Klarinet Archive - Posting 000136.txt from 1994/12

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: David Kaminsky's comments on the LeBlanc Concerto model
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 1994 11:50:42 -0500

David, I respectfully request that you be a great deal more specific
and precise with respect to your statement that reads: "... the Concerto
is a brand new clarinet designed to respond to the market needs."

Exactly how did you find out what the market needs were? What studies
were done to determine the demographics of the marketplace? How was
the Concerto designed to fit the information that came out of your
studies?

Up to, but not including this most recent note, I have felt that everything
you said was well within the bounds of a person in your position. It is
with this most recent posting, and specifically this very comment, that
I am beginning to detect what may be generously called, "marketing doo-doo."

For the moment, I presume that I am wrong; i.e., there is substantive
data to support your assertion that the Concerto model meets a well-known
and well-understood set of market needs that you determined through some
as yet unknown kind of market analysis. You don't even have to show it
to me. It is probably confidential. I just want to know how you got
it, what studies were involved, what the main conclusions were, etc.

I have no objections if you copy clarinet brand X, better it in 10
specific ways and then clean up your competition's clock. That's fine
with me and damn good business sense too. But you must hesitate if that
is what you meant by "designed to respond to the market needs."

My personal opinion (for what it's worth which is probably nothing) is
that a couple of good guys decided to build this new clarinet and
you did it, and apparently very well, too. This was not in response to
market needs for no formal study of what the market needed was done.
And that is probably the right way to go, too. If you really ask the
market what it needs, you will never get a product out the door. In
which case, you want to be hesitant if the text infers that you did.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
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