The embargo for new releases

[Neal Ball]

This week we have seen an apology about an early publication of a magazine following a press conference, where publishers were asked to hold information until 3rd January 2012.

 

Now don't get me wrong - I enjoy the banter and speculation in the run-up to the release of next years models from Hornby, Bachmann etc. But I am no longer convinced that an embargo is appropriate, practical, or indeed warrented.

 

For whatever reason the Hornby 2012 releases were embargod until Tuesday 3rd January 2012 and were released to the world officially around 9am. We were told so the distributors / model shops could be informed first. Over the last few years this has slipped from Christmas day to New Years day, to 3rd. Not sure what was to be gained by the delay from 1st to 3rd Jan, other than an easier life for the IT chaps to get the website live!

 

Over the last few years, one magazine or another has broken the embargo (unintenionally), word has spread on various forums. Plus on those forums who do not want to break the embargo, it must add hugely to the work-load at a time of year they could do without.

 

Of course, it is up to all the manafactoruers when they release their news and their models. But in order to avoid upset, why dont we suggest an end to the embargo?

 

Let's still have the wishlists, let's still have the speculation, let's still have the "Why, oh why, didn't they make such and such?", but let's get rid of the embargo.

 

My suggestion is quite simple really and goes like this: Day 1 - press function at company x. "Next year we will release product xx class 0-6-0 etc." adding we have also sent our full press release to all our model shops 1st class in tonights post. Day 2: Information is public, website live, forums published and magazines compiling their editorial for their next issue.

 

OR..... Day 1 Press conference televised live on the web, to release to the world - imagine that, live streaming direct from Margate / Barwell et al. How great would that be!

 

These are just my personal thoughts, but ultimitely would avoid any more embarressing apologies.

 

PS: I am of course looking forward to hearing about the new releases from Bachmann for 2012, together with all the froth that will no doubt go with it!

[Dave777]

I think Chris Leigh has explained this a few times (Pat Hammond definitely has). It's a useful selling point for the magazines if they can include in the January or February issue the news of Hornby's line up. The 'Day 2' above would mean that all the news would already be out there and the magazines wouldn't be able to have any sort of 'announcement' - in fact, they would probably appear to be about a month behind the times.

 

Frankly, if we feel there is a need to rethink the embargo process then perhaps the answer is for everyone to not get in quite such an almighty flap about it. I'll admit it's not my primary scale anyway so I'm less concerned than others, but I've never stayed up until midnight, never gone off looking for the info around the web, never felt my Christmas day has been 'ruined'... or anything like that. I just get up at the normal time the next day, and whenever I normally look at the interweb I have a look to see what's occuring. If it's not released yet, I wait until it is. Yes it's interesting, but I won't be able to buy any of it for months yet anyway, so why the mad panic to find out?

 

Not really sure if it's Hornby or Model Rail or forums that need to rethink their approach - perhaps it's the modellers who just need to relax a bit.

[Jol Wilkinson]

If "railway modelling" means buying anything as soon as it's released then the process by which new products are announced to the market is of major - even life changing - importance to some people.

 

If, on the other hand, you see this hobby as being about creating a model railway - which is not an over night activity - then does it really matter?

 

Wish list contibutors and frothers may now respond

[davidw]

Neal suggestion makes alot of sense. Hmm - we all like our seasonal froth fest! The timing of the aommouncements is clever marketing. Very little leaks from Barwell in the way it does from Margate.

 

Truth is though that the announcements are just that annoucements - unlikely with the exception of NRM tie in's to appear for upto 12 months or more

[micklner]

I dont think the manafactuers would be happy to lose all the hype,over reaction and free publicity.

[woodenhead]

I think there are bigger things to worry about than whether it is right that Hornby can set an embargo on new releases.

 

At the end of the day it is Hornby's choice to apply it and the magazines/internet forum(owners) decisions whether to go along with it or flout it.

 

For Hornby it creates a level of froth that raises their profile, which interestingly followed a period of scathing criticism from the same frother's about Hornby moving away from finer scale modelling towards lower detailed modelling and high prices. I think Hornby know exactly what they are doing and play the marketing game very well.

