A little marketing query ...

[dave_3d]

Hi Guys,

I am asking around with you MK2 fans for some feedback to an idea I am working on. As some of you may have seen I have been creating many MK2 (and Mk1) Escort images - http://www.dmmultimedia.com - and presently I have been printing a few special orders. This takes CONSIDERABLE time, and I hardly break even for this - though it is great fun and I meet a lot of good people.

BUT, I have been investigating and phoning around and have found a commercial printer who can produce A1 (*) professional lithographic prints (like fine art prints) - the only proviso is that I would need to be able to sell at least a few hundred of these to make it worthwhile.

Now as I can't obviously print 200 of a specific model (or could I ?) I thought that it would be cool to make the poster with 8 different variants (similar in style to the image below) of the mk2 all together on the same page :

Preliminary outline -------------------------

1. Standard - cooking model, steel wheels.
2. Mex
3. RS2000
4. RS1800
5. Forest Arched - Rally - Rothmans would be cool.
6. GP2 - what colours/scheme are the most famous ?
7. GP5 - what colours/scheme are the most famous ?

8. And the final one ... mmmm ... perhaps an X-Pack ??? Mex or RS2000 ??

------------------------------------------------

So the bottom line is this:

Do you think it would be possible for me to sell a few hundred of thse posters ?

If I could, then I could offer them at VERY competitive prices.

Thanks for any replies. :thumbright:

Dave

(*) A1 - to get an idea of the size, take an A4 sheet of paper (standard letter size) and double it to A3, then double that to get A2 and finally double that to get A1 (8 A4 pages in size). It is a good sized poster.

http://www.dmmultimedia.com/escort_mk2/mk2_047w.jpg

[Kel]

Dave, have you contacted the RSOC I know Chris Ellison (chairman) was intrested in your work. he's Gizmo in here and on the RSOC BBS

I feel 8 is a must !

the Grp2 & 5 cars were Zakspeed cars

http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/photop/data/512/20894Escort_Zakspeed_GrB.jpg
http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/photop/data/512/20894LUD76.JPG
http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/photop/data/512/medium/5167DRM_76_15.jpg
http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/photop/data/512/5167B0391.jpg
http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/photop/data/512/5167B0458.jpg
http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/photop/data/512/medium/5167zakspeedturbo_spec.JPG

[Kel]

+ you want to search the net with 'DRM escort'

[Kel]

check this little lot out

http://www.scala43.com/scala43/ford.htm

[dave_3d]

Thanks for those links Kel, very helpful

I'll drop Chris a line.

Dave

[topaz]

id like to see roll top seats in the mk2

looking fantastic, id buy one

[lathamescortmk2]

you need a 4 door on there :cheers:

be nice to see a zakspeed one on there an stuff.

your best bet would be to go to these people who sell posters n that, and see if theyd want to buy a large amount off you, say 20 or something at a lower price than retail, so they can sell them on and so on. then youd only need to get 5 or so buyers to make up the hundred, plus a load you could sell yourself means youd easily be able to make the numbers up, economies of scale innit.

[dave_3d]

your best bet would be to go to these people who sell posters n that, and see if theyd want to buy a large amount off you, say 20 or something at a lower price than retail, so they can sell them on and so on. then youd only need to get 5 or so buyers to make up the hundred, plus a load you could sell yourself means youd easily be able to make the numbers up, economies of scale innit.

Yes. I'm all too aware of economy of scale. THAT is why I am sounding out if there is any interest. For sure I need to sell some to clubs etc in a larger number for a good discount (I am busy on that front too). But I don't want to front up what could be several thousand pounds to be left with 499 gathering dust in my house ;) But I'd love it if there was a market for this.

Also selling to Poster guys ... the first question will be : "Is there a market for this ?"

Don't forget they will run off hundreds of thousands and even millions of "Star Wars", "the latest it girl" or "Lord of the Rings" posters and flood them into places like Virgin, W H Smiths etc.

Now, our "ole" MK2 is a little bit of a speciality niche item now ... :)

Just need to find out from the people who are most likely prospective customers if there is an interest in this poster.

I'm working on a low res mock-up but imagine something in this format. At A1 size. And with each car one from the list I described earlier :

http://www.dmmultimedia.com/escort_mk2/poster_concept.jpg

and probably with a little bit of subtle text like my MK1 Rally Escort :

http://www.dmmultimedia.com/escort_mk1/general_022.jpg

Dave

[Tim]

there is a guy who sells drawing cars and bikes at loads of shows and events all over the uk and europe, his work is similar to wicked art and
http://bbs.fzr1000exup.org.uk/phpbb2/templates/subSilver/images/logo_phpBB.gif

i think there defo a market for pics like urs, 8 cars in 1 poster would do well

[dave_3d]

Yes ... great. Thanks. :thumbright: Thanks for commenting on the 8-in-1 poster idea.

With little bits of feedback like that I am getting the feeling that it MIGHT actually be worthwhile for me to go ahead and get a print run done.

Still don't know how those Escort print guys you mentioned advertise every month in Classic Ford and manage to make a living from it. I found out approx how much it would cost to advertise in Classic Ford :evil3: :dizzy: and it would shock you ! Those guys have to sell LOTS of posters just to cover even the cost of the advert.

I'll need to reserve some time during summer this year for some of the bigger Ford shows ... :)

Dave

[Tim]

the drawings ive got are by a guy called K W Davies, spoke 2 him a few times and hes at shows every weekend in the summer, ive got 1 pic of about 6 works mk1s all merged in2 the 1 poster

[Tim]

think this is the guy http://www.rallyartmotorsportprints.com/default.asp

[graham John]

Hi Dave,
during the autmn i had 7,500 (i think) posters printed for the RSOC, some of you will have seen them / bought them- size was approx A1 and the price & quality is superb.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/GrahamJohn/poster1.jpg

Give me the details of the quantity you require (no minimum number but the best amount would be @100) and i will see what i can do for you.

you should be able to shift 20- 30 on this site alone of a mk 2 surely ?

cheeRS

[Kel]

Dave, one thing can we work on get the wheels looking like 13's.

[dave_3d]

Thanks for that link :)

I'll drop you a pm, Graham.

What do mean about the wheels, Kel ? The minilite style ones are more like 15" but the RS alloys are as close as I can guess.

Do you mean they are too large, Diameter wise ?

Here is a side view, with and without wheel - the 7" RS Alloys. Feel free to draw the diameter of the wheel AND the tyre ... :)

http://www.dmmultimedia.com/escort_mk2/wheel_sizes.jpg

Dave

[dave_3d]

Any comments on the wheel sizes ???

Anyway ... had a play with the model and created this Group 5 kit. Not finished yet, still need to model the correct alloys and other bits and bobs. And also create some racing colours, might look a bit odd in a single colour. Comments/crits welcome - I only had a few reference photos to go on.

http://www.dmmultimedia.com/escort_mk2/mk2_050w.jpg

Dave

[dave_3d]

Got some great reference pics showing things more clearly ... It's getting there :D

http://www.dmmultimedia.com/escort_mk2/mk2_055ww.jpg

Dave

[Banishit]

beautiful