Airfix Marketing

[cdplayer]

Hi everyone. excuse me if this is the wrong area to post this so moderators feel free to move !!

In MY opinion airfix is missing out on potential sales due to old fashioned, poor quality, packaging.

The box art is second rate compared to Hasegawa, tamiya and especially eduard which has a strong contemporary feel. Even the latest releases of the nimrod look dull. There are plenty of fantastic aviation artists in the uk who could be commissioned to produce stunning images. Micheal Turner and Robert Taylor are amongst the best in the world. What great advertising for an aviation artist. Im not saying that the current artists used arn't compitent but they lack the clearity of colour and composition of the great Hasegawa and tamiyas artists.

The cardboard they use for the box's is flimsy and often looks dented and tired and a dull grey brown. The tactile quality is soft and lacks the "crispness" of other companies. To me the box reflects the quality of the product inside. I picked up a spitfire Mk IX when I first got back into modelling last year and thought it was an old rare kit that had been sitting on the shelf for years due to the faded colours and almost damp feeling box.

The printing lacks saturation and colour, and the matt finish and poor graphic design doesnt help giving it a 1970's feel. The airfix logo is a classic piece of design but is let down by the unimaginative graphics elsewhere.

Its a real shame as they don't do justice to the product inside. Ultimately they fail to inspire me!! And thats a key aspect of our hobby or at least it is for me (and judging by the size of stashes, many other modellors too). The sence of quality in a product goes far beyond the plastic. The overall package sets up the anticipation of building a great intricate and accurate model. For me if airfix are going to become players in a highly competitive market with Eduard and tamiya etc then they need to see beyond the name AIRFIX (which certainly has a huge cultural legacy and sentimental attraction), with kits that jump off the shelf and ooze quality through and through. The Tamiya Storch model released a couple of months ago, is a beautiful example, that has raised the bar and jumps off the shelf. It makes me exited everytime I see it on my shelf where I have it stored awaiting construction. It makes me want to open the box and admire the craftsmanship within and mentally set up the challenge of building it and ultimately how rewarding a project it will be. You feel like you you are buying into a piece of luxury !!

Maybe the philosophy is to (dare I say it) dumb down the presentation so as not intimidate the young modellor ?? I dont know, but whatever the thinking behind it is for ME they fail to excit and will always remain second rate.

Rant over, Im getting off the soap box

chris

[Windy]

I do agree with you in some part, however I feel with the new lease of life with Hornby in charge they is going to hopefully to be improvement in the near future.

My major gripe with Airix is it's decals, they are terrible. I bought the new Nimrod, Falklands boxset and Vulcan and all my decals looked like they had parts missing from the roundels especially. I will say that the decals have improved recently, but with the poor printing and terrible colours ( have a look at the Avro Anson sheeet where the blue is almost black) it still forces people to shell out for new decals or put up with using poor quality items. What ever happened to the time where you could build a Airfix kit from the box with no problems. The problem they have to face is that there are better kits out on the market which are cheaper, but at leat I can say that Airfix is a British ( well mostly) and you cannot be British with out a good moan.

I hope that most of Airfix's problems will be sorted soon, and the upcoming releases are something that nearly all of us are looking forward to.

[desmojen]

I completely agree Chris.

The new Nimrod is a lovely kit but very much let down by the boxing and the decals. It is packaged beautifully once you open said box however and a far cry from Airfix kits of old.

Jen.

[thx6667]

I think we had this dicussion a few weeks back, the trouble with artwork is that its subjective, everyone has their likes and dislikes, and there will always be plenty of theorising and whether it has an effect on sales - ultimately the numbers would suggest otherwise.

The Tamiya is Storch is great kit, but I don't think it should be used as a benchmark for everyone other kit to be assessed by - its a bit like the Bugatti Veyron, a technology demonstrator, but it comes at a price and there's more to the market than just the top end. And with the greatest repect, comparisons with Eduard are limited, they make some fine kits but they do not have the distribution reach of Airfix, not the breadth or variety products, so in many respects their markets are different ones.