[S.A.C Martin]

For Hornby it creates a level of froth that raises their profile, which interestingly followed a period of scathing criticism from the same frother's about Hornby moving away from finer scale modelling towards lower detailed modelling and high prices.

 

Hands in the air, I was one of those "frothers". In my defense, the Hornby 4VEP doesn't know which end of the market it's aimed at.

 

I think Hornby know exactly what they are doing and play the marketing game very well.

 

I think you could be right. The models announced in the 2012 range - two tender Bittern, Tornado in various liveries, Britannia in royal regalia, Flying Scotsman models and those very big, very impressive GWR heavy tanks all play the marketing game extremely well,

[Black Sheep]

I used to pay little or now attention to announcements as I visited my local model shop quite often and so could see what was coming available, the manager there knew of my interests and would occasionally tell me when something that I might be interested in was on it's way, with the usual offer to save one for me.

 

Now I live some distance from a 'proper' model shop I do pay more attention to what the upcoming releases are incase there is something that I'd like for my layout, although I don't think I'm going to see a Graham Farish Pug any time soon

 

In regards to the embargo it is not unique to the hobby

[The Stationmaster]

I suppose basically it's up to Hornby and if that is the way they want to play it then fair enough - like it or not, daft or not. What such an embargo is actually meant to achieve is quite another thing and this year it certainly didn't mean that retailers got the details before their customers (unless they sold magazines or visited internet fora) so I can't entirely understand the logic of pushing back the date.

 

But if we look at the previous Christmas date then I can see some point in it - solely as a marketing tool. It meant, leaks aside and one or two magazine press dates aside (actual or 'accidental'), that the news burst forth on the internet on a day when some folk might well be looking for a bit of escapism from what many perceive as the 'hassle' of Christmas and it was a clearly identifiably day - not just another Sunday or Tuesday or whatever. And in the internet age it means that Hornby gets a lot of free marketing information into part of its market in a far more concentrated way than it could ever achieve with magazines being first with the latest. And just how successful has that policy been - 5 minutes on the 'net will give you the answer.

 

So like it or not I somehow doubt that Hornby are going to pass over the chance of a lot of interest and a widely spread, free, launch of the coming year's range (but I would temper that expectation with a note of caution, I'm the bloke who keeps on predicting a 2 BIL - every frothing season).

[caradoc]

Neal makes some very valid points. Even without the power of the internet, I knew Hornby's plans when my copy of Model Rail arrived before Christmas, long before the supposed embargo was lifted.

IMHO, the simplest solution would be for Hornby, on the day of their press event, to release just a basic list of their plans, leaving the magazines to publish photos and further details, giving them at least some kind of scoop, although only the first magazine published after (in theory) the end of the embargo actually has a scoop.

[Mike Bellamy]

In defence of the magazines, don't forget that there are still a great number of people out there who don't have a computer or if they do, they don't look at forums such as this - as I know from personal experience in our own club where we have about 50 active members, yet only about 10 are members of RMweb despite several others having access to a PC. We are only talking about the embargo as it affects us in a different way to the magazine readers.

 

Just to show that new models can be introduced without any advance notice, embargo or froth, a few years ago Bachmann USA introduced their 2 car railbus in On30 which was for sale in Japan before it had been announced in USA. Photos were out on various forums and at one point 'The Bachman' who ran the manufacturer's own forum denied that it was one of their models until shown the Bachmann box and their logo under the model.

 

Mike

[Invicta]

Neal suggestion makes alot of sense. Hmm - we all like our seasonal froth fest! The timing of the aommouncements is clever marketing. Very little leaks from Barwell in the way it does from Margate.

 

Truth is though that the announcements are just that annoucements - unlikely with the exception of NRM tie in's to appear for upto 12 months or more

 

As far as frothing and wishlisting is concerned (and I'm as prone to it as anyone!) it seems to be fairly endemic on internet forums- I'm a motor racing enthusiast, and on one of the racing forums I frequent, the rumour mill and froth about who's driving for which team in British Touring Cars for 2012 started about last August(!)- the 2011 season didn't end until October...

[cromptonnut]

Honestly I think it's all rather pathetic. Fine, have a "press day" where they announce their new model range, that's fine, but for people to get worked up about not releasing the information before they want it released is a waste of time, not least the moderating team who keep removing things when people post about them.

