[Kelvs]

Advertising and fashion. There is nothing more to it. Style over quality is what most people seek for.

 

[soundaddicted]

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Style over quality is what most people seek for.

Sadly...
That reminds me of myself when i started on this. 

 

[Kelvs]

haha well i still buy both style and quality ones.

 Like the mean hardcore ones for when chilling at home and stylish ones for going out and stuff.

 

[fatcat28037]

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Not really, the point here is not about spending a lot of money for headphones , it's about getting the best headphones for the money you spend. 

hmm...the fat cat does have a point....though to many, some of us might need to take a lesson from this as well 
 

It was more a criticism of the diminishing returns in the land of audiophilia.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, gotcha'.

 

[Kees]

Mainly just because they say so.

 

[Mushrooshi]

According to this thread: CES Days 2 and 3: Skullcandy. That's right...Skullcandy. - Head-Fi.org Community
 
Skullcandy is aware of Head-Fi and is starting to target us.
 
DIscussion?

 

[TLY]

Like many people have said before, Monster, Bose and Skullcandy spend lots of money on marketing. While more reputable brands like Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Denon, etc. spend their money on research and development.

 

[jherbert]

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Like many people have said before, Monster, Bose and Skullcandy spend lots of money on marketing. While more reputable brands like Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Denon, etc. spend their money on research and development.

Plus monster spends a lot on lawsuits...

 

[ShawnSmith]

I don't see how either of those skullcandy headphones at CES are actually targeted at the audiophile community. one is clearly a DJ headphone with features specifically for djing. the other looks like more of the same from skull candy... style first sound second headphones.

 

[Argyris]

As I mentioned in that thread, I don't think this can be the case. It's nice for PR, and Jude sure was convinced, but as Tyll pointed out, Head-Fi'ers aren't a very large portion of the headphone-purchasing market. I resent this kind of rhetoric (as I also said over there), but a fact is a fact. Therefore, I can't see SC as targeting us savvy enthusiasts specifically. If the new products sound good it's either by pure accident, or else on some other motivation within the SC management. We didn't make this happen. SC did this for reasons that seemed best to it.
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According to this thread: CES Days 2 and 3: Skullcandy. That's right...Skullcandy. - Head-Fi.org Community
 
Skullcandy is aware of Head-Fi and is starting to target us.
 
DIscussion?

 

[Ishcabible]

Well if they actually want to impress us, it'd make sense to make a spin-off brand...I mean like it has been said (Only read the first page), if a middle-aged man was out and about in a headphone with a SC logo, it'd look a bit weird because of the stigma that SC is for tweens that use headphones as fashion accessories.

 

[Argyris]

Even without the teenage stigma, SC has a known reputation among the savvy for putting out less than stellar-performing products. They would do well to form another brand like Panasonic did with Technics back in the day.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

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Being so passive IMO is also a sign of a lack of passion if you have the funds to do the marketing. It might not be so, but that's how it seems in my mind.
 
I think, "why do people become musicians,designers and chefs?" Many of them really want to show the world their passion and what they made. If you don't advertise, it just doesn't seem like you care to let the public experience what you experience.
 
What helped Monster succeed IMO, is that DR.DRE seemed very passionate. It seems like Dr.Dre really wants you to enjoy every detail of his music that he spent so much work on and they executed the marketing well to portray that idea.
 
Now I'm still confused why good headphone companies don't do it. Are the CEOs just not that into it? Is their focus on something else? Creating the best sound for the people that deserve it?
 
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Why do real headphone companies suck so bad at marketing? I think that's the real question here. It truly doesn't take a genius to be a good marketer.
 

Generally speaking there is a pattern that people, and thus the companies they run are either focused on substance or they are focused on image/branding/marketing.  I think it is hard for people to do both.  Often when someone is focused on substance, it feels dishonest and manipulative to sell it because after investing so much in the substance of their product, they feel it should sell itself.  Part of advertising these days is stretching the truth and you're not really selling the substance of the product, you're selling a lifestyle (Quincy Jones, Dr Dre are all strategies to attach lifestyle and image to a product whose substance has nothing to do with that lifestyle).  So when there isn't really much to a product, such as in Monster's case, it's easier for them to do this because they have nothing invested in the real quality of the product. 
 
I think a company like Audeze would feel very dishonest if they got endorsements or different stylish color schemes, etc because in their eyes the LCD-2 is about nothing but the best sound they could produce. 
 
That's what comes to mind for me.  I've had a heck of a time trying to sell myself in my business for the same reason.

i would give alot of respect to those companies if they care more about there consumer base and products more then money. if taht is the case i am definately willing to spend money on their products and support them.

 

[rhythmdevils]

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Being so passive IMO is also a sign of a lack of passion if you have the funds to do the marketing. It might not be so, but that's how it seems in my mind.
 
I think, "why do people become musicians,designers and chefs?" Many of them really want to show the world their passion and what they made. If you don't advertise, it just doesn't seem like you care to let the public experience what you experience.
 
What helped Monster succeed IMO, is that DR.DRE seemed very passionate. It seems like Dr.Dre really wants you to enjoy every detail of his music that he spent so much work on and they executed the marketing well to portray that idea.
 
Now I'm still confused why good headphone companies don't do it. Are the CEOs just not that into it? Is their focus on something else? Creating the best sound for the people that deserve it?
 
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Why do real headphone companies suck so bad at marketing? I think that's the real question here. It truly doesn't take a genius to be a good marketer.
 

Generally speaking there is a pattern that people, and thus the companies they run are either focused on substance or they are focused on image/branding/marketing.  I think it is hard for people to do both.  Often when someone is focused on substance, it feels dishonest and manipulative to sell it because after investing so much in the substance of their product, they feel it should sell itself.  Part of advertising these days is stretching the truth and you're not really selling the substance of the product, you're selling a lifestyle (Quincy Jones, Dr Dre are all strategies to attach lifestyle and image to a product whose substance has nothing to do with that lifestyle).  So when there isn't really much to a product, such as in Monster's case, it's easier for them to do this because they have nothing invested in the real quality of the product. 
 
I think a company like Audeze would feel very dishonest if they got endorsements or different stylish color schemes, etc because in their eyes the LCD-2 is about nothing but the best sound they could produce. 
 
That's what comes to mind for me.  I've had a heck of a time trying to sell myself in my business for the same reason.

I think I explained it pretty well.  Of course Dr Dre sounded very passionate about them, thats what happens when someone is given lots of money.  Money makes people more passionate than anything.  Sad but true. 
 
It really comes down to what your goals are.  Is your goal to make money, or is your goal to make a good product and hopefully make money off of it?  Usually when someone is very passionate about what they are creating, their number one goal is not money, their number one goal is to achieve some personal benchmark in the creation of something they are proud of.  They are not interested in money making schemes and manipulation through marketing, they are interested in whatever they are creating.
 
A company like Skullcandy doesn't care about headphones, they don't really even sell headphones.  They sell "cool" and they attach that to something through advertising.  It might as well be staplers, it would work just as well if people wore staplers. 
 
A company like Audeze is not selling anything but headphones.  At least for the most part, they are just selling a headphone.  They are not interested in public relations or marketing or manipulation.  They are not promising a lifestyle or coolness, they are just promising good sound.

 

[swbf2cheater]

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They're a fashion fad and status symbol; not headphones.

Nailed it.  They are not designed to sound good, only to look good.