I hardly think you can say the current Airfix packaging is "dumbed down" any more than Tamiya using photos of made-up models for the 1/72 kits is "dumbing down" - you either like it or you don't, its subjective and there wil lalways be opinions for and against. Room for improvement? Always, Humbrol finally (re) started putting colour profiles on the side which I always felt gave the customer more information, and Hornby have continuted this.

But personally speaking I'd rather resources be spent on the plastic and decals rather than the finer degrees of the packaging.

[miduppergunner]

I must confess that the packaging matters not a jot to me - provided it serves the purpose - i.e. holds the contents secure. I always discard the box after it has served it's purpose anyway. Thus I am content to leave it to Airfix as to how they present their goods for sale - and it does appear to me that they are doing OK at the moment. But I am not a shareholder! Does it make a lot of differnece to us - as modellers as to how the goods are presented?

I would far rather the money be spent on the contents than the box!

I do also have a bias against unnecessary packaging generally!

[Mark]

Now you got me thinking....

You may very well have a point here cdplayer. As far as my purchases go, well, I tend to know what I want and don't care that it's a great piece of artwork or not on the box top. Also the quality of the box itself is only a bonus if it's a nice stout bit of cardboard. But I do see where you're coming from and can also assume that some of the newer or younger modellers would go for a the better quality artwork and boxes. As far as the Tamiya Storch is concerned, that's a prime example and whilst it was not in my interest area, i did nearly buy one because of the nice 100th kit sleeve..... So yes, you're right!

I do agree with both Jonathan and miduppergunner though regarding the moeny being spent on the bits we put together rather than throw away.

Edited March 11, 2008 by busdriver

[upnorth]

Art is very subjective, everyone has different stylistic tastes and so forth and we could go on about it for a very long time. Airfix box art definitely has a more painterly feel to it while Hasegawa and Tamiya lean more in a technical direction. There's nothing wrong with either approach. Personally the mentioned Nimrod box art didn't bother me except the cropping could have been a bit better, the illustration itself suited the subject matter quite well.

I used to work in graphic design and print and can say that the materials that an image is printed on can have a tremendous affect on how the image ends up looking. The printed image can end up looking of a very different quality than the original artwork and thus the boxart is a poor guage to measure the virtues of one artist to another. The material, printer and even the printing process can have a large impact.

If the material being printed on has a higher absorption rate, then the image will lose some crispness and colour saturation and definition. I have noticed that the material used for Airfix's current boxtops is not nearly as glossy as what Hasegawa or Tamiya are using, hence it probably absorbs more ink, has a higher degree of dot spread and thus a certain dergee of image clarity is lost. You can bet that if Hasegawa or Tamiya had their art printed on the same material that Airfix uses, their box art would lose a lot of crispness too.

On top of that, there are storage conditions to consider. What do you know about the warehouse that the kits were kept in before they were shipped, or the shipping vehicle, or the storage area in the back of the shop you bought the kit at? The relative humidity and temperature differentials in all these areas will be reacted to by the packaging material. This may cause the soft or soggy feel in the packaging material. Cardboard is quite an absorbant material, so unless the manufacturer opted to use a much more expensive, non reactive, archival grade board to make their box top from, anything can happen after it leaves the manufacturer's hands.

Airfix have done far worse than what they are currently doing for box top treatments, I personally think the period in the 80s when they were using photos of finished models placed over technical looking drawings was the real low point for their box tops, thankfully they got back to real illustrations.

There are other manufacturers out there that do have worse box art than what's on Airfix. I found the box art for Trumpeter's Sea Fury, Gannets and Wyvern to be rather boring and I'm not taken at all by anything that Hobby Boss has so far used for box art.

