Editing The Pen Addict 451/transcript (section)

== Pilot's New Product Line ==


'''Brad:''' Yeah. Yeah. That's bothersome if you think that. Right? I think this is the least that they could do.

'''Brad:''' Which I'm glad they did it because maybe there's a round two. But if there's not, this is an oof. This is like... Yeah. Like, you can do so much better.

'''Brad:''' It's unfair for me to compare them to Sailor. I understand that. But I just... I want something that tells me they understand what's going on in different parts of the market. Right? This is clearly... They know their market better than I do. And according to Tokyo Inklings, they're selling out of a lot of these colors in Japan. And it's been popular. You know? Because they know their market. That's why they make, you know, black and gold trim pens. Right? Like, Pilot's a big deal. Oh, man. I just love them so much. I just want something that expresses me a little bit more. You know? I want to express myself through Pilot's pens a little bit more. And I'm kind of done. Like, I've got the things. I don't necessarily... I don't need the Custom Heritage SE. Like, if I see one in person, maybe down the line, and it's compelling. You know? Maybe I'll pick them up. But I'm not, like, rushing out to make this purchase. Like, it's okay. It's perfectly fine. I think the price is okay. Right? It's borderline for the smaller version of the pen. But that's kind of what these pens are going for these days. Right? You're starting to see the limited edition slims get up, you know, in the upper 200s, close to three. Like, it's on the edge for that size pen. When you can get, like, a standard... So, like, the Custom 74, Myke, is one of their standards. And they introduce new colors in that every year. It's their translucent, number five nib. And it's a great pen. It's, like, $160. Right? They introduced a blue and a burgundy last year. They introduced a forest green this year. They're pretty. I would buy any of those before. You could buy two of those, basically, for this pen. Right? And that just makes you start to think, like, I don't know. Like, I feel... I'm happy this exists.

'''Brad:''' But I want to see the next 12 months. You know? So, like, if it's over now, like, if we're done, then, like, it's bad.

'''Myke:''' It's like, I imagine it being, like, okay, here you go then. And we'll get back to what we were doing. It's kind of how... I don't know why. It's, like, this is how it makes me feel. It's just kind of, like, this is what you wanted, right? Now you can shut up and we can just go back to doing what we were doing before. We'll go do that.

'''Brad:''' I'm not asking for a lot. I'm asking for you to make solid color barrel 912s. And lime green and orange and sky blue. And, you know, rotate one or two of those out every year. Like, I'm not asking for a lot, Pilot. No! No! I'm really not.

'''Myke:''' We will not do it.

'''Brad:''' But, like, yeah, your point is valid. It's like, this is what you wanted, right? It's like, you know, from Pilot's perspective, like, hey, look, we did the thing. We did it. I was like, ooh, okay. Do you want a treat? Like, here's some cookies, I guess. I don't know. So, like, let's see what happens in the next 12 months. I have a feeling we'll keep, depending on these next 12 months, we'll keep rewinding back to this pen at some point. But it's just not exciting or compelling. Other than I'm glad to exist, I would totally own this pen. Like, it seems fine. But we're not there. I don't know what there is, but I don't think this is it.

'''Brad:''' I do know what is there, Myke. And this is me not playing fair by putting the Bung Box Dandelion launch right behind this. It's not comparing apples to apples. I understand that. But when I look at everything Sailor did on this pen for a small independent store and get the same size pen with exponentially more features and design thought for a lower price, I can't help but compare them. I know it's not fair. I know it's not Pilot's business model to make products like this. But just in the context of the pen addict world where we've fallen over limited edition pens that are special and neat and unique, you cannot compare. These are, they are not playing the same game. When you look at a pen like the Dandelion and you look at something like the Custom Heritage SE. Now, I understand. I'm going to keep saying it. I know that's not fair for me to compare those two. I know it's not. But when you're asking me to spend upwards of $300 for a pen and you put these side by side, they're not playing the same game. They just aren't. What do you think about the Dandelion?

'''Myke:''' Oh, it's beautiful. So it's a green body with a translucent green grip section and finial on the body of the pen with a bright yellow cap and a, there's like a, like a little Dandelion with a Rushi. Or like Rodden, I should say. Sorry, Rodden. In the finial on the cap. It's beautiful. And it immediately made me think of a key cap set, which is available right now, called GMK Dandy. And it's available, like as we recorded today, it's the last day you can buy it. And they would just suit together so perfectly. It's like green, white, and yellow.

'''Myke:''' Do you see what, see that? GMK Dandy? Yeah, I look at it.

'''Brad:''' Like I get it. And Dandelion, and like it's perfect. Like it is, it's perfect. So this is my expectation. Like I have no interest in buying Dandelion, right? But I get it. Like I understand what you're telling me as a company. That we made something awesome. We put a lot of extras into it and we're going to charge you a premium for it. And there's only a limited edition going to be made. This is my expectation of what ends up on my desk, right? Where I got to stop. I got to stop comparing them. It's not fair for me to compare. No, but I don't think. Sailor's business and pilot's business.

'''Myke:''' No, it's fine.

'''Brad:''' But from a consumer, it is fair when I have $300 to spend and I'll just dismiss this pilot out of hand. Good products have stories, right?

