A metal detector is a technically complex device, the cost of which includes not only hardware (electronics) and software, but also quite significant costs for marketing, advertising and promotion. Without the latter, in the conditions of the modern market, even the best and most interesting product will remain without the attention of the consumer. A clear example of this is the sad fate of the British company Whites. On the other hand, every person who is passionate about instrument searching should know, understand and be sure that his metal detector is the best, most effective and undoubtedly lucky. Without this confidence, instrumental search very quickly begins to lose its attractiveness and negative emotions begin to dominate over the positive and joy of the findings.
Among truly enthusiastic diggers, most of the people are citizens of a very high intellectual level, and when communicating with them, you can find out that people carried out simply a colossal systemic analysis when choosing not only their first metal detector, but also when purchasing the second and subsequent MDs. Therefore, this article will be very interesting and informative for them. And, those readers who don’t read more than two paragraphs won’t even get to this line. So, let's get to the point.
In general, the basic laws of marketing high-tech products were developed in the USA back in the 30s of the last century. At that time, the market for radio receivers and music combines was actively developing. Therefore, when you see an advertisement from that time, where the buyer is convinced that our receiver is better than the competition because it is six pounds lighter, you begin to look differently at the advertising of the same Deus. And yet, let's go over the essence of the stated topic.
For the collage, a photo was used from the website of the online store “At Grandfather Mitya’s” https://podolskmd.ru/
First.
All devices in the same price category are absolutely identical in technical characteristics. I know, I was like that myself when I chose my first MD. Just a brain explosion. So, I decided on the maximum amount that I could spend, and after that, from the overload of information I needed and did not need, a sharp and unconscious desire arose to go on a binge for two weeks. And, jokes aside, at that moment you can become the same donkey that died of hunger while standing between two haystacks. In this regard, I liked the technique that one comrade spoke about. He called his wife to the computer, showed her three identically priced MDs and asked which one he would choose. She froze for ten seconds, after which she pointed at the monitor and said, “That little yellow one, he looks so cool.” As the comrade said, in that situation there was a desire to use the universal rule “Listen to the woman and do the opposite,” But he really likes bright things in technology and in everyday life.
So, friends. If you, after a long time of smoking forums and watching top bloggers, have narrowed your interest to three brands of MD. Make the choice simple, such as pulling matches or pieces of paper from a hat, or give the choice to your little child. It will be interesting, and when you find something very interesting, you will be sure that this is definitely fate thanks to a random but logical choice.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. Why do all the same metal detectors cost the same? This is a basic business model. I will not delve into the topic of the cost of components and labor hours of software developers. I will dwell on the banal calculation of the cost of the product for the end consumer. And, here, we must understand that in the market of high-tech products, a reduction in price does not lead to an increase in demand. Advertising, advertising and more advertising. Therefore, if suddenly, unexpectedly, by accident, or vice versa, in the course of intense intellectual work, the manufacturer manages to create a metal detector with identical properties to the competitive environment, but at the same time the final cost will be two times cheaper. The manufacturer will sell the product at the same price as competitors, while directing excess profits to advertising and marketing its product. This is why all the same metal detectors cost the same.
Second.
If you believe in miracles, then do not change your principles here either. I classify all comrades, lovers of homemade and self-assembled MDs as the sect of Quasar witnesses. Please do not take this as an insult, it’s just easier for me to characterize something that remains outside the scope of my humanitarian perception and understanding. I understand that if people can repair a TV on their own or solder a radio station using improvised means, then such diggers can assemble a homemade MD themselves and dig very well with it. And, the main reason for such a good result will not be the outstanding properties of the device, but the user’s understanding of the properties, settings and principles of operation of this very device. Well, for example, I have already had to explain to diggers several dozen times, not only to beginners, but also to comrades with very solid experience, that the detection depth of the device is equal to the length of the arc of the coil, and the length of the arc is approximately equal to the diameter of the coil. And for people it became a discovery.
So, about the choice of various types of homemade MDs. It's certainly a tempting choice. Moreover, all forums are simply overwhelmed with satisfied user reviews. Like you are all fools, but I’m so smart, I bought for 10 thousand what others buy for 50 thousand. And then there are the same type of stories about how, almost in the garage, the conditional genius Bartholomew Polikarpovich from a tin can, a piece of laundry soap and, using a set of young technicians, soldered metal detectors with unique detection depth indicators. I won’t argue here, perhaps this is true, perhaps this really is the case. But, let’s think, if the user, in order to understand and understand the principles of operation of such a device, must first graduate with honors from the MIPT (Moscow Physics and Technology Institute), don’t you think that somehow all the price advantages are immediately extinguished. And how can one not recall the indicative phrase of one famous British treasure-hunting blogger: “The devices of the Whites company are really good devices, but only Whites engineers know how to use them correctly.”
So, I think the moral of this section is clear to everyone. If for you physics is just the name of a school textbook, which for some unknown reason you had to carry around in your backpack, then homemade and self-assembled MDs are definitely and definitely not your choice.
Third.
Fans, branding and advertising. I'll start with the last one – advertising. Indeed, a good device with interesting technical characteristics can be determined by the number and level of advertising activity. And here the most obvious and illustrative example will be the film industry. When, at the last stage of film preparation, a focus group is invited to watch. And, based on the results of such screenings, producers and film companies understand whether the film will be popular and box office or whether it needs to be improved. If the feedback from the focus groups is excellent, then a decision is made to increase advertising and production costs. So it turns out that a good film is always allocated very good money for advertising. The same scheme works in the metal detector market. If manufacturers understand that the resulting product is breakthrough and unique, they allocate very good budgets for advertising. A striking example is last year’s new product, Nokta Makro Simplex Plus.
Fans. It is very important to understand when choosing a metal detector that good metal detectors of the past have a very strong and massive fan base. Every comrade who started digging with Aska 10 years ago will, without doubt or hesitation, advise and recommend Aska. The same picture with Grater or AKA. In general, having a stable fan base is manna from heaven for any metal detector manufacturer. Therefore, when choosing a metal detector, you need to understand that, on the one hand, time-tested metal detectors work stably and with a good margin of quality, on the other hand, you need to understand that over the past ten years the high-tech electronics market has come quite far. As an example, the same smartphones.
Branding. This is an important indicator in understanding product marketing. What's the matter here? If a manufacturer has brought a breakthrough product to the market and this metal detector has become a legend among metal detector enthusiasts, then the popular brand will be exploited like a galley slave. For example, the same Fisher F-75. When the manufacturer created a more expensive product, they called it Limited Edition and released it for sale. All fans of the 75 series who had a desire to buy a more powerful device and had free money for this bought this very F-75 LTD (Black). I had the opportunity to dig for quite a long time and productively, both with the regular F-75 and with the LTD (Black). And, to be honest, of course there is a difference, but not so much that you would pay twice as much for this difference.
What do you need to understand about branding? Everything here is practical and aimed at maximizing profit. An example again from the same film industry. There was a good movie called RoboCop, it did well at the box office. And then? And then, under this name, RoboCop -7 and even RoboCop – 9 were released. A mediocre movie, but the producer brought money consistently.
Conclusion. I really hope that this article was useful to you, and now, or in the future, it will help you choose exactly the metal detector that is right for you. Please note that I deliberately do not say “The best metal detector” but use the phrase “The one you need” because a good metal detector is a device with which the user will be satisfied, which means that, first of all, he is satisfied not with the device itself, but the choice I once made.
PS And, here, I simply cannot help but leave my comment.
That’s exactly how I chose my new device. XP ORX
