And #### like this is why we can't have nice things. Vendor is doing an awesome giveaway and you are complaining? Want to win - make it happen.
what part of my post sounded like a complaint? RageStation seems to get what i mean, it just didn't seem like an effective method for gaining additional interest in the firearm. for the record i do know of a few ways i can get access to one for the contest, that was not my concern when i made that post. my concern were for those who might not, but mostly again for the vendor's interest. He's putting up a fancy new gun as a prize, it'd be best if he got his money's worth for the advertising no?
By no means should the contest be changed at this point, that would only be bad. just something to be thought about if any similar venture is to be undertaken in the future.
I've seen plenty of these guns failing through youtube videos and on other forums, and just as all things, once a person has a preconceived notion that is something that's hard to shake. so these aren't the people you should really be targeting at this point in the game. you'll be hard pressed to find someone who bought something then thought it was shi* go out and buy it again to give it a second chance. The goal of advertising at this point should be to target people who don't have any such first hand experience. I'm not saying that changing the minds of those previous buyers is unnecessary, but regardless of how the contest is done, those people already know about the gun. if they're interested in giving it a second try they will participate regardless. Thus the most beneficial approach would be to make such a contest more accessible so that you can change minds AND actually gain some additional interest outside of the people who already know about it. Lets assume one particular individual has no access to it and doesnt want to bother with the roadshow, chances are he's going to give up on entry and thats that. however if the contest was accessible to practically everyone, that person won't just enter the contest, he'll enter and tell other people he knows who might not even be interested in the contest or the gun to enter with them.
explaining this would be easier in person, i could draw you a diagram
btw the Roadshow IS a fantastic idea, that will actually change some minds by demonstrating the changes. the contest itself however won't change many if any minds, you know since a photo contest doesn't give any particular indication of function. in the end it comes down to making more people know about it, and the more people that know about it the more people will naturally want it. For all intents and purposes all our shooting activities will be for "sport" or "hobby" in this country, so improved function won't pull many people from the fence, other than people who were worried about breakage but those people should mostly be addressed via the roadshow already, under such circumstances generating hype and interest will pull those who were on the fence for other reasons.