[cdplayer]

I should say that for me, when I want build a particular aircraft the packaging has little relevance. For example I wanted to build a 1:48 lightening so I bought the airfix kit regardless of the box. However it is when Im browsing at a show or in a shop with no particular project in mind. Then It makes a big difference which models fade into the bakground and those that leap out from the shelf. I bought the storch with no prior interest in the type. But I will admit that I was sucked in by the marketing !! For tamiya its job done another £29.99 thankyou very much !! I went into antics completely cold, with just a couple of hard earned quid burning a whole in my pocket. That money could be in Airfixs coffers, had they inspired me.

Airfix? has a a golden egg with a brand that is globally known. I think know is the time for some re-evaluation of the market so that they dont loose it for good.

Chris

[John]

I can't really see much of an issue with the current artwork. I know Dave Jones's style might not appeal to everybody but I like it. I thought the low point, apart from the "blueprint" style Palitoy boxes, was the rendition of the artwork on recent releases of kits like the 1/72 Bf109E and Stuke, and the 1/48th scale reboxings of some of the Otaki kits. The artwork was good but the reproductions were much too dark and, to me, uninspiring. However, the 2 1/48th scale Hawks are classics - just look at the detail in the Hawk 100 painting.

Looking at some of the new artwork on the Airfix website, I think there are a few beauties. The new Strikemaster is one, some of the new art for the JB kits is excellent.

John

[Mentalguru]

Have to agree- Hasegawa have sold many a turd- over and over and over again because of the fantastic shiny artwork and packaging.

I really think Airfix's think tank needs to be drained, and replaced with some fresh brew.

[AnonymousDFB1]

I guess different things sell kits to different people. When I was young then young then yes the artwork would sell me the kit, sometime just how much pocket money I had or how much I could charm dad

Nowadays it the subject matter and even more recenlty it's how well the kit goes together.

I must say though, the box and art work could sell me a kit if I was just browsing at tkits on a shelf. Recently I just loved the artwork of Edaurds Mirarge 2000, the box just reinforced the quality of the kit.

Tamiya artwork is very good as well and you know that it's probably a good kit in the box.

So a long answer to the question but yes Airfix do need a revamp, lets hope the new owners are listening.

[Gary West]

Totally agree and have thought this for some time now. Airfix needs it's own image but a lot of their boxes do look too "toy" like.

[Eric2020]

I think the best artwork and packaging was that of ESCI/Revell in the 70's and 80's. Strong box easy to store and same size anytime. Besides that those boxes are still very much wanted by collectors of boxart. I do not keep them, but som e yeah I keep those. Not the ones from italeri or Revell, those are bad to keep the parts together, but I do use the seal bags.

Airfix should come with an smart idea to get more kits sold, I know from an store that Heller is not being sold by about dead artwork. Revell boxing is for years the same, and for me easy storage. When having an stash very good.

But as Jonathan is saying more money spend on the product itself is what all modellers should applaud too. Better highly detailed models is what everyone wants.

[miduppergunner]

I suspect that Hornby have some reasonably able people in their marketing group and will no doubt act as they think fit - I am no expert on what sells what! A lot of packaging - and advertising in particular- acts as a deterrent for me!

[denstore]

I have already stated my opinion about Airfix boxes and boxart in another thread some time ago. But just to refresh, there´s a reason that I impatiently awaits Eduards reboxed Lightnings and Jaguars this spring. I have the Airfix Lightnings already, but the Jaguars, and probably a Lightning or two will certainly find my way to the stash. If I´m ever put in the situation between paying a couple of £ extra for a nice box, or saving the money and coming home with a crappy Airfix box, I´m sure you understand what will happen.....

[thx6667]

I think the problem with discussions like this is that people start talking about brands like Airfix, market share, competing etc... but there's never anything to back it up other than personal opinion. I'm not being dismissive of people's views, but sometimes the wider picture just seems to be lost.

For example, take the Doctor Who kits - attractively packaged, beautifully produced, the plastic is not bad, and its reaching out to wider audience. Ditto Shaun the Sheep. But in this discussion so far that's been totally overlooked.