 

Nobody is going to die if information about the new BachLimby Class 78 DoDo is discovered a day or two early, and other manufacturers will have no advantage over finding out what their rivals are doing a day or two early, unless they want to do a spoiler announcement and get something out there before it hits the next magazines, but most of us - particularly those on RMWeb and other forums - are aware of who got there first.

 

I have no problems with wishlists, or people complaining that the cabside window on the BachLimby Class 78 DoDo is 0.1mm too high, but the whole 'embargo' thing seems rather outdated.

 

From a personal point of view, the items on the list are mostly irrelevant - if I want it and can afford it I'll buy it, if I don't need it or think it's overpriced, I won't buy it; regardless of the release date of the information. Ok so there's something to be said about cashflow and forward planning but as there's usually a year between announcements and product availability we can still plan what we might or might not want to think about during the next 12 months.

[Oldddudders]

In regards to the embargo it is not unique to the hobby

A key point here. As others have said, both the printed mags and Hornby do very well from the whole event - and the amount of Internet searching in the the wake of the unintended release via a mag will even have got some extra hits for many forums, I'm sure. RMWeb's unintended Xmas break sadly meant Andy Y was not a beneficiary!

 

As a student of cameras - probably more so than of photography, I'm afraid - I can assure you that announcement dates & details are eagerly sought by the rumour websites and they look for corroborative evidence worldwide. For example, Nikonrumors.com (sic) had pretty accurate lowdown on the new D4 weeks before Nikon took the wraps off in public. The magazines get advanced scoops, and presumably ensure their printers and distributors don't screw up on sales dates. I have no doubt Chasseur d'Images has an in-depth exam in print already.

 

Oh, and the first of this years Formula 1 cars, the Caterham (yes) found a monthly magazine to which they had offered a scoop had been distributed a day earlier than expected, so its publicity machine had to tweet etc on Wednesday this week, instead of the promised Thursday.

 

The frothing isn't really my cup of tea, makes a lot of hot air (mixed metaphors anyone?!), but is clearly pretty harmless fun, and without deadlines approaching, it would lose much of its purpose. Hornby, the mags, the forums, the frothers - something that brings so much benefit to so many is hard to deny, surely?

[Andy Y]

Nobody is going to die if information about the new BachLimby Class 78 DoDo is discovered a day or two early,

 

Of course not but I did say at the tail end of last year that retailers were having to handle enquiry calls about products they didn't know about and at a busy and inconvenient time of the year to have to do so.

[cromptonnut]

I'd guess that Christmas was a busy time for everyone - so I wonder whether Hornby might be better off moving their "big announcement" to some other time of the year when it is easier to coordinate the release of information on their website, to forums, etc.

 

After all, if magazines get it a month early and delivery date is, say, the 25th and the announcement is made on the 20th then they still get in there first with the news - and those that don't use the internet still get to hear about it at the same time as the rest of us.

[Andy Y]

After all, if magazines get it a month early and delivery date is, say, the 25th and the announcement is made on the 20th then they still get in there first with the news - and those that don't use the internet still get to hear about it at the same time as the rest of us.

 

So; your suggestion for improvement is exactly how it should work at present, a system you referred to as 'pathetic'? Now, if you're a mag publisher and your publication date is the 19th will you want to be the last with the news?

[Ozexpatriate]

There's a lot fuss over what date Hornby chooses. It's not really as constant as people seem to feel - we've had three different announcement days in fewer than ten years. I suspect that their choices may be more prosaic than strategic.

 

While their business is calculated on a April 1 - March 31 calendar, for marketing purposes they announce new products for the normal calendar year, traditionally around New Year's Day. As their web sophistication grew, they began posting their announcements at midnight on the beginning of New Years Day.

 

After the first breaking of their embargo by a magazine, they responded by moving the date up to Christmas Day. This also had a nice holiday feel to it and for a couple of years the embargo was unbroken.

 

This year Christmas (and New Years Day) fell on a Sunday and they chose to move the announcement back, not only to the beginning of the year, but to the first day back at work after the holidays. This says to me that their choice of the date is more about giving employees a break (and conveniently not paying holiday pay/overtime) than it does about carefully thought out marketing strategy.

