Boutique line of products?

[Scottwax]

How about meeting the boutique detailing market head on? Maybe call it "Barry's Signature Line" or something like that?

I am sure Meguiars could come up with a Souveran or Zymol competitor and sell it for less. Maybe a layerable sealant for those who are into that-possibly a version of #21 with no cleaners?

The paint prep line-up is already in place, pretty hard to improve upon the 80 series products so this would probably be mostly for LSPs and maybe a glaze along the lines of Klasse AIO.

Any thoughts?

[gb387]

Then we can say I have 73 coats of X product on my vehicle!

No... just kidding, interesting idea.

[karll]

interesting.

you see, Megs have the autobody market cracked (80's series etc)

and also the consumer level down pat...NXT, Gold class, etc..

but what about us fanatics.....the detailers, the experimentors, the 'we want the best' crowd.

i like the idea scottwax, of a Meg's ""aio"" type product with a great layerable LSP to go head to head with the best 'boutiqe' stuff.

ironically, i'm actually not a fan of the boutique market though, but if it said 'Meg's' on it!!!!!

[detailbarn]

"Barry's Signature Line"

sounds like a really good idea Scott , love the name too.


A product line like this should include a cleaner base polish/sealant like aio a layerable pure sealant and a matching QD spray. And of course to top it off a super pure carnuba paste wax. Just four products that would give that extra something that us perfectionst look for.

Of course Scott should get 25 cents for every product sold in the "Barry's Signature Line" since he came up with the uber cool name.

[Superior Shine]

I get the impression that a boutique products are gimmicky.

Its release would imply that we don't already have the best that Meguiars has to offer.

My vote is a for a straight forward "you see is what you get' meat and potates car crazy product.

I find that the super car fanatic that wants to layer a million coats of something on their finish offten do things that are unreasonable and a waste of time. It is done more so that they can feel good and brag about how many coats they applied.

Using Meguiars products correctly and as directed on the bottle bring super brilliant results already. (see my avatar-one coat of #21)

I realize many companies have made big money with a boutique type product so your idea isn't bad and there is certainly a market for it.

I would like Meguiars to stick to products and systems that work without any hype, No FOO FOO boutique stuff for me please.

[Ranger72]

Originally posted by Superior Shine
I get the impression that a boutique products are gimmicky.

Its release would imply that we don't already have the best that Meguiars has to offer.

My vote is a for a straight forward "you see is what you get' meat and potates car crazy product.

I find that the super car fanatic that wants to layer a million coats of something on their finish offten do things that are unreasonable and a waste of time. It is done more so that they can feel good and brag about how many coats they applied.

Using Meguiars products correctly and as directed on the bottle bring super brilliant results already. (see my avatar-one coat of #21)

I realize many companies have made big money with a boutique type product so your idea isn't bad and there is certainly a market for it.

I would like Meguiars to stick to products and systems that work without any hype, No FOO FOO boutique stuff for me please.

Couldn't have said it better myself!
As Joe said, there is no reason to apply layer upon layer upon layer...etc...etc of 'X' product on the finsish. Especially when these sorts of boutique lines target (forthe most part) cars that are not dail driven. If you have a show car or garaged kept car and drive it every sunday, while remaining under a car cover the remainder of the week, one session of your choice of lsp will last a very long time.

[SpoiledMan]

Yeah but you have to think that there are a couple "boutique" product sellers that make a living off of those layer-able sealants. It seems to me to be a good idea. Think of the people that will try it *just* because it's a new product so that they can check it against the competition.

[Ranger72]

Sure they Meguiars would make money in introducing such a line however, as we all know, there is no reason to have to layer sealants other than its a 'mental' fix. Its not that Meguiar's doesn't love making money, its that they have made all there money not by following the competition to make a buck but instead by creating great products, educating people how to use these products, and by having world class customer service.

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by Ranger72
Couldn't have said it better myself!
As Joe said, there is no reason to apply layer upon layer upon layer...etc...etc of 'X' product on the finsish. Especially when these sorts of boutique lines target (forthe most part) cars that are not dail driven. If you have a show car or garaged kept car and drive it every sunday, while remaining under a car cover the remainder of the week, one session of your choice of lsp will last a very long time.

That is an excellent point and one that is often overlooked!

Joe, every time I look at that Avatar, I have to go get my sunglasses!

RamAirV1

[Scottwax]

The main reason I mentioned a 'layerable' sealant is because for some reason, that is the current trend in the enthusiast market. Not entirely sure why, I prefer a product that does the job with a single coat-maybe a second coat to ensure complete coverage. However, it might make good business sense to at least look into that market and try to tap into it.

High end carnaubas do sell, look at Zymol, Swissol and Pinnacle. True much of the depth and shine comes from the oils and not necessarily the carnauba content so the killer look lasts only 4-6 weeks but those interested in that type of product don't mind applying it frequently.