Elsewhere on this board there's mention of the deal struck with the Royal Navy which has exciting possibilities. Take a look in the catalogue and see the official tie-ups that are being done with the Science Museum, the Red Arrows, Imperial War Museum Duxford, the BoB Memorial Flight, the Royal Naval Historic Flight... What about all the make and takes that Hornby have organised and run (as featured in the Club magazine) in order to fire interest in the hobby with youngsters? This is all stuff that is being done to broaden and strengthen the future of the brand, so to suggest that the marketing side "needs to be drained, and replaced with some fresh brew" as if the marketing people somehow haven't got a clue what they're doing is a little unfair - on the contrary, there are some very bright, enthusiastic people looking after the brand now who do have the right kinds of ideas and are putting them into practise.

Tamiya Storchs and Eduard reboxings are wonderful things, but remember folks this hobby also has to be kept affordable and accessable for a lot of other people out there.

Edited March 11, 2008 by Jonathan Mock

[Mike]

Some good points raised... I'm in partial agreement with the original poster, and think that one of the Canberra box tops is pretty crap in particular. Can't remember the mark, but it's almost side on, and to me seems to be missing a wing, somehow.

I thought the overall packaging of the Hunter was fine though, having had three in my grubby mitts. The interior white lid was a bit of a puzzle initially, but when you think these kits have come from China for re-boxing with decals & instructions in the UK, I guess it made sense to have the white lid inside to stop things getting lost. Airfix probably decided to sleeve their lid over the top for practicality & to help protect against crushing, which again is fine by me. Bit of a waste of resources, but I guess that let them make the outer lid from thinner material, so it's swings & roundabouts. Maybe that's what contributed to the less glossy finish?

I'm hoping that the Mossie will be a tour de force, and will include that brilliant poster of the Mossie dashing low over the sea, with bullets whizzing all over the place. I desperatley want one!!!

[darson]

Alright here's my two cents worth I picked up the Eduard boxing of the Airfix Spitfire f.22/24 as was well and truly pleased with the purchase and it had nothing to do with the box art (which was nice btw) but what was in the box that got me to shell out my hard earned:

Airfix Spitfire kit

Eduard Color PE fret

Aires resin replacement for the front office

Cartograph decal sheet with four very nice options.

I dare say that if Eduard is going to rebox the Jag and the Lightening I will buy both as they will be packed full of PE goodies and resin as did their reboxes of the Heller Mirages.

Oh yeah in my humble personal opinion Hornby do need to re-invent the whole Airfix brand and I wish them every success.

Cheers

[avro683]

Hi everyone. excuse me if this is the wrong area to post this so moderators feel free to move !!

In MY opinion airfix is missing out on potential sales due to old fashioned, poor quality, packaging.

The box art is second rate compared to Hasegawa, tamiya and especially eduard which has a strong contemporary feel. Even the latest releases of the nimrod look dull. There are plenty of fantastic aviation artists in the uk who could be commissioned to produce stunning images. Micheal Turner and Robert Taylor are amongst the best in the world. What great advertising for an aviation artist. Im not saying that the current artists used arn't compitent but they lack the clearity of colour and composition of the great Hasegawa and tamiyas artists.

The cardboard they use for the box's is flimsy and often looks dented and tired and a dull grey brown. The tactile quality is soft and lacks the "crispness" of other companies. To me the box reflects the quality of the product inside. I picked up a spitfire Mk IX when I first got back into modelling last year and thought it was an old rare kit that had been sitting on the shelf for years due to the faded colours and almost damp feeling box.

The printing lacks saturation and colour, and the matt finish and poor graphic design doesnt help giving it a 1970's feel. The airfix logo is a classic piece of design but is let down by the unimaginative graphics elsewhere.