[Ozexpatriate]

As to Neal's suggestion ...

 

for as long as Hornby considers the established print medium an important message/image channel for their customers, Hornby is likely to remain considerate of the norms of the print industry, including but not limited to, press embargoes.

 

For those who care what Hornby produces, it would have been more fun for everyone to hear the same news at the same time and eliminating the embargo would do this.

 

But this is naught but a tempest in a teacup. There must be millions, billions? of words blogged into the web decrying print establishments (each with their own varying house standard of professional journalism) versus the democratized yet anarchic, "I have a keyboard, hear me roar" voices on the internet. Until we reach the tipping point where collectively, we are a more important message channel than print, this is just another drop in that bucket.

 

But I don't want to sound too dismissive. I do think that what we are doing here is more than just a diversion and that we are making that change happen. The fact that we are discussing an issue that is intrinsic to print v. internet is a step down that road. The more we do to provide meaningful content and hold a measured discourse, the closer we are.

[cromptonnut]

So; your suggestion for improvement is exactly how it should work at present, a system you referred to as 'pathetic'? Now, if you're a mag publisher and your publication date is the 19th will you want to be the last with the news?

 

Thing is though, magazines - like newspapers - have been overtaken in the digital age by places such as RMWeb. Most people these days go to the internet first for news or information - and give it a few years and I think much of the traditional printed media will have disappeared.

 

Perhaps, instead of having a big thing of releasing a load of stuff in one go, they should just announce what's coming out in the next month and be done with it.

 

By the way, it was more the hype and froth around the "big release date", and the excitement and expectations that people seem to attribute to the whole thing, that I was calling pathetic - the list contains whatever is on it and no amount of froth will make non-existant models appear. I know that you chose to maintain the deadline here and removed any mentions of what was coming, and that's your choice to do so - but it was very easy to find out the information elsewhere in seconds.

[Neal Ball]

A very interesting mix of views, some in favour and some against.

 

I suppose I come about this from a slightly different angle, in as much as the field I work in, we regard the newspapers as an old medium, one that is loosing readership fast. Accordingly, we now spend more on web advertising and promotion. - I accept that many people do not source their news from the web in the way that I do. (My father has just got into model railways and has two mags every month. He is on the web, but never gets model railway news that way.)

 

However, my suggestion about a quick release could still have the same level of excitment/froth/suspense/disapointment (delete as required!!!), by having a web launch on x date, with the press conference available on You Tube - it could actually generate more interest.....

 

Like anything its food for thought and clearly up to Hornby what they do. I suspect they might be getting a little tired of the embargo being broken every year. But will clearly relish the amount of www inches it generates!

[Andy Y]

the excitement and expectations that people seem to attribute to the whole thing, that I was calling pathetic

 

I'm sure you've seen that we try to limit the span of such giddiness and the excesses of those visibly frothing at the mouth?

 

 

 

I know that you chose to maintain the deadline here and removed any mentions of what was coming, and that's your choice to do so - but it was very easy to find out the information elsewhere in seconds.

 

See above.

 

It sounds like you got as wrapped up in the "what's been announced?" as others if you found it by looking.

[2ManySpams]

To be quite honest does it really matter in life's rich tapestry?

 

People had a big froth and there was much banter.

 

Andy got a headache for abiding by the rules.

 

Traders got some phone calls.

 

Hornby and Model Rail got lots of attention.

 

The world carried on turning, nobody died.

[cromptonnut]

It sounds like you got as wrapped up in the "what's been announced?" as others if you found it by looking.

 

It was just a quick glance to see that there was nothing of interest to me at this time, and I moved on to doing something else, that's all; some time in between all the other things I happened to be doing that day. When you know the information is out there of course you want to find it, but I wasn't on the Hornby site hitting f5 every couple of seconds to see what was on there.

[Downer]

Leaving it - supposedly - to the magazines to announce the new programmes is both unrealistic and archaic. The magazines should be selling copies on the strength of their editorialising about what has been announced through more contemporary media. More work perhaps, but more interesting too, for both the writers and readers. Model magazines' role as news media is rapidly disappearing.