery, operations that can be viewed on any tablet or smartphone. Similarly make a better application to both manage your locomotives and rolling stock, make it take all the trepidation out of wiring and DCC. I see this as an opening to make a better system of applications for all aspects of the hobby.

In fact the application can interrogate the DCC system you have and automatically optimize itself to use that capabilities of the system. And with the advanced functionality of the software could drive a new line of decoders to take advantage of the features. You use your computer, tablet or smartphone for every step of building and operating your trains.

Hardware - Alloy specialization, this along with better motors etc would become more of a oem provider to the existing manufacturers. This could be a good safe entry point to not compete with anyone just supply everyone. But having a materials science team, this would be an interesting idea since I already have the casting and machining operations in house.

The salient point is that it is job of the CEO to determine the products and have the sales/marketing team figure out the best way to expose it. CEO's do not create the public image, the marketing folks do. This is what is essentially wrong with the original poster not knowing what CEO's do and don't do.

 

If I were the CEO... of XYZ model train co... this is one of the ways that I would promote the hobby.
Reference: http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=258_966

Kids will have the choice of a relative inexpensive wireless train set “coming soon” with $219.00 list-price. There should be a good indication of what type of train-control kids like best by the first part of next year.
Bob

 

There is a distinct market for kids and future model railroaders. The one thing Bachmann has done over the years is provide just that. Downside, most of the equipment they sold literally tore itself apart as it ran around the toy train pikes. A discouraging factor for my two kids, as they grew into model railroading.

The starter sets need to be easy to put together, run well and serve the youngster longer then just Christmas Day.

Just my two cents.

 

I agree, but most of the parents of kids that I know do this kind of shopping on eBay or Amazon, and pay a good bit less that “list price”. I thought that the word “thefavoritespot” was well known in the hobby.
Bob

 

David,

My point is that in two long posts on a thread about getting more folks into the hobby, not once did you use the phrase "customer" or "modeler", just "product." And this after you (or someone) made the point that model rr companies may not know the customer, or think of them as directly as they should.

While you think that this might be implied, I would bet most CEO would start with some kind of mission statement that actually mentions the customer, too. Coming up with products to find open niches in the industry is a good thing, but not without any customer surveys, etc.

Just my thoughts.

 

When I was growing up in WV, there was a great LHS in town back in the 80's. There was a very detailed N scale layout in the window, and that was what got me into N scale. it still inspires me today in my current layout! It wasn't just a flat board with a train going around in a circle, it was very detailed. The Owner was usually working on it during the day, putting plaster down or building a model building, or running trains. He would actually stage demonstrations on techniques! It's long shuttered now, but I remember how inspiring it was to see the results, not just products in packages, but how they came to life with a little bit of effort.

 

In reading this thread, I have come to the conclusion that part of the problem with getting new people into the hobby, or any hobby for that matter, is the lack of LHS. This has occurred for many reasons especially the search for the cheapest prices on the web. Best Buy is not going to survive if all they are is a show room for the web. I have read reports that many people go into Best Buy, look at the items, then go order the same off a discounter on the web. This happens all too often with hobby items like trains. Look at the dealers then seek out the best price on the web, then complain when the LHS goes out of business and you have no where to look at the items before buying. The world has changed and we are not going back to locally owned hobby shops, book shops, drug stores, etc. Medical practices are being bought by the hospitals, sole practitioners as attorneys are disappearing due to increase complexity of the law, no more local garages for car repair, only national chains. We just lost the last local auto repair shop in the town where I live. He could not compete with the national stores and their ability to purchase the highly technical equipment to repair vehicles at this point in time.

To get people into a hobby, you need to provide a place where that person can explore the hobby, see if it meets their needs and whether or not they like the hobby not just the idea of the hobby. Train shows and the ability to speak with people and tell them what the hobby is about is one way to do this. I have seen some club members get real short with people when the same questions are asked over and over again and again. As clubs displaying our model railroads to the public, we need to do a better job promoting the hobby. We can do this by having 1 page handouts available for the public which state how to get started and what you need to get started. I have displayed a small N layout, 30x38 and people did not believe that is all you need to get started. Maybe in additional to the large n-trak, free-mon, t-trak and other modular layouts, we need to take small layouts, 2'x4' or 28" or 30" wide HCD layouts to the shows also, with a list of items that were used to make the layout. You can start by going to the KATOUSA site and printing out the Central Carolina and Grand Kay and Bonneville layouts. For a beginner, uni-track is s great way to teach people how to lay track as it is so forgiving. On your handout suggest Atlas or Kato locos with FVM, Atlas, MTL, and InterMountain for the start up cars. Suggest ready built buildings or simple kits for the structures, with this, you can maybe get more people interested in the hobby by showing them a simple door or 2x4 sized base can support a model railroad that is fun to build and operate. We must be kind to the people attending the shows and by the display of a small layout with a few handouts, we can show them how to enter this hobby. It is worth a try.

