|
General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
|
Thread Tools |
18th Nov 2022, 11:42 pm | #41 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 3,326
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Quote:
|
|
19th Nov 2022, 12:25 am | #42 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK.
Posts: 2,039
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Quote:
Aub
__________________
Life's a long song, but the tune ends too soon for us all. |
|
19th Nov 2022, 3:23 am | #43 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,723
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Perhaps they felt they needed a silly name to keep up with the likes of Adafruit.
__________________
-- Graham. G3ZVT |
19th Nov 2022, 1:18 pm | #44 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,570
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
|
19th Nov 2022, 1:31 pm | #45 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,935
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Consignia.
__________________
Saturn V had 6 million pounds of fuel. It would take thirty thousand strong men to lift it an inch. |
19th Nov 2022, 8:00 pm | #46 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,213
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
|
19th Nov 2022, 10:26 pm | #47 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,896
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
When the name was eventually announced to employees, someone fed it into a little anagram gizmo used by crossword cheats.
It came out with "A Tin Leg" and that got everyone laughing. Then it came out with another anagram and the laughter went up a gear. Everyone forgot about tin legs. Someone edited the 'Spark' logo into something more in-keeping with the anagram. There was a lot of gallows humour. We'd just lost a name we'd been very proud of. David
__________________
Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
19th Nov 2022, 11:58 pm | #48 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 16,535
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Quote:
Just BTDT
__________________
....__________ ....|____||__|__\_____ .=.| _---\__|__|_---_|. .........O..Chris....O |
|
20th Nov 2022, 12:40 am | #49 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK.
Posts: 2,039
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Of course there's now Evri, who were Hermes.
Aub
__________________
Life's a long song, but the tune ends too soon for us all. |
20th Nov 2022, 2:43 am | #50 | |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Staffordshire Moorlands, UK.
Posts: 1,479
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Quote:
Steve.
__________________
Those who lack imagination cannot imagine what is lacking... |
|
20th Nov 2022, 4:55 am | #51 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,896
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
While there are some fine and helpful members of the accountancy profession, I do tend to use the name "Bean counters" for the other sort - it got used by someone several posts ago. But when things have really gone pear shaped, the lawyers get wheeled in and I coined the term "Blame adjusters" They don't really change what has happened, they are just brought in to move the blame around afterwards. Feel free to use it.
David
__________________
Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
20th Nov 2022, 9:11 am | #52 |
Nonode
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK.
Posts: 2,039
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
A bit like loss adjusters in insurance companies
Aub
__________________
Life's a long song, but the tune ends too soon for us all. |
20th Nov 2022, 11:23 am | #53 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 13,454
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
The change to Whadda seems to be attracting lots of attention, looks like mission accomplished for the marketing dept.
Lawrence. |
20th Nov 2022, 1:59 pm | #54 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,832
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
You're not wrong there Loz, good point, well made. Personally, from the limited information that's on here, there does NOT seem to be a good reason to have changed the brand name in this instance. But as I say in an earlier post, there are many instances when a brand name needs to, or it's beneficial for it to be changed. Stuff like this is often scoffed at by pure technical people who seem to forget that just like in electronics, you can get a masters degree in marketing and marketing communications. It's not a subject that you can 'wing' or simply have a view on, you need to be educated on the many facets and aspects that influence peoples' decision making. But because it's less 'techy', it's often seen as something that 'any clever person' can make judgement calls on. Similarly, when a company is taken over, there's always a moan and groan about how "the accountants" have done this or that that is terribly wrong. But it's not just "accountants"! they know little or nothing about marketing, and it's very likely those (marketing) people who will make judgment calls about the viability of operations, alternatives etc etc. At the end of the day it's about money, and like it or not people will make decisions regarding what to do with their assets. I totally get that workforces are against closures, redundancies etc etc, but that's life. I have to say, when I was made redundant after 20 years service with Thorn, I never 'blamed' the company, they have to make decisions that get them through bad patches for the general good of everyone at the company. In my case it was probably the best kick up the backside that I ever had, I'd have probably still been there now earning '£12k'. As it is I went on to better things, using my electronics skills to get into the electronics marcoms field and climb the ladder there.
__________________
A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. |
20th Nov 2022, 5:13 pm | #55 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,005
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
Marketing mission accomplished. There's no such thing as bad publicity.
I always liked my marketing/accountancy team; though they occasionally screwed-up [like selling a service to a number of high-profile clients without realisiung that we didn't _actually_ have the ability to provide that service - fixed by me arranging to buy it in from someone else, we still turned a profit on the game] and I always trusted my 'bean-counters' to tell me if the number of beans-in-the-jar were getting low. It kinda helped that Bernie, our accountant, was also a partner in the business so if it crashed he'd lose his investment too. "Delighting the Customer" is all very well but if you didn't delight the partners/ibvestors in the business by delivering decent profits you wouldn't last long. I remember a comment reported in one of the Mullard/Philips board-meetings from the mid-1930s where one of the Philips team had to rather forcefully remind the Mullard side "We're not here to make valves, we're here to make profits".
__________________
I'm the Operator of my Pocket Calculator. -Kraftwerk. |
20th Nov 2022, 8:00 pm | #56 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Haarlem, Netherlands
Posts: 4,203
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
There's no such thing as bad publicity, but publicity is not the only aspect of a change in a company. If it would result in for example loss of profits, or pissing off retailers, for example, that could be a problem.
|
20th Nov 2022, 8:16 pm | #57 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Coningsby, Lincolnshire, UK.
Posts: 2,820
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
The company I work for currently have a habit of changing their name… it’s become a bit of a joke now, every time we have a quarterly meeting someone has to ask what the company is called this time! It’s got to be a dumb idea if most of the employees don’t even know what the company is called any more…
Regards Lloyd |
20th Nov 2022, 9:28 pm | #58 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,896
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
As you said, there are exceptions, but those exceptions can be very dramatic. Also, at the time of the publicity, who can predict which way it'll go?
We have a prime example in the UK. A remark by the head of a family business bearing his surname made some remarks in an interview, and it destroyed a nationwide chain of jewellery shops. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ratner The shops sold a wide range of products including good stuff and were a trusted retailer, they also sold cheap stuff, so it wasn't simply the fall of a tat business. As a comedian put it, the business fell so fast the impact crater could be seen from space. David
__________________
Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
20th Nov 2022, 10:32 pm | #59 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK.
Posts: 7,087
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
And rival brand F Hind creamed off the trade lost by Ratners, which was ironic because he owned them both I believe!
It's not just down to corporate brands - remember Windscale => Sellafield? |
20th Nov 2022, 10:51 pm | #60 |
Tetrode
Join Date: May 2022
Location: Hangleton, (Hove) East Sussex. UK.
Posts: 61
|
Re: Velleman kits & modules - transition to Whadda brand.
I've noticed that the main ITV channel (channel 3) seems to be in the process of re-branding itself as 'ITV1' - again !!
They re-branded this channel as 'ITV1' about 10-15 years' ago, and then reverted back to just 'ITV'. History repeating itself, pointless madness !! |