SUP brand ambassadors?

[Eagle]

And don't get me started on some dealers.....

Haha! 

Social media is a good thing and also a bad thing...but the continual marketing and sales from Ambassadors can be really dull....I recently came off Facebook partly due to that and the general increase in adverts....plus cliques and controlled forums that subtly push brands and delete others from participating if if threatens a sale.

Yep.  Maybe some day they will realize this type of promotion is simply a big turn-off and they are losing valuable potential customers with money in hand to other brands.  Soft sell and the product selling itself always works best for us.

[Weasels wake]

Ok, so now explain how the analogy applies to the current discussion, please.

Really?  Still?

Area 10: "I feel exactly the same. I'd never now buy a Sunova because of the excessive pimping, particularly by supthecreek. Part of the problem is that he's revealed his politics on this forum to be, to my mind, too similar to those of the young guy who allegedly ran over and killed an anti-fascist demonstrator at Charlottesville recently. So now I think of Sunova boards as "the fascist's choice"."

So now I'm just asking you, have you ever owned a VW bug, or better yet, would you ever be caught dead in one?
Now that we know how you make your choices.

[mrbig]

Thanks WeaselsWake for your concise and clear summary of your VW observation.

I was going to take a crack at it but one of the things I have observed that in subjects where there are obvious emotional charges surrounding the issue the potential for misunderstanding is high.

This is cyberspace and many of the experiences of actual human to human contact are absent.

And it's all going exactly according to..

[lucabrasi]

And it's all going exactly according to..

 
well........it sure ain't my plan.

[mrbig]

Nor mine..

[PonoBill]

SUP Ambassadors to Nazis....not sure that can be followed?

It can, but it shouldn't be.

[ukgm]

And don't get me started on some dealers.....

Haha! 

Social media is a good thing and also a bad thing...but the continual marketing and sales from Ambassadors can be really dull....I recently came off Facebook partly due to that and the general increase in adverts....plus cliques and controlled forums that subtly push brands and delete others from participating if if threatens a sale.

Yep.  Maybe some day they will realize this type of promotion is simply a big turn-off and they are losing valuable potential customers with money in hand to other brands.  Soft sell and the product selling itself always works best for us.

It's not a turn off to the thick end of the market - only the officianados like us. That's why marketing is so potent and generally appeals to the lowest common denominator.

[dingfix]

Earlier this year a guy paddle over and suddenly became my new best friend. After a while he explained he was a rep for a brand and would I like to try his board. He could do me a great deal. I said no thanks so he paddle off and started making a new best friend.  That sort of promotion really turns me off.

[Area 10]

So now I'm just asking you, have you ever owned a VW bug, or better yet, would you ever be caught dead in one?
Now that we know how you make your choices.

Ah, OK, thanks for that explanation. Well, the answer is that the two situations (buying a board pimped by an alt-right sympathiser or Trump fanboy, or buying a VW) are completely different. By buying a VW I would not knowingly be supporting the livelihood or goals of an alt-right leaning/Trump-supporting individual. But by buying a Sunova I would, it seems.

VW/Porsche didn't have a choice in creating the bug (or Beetle, as we call it). They were ordered to by someone named Adolf. So they aren't responsible for that. Nazism was as much a tragedy for Germany (indeed, perhaps even more so) as it was for the rest of the world. I don't know of any current connection between VW and the far right.

So, the situation where someone who is a Trump supporter recommends a board bears no relation to this. In this latter case, if you are of moderate political persuasion, you might well think "if this person's judgement is so out of whack that they could be an ardent Trump supporter, why would his opinion about boards be worth listening to?".

And this was my point - if you are promoting a brand, it is probably best to keep your opinions about contentious issues to yourself. Otherwise you risk harming the brand by association.

When I was approached to be a brand ambassador I read the fine print of the contract carefully. It did include a clause about avoiding unsportsmanlike behaviour, dissing other brands etc alongside the usual stuff about being willing to lend my board to others on the beach, not paddling or promoting other brands' boards, attending a certain number of events, keeping evidence of brand promotion on social media etc. And so I was wondering if the terms of other brand ambassadors' contracts included matters relating to not bringing the brand into disrepute.

[coldsup]

And don't get me started on some dealers.....

Haha! 

Social media is a good thing and also a bad thing...but the continual marketing and sales from Ambassadors can be really dull....I recently came off Facebook partly due to that and the general increase in adverts....plus cliques and controlled forums that subtly push brands and delete others from participating if if threatens a sale.

Yep.  Maybe some day they will realize this type of promotion is simply a big turn-off and they are losing valuable potential customers with money in hand to other brands.  Soft sell and the product selling itself always works best for us.

It's not a turn off to the thick end of the market - only the officianados like us. That's why marketing is so potent and generally appeals to the lowest common denominator.

Yup, the dickhead that I dealt with from Gong all those years back was as nice as pie, getting in touch with me on email after I asked a few questions on a forum. A good few emails later I started to have doubts as I seemed to know more about the range of boards than he did. He even got his own board's volume wrong as well as how wide it was? I then told him I had changed my mind...wasn't sure anymore. He got aggressive on email...told me not to waste his time ever again. I told him his was a disgrace and had totally the wrong attitude and that he was a twat. Left it there. Apparently he was well known for being a twat so I was pleased not to hear from again.

