Sabian's New Logo

My 2 cents: I play Zildjian (mostly Ks), and if they completely revamped their logo to something hideous and adopted a "F You, We're Zildjian" attitude across the board, I would not immediately sell off my existing cymbals. I would cherish them as the last of their kind.

But when it came time to buy new cymbals, you can bet your ass I'd switch brands in a heartbeat. The fallacy of thinking that people who like their cymbals wouldn't switch in these circumstances is the assumption that Sabian is the only brand that sounds good to them. In my case, while I love my Ks, I also love the sound of nearly every Bosphorus cymbal I've ever played. I'd gladly switch under these circumstances.
 
So what would do more damage at this point, rebrand again, revert back to the original, or stay the course?

They sort of painted themselves in a corner. If you are going to push that "attitude"...if you drop it....you never had the attitude.

I'd go back to the original with a major apology and a statement that they messed up. Admit fault and try to pick up the pieces.

This could sink the ad agency that came up with this.

Imagine being those guys? Not much sleep I'm guessing.

Yep, I'd drop it an offer an honest explanation to the customers. People appreciate honesty

"When we rebranded we went for a new demographic, blah blah blah, we missed the mark and we're sorry, we're still gonna provide excellent cymbals, blah blah blah."

Standard PR stuff. People appreciate honesty.
 
Yep, I'd drop it an offer an honest explanation to the customers. People appreciate honesty

"When we rebranded we went for a new demographic, blah blah blah, we missed the mark and we're sorry, we're still gonna provide excellent cymbals, blah blah blah."

Standard PR stuff. People appreciate honesty.

How about you spoke, we listened?

Also, if they wanted to market to the younger generation, what was wrong with Cymbal Choice? Kids buy what their favorite artists play. Another option would be to go where the kids are, sponsor events, do drawings. Have a huge drum off competition and give away cymbals of the winners choice and market the hell out of it. Bet it would have cost way less than this debacle!
 
Hi there. I'm a graphic designer by trade. I've worked for Google, Spotify HSBC among others and I've been in some of the best branding agencies in the world, (like wolff ollins) and I can say without a shadow of a doubt this agency they have used has no idea what they are doing.

Their website alone is not designed well, which is always a huge red flag. Their copy is extremely amateur and their 'attitude' is just bizarre.

Don't disagree with you at all.

The headline on the Stealing Share website:
"THE STUFF FROM ALL OTHER BRANDING COMPANIES IS JUST THE SAME OLD SHIT.

"IF YOU BELIEVE THEIR CRAP YOU DON’T NEED TO TALK TO US."

Who even does business with such an outfit? I don't even hang out with people at bars with that attitude, and I'm notoriously gregarious in bars.
 
Don't disagree with you at all.

The headline on the Stealing Share website:
"THE STUFF FROM ALL OTHER BRANDING COMPANIES IS JUST THE SAME OLD SHIT.

"IF YOU BELIEVE THEIR CRAP YOU DON’T NEED TO TALK TO US."

Who even does business with such an outfit? I don't even hang out with people at bars with that attitude, and I'm notoriously gregarious in bars.

Seriously...agree with you.

"Oh the IRONY!" They want to come across uber-cool to ATTRACT business and they are driving business away because no one with any class and half a brain would want to do business with someone who has that attitude... lol.

I truly (continue to, even after months...) find it humorous and a little sad (for Sabian) more than anything else...

Would you not expect to find a 12 year old with a smirk on his face behind the desk of the CEO?
 
Don't disagree with you at all.

The headline on the Stealing Share website:
"THE STUFF FROM ALL OTHER BRANDING COMPANIES IS JUST THE SAME OLD SHIT.

"IF YOU BELIEVE THEIR CRAP YOU DON’T NEED TO TALK TO US."

Who even does business with such an outfit? I don't even hang out with people at bars with that attitude, and I'm notoriously gregarious in bars.

Their "Us vs Them" thing is pretty brazen. Calling out competitors, denigrating their work, saying "this agency thinks they're our competitor", etc. These tools call their attitude "aggressive" but I see belligerent. I imagine that for office fun they do lunch hour dodgeball after a few lines.

Everybody can say "oh it's just a logo" but think about it, this is the agency that Sabian felt necessary to trust with the image of their brand.

I do find it ironic how they so openly trash their competitors' attempts at re-branding (Pizza Hut, American Airlines etc) considering how universally hated the Sabian rebranding has been...
 
Marketing 101 = tell the consumer why they should choose your product. What makes you different. > fail = if you don’t pick us you’re an idiot.

Sales 101 = Never trash your competitors. Makes you come off slimy and people are turned off > fail = Sabian debacle.

Well, maybe not directly Sabian, but associations really, really matter.
 
Don't disagree with you at all.

