Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms What to be sold in the Morgan shop

Going on from the post regarding the new Factory shop. What would you like to see on sale there?

They are a car factory, so maybe they ought to sell cars and car bits. God Forbid that they try to do a Harley and start selling life style tat

They already do.

And we can expect more!

Dominic Riley's interview in MOG Mag stated as such .

And it is in his background to follow this route.

The 'Lifestyle' tat thing is sound business sense. Extends the brand, makes a profit and highlights the products. Harley has been mentioned, who support fully the HOG thing. The Harley Owners Group is a factory sponsored enthusiast club that is the biggest in the world, and it costs almost £70 a year.

Triumph motorcycles do the same with clothing and products, plus the Riders Association of Triumph (RAT) and it works!

I love the fact that tours to the factory contain 99% of people that may never own a Morgan, but they want the brand and appreciate the ethos behind a British company. Allowing them to take home 'something' that acts as a memory and brand extension is a great way of being positive as a manufacturer.

And yes, it would be great to see tuning products sold from the same place or attached for those of us who own the cars but they may be thinking exactly the same. Who knows?

I think the new shop is a cracking idea, and creating the opportunity to sell other select artisan products can only be a good thing.

I think that Morgan struggle to reconcile what they would like their customer base to be and what it actually is.

Stringer ( is this you or your mate?) you just have to be in marketing / advertising because thats a load of marketing bull poo IMO of course. And in a friendly way too.

The people on this forum dont buy a brand - they buy a piece of engineering. They dont buy into an image - they buy a car. And the problem with the lifestyle bit, apart from it appealing to the vacuous of this world, is that doing it diverts management focus away from the product itself. Thats one reason why Harleys are such crap motorcycles - they have long ago sacrificed engineering in favour of image. Buy a Harley, customise from our 1000 pages of extras, get your cut off and scowl like a patch club rider as you look at your self passing shop windows. Be a tough dood even if you are a lady's hairdresser and your teeth have vibrated loose. !

Heaven forbid that Morgan go that way and end up producing cars so that their customers can buy all the tat that makes up the "brand". Particularly when , as many point out on here, the quality of the car need a lot of management attention.

Flat caps and white scarves with a bit of wire in it! All at 1950s prices. I personally wouldn`t go in for the expensive designer stuff, but a polo shirt or wind/waterproof jacket if designed for driving would be fine -also souvenirs for visitors would be great so they can take home a reminder of their visit.However they need to ensure that it is of good quality and at an affordable price. Of course there should be items at the "luxury" end for those who can afford them - they need to cater for a wide group of buyers and a fiver from a factory worker is worth the same as a fiver from a hedge-fund manager.

Not just Morgan, but MSCC!!

The Company must sell new cars to survive. How many MSCC members will ever buy a new Morgan car? Few.
How many TM Members will ever buy a new Morgan car? Better than a Few, but still not a lot.

So, the Company has to find new blood, and keep it with repeat purchases. Selling the "brand" is a vital part of that mission and MOG Mag is a part of it.

I feel that MMC needs something like a Morgan Owners Group, (MOG) based on the Triumph RAT model. I would like to see MSCC and MMC come together to achieve this, but I'm a minority and it is one reason why I'm no longer involved with running MSCC.

So, anything that helps MMC make money, sell cars and build brand awareness has my support.

In my opinion anyone who dismisses Morgan building their brand and actively marketing outside the traditional customer base as "marketing tat" is way, way out of touch and has already started to leave the modern world behind.

I have to say I am completely unable to understand why anyone would think it's a bad idea for MSCC and MMC to work together to promote the Morgan brand, what possible objection would people have?