[Area 10]

And don't get me started on some dealers.....

Haha! 

Social media is a good thing and also a bad thing...but the continual marketing and sales from Ambassadors can be really dull....I recently came off Facebook partly due to that and the general increase in adverts....plus cliques and controlled forums that subtly push brands and delete others from participating if if threatens a sale.

Yep.  Maybe some day they will realize this type of promotion is simply a big turn-off and they are losing valuable potential customers with money in hand to other brands.  Soft sell and the product selling itself always works best for us.

It's not a turn off to the thick end of the market - only the officianados like us. That's why marketing is so potent and generally appeals to the lowest common denominator.

Yup, the dickhead that I dealt with from Gong all those years back was as nice as pie, getting in touch with me on email after I asked a few questions on a forum. A good few emails later I started to have doubts as I seemed to know more about the range of boards than he did. He even got his own board's volume wrong as well as how wide it was? I then told him I had changed my mind...wasn't sure anymore. He got aggressive on email...told me not to waste his time ever again. I told him his was a disgrace and had totally the wrong attitude and that he was a twat. Left it there. Apparently he was well known for being a twat so I was pleased not to hear from again.

I've had this sort of experience too. It's pretty usual to find I know a lot more about the products than they do. And since the watersports business is essentially blue collar, with no formal customer training or staff monitoring, sometimes there aren't always the levels of etiquette that you'd expect. I think "the lifestyle" attracts quite a few dreamers.

[NorthJerzSurfer]

SUP Ambassadors to Nazis....not sure that can be followed?

It can, but it shouldn't be.

haha...this thread has taken more turns than a mountain road!

[supthecreek]

Area10
I am done being quiet, while you run you mouth about me.
You have NO idea who I am or how I conduct my life.

For the record:
The the KKK and ALL white supremacists are ignorant pieces of sh*t,  that are a dying gasp from a darker age in the old south.
They are dumba*s mother f**kers that exist in a vacuum.

No one relates to them.
No one aligns with them.
8,000 idiots in a country of 323,100,000


I am NOT a social Conservative.
I believe in Conservative solutions in Government and the economy.
That has ZERO to do with any sick, ignorant racists, that exist on the outer fringe of every society.


Area10:
You don't know sh*t about me.
Yet, because I don't fall in line with your never ending political rhetoric, you have gone on a forum I hold dear and called me out as:
aligning myself with a murderer, supportive of his sickness.

Then, repeatedly question my value to the brand that I support.



You said:

"I'd never now buy a Sunova because of the excessive pimping, particularly by supthecreek. Part of the problem is that he's revealed his politics on this forum to be, to my mind, too similar to those of the young guy who allegedly ran over and killed an anti-fascist demonstrator at Charlottesville recently. So now I think of Sunova boards as "the fascist's choice".

"Instead, the point I was making was that if you are a brand ambassador you do need to watch what you say and the image you project. Aligning yourself with views or groups of people that may seem unpalatable to many is not a wise move if you are trying to help your favoured brand"

"buying a board pimped by an alt-right sympathiser or Trump fanboy"

"if this person's judgement is so out of whack that they could be an ardent Trump supporter, why would his opinion about boards be worth listening to?".

"if you are promoting a brand, it is probably best to keep your opinions about contentious issues to yourself. Otherwise you risk harming the brand by association"

"so I was wondering if the terms of other brand ambassadors' contracts included matters relating to not bringing the brand into disrepute"

"If I was a brand manager and I saw one of my ambassadors calling someone in a public forum "a sad little man" (etc etc) then I wouldn't be happy"

====================================================
I can't get the "italics" to turn off ..... but this ends Area10 quotes
====================================================


Yep, Area10, your approach pretty standard....is it's all about:
"The seriousness of the charge"

and you have made some VERY serious charges.

I'm sure you believe:
All you have to do is say it over and over.... and you will create doubt and achieve your goal of destroying my online reputation and the reputation of the brand.

and somehow you are the one offended, by my only previous response:
that you are a "sad, little man"

I was content to let it go....
but you keep assaulting me..... and my association with a brand.

Presumably to get the brand to dismiss me..... and have me run off the internet.

I am fully aware that your attacks will continue
and I know my response will fade away at the turn of the page...

But I will not go away, my reputation will not be tarnished.

Because everyone (but you) knows .... this is all pure bullsh*t.

and, by the way, it says a LOT about YOU.

[Area 10]

supthecreek- thank you for explaining your politics. I understand that you are not aligning yourself with the very extreme right. You are presumably just a run-of-the-mill Trump supporter. It's unfortunate perhaps that recent events in the US and elsewhere have tempted people to conflate Trump, the alt-right, and white nationalism. This has made it a tricky subject to make public pronouncements upon.

I'm guessing that if we met in real life we'd find far more that we agree on than that we don't.

[supthecreek]

Yes, we would have much we agree on.

Yes.... it is tricky subject to make public pronouncements upon...
and yet you did.

Damage done....