I don't think coming out with an upscale line implied the current product lines are not of high quality. Look at the car companies. GM, for example has everything from the Aveo to the Cadillac XLR, a little something for everyone.

[Superior Shine]

Joe, every time I look at that Avatar, I have to go get my sunglasses!

YEA BABY!! : :

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by Scottwax
The main reason I mentioned a 'layerable' sealant is because for some reason, that is the current trend in the enthusiast market. Not entirely sure why, I prefer a product that does the job with a single coat-maybe a second coat to ensure complete coverage. However, it might make good business sense to at least look into that market and try to tap into it.

High end carnaubas do sell, look at Zymol, Swissol and Pinnacle. True much of the depth and shine comes from the oils and not necessarily the carnauba content so the killer look lasts only 4-6 weeks but those interested in that type of product don't mind applying it frequently.

I don't think coming out with an upscale line implied the current product lines are not of high quality. Look at the car companies. GM, for example has everything from the Aveo to the Cadillac XLR, a little something for everyone.

I can see your point of view, and it makes business sense to me.

But I don't know how Barry would look at it, being the meat & potatoes kind of company that Meguiars is.

[showtime]

I would like a pure wax again now that #16 is gone, but I don't see a need for a full line of products. I've been using Meg's products in 95% of everything I do and doubt that switching to a boutique line would enhance my details any more. So maybe something along the lines of an oily wax that is meant for pure looks priced around $15-25 would be as "boutique" as I'd go.

[gregcavi]

I think this is an awesome Idea. From a detailer who's LSP's really never bear the name meguiars I give it my stamp of approval. I have always turned for higher end boutique products beucase I think they deliver a little more than what meguiars can offer to me.

The layerable Idea is great. It woudl be great to have a wax or sealant or a klasse Aio style product that literally wipes of with a light swipe.

Now I dont mean any of the above to be a bash or rant against meguiars because I like eveyrone else here loves meguairs products. I however just dont use them in my final steps of detailing.

Also I love the suggested names. It would be cool to see these waxes come in smaller containers like the 8 oz. souveran style jars. It just looks a little more elegant.

Greg

[Mosca]

I dunno. IMO, the Meguiar's name is already unique and above the boutique products.

It's hard to sort image from performance, for me and for a lot of other people. It's easy to see Meguiar's as a big corporation, and to imagine the boutique vendors as the little guys fighting the giant. It's almost an American cliche to favor the little guy in the fight against the big giant; that fuels a lot of the boutique fascination, IMO.

In reality, Meguiar's is a very small corporation, compared to 3M, DuPont, and other major chemical manufacturers. They concentrate almost 100% on finish care products. They are IMO "uniquely sized"; small enough to care about a specific niche, yet large enough to bring considerable resources to the task, allowing them control over the product from conception and need-awareness through research and development, to manufacturing, and to packaging and marketing. That allows them to produce superior products at a lower cost, and maybe even more importantly allows us to find those products down at our local auto parts or bigbox retail store.

Is every product a hit? Nope. But a heck of a lot of them are.

I'm not an "anti-boutique" type, and I do use some private label/privately engineered stuff. But my experience is that for most of them you can take the labels off, throw them in a bag and shake them up, pull them out and relabel them and no one would know. I've given away hundreds of dollars worth of stuff that I bought by looking at someone's picture on the internet of a shiny car. IMO it wasn't as good as the stuff I was already using from Meguiar's. I looked past the boutique fascination to the results I was getting, and for my money the boutique products weren't what I was looking for. (Interestingly enough, in the one area that I prefer a Meguiar's competitor, the product I prefer isn't actually a boutique product; it's a European product imported and repackaged, but not renamed).

Do boutique products work? Sure. Are they better? Maybe for the other guy, but not for me. Do bulk products work? Sure. Are they better? Maybe for the other guy....

Also, consider what Meguiar's introducing a boutique line would imply. It would have to imply one of two things: either 1) that the products they are producing aren't the best they could be, or 2) that they are willing to raise the price and relabel a product in order to profit more from the image of exclusivity. If either of those were true, what would the backlash be? My guess would be, considerable. And even if the third possibility of an entirely new product is raised, there would still be the implication of excessive pride and profiteering.

And finally, remember that we are here on this forum discussing Meguiar's products and how to use them to their greatest effectiveness. We are attending detailing clinics all over the country where representatives from Meguiar's are showing us how to perfect our technique. We can call the toll free number 6 days a week and have our questions answered. That's what I consider "boutique service". That's what I expect from a company that asks maybe for a little bit more for their product; I expect a little bit more in return.

Some points I know hit the essence of the discussion, and some are a bit oblique to it, but I think they are all related to why I think it's not so good an idea.


Tom