Its a real shame as they don't do justice to the product inside. Ultimately they fail to inspire me!! And thats a key aspect of our hobby or at least it is for me (and judging by the size of stashes, many other modellors too). The sence of quality in a product goes far beyond the plastic. The overall package sets up the anticipation of building a great intricate and accurate model. For me if airfix are going to become players in a highly competitive market with Eduard and tamiya etc then they need to see beyond the name AIRFIX (which certainly has a huge cultural legacy and sentimental attraction), with kits that jump off the shelf and ooze quality through and through. The Tamiya Storch model released a couple of months ago, is a beautiful example, that has raised the bar and jumps off the shelf. It makes me exited everytime I see it on my shelf where I have it stored awaiting construction. It makes me want to open the box and admire the craftsmanship within and mentally set up the challenge of building it and ultimately how rewarding a project it will be. You feel like you you are buying into a piece of luxury !!

Maybe the philosophy is to (dare I say it) dumb down the presentation so as not intimidate the young modellor ?? I dont know, but whatever the thinking behind it is for ME they fail to excit and will always remain second rate.

Rant over, Im getting off the soap box

chris

Hi Chris

To a certain extent I agree with you. The box art on todays Airfix products will never match up to the superb quality of Roy Cross, who produced the artwork for the majority of the kits in the 1960's, which was when I started buying kits. I doubt though that Hornby could afford Michael Turner or Robert Taylor, but I would love to be proved wrong! As to the cardboard, have you bought many Revell kits recently? Whilst the quality of the kit itself has improved in a quantum leap since the 60's, sadly the structural integrity of the packaging has gone the other way as the boxes seem to collapse as asoon as you look at them. At thirty quid, I do feel the Tamiya Storch is way over priced, and certainly didn't seem to be flying off the shelves at recent model shows I've attended.

Airfix will always be close to my heart, but then I am biased. The new Nimrod, in my humble opinion, is a superb kit and the forthcoming "Cranberries" look even better. I think that in todays "PC" society sadly the way products, particularly military orientated, are portrayed does temper the potential to the artist, however good they are.

Tony

[Cornish]

I saw the Nimrod box the other week and thought it looked fine. It would not stop me buying the Airfix model if I where in the market for it.

As Jonathan has stated, this is a very subjective topic, but I am sure a youngster or new modeller would be more than happy with it, unless you think the market needs glitzy branding and merchandising such as "Airfix Nimrod 1/72 with Space Cannon and Telly Tubby Ground Crew" to make it more appealing as a mass consumer product. On the opposite end of the market, a more experienced modeller I would think is going to be more concerned with the content of the box.

I think the reallity of the situtation though; is that Hornby have taken a brave step purchasing and reintroducing the Airfix brand to the market and that if you look at most of the re-releases - they are obviously and wisly constraining costs by utilizing the companies existing artwork rather than commisioning new desgisns. I would think for the next few years this will remain the case until the business is supporting itself. It's catch 22, they could commission new artwork and packaging at great expenses, placing higher costs and risk on the business for what most of which ends up in the bin. Or take a more prudent approach until the brand is re-established and grow market sales and fund new toolings like the Nimrod on the back of support from a supportive fan base, not just the specialist dedicated modeller market. I don't think their branding is stopping them doing that at present and would guess that 80% of Airfix customers will never have heard of CMK or Eduard. Just thank our stars Hornby are introuducing new products like the Dr Who range to give the business a more wider appeal, whilst putting in resources to create great new kits like the Nimrod, without the need to sell it with a Telly Tubby ground crew

At the end of the day if you don't support Airfix by purchasing the kits, it will not get any better, they have to cut their cloth as they find it - for now.

But seriously, think about it. in this envirnomentally friendly age of reducing packaging and other consumables such as plastic carrier bags, this is a conversation about wanting a prettier box - 95% of which will end up in landfill!

[entlim]

or being recycled anyway.................

[Giorgio N]

I think the best artwork and packaging was that of ESCI/Revell in the 70's and 80's. Strong box easy to store and same size anytime. Besides that those boxes are still very much wanted by collectors of boxart. I do not keep them, but som e yeah I keep those. Not the ones from italeri or Revell, those are bad to keep the parts together, but I do use the seal bags.

