How important are endorsement deals in terms of an overall marketing strategy?
In our industry, I believe they are very important. Because music has to do with creativity, feeling, and emotion, there are many factors involved in why someone chooses to play a specific instrument, other than just physical specifications, price, etc. I don’t know a single musician who didn’t grow up idolizing some other musician because of his playing ability or “cool” factor. What that idol played is all a part of the memory and mojo of an instrument, if you will. I believe it still affects every musician, young and old. Having someone influential playing your instrument truly can give it a “cool” factor. Also, for a product that is in its younger stages of brand recognition, having it played by an artist who has mass appeal can really turn many people on to it.