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Old 12-01-2019, 01:03 AM   #1
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They can’t be this dumb, can they?

Quote:
“We can’t kid ourselves that we can just tweak the formula here and expect it to go on for the next generation.
Quote:
...the instantly recognized Airstream silhouette, aluminum cladding, and what seem like artisanal rivets. “If you stick with all three of those things you end up with exactly what we have,” Wheeler said. “We have to show flexibility to shift direction at least in one of those areas, maybe two.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dalebus.../#4811f6a920a9
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Old 12-05-2019, 01:39 PM   #2
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Never underestimate stupid.
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Old 12-05-2019, 02:26 PM   #3
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I think that’s just a fancy way of saying we need a cheaper line that a 25 year old can afford and pull with his Subaru.
Look for the Steinway Boston equivalent to come.
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Old 12-05-2019, 02:32 PM   #4
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Hi

Ummm ..... errrrr ...... Basecamp ..... errrrr ..... Nest ......

Bob
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Old 12-05-2019, 02:34 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiny16 View Post
I think that’s just a fancy way of saying we need a cheaper line that a 25 year old can afford and pull with his Subaru.
Look for the Steinway Boston equivalent to come.


I 100% know the reference here [emoji3]

Well played.
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Old 12-05-2019, 02:37 PM   #6
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A.pop up Airstream that is shaped like a Conestoga. With silver canvas.
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Old 12-05-2019, 02:38 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by uncle_bob View Post
Hi

Ummm ..... errrrr ...... Basecamp ..... errrrr ..... Nest ......

Bob
Ummm errrr ...do you really think either of those are at the price point of the average 25 year old?
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Old 12-05-2019, 03:26 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Tater View Post
A.pop up Airstream that is shaped like a Conestoga. With silver canvas.
Tater - you've hit it. Maybe they could buy the Opus trailer company and switch the colors to all silver. Maybe even a really big solar blanket so it would look like a polished AS.
https://newatlas.com/air-opus-camping-trailer/48009/
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Old 12-05-2019, 05:32 PM   #9
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Took a very good course years ago on selling successfully. Main thing they taught was that people buy emotionally and back it up with logic after the fact.

I always thought I was the opposite... but after analyzing myself a bit, I realized that I do make those emotion based choices.... but also have a pretty good limit switch. I keep a 6 year old truck even though there is a lot of pretty new truck bling available. Every new truck will be thrilling for six months... but the payments will last 7 years and at the end the truck will be a used up, dinged up mess. Paid for - can be sexy in its own way. I really like a neighbors tricked out golf cart that looks like a Smart car. I might.. get one.

Those TV shows that help people who earn 80K a year and have 150K of credit card debt just prove what will happen when spending and income aren't tied to each other.
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Old 12-05-2019, 06:03 PM   #10
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Whatever they do will not devalue my 2012 Flying Cloud so I pay no attention to what may be in the future. However a trailer with the AS silhouette will send shock waves through the WBCCI( which might be fun to watch)
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Old 12-05-2019, 07:17 PM   #11
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So we on this forum are probably on the mature side of things and getting close to being done with buying new trailers so will be running ours till we have to put them aside for safety sake. The basis for my comments, feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.
There is no mistaking that the kids of today are not like us.....for better or worse just reality. Which means they are not going to buy items like we did, do, and will....and we will be dying off eventually.
So why is it so wrong that the head of Airstream publicly admit they are looking to these kids?
We are a literally going to be a dying breed, and he wants to look to position the company to stay alive for the future, which also means after we are gone? Should we wish Airstream be put in our casket with us?
It is not an easy or joyous thought...but the reality that as we age our purchasing power and importance to companies matters less after a certain age....unless it is AARP, Medicare insurance packages, funeral insurance policies, retirement home facilities.
My hope would be that he find a way to look towards the future while embracing us as well to keep a holistic approach to their customer base. Yes I know I am probably in fantasy land here but hope springs eternal.
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Old 12-05-2019, 07:27 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveSueMac View Post
I 100% know the reference here [emoji3]

Well played.
I really don’t mean to put down the Boston. I don’t play but my wife and son both do. If I was 25 I would probably be looking at a Boston across the room instead of the Steinway that sits there now.
I think it’s a brilliant way to introduce people at a lower price point to the Steinway family without degrading the Steinway product. I could see Airstream introducing a product a long the same lines.
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Old 12-05-2019, 08:46 PM   #13
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The linked article was thin, even by internet standards. The one sentence summaries above are pretty spot on, and not much else is there.