The headline on the Stealing Share website:
"THE STUFF FROM ALL OTHER BRANDING COMPANIES IS JUST THE SAME OLD SHIT.

"IF YOU BELIEVE THEIR CRAP YOU DON’T NEED TO TALK TO US."

Who even does business with such an outfit? I don't even hang out with people at bars with that attitude, and I'm notoriously gregarious in bars.

Sounds like the same marketing teams that came up with the failed Fyre Festival,

...or the over the top release of the Finalmouse Ninja Air58 gaming mouse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucbcr9iBqGY

The marketing team behind the mouse had to be snorting coke to come up with tweets like that.
 
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The difference is that the Sabian brand matters to less than 1% of the population, whereas Burger King...

The difference to the public, sure. But to Sabian, that 1% is 100% of their business, so it might behoove them to consider their marketing approach.

The new Sabian ad copy is lockstep in tone with this marketing firm's website copy, and considering how unlikely I as a small business owner would be to engage Stealing Share to represent me, it's worth considering how drummers feel about that same "attitude" representing them.

Endorsement is a two-way street, after all. Sure, I like the sound and quality of Sabian cymbals, but if their new advertising tone was to trash competitors in the same style as Stealing Space, and to claim that anyone who doesn't like their attitude "doesn't get it", I wouldn't want to be listed on that website and possibly portrayed as having that sort of "attitude" myself. I hold myself out as a mellow, respectful guy in most respects, not someone who picks fights where there's no need to.
 
Their "Us vs Them" thing is pretty brazen. Calling out competitors, denigrating their work, saying "this agency thinks they're our competitor", etc. These tools call their attitude "aggressive" but I see belligerent. I imagine that for office fun they do lunch hour dodgeball after a few lines.

Yeah I get the impression they are the drunk guy at the party looking to fight anyone and everyone. I read through the majority of their site. It's all tough guy attitude, finger pointing, and chest thumping. I don't need that bafoonery.
 
I wouldn't want to be listed on that website and possibly portrayed as having that sort of "attitude" myself. I hold myself out as a mellow, respectful guy in most respects, not someone who picks fights where there's no need to.

Im the same way and exactly why I feel like selling off my Sabians. Like their sound? Yes, but I just don’t associate with this attitude. Believe me, if there were some options to choose from around me, and I could hand pick a set, I’d replace them never speak of Sabian again.

I’m going to see if I can set up a trip to Memphis Drum Shop. I can certainly go online, but I need to see and play them. I already did the internet thing once and chose what I felt was a safe bet. If something was off, I could send to Sabian to get reworked. That’s no longer available and no other company does or, so just too risky without going though a cymbal wall and picking out what I like.
 
I wonder if they'd consider offering both logos.

Since no one else is doing it, maybe that would be unbound enough.

Everybody is happy, they save face.

Stores would have to ink them as per customer request, or it could be a stocking nightmare.
 
..I’d replace them never speak of Sabian again..

..I’m going to see if I can set up a trip to Memphis Drum Shop. I can certainly go online, but I need to see and play them..


Actually, i was wondering about that, if there are people who allready own (old style) Sabian cymbals, but now feel different about those too..

I have not read the complete thread btw, in case some people allready mentioned this..
 
Actually, i was wondering about that, if there are people who allready own (old style) Sabian cymbals, but now feel different about those too..

I have not read the complete thread btw, in case some people allready mentioned this..

I honestly don't feel different about them. I loved those cymbals when I bought them, I love them now. I'm holding out hope they'll revert to the classic logo or replace the new one with something else that's not so absolutely obnoxious, so I've put a freeze on buying new Sabian product. What I'm doing instead is seeking out good quality used Sabians or new-old-stock (with classic logo) ones.

The last thing I want to do, despite me actually liking the new AAX Thin Crash models I've heard, is contribute ANYTHING to making them think that I'm ok with the new logo. They're a business, and the money from their customers (or brand-loyalists) talks.
 
What I'm doing instead is seeking out good quality used Sabians or new-old-stock (with classic logo) ones.

That said, an annoying side effect of this is that used Sabians do seem to be a bit more pricey than they were before this fiasco.

I daresay it is irritating "AF".
 
That said, an annoying side effect of this is that used Sabians do seem to be a bit more pricey than they were before this fiasco.

I daresay it is irritating "AF".

There's some definite truth to that. I've seen the same Sabian's at local GCs for at least the past two years. They had them so chocked down with their their locking mechanism, they all sounded terrible. I tried numerous time to tell the guys to back off their locks a bit, so people could hear them and nothing was ever done.

I went to two stores the past week and all Sabians with old logos were gone. In their place the new ones, once again chocked to death. I can't imagine the old ones just suddenly sounded better and sold, but people are rushing in to buy up what's still available from the old stock. Now that should be interesting AF to to the guys at Sabian!
 
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