Dan
Thats cool I take back the abuse comment.
Are we in it for the money? No doubt we are, I won't deny that. Lets keep that statement in context, we are a business so we always have an aim on getting profit on our sales. This is the aim of most companies (I concede there may well be exceptions, if so how many really?), if not they wouldn't sponsor players and then pass on some of the sponsorship outlay onto the bat price.
I don't know the inner workings of Mongoose, so I apologise to Tom if I am wrong and he can correct me. I am sure one of the main priorities for Mongoose besides brand exposure will be to recouperate some of the money spent on players they have sponsored, and make sure the players do a job of promoting the brand. Anyone sponsored can be viewed as an 'employee' of sorts during the contract. I have only chosen Mongoose as an example so if it seems I am singling them out that is not the case, it applies to many companies. Players will have to speak positive about the brand even if they feel somewhat different.
My point being to say we are money driven
and care nothing for the game is not the truth. Are we in a position to innovate, I'd say not so much at the moment. Besides Mongoose recently, how many 'true bat companies' have innovated truly?
The big brands have innovated on doft good design and asthetics but they have the clout. The very small bespoke companies that you speak off, there's maybe a handful that have worked on their own designs for soft goods, but bats have not dramatically changed much in shape. What they specialise in is customisation and tailoring.
In terms of good design for soft goods, brands that come to mind, H4L, Newberry and M&H, but they still use Indian manufacturers. In the context of your viewpoint, should they not be manufacturing their own soft goods? Are they passing of work of others as their own? If not them, then it certainly applies to the rest fo the smaller companies, who make their own bats but just get badged soft goods.
By all means from what I have seen with brands like Redback, H4L, Charlie French etc... They offer great bats no doubt, but we don't offer a come and select your willow or watch your bat being made. We are in the market for a different type of customer.
In the past I have owned 2 custom made bats by small UK companies that you would class as true bat companies. One was awesome and the other not as good as the bats I have at the moment. Maybe it was a one off. Money from our sales like any other business is currently being reinvested back into our company for various things.
I think we both have to accept we have differing opinions on the matter and that's fine
, but we are definetly not this evil money making brand that cares for little for anyhting else. We could have put silly prices on our bats like some other brands but I do not think we have.
I'm just pleased it's been a civil thread and been an interesting discussion. I'm pretty mellow but opinionated lol
Personally on a side note, if it wasn't for our own brand (Use what you sell), at this moment in time the brand from the bespoke companies that really interests me is the Redback bats. They look fantastic and I have always wanted to try a Salix...
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Topic: Galdiator Cricket / Pennine Cricket Bats (Read 9548 times)