While i tend to be a supporter of all of horizon's decisions and campaigns and I guess a "cheer leader," this hurts us because its 1200 dollars to be unique, while im sure the dx18 is actually a good deal for the money, probably 95% of those that paid attention to the campaign who are in the market for a spektrum radio are not going to buy anything pricier than a DX8, a DX18 simply doesn't apply to us.
Its was much different for the AS3X campaign, becuase even if someone only flies larger planes they can still get interested in flying a micro near their house.
Those who were interested in the campaign and the buyers of the product simply dont line up. And then there's the social aspect of having to buy a 1200 dollar radio to be unique.

Originally Posted by jasmine2501

You mean the temporary new product release that caused everyone to buy twice as much Coke so they could taste the difference? Yeah that was a mistake.

No I am referring to one of the worst marketing fiascoes in history, that cost the company over 4 million dollars in market research just to have the public shun the new product. They forgot who their customers were, even though in market testing everyone said they liked the new taste. They forgot what their brand meant to consumers which in my opinion is what HH did with this piece of marketing hype.
They will probably sell all 2000 of these transmitters, but the lasting impression that a person needs to be elite to be unique will be something that consumers will not likely forget anythine soon.

After watching the video, i understand now that they dont mean that having this radio makes you unique.
At the end of the video it says: "You are unique. You deserve a radio that is too."

That is the message of the ad campaign, the final line of the "are you unique ad."

Originally Posted by RealGambler

The Hyper Taxi is great. Very fragile, but I've flown other aircrafts that would not take a crash nicely either so it's only a question of having the skill to keep it in the air. Sure it was something that had been done as well, but the AS3X truly made it MUCH better. I'm quite happy with mine (other than I did crash it once too many time) Great indoor airplane for sure, and totally different than most indoor airplanes.

I did not mind the hypertaxi, it was fine just by itself. It just let everyone down by the rediculous hypeing scheme it tried to make itself out to be some revolutionary never before seen thing. It turned out all the hype was for a yellow Doritos plane.

As I wrote earlier in this thread, this transmitter is no more expensive than the normal DX18. I recently bought a DX18, carry case, and priced the 12ch receiver, etc. Look it all up on Horizon's site and add it up. You will see that the price is pretty much the same yet with this special limited edition rig, you get it all on one package with many additional features for free. Free programming changes, free, hat, free light, free dog tag, free serialized edition, free cool graphics on the case, sticker sheet, etc. So, don't read this as a high priced item. Look at it as a "collector set" like some DVD's or other things that have more than simple monetary value when grouped together and a neat way to have a connection to a very key person in this hobby we all love.

Yuk, a new low in advertising. A product they'll have to give away to get anybody to use it. I suggest giving one to Kobe Bryant and seeing if it becomes cool enough for ghetto kids to rob stores for as an alternative to overpriced tennis shoes. I sure can't see 2,000 RC modelers buying these jokes.

Hey Horizon Hobby! Try making good products and letting them sell themselves!

There's a story about a top meeting of Chick Fil A where the popular opinion was that they needed to spend a lot of money building lots of new locations. The company prez said "No, we need to invest in a better product and then the public will DEMAND that we build new locations." THAT"S real marketing. Put your money where your products are. THEY are what produce profits, not advertising.

Originally Posted by JIMBOJONES

the lasting impression that a person needs to be elite to be unique

There is nothing unusual about that suggestion. A whole ton of products are sold that way, from cars to toys. While I generally agree with you, I also see the other side of it - New Coke might have been a miserable failure, but it sure generated a lot of interest. Also, Horizon is doing it right in terms of being aware of the law of conspicuous consumption - if this radio didn't LOOK different, it wouldn't sell... but if you walk on to the field with one of these, everybody is going to know you are capable of spending $2000 on a radio, and that's why people buy Hummers in spite of them being a bad value... to be seen driving a Hummer. And, the power of being seen using an expensive radio should not be underestimated. Sometimes, we like to think we are immune to that kind of thing, but we're not.

Now what HH need to do is spend some time reading all the great ideas we had before the release and maybe act on those......and give the forum the credit for the products.

Originally Posted by kjkimball

As I wrote earlier in this thread, this transmitter is no more expensive than the normal DX18. I recently bought a DX18, carry case, and priced the 12ch receiver, etc. Look it all up on Horizon's site and add it up. You will see that the price is pretty much the same yet with this special limited edition rig, you get it all on one package with many additional features for free. Free programming changes, free, hat, free light, free dog tag, free serialized edition, free cool graphics on the case, sticker sheet, etc. So, don't read this as a high priced item. Look at it as a "collector set" like some DVD's or other things that have more than simple monetary value when grouped together and a neat way to have a connection to a very key person in this hobby we all love.

Very good point Kevin, but for most hobbyist, the only way into the more fancy transmitter is to buy one with almost nothing with it (barebone), or as many have done with the DX8 so far, buy it with one or more receivers (the package deal with AR8000, and two more receivers), and sell ALL the receivers since they reach a decent price on the market, and they just wanted the Tx. This would bring the transmitter price to a much lower level that some of us can only afford. (and those some of us are not me... I can only dream to buy a DX18 or even a DX8)

...

Ok yes, but they started it......
jk

My point is that for a brand that has been a staple of the "working man" to jump to a "premium product" that many cannot afford, in a time when we are all expecting a holiday release, was kind of dirty.

So did all 2000 gets sold out or what?

There are some lower priced new products coming....

Originally Posted by jasmine2501

There are some lower priced new products coming....

And what would they be?? and why not release the details in a bundle rather than in dribs and drabs

Originally Posted by jasmine2501

There are some lower priced new products coming....

??????? When?

I did see they lowered the price on a lot of there items, just in time for christmas which is pretty cool. They should have spent more time advertising that instead,