 

CASMRR,

Yes, I think the human touch is important, more important than more tech......unless that tech just makes layout building that much easier.

I hate to say it, but I would even think pre-built N Track mods, maybe allowing some room for customization, or in a few configurations where they just add their buildings to customize it, would probably get a lot of folks in N - a home switching layout that can be taken out for long train running.

More hands on at train shows (to replace the LHS) more club displays at odd times of year (but maybe near Xmas in the malls) more NMRA local meets that invite newbs and demonstrate techniques, etc.

I am always surprised at the number of folks with some interest, not all compelling interest that many of us have, and see too many barriers to entry. I have said this before, but anyone who sees my layouts has commented about their early interest in trains, or that of their dad, or uncle. Time, money, space are all barriers.

Maybe we can extend the day by a few hours, and convince everyone to try N and Z. Just a random thought, but I even wonder how much the HO guys steer folks away from N with their bias, and in essence, steer someone away from model railroading with their scale bias?

We do have to remember that we have some good attributes going for us - $$ volume wise, MRR still leads all male dominated hobbies (with, IIRC, female knitting and such being even bigger) in spending. There is a reason slot cars and RC have never caught up. Slots can get boring, and RC may be even tougher and more expensive than MRR......

 

That is more than just the presence or absence of a LHS. I have a couple of major model railroad stores within an hour of me, plus a couple of general LHS that have trains. None of those is in a location that a casual person would walk by. The cost of renting a shopfront in an area where there is significant foot traffic is prohibitive in a lot of markets, so other methods must be used to get the attention of a possible customer.

Adrian

 

Admittedly I haven't read all the posts here in this thread. I've done some quick scanning and one thing just stood out at me like a sore thumb.

Whose job is it to bring in newbies to the hobby? I don't think a CEO, CFO, Administrator, President of a Company has time for that. Your local hobby shop owner is to busy worrying about selling, keeping his doors open and paying his bills. And the City Mayor is to busy governing the 1:1 foot scale while negotiating quiets zones in his neighborhoods. The mortician is to busy cleaning up the mess at these quiet zones, never mind the fire crews and emergency response teams that get dragged out at the most awkward of times of the day and night. Never mind the police departments and coroners and the crews on those trains. Obama, well don't get me started.

Stop and think about what's involved. Stop and think (just in case we missed it the first time) about how you were introduced to the hobby. Then ask yourself what is it I can do and I have.... but this is not about me, it's all about you. What can you do to introduce someone to model railroading. Then stop and think (I think I'm wearing that out) about most everyone around you in the hobby how the were introduced........and by whom.

Mr. Irv Athearn, didn't come along and say to me, "Sure would like to see you in the hobby, I'm building some really neat stuff just for you." No that didn't happen. It was my grandad and great granddad that went out and purchased my first American Flyer Set. That's how I got started in the hobby. Don't you know I wish I still had that set of American Flyer passenger cars and that trouble plagued 2-6-2.

I had a neighbor who heard about my trains and brought his son over to see my layout. A real particle board central but he was so taken by it he now at 18 years of age (wouldn't I like to go back to that age) has a layout of his own.

Can you guess where this is going. Obvious as the pimple on the end of my nose. Right?

So let's get off the bench, quit warming up the lazy boy chairs, watching all those videos and DVD's, putting this off on some CEO and get busy introducing your friends to the hobby. Open houses work. Whether it's your layout, a round robin group and/or a club layout. Modular groups can get busy and set up in a empty space at a mall and invite the public in to see and enjoy the benefits of model railroading. Help your local hobby shop set up clinic's and pick your best presenters to make, what else "How To" presentations.

