THE Cub Report, Version- Stop Listening

Hello everyone, welcome to this week’s Cub Report- a spot where the industry gets a chance to laugh at themselves, and consumers get a bit of an insider’s look into the hobby.

My insider email of the week came from a department head at a surface company asking what I thought their next product should be. The industry guy also stated that his department had received a bunch of requests for a certain style of vehicle and they had started work on one, but wanted to pick my brain if I thought it was the right direction.

So of course I had to give him a typical Cubby response, “Quit listening to your end users and come up with something NEW!”. Yes, there are a whole lot of people in this industry that are reactive, meaning that once they see a trend or start getting asked to put out a certain style of vehicle, that only then do they start working on one. I am from a different mindset completely, I don’t care what consumers think they want, I am going to come up with something new and innovative, then TELL them that is what they need.

Let’s think back to years ago… were consumers beating down the doors at AE begging for an RC10? How many consumers were begging for a nitro monster truck before the T-Maxx came out? Just how many phone calls and emails did the air industry get before they released their first quad? How many people were begging for brushless power before Aveox released their first unit? To lead the field (and to make the most money) you need to start the trends, not hop on them.

My job is to take a satirical look at the rc industry each week. However, at each rc manufacturer they have people on staff who’s job it is to come up with the next big thing. There job shouldn’t be sifting through emails taking them down as votes as to whether their next truck is a crawler or a short course. Obviously coming up with the next trend isn’t easy, it’s insanely hard, but it is harder still when the people paid to come up with the “latest and greatest” are too busy listening to input from end consumers. Ya, sure, there are also people working at manufacturers who’s job it is to listen to customers, but they shouldn’t be the same ones that are getting paid the big bucks to boldly go where no one has gone before.

To boil it down- to my industry friend when wrote me last week, please let the guy that you are paying 6 digits a year do his job. Let HIM do what you are paying him to do, let him come up with your next vehicle, not the public, and certainly not me.

That’s it for this week, get out and support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can.

YOUR Cub Reporter