So, Airstream wants to move "down market" in hopes of capturing a younger market and more share. This is a risk for any luxury brand (and I'll not debate here if AS qualifies as a lux brand, but for the point of argument...) You can see the risk; imagine if Royles Royce or Bugatti did the same. Cadillac tried that years ago and it only tarnished their reputation and gave the market that a Caddy was nothing more than a Chevy with thicker plastic and a higher sticker.

AS has tried broadening their line going all the way back to Argosy (and even earlier with the "Wally Bee") -- with patchy and uneven success. Nothing has surpassed the travel trailer yet, but the new Class B Interstates seem to be doing well in their market segment. The (nest) and BaseCamp are still deep in damage control, which is a shame, literally.

AS has a thin needle to thread. Among the challenges:
  • Younger people in general have less $$ than earlier generations, and don't seem as interested in travel, especially camping.
  • Like most young people of all generations, luxury isn't high on their list, so a lux brand is still more aspirational.
  • What is high on their list is technology, especially being connected to the internet, which is harder to do when in the boonies
  • Many young people might associate AS trailers with their grandparents, or "soooo 20th Century"
  • What the few young people who are interested in camping can afford is a pop-up, and there are plenty out there, some even made by a Thor company, so have you thought this through? (i.e. maybe let a sister company hook the kids on a Thor trailer and and get pining for the AS brand as they get richer, if not older. You know, like GM used to)

Of all their initiatives so far, it would seem the BaseCamp concept is the most promising, but they so badly botched the engineering, design and execution of that product, it may not be salvageable, unless they take it off-line for a few years for a complete redesign, FIELD TESTING, and get it right. They would need to find a way to make it both more durable, lighter, and less expensive.

PS, am I the only one that snickered at "artesianal rivets?"
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Old 12-05-2019, 11:23 PM   #14
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The world is full of people who think their best ideas happen after they've put too much magic powder up their noses. Hollywood is simply too small and too poor to give all of them jobs (anyone else remember the 2013 remake of "Carrie?").
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Old 12-05-2019, 11:32 PM   #15
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They can’t be this dumb, can they?

Counter example: my youngest son was the one that found, bought and paid for the 2007 International CCD 22’ family Airstream.

I’m a boomer. He’s a millennial, I think.
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Old 12-05-2019, 11:53 PM   #16
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Unless you own stock in Thor why would you care? It is not like property values. You own yours. Enjoy it and let other enjoy what they want. Are you offended if someone buys a SOB? Are you better? I just don’t understand this.
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Old 12-06-2019, 04:14 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rmkrum View Post
Counter example: my youngest son was the one that found, bought and paid for the 2007 International CCD 22’ family Airstream.

I’m a boomer. He’s a millennial, I think.


He’s probably a Gen-Xer, everyone forgets we exist, but we’re all sitting around shaking our heads at our parents (Boomers) and our kids (Millennials), LOL
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Old 12-06-2019, 05:10 AM   #18
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I see nothing wrong with Airstream thinking about the future. Them building a more affordable and lighter camper is fine, even though a Nest or Basecamp is far from affordable. There are plenty of light trailers on the market, but maybe Airstream thinks if they build something slightly better and as appealing as the best of that myriad out there - there are some interesting things out there - and apply the universally recognized monicker on it - generation next might buy it. I just wish they would build the quality we think we are buying and lighten them up. A 20’ trailer has grown to about 5000’ empty. Cabinets falling off shouldn’t be.
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Old 12-06-2019, 05:28 AM   #19
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Not to sound like a complete jerk, but I've run the materials and labor cost on shell construction and I think there are other ways they can save money and appeal to a lower price point, demographic. Airstream charges a fairly nice premium for their name. I'm not arguing quality and craftsmanship, but they have a lot of opportunities to simplify the design to save some cost. The "airstream premium" is where I see the most opportunity. You can have "made in the usa" tables built from quality materials by local craftsman that don't cost $150, for instance. Anyhow, my 2 cents.
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Old 12-06-2019, 05:46 AM   #20
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OT

Hmmm . . . Boston pianos are new to these ears. What are the cost savings?

https://www.steinwaypianos.com/dam/j...20&%20Sons.mp4

PS -- The answer to the original question is "yes" IMO.

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