I haven't been in O scale for as long as many people on these forums, and I know many of the concerns Ive been having have probably been stated before... but does anyone else feel that the 'new' MTH companies are off to a real rough start?
- Killing the traditional catalogue in favor of e-newsletter.
- I know its a different approach but if your not already into MTH trains, then it might not really matter too much, but I would image a lot of parents buying trains for their kids (train sets) will stop by a hobby shop rather than online to save on shipping. For example: These are parents who, looking for handy information, will pick up those catalogues to make quick comparison on prices and products. They are not going to sign up for a newsletter and wait months for the bigger picture.
- Catalogues also build excitement for products. Everyone looks forward to the new catalogue for months. MTH's little blurbs? I skip over in my email box (usually just some custom run by some train store doing a roadname I am statistically unlikely to buy, some of which I have never heard of).
- Their (Ritch's) current plan (as of the Trainworld virtual live event OCT 18th) for people who do not know of the newsletter-only approach, is to 'pass it along' by word of mouth at York (timestamp 12:00).
- Honestly when big department stores cut the coveted catalogue, that's usually the major sign of a steady decline. Will MTH be any different?
- Burning the library: selling off pick-of-the-litter tooling
- Can anyone name how many tooling types were sold off to other companies? Atlas raided the diesels, freight offerings, and large passenger cars. Lionel made off with Railking steamers, wood-sided passenger tooling, and more. Don't forget the rumors of the premier steam also having been partly sold!
- I mean, what is left? The third-rate items no one wanted? Assorted engines that other companies already have an equivalent of? Small passenger cars of lower quality that most experienced modelers usually overlook?
- I mean as a Canadian in O, how many of these sold off tooling will we ever see in a Canadian roadname again? What's the likelihood that Atlas or Lionel will make a Canadian National passenger car/set??? (much less VIA rail cars).
- ITS not MTH, but 3 MTHs. 1/3 Company for the price of 1.
- Employees that are now independent contractors (see Andy Edleman and others), lackluster website aesthetics for the parts/services, lack of warehouse space, smaller teams; adaptable, sure, but does not inspire much confidence. A sign of a thriving company is usually planned expansion: bigger HQ, more staffing, more product lines. The new MTH(s) are all the opposite of that with no stated plans for hope in re-growing after a "adjustment period" (if there is, then its not widely advertised).
- When everyone is searching for a hopeful sign of "its all going to be okay", only the parts/sales part has anything at York October 2021. Not even a small table or signage for the others. Even if they are not ready, literally anything at all would have been comforting. Especially when the plan to 'spread word of the newsletter at York is "word of mouth", and "glad-handing". You know what would have been nice? Nothing new, but make a display of MTH's greatest hits! Like a museum exhibit of the employees favorite past trains! Simpler, effective, establishes that things are steadily back on track to your biggest customer base.
- Do not tell people "Be Patient" or "we are still adjusting".
- Yes, we know the circumstances, but there's only so many times you can say "there is a shortage of chips!". What's new? What's going on? Should we be investing in Legacy instead? The covid pandemic provided an excellent case study of how a lack of transparency or satisfactory information can breed misunderstandings and fear. Just ask your local Anti-Covid-vaxxer! You don't need to say everything, but a game plan going forward would be nice. How about "under our current projections, we are planning to release x number of offerings of freight cars in 2022, and y types of locomotive offerings over the next 2 years"? Even if things do not go exactly as planned, it would be nice to have an idea of what to expect (heck even film studios do this years in advance!). I would rather see ambitious plans partly fall through and be disappointed, rather than kept worrying if the company will still be around in 3-5 years.
The new MTH fragment will need to grow to survive the new few years. Like all train companies, they need to cater to the wants of their existing customer base, but also promote their products to 'new' folks entering the hobby (who are not familiar with 'newsletters' junking up the mailbox). Fears about the companies direction will only encourage existing O scalers to reevaluate the motive-power on their layouts for something seemingly 'more stable' (like a competitor or a different scale entirely).
- Thoughts from a younger guy
- Satisfy the customer base: have a much smaller catalogue of the "best of the best" of your offerings still to have something in train shops (and be collectable). Fill up the lack of space with a magazine worthy 'fold-out' poster inside featuring a blow-up of your nicest artwork. Cheaper and less time consuming than a full book, but still advertises that its basically 'business as usual' at home. People like catalogues, people look for catalogues, and some people even expect catalogues.
- Promote the DCS/protosound system: Atlas already has a license to use the Proto-sound system now, and it shouldn't stop there! Its a great system whether its a cheap model, or more high-line quality, trying to get other companies to offer proto-sound 3.0 locomotives (even just one or two), or work to get Atlas to shift completely over can easily be considered "growth" for that fledgling fragment.
- Advertise production of new replacement tooling: When your library has been decimated, get new books! Show that your in production of new things to replace what you lost! Even if its only a handful that's years off, letting the customer know that they can still eventually get their heavy-duty passenger cars with MTH is important (and not have to look elsewhere).
- Do something new (and up north): MTH wants to do things differently? Start over the border! Why do many companies still treat Canada like no one can afford trains and we all live in igloos? The largest train show in Canada happens annually in Calgary (SUPERTRAIN) but there is really no showing of the manufacturers that actually produce the trains! Send someone out with a small booth (and some tv monitors) to advertise that O-scale is a thing! Want more Canadians to buy your trains? Maybe find a way to try to somewhat ease the eternal issues somewhat of expensive shipping of trains for Canadians (when shipping costs as much as the product, that's kind of a barrier to the hobby!).
- Do not treat your customer-base like Facebook: For a company like Facebook (+Twitter), whos number of customers hit critical mass years ago, their goal is simply to retain their existing customer base (literally impossible to grow more). MTH is not Facebook, there is obviously room to grow. Relying solely on word-of-mouth and your existing (aging, moving to fixed income/space) customer base is a slow death sentence. If your trying something different and the customer hasn't heard about it, Lionel/Atlas/other wins. If the new customers can't afford the new product, Lionel/Atlas/other wins. Getting complacent and assuming you'll be fine with just a fractured company because of a large existing customer base, is bad business.