Airfix should come with an smart idea to get more kits sold, I know from an store that Heller is not being sold by about dead artwork. Revell boxing is for years the same, and for me easy storage. When having an stash very good.

But as Jonathan is saying more money spend on the product itself is what all modellers should applaud too. Better highly detailed models is what everyone wants.

Most Esci covers of those days were painted by Enzo Maio, an author that after the end of Esci also painted some italeri, revell and hasegawa covers. He was also famous in italy for the very nice caricatures of some combato planes and for the funny drawings of penguins involved in various kit related activities that adorned the old Esci catalogues. Some of those covers are still brilliant, I remember particularly the 1/48 F-104 ! And I agree, the boxes were brilliant, I still use some of those to store my spare parts !

I agree in general that a good presentation is one of the keys to success, and that's not only for kits. And I partially agree that some airfix boxes are not brilliant looking. Said that though, I'm prettty sure that the new management knows the importance of packaging and will make their choices. Not that I know this because of any personal knowledge of the people involved, it's just an accepted fact in every business ! And as these are businessmen I assume they know this has to be dealt with. I think it's only fair to give them some time to fully develop and implement the new corporate strategy.

Then of course, the quality of what is in the boxes will have to be important anyway... you can sell someone one bad product in a brilliant box, but he will not make the same mistake twice. A good presentation is good, but is not enough: Esci had lovely artworks but they aren't with us anymore. Even if most of the kits were very good, something that might just mean that even having a good artwork AND a good product might not be enough... but again, if they're businessmen they should know all of this better than most.

Giorgio

[Dave Fleming]

As I've said before, you can't judge Hornby soley on the Nimrod - almost everything about that was a Humbrol product (including the box art)

It's interesting that what looks like being the box art for the 1/48th TSR2 is the 'alternative' one for the 1/72 kit, which came as the art poster for Club members.

[Geoff_B]

Nice that somebody pointed out about Revells end opening boxings, fine as a sealed unit but goes to crap as soon its opened loosing all structural strength and leaving nowhere to store the parts whilst work is in progress. Other things people have missed in tha above thread is aviation artists, they may not want to see thier work used as box art or charge such fees that the kit would be unaffordable !!!!. Couple that with political correctness and over sensitivity in Europe and the art work tends to be a tad neutral (aka nobody on the receiving end !) plus of course we have the green aspect as well where packaging and its later disposal now a major concern (thus Revells recycled simple boxes ).

As for having a dig at Airfix marketing, for goodness sake give the poor buggers a chance, Hornby only took over the name and the tools about 18mths ago, rather than buying a going concern so have had to start from fresh again sourcing new suppliers and contractors to do all of thier stuff. The key aspect has been to get the kits back into production and onto the shelves before they lost their market share for good, so the emphasis has been on that aspect to date. Obviously some contractors are not quite upto speed as yet, as the Nimrod decal sheet shows, but getting a sheet of that size and complexity done in the numbers required is not easy or cheap, however expect it to be addressed by the new team before long.

Most of the new kits we are seeing at the moment were instigated by the old Humbrol, and so Hornby should not really be judged on these but rather on the new stuff they are commisioning such as the new 24th scale Mossie.

Cheers

Geoff

[Howard of Effingham]

i think airfix are doing ok. others have said what i would say.

one thing i am glad that airfix have done at the last two SMW's is to do a decent customer survey sheet, which has been

much appreciated and they do seem to be listening to what we the modellers want and need. yeah, PRU blue returns

along with hemp to the humbrol paint range but can i find either? no!

people are always going to be critical about this and that aspect, but its buying the kits and making them that's

important to me, and above all enjoying yerself whilst doing so.

i see some have said about recycling. i recycle almost all of my empty kit boxes to a local nursery for them to use. they

are very grateful indeed. maybe this is something other modellers oughta consider too and empty boxes make ideal

craft material for younger folk.

trevor