I wonder what would change if Fender decided to use the Fender name on the headstocks of all their instruments including the ones that are currently branded Squier instead (but everything else kept the same).
Would those models sell more than they do now? I think they would. I'm ashamed to admit it but the branding is so deeply ingrained in me from a young age that the Squier logo would factor in to my decision to buy.
I'm not sure if Fender would benefit from it much, they can probably charge a certain amount extra for Fender branded instruments even after taking everything else in to consideration.
What is strange is that there are low end acoustics and there used to be electrics that were cheaper than Squiers that did have the Fender name. Maybe they were okay with it with models that were so far away from the MiM Standard whereas if the high end Squiers had Fender branding they could eat in to the sales of the MiMs.
Also worth mentioning that some companies like Ibanez and Schecter use the same brand from cheapest entry level instruments right up to very high end models.
Any thoughts?
Comments
*I think, could have been named differently!
The 'Fender' brand has a value built up over many years (same as Coke a Cola or Heinz or BMW etc). Having that name on the headstock adds $X to the price. If you apply the same brand to the Squires you will increase their desirability and therefore increase sales or command a higher price but you will also, over time, reduce the value of the 'Fender' brand. You may also cannibalise your own sales i.e. someone who would have purchased a ‘Real Fender’ now buys a ‘Squire Fender’ instead spending less money in the process.
Diluting your established brand value is a one off gain akin to selling off the family silver.
Or priced between the two a parts guitar with the exact spec I'd want, with no logo at all on the headstock
I really don't think that there's any real need for rebranding to be honest. Squier are a pretty well respected brand in their own right nowadays, which certainly wasn't the case twenty years ago.
My main 'live' guitar is a Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster because it is a superb guitar. I've got a 'proper' American Jazzmaster as well but the Squier is the better instrument for playing in the band, and I don't really give a toss if people are snobby about it being Squier.
In fact I've always played Squiers - my main Tele is a 1986 (or is it 88? Anyway...) Squier, and I sold my Japanese Fender Jag because I preferred my Squier VM one.
If it's a case of getting a good quality instrument for a fraction of the price of a 'better'-branded one, give me the cheaper option.
Incidentally, I also apply this approach to mushy peas. I find that the cheap, Morrisons branded mushy peas are much better than the more expensive options such as Bachelors. They have that traditional, chip shop taste and the snot colour that more expensive brands eschew in favour of vivid green and a more-solid consistency.
I have a j mascis with upgraded pickups, tuners and trem and it's great. I played a Vintera '60s mod in a shop, but preferred my j mascis, mainly because the action on the vintera meant that it was more of a cheese cutter than anything else.
I feel like they may have discontinued the j mascis because it was too good and was blurring the lines between squier and fender.
Back in the Eighties, the first MIJ System One Stratocasters reached the UK with Fender decals. A year or so later, identical spec guitars arrived with Squier decals.
Similarly, in the early Nineties, the Standard MIK Stratocasters, Telecasters and basses have, at various times, been badged Fender or Squier.
Fender is the brand to which customers are supposed to aspire. Squier is intended to be the first step on the way to the top of the range stuff.
Unfortunately, there is no linearity to the quality per Pound. A fifteen hundred quid USA Fender instrument is not five times as "good" as a three hundred quid SE Asian Squier.
IMO, Fugigen was co-opted into building guitars under the Fender corporate umbrella rather than for anyone else. That way, Fender M.I. kept the profits of their founder's intellectual property.
At the time of this post, I have FMIC products ranging from a modified Affinity STRAT to a Custom Shop Nocaster and various other price points in between. I would cheerfully be seen in public with any of them.
Theres a few ways to look at it, to the average person you can view all under one roof brands as a way to advertise. No matter what instrument you play, its got that name on the headstock. Now that can backfire somewhat if you have a bad experience with a lower end, and associate with the brand obviously. On the flip side, you have the aspriational and associative (think I just made up a word) value of split brands, Gibsons and Fenders are seen somewhat as the general end game of guitars (obviously anyone on this form knows that is not a true statement, but talking general public, including non-players!).
Apart from not wanting to gig my (pricey) US one, the JMJM has a more comfortable neck with fatter frets and the pickup combination is adaptable enough for our whole set.
My feedback thread is here.
One point that probably is objectively better are the Mexican and American bridges on the jazzmasters as the Chinese one isn't world class ..aside from that
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57632/
I don't think it ever could be, Fender must be up there with some of the most prestigious brands in the world.