'''Myke:''' That story can be almost created just to sell the product, right? But it doesn't matter. Your job as a manufacturer and as a marketing team is to tell the story of the product. Mm-hmm. The pilot custom heritage SE's story doesn't speak to me. Mm-hmm. Maybe it doesn't help that we're looking... Well, I mean, the website that pilot have available right now, even though it's in Japanese, there's no information on it, right? It's just like, here's the pen. Yeah, it's like the product sheet. Yeah. And at least calling this product the dandelion and showing me its colors and having a little bit of information about it explains to me the story. And if that resonates with me, I will like this product. So then this company deserves my money. Well, not. I don't think it's too much to ask of a company to create a compelling story around what they're selling you.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. But in the end, both of these companies are beholden to their shareholders because they're public companies in Japan. And this is what I think about when I see something like Pilot. They're just going to take this to the bank. They're going to house it, right? Like, hey, this is what our customers want. And maybe it's not, you know, what, you know, the 1% or 2% of, like, some of these special edition make me feel special chasers want, like myself. But you know what? At the end of the year, my shareholders are going to be happy. And that's what I feel. Even though Sailor's in the same boat, I feel like Sailor talks to me personally more than Pilot. Pilot is segmenting themselves into a corporate feel where Sailor is segmenting themselves into a consumer feel is the way, like the big picture. I feel it.

'''Myke:''' And that will work for some people, you know, but it won't work for others. And it does, it tends not to work for the two of us.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. But I want it to. That's why I get all, you know, anxious about these topics. I love Pilot. I love Pilot. And I want more, right? I will spend my money, but I'm not going to get it, I don't think. I just, I, not anytime soon. I don't think. As much as I want that to be the first of a new trend, I would not bet on it. And I'm a betting man. I would not bet on it.

'''Myke:''' All right. Let's take our second break. We've got some more fun stuff to talk about on the other side. And let's thank Squarespace for their support of this show. You can make your next move with Squarespace because they give you all of the tools that you need to easily create your next project for your next idea. The website that you're going to need exactly for it. They give you all of the tools that you're going to need to easily create that website that you want to maybe launch your store or maybe launch your blog, your portfolio. Maybe you have an online event coming up that you want to promote. No matter what type of website you want to make, Squarespace has all of the tools. They're an all-in-one platform to help you build your next project online. There's nothing to install or patch or upgrade. They take care of all of that stuff. You don't have to worry about it. They've got you covered. And if you need any help, they have an award-winning 24-7 customer support team right there on hand. I talk about how long I've been using Squarespace. Brad's been using it for as long as me. I think we've both been Squarespace customers for like 10 years now. It's as simple as, look, when you have something that you want to do, something that you want to get online, the thing that you want it to be there for is not just so you can spend hours and hours and weeks building the website. It's like content you want to put out there or stuff that you want to sell or something you want to promote. And Squarespace is the easiest way to go from idea to having that website there because they have all of these fantastic tools. It's really customizable and you end up with something really professional looking that you can access from their apps. It's so fantastic. I love it. You can try it out today. Go to squarespace.com slash penaddict and you can sign up for a trial and build your entire website. And then when you're ready to set it live to the world, just sign up for one of their plans. They start at $12 a month, but you can get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain by using the offer code penaddict to check out. And you'll also be supporting the show. That's squarespace.com slash penaddict and the code penaddict for 10% of your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for their continued support of this show and all of RelayFM, Squarespace. Make your next move. Make your next website.

'''Brad:''' I saw this link pass through my feeds because I follow the awesome articulations on Twitter, which is the aforementioned Betty from the awesome RelayFM podcast pictorial. And I noticed something that she reviewed, Myke. And it was, whoa, and it was a YouTube ad that will end in six seconds, followed by the Cortex theme system journal review. Yep. How cool was that to see?

'''Myke:''' So Betty, she knows a guy and missed the initial sale, but I was able to get one to her. And I didn't know that this was something that she was going to do. And she sent it to me and said, like, hey, I'm going to publish this. I watched it just before. She's like, please tell me if I've got anything wrong. And I found it so incredibly gratifying and it was like an emotional experience for me because in the video, she's talking about how she uses the journal, but I hadn't yet seen, like, no, this is the first video review that I've seen, I think. Oh, no, there was one more that I've seen. But this was like, the way that Betty spoke about it in the video, it really felt like she completely understood what I was trying to get out there with the product. And it just felt very, like,

'''Myke:''' I just keep saying gratifying. Like, that's how it felt to me. It just felt very like I was understood. And that feeling was just so awesome because it was like, oh, yeah, like, what I have made, the product that I have made, which I use in this certain way, people just naturally get that this is how it's done and they've integrated it into their lives this way. And I've heard, you know, we've had so much fantastic feedback, especially about this second edition. But the level at which this type of feedback has come in has been increasing. And just to see it on video and have someone show you how they're using it and show it all set up and stuff, just, I don't know, it really just enhanced the whole thing for me.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, it was great. Let's be clear about one thing. She is very good at the YouTube. Yeah, I mean, that definitely helps. When I finished the video, I was like, dang, like, she is awesome. Being a good communicator

'''Myke:''' does definitely help get a point across.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, it was great. Secondly, I had two takeaways from just the video itself. One, I didn't, I don't completely understand like how necessarily like Gray uses it, right? But she broke down, like she uses Gray's system setup. Yeah. And I was like, oh, that's pretty good because I don't really use it like that. I take it more, you know, like I don't, I don't really intersperse business in it, even though I do, but I like that type of breakdown. Can you explain that a little bit? Yeah. So I don't butcher it and you have to redo it.