Are Customers Idiots? Company Official: We’re Selling Eye Candy

This next item caught my eye from the March edition of Transworld Business:

Until recently, bindings have been the most utilitarian member of the hardgoods family. As the workhorses, bindings serve their purpose dutifully while constantly being upstaged by the pampered eye candy that is the snowboard. But no more—bindings in ’08 are coming out, busting loose with new looks, exotic touches, and some serious attitude.

“Binding sales are by far the most affected by shelf appeal—they’re basically fishing lures,” says Rossignol Snowboarding’s National Sales Manager Eric Hutchison. ”If they don’t pop off the shelf, they won’t sell. So rather than spend R&D; dollars on improving an already-great binding, we spent our dollars on making it look like a great binding so the customer will be more inclined to consider them as an option.”

What was that about a sucker being born every minute? Granted, design is part of manufacturing today (see: Apple computers, iPods, high-end automobiles, etc.)

Just as long as Flow doesn’t make all their bindings look like something suitable for 11-year old gamers.

(Source: “2007/08 Binding Trends,” Transworld Business, dated 3/21/07)