You in the front row what was that you just said. LOL "Get off your @$$ and do your part." Is that what I heard you say? What was that? Oh I didn't spell it right. Family show, you got's to keep in mind this is a family show. Some are more conservative then other's.

You are the CEO, CFO, President, Administrator, Department Head of your own layout. So, looking back through the mirror...what can you do to promote the hobby? Leave the CEO's to deciding where their products will best fit into the market place and remember you are in more control then you think. How? I vote for the products I like most, with my wallet and pocket change.

Oh, and if you think E-pay is the place to buy....not so fast here...but I don't have time for that right now. Support your LHS first and then if they can't help you, try contacting the sponsors that support this website. We have some of the finest e-mail order houses on line right here on TrainBoard.

Need help and advice? Do you know how many of us here on TrainBoard.com, have our own blogs and How To's. There is more then enough help available. Today's video's are a God Send. You'll even find How To's right here on TrainBoard.

Let's promote the fun, the challenge and get the ball rolling. We are getting the highball from the conductor and the high green from Marceline.

When it all works smoothly it's fun. When it doesn't, it isn't.

See signature for more of the same.

 

And yet they still like cars.

But that's why I was also saying that it's important to shrink the upgrade difficulty between direct current and digital control which wireless digital control may achieve.

Kids are naturally curious and as a side effect have shifting interests which requires equipment that can reasonably shift with those interests. However, you also need to remember that one of the key problems with model railroading and kids is that you are marketing to kids but selling to parents and those parents may not care about the hobby beyond making their kids happy when they are making their first purchase. As a result, parents will gravitate towards the low costs of direct current while being more concerned about the kid getting bored with the whole thing within a year than the capabilities of the control system in addition to potentially thinking that the difference between DC and DCC is a typo.

Therefore, the best thing that a manufacturer can do to promote the hobby from a control system point of view is the simplification of upgrading rather than just new technology. Ideally, you would give a beginner the low cost of direct current with upgrading to digital control being no more difficult than a dongle swapout in a locomotive without having to replace the DC throttle. This also gives you the bonus of solving the current problem which DCC has when you mismatch it with DC equipment which is an increasing problem when people are more often making their first purchase online rather than at a LHS.

 

$219!? steep. I wouldn't buy that for my kid or any of my nephews or god children. That's way to steep of a price. Say if $100 yes id rather buy them a bli locomotive and let them run it at my club or at my house. A good dc set you can get for about $50

 

Rick,

I agree that we all have a role. While we don't make money off of models like the mfgs, we sure benefit from more modelers, more demand, more fellowship, etc.

While in my last posts, I put some onus on the shows and clubs along with the mfgs, it occurs to me that the LHS could do more too. I do see some store layouts, but IMHO, if they go to train shows, where 5-25K people have shown at least a bit of interest, I have never seen a "newcomers special" on an LHS table. Granted, some national vendors may not benefit, but if 1% of those people get in the hobby, and are local, then that LHS would potentially gain 50-250 new customers.

For that, I would put together some high quality stuff, (or have the Kato and MT train sets) sell at break even. I might even have a few sheets of 3x6 finished plywood so they don't even have to make another stop to get started.

My LHS does the upgraded train set at Xmas, but only in the store. I think it would be quite valuable at a train show. It would keep newbs out of the cheap train sets and in quality stuff at lower prices, which I think would lead to more satisfaction, and possibly a longer term in the hobby.

Again, just some thoughts. If they were that stellar, someone would have (and probably has) tried them.

 

Agreed that most LHS are in out-of-the-way locations, and have been for ages.
The closest thing to an LHS on a main street in the recent past were the Great Train Stores in shopping malls - and they've been gone for over a decade.

 

For the “Not-So-Big” Companys

If I were the CEO of a “not-so-big” company, I would consider cooperating/participating in an “open-interface” for the “next-thing” in train-control. Something like the DCC standards/recommendations only with more “standards” and fewer “recommendations”, and a more stringent threshold before the “open-interface” logo could be used for promoting a product.

A previous post in this thread mentioned “plug-and-play”. It would also be good to have a set of higher “plug-and-play” “standards” with a separate logo for products that were actually “plug-and-play”.

DCC incompatibilities nearly killed my budding interest in the hobby, just 2 years ago. And the fact that all my DCC equipment was from one manufacturer and displayed the DCC “open-interface” logo, made it even worse!
Bob