I'm comfused, are you an employee?
In any case, Gibson clearly needs FOCUS GROUPS and DEPTH INTERVIEWS. And what they really really need is WELL-SELECTED focus groups, not some assortment of stoned and faded Wayne's World refugees going "far out, dude" and "ooh, tubular" whenever shown something expensive-looking and totally out of their price range, but then again reacting much the same to anything and everything as long as you give em their hundred bucks, a tshirt, and plenty of cookies in the conference room...
and DEFINITELY not a roomful of young and impressionable novice teens (whom they might WANT as customers, but ought to realize they ain't getting at their price points), for whom everything and anything looks overwhelmingly "ooh, shiney" over their christmas pack black Squier Affinity with gigbag and shoulder strap
They need to get real about their true target audience --- not just actual buyers or fans, but the people that walk into a guitar store with the will or ability to spend on their products, actually pick up their products and consider them, or at least 1) COULD be convinced to try and like a brand-new Gibson prodict, and 2) COULD save or borrow to purchase a brand-new Gibson product, if said product satisfied their demands. Note this also involves winning back savvy customers from the vintage displays and the premium corner of the used wall (which is likely where their biggest lost potential audience gravitates to).
And after selecting these focus groups correctly, they need to learn to ask the right questions, even when the answers are likely to hurt or go against management's recent plans and decisions. Very likely, a shy in-house team or submissive outsourced consultancy acted as the worst kind of enabler, intentionally cherrypicking respondents and responses that would affirm any misguided decisions with glowing reviews.
If you do work for Gibson and need someone to do focus groups done RIGHT, let me know, I have some experience in the field and could make that happen
