Blog Article Continuation(s) Free Consulting advice for Chinese Quadcopter Makers

I just wrote an editorial which I will be adding to - but it's easier to collect comments and add to it here on the forums.

This has quickly become the most read article on our main Blog page!

https://www.droneflyers.com/2013/03/free-consulting-advice-for-chinese-quadcopter-makers/

I am not in any way an expert on quadcopters, but I have been in sales and marketing for over 30 years. This article and the suggestions I (and hopefully others) will offer in this thread are intended to help the manufacturers communicate better with those of us in western countries (Europe, Americas).

As one addition to the article, a quick comment on boxing the lower priced quads. Most current sales of micro and mini quadcopters are sight-unseen, over the internet. In such cases, the box design is only important in terms of protecting the items inside. In fact, many American resellers appreciate a box which can be easily opened and then sealed again, since they may want to add parts (extra props, batteries) to make a more complete package. Also, American consumers dislike excess waste and want packaging that is "green", meaning that it uses as few resources as possible and can easily be recycled. Retail leaders like Amazon have even designed entire packaging systems called Frustration Free:
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=5521637011

Quadcopter manufacturers should learn from the best and follow Amazons lead when possible. Certainly this type of package will not be the best for Toys R' Us or even Brookstone, but for most items sold through the internet to educated customers, it may provide benefits.

 

I was thinking today (dang, I am ALWAYS thinking) that it's important for all the foreign and domestic consumer drone interests to form a small trade/lobbying group here in the USA and make sure they are in on the conversations taking place in all the state houses, some cities and DC.

I doubt that the "toy lobby" is going to do much in this sense. There are some other groups like the AUVSI:
http://www.auvsi.org
but they may be more tailored toward the real professional uses.
There is the HMA - which is probably the closest:
http://www.hmahobby.org/radio-control.html
However, the link to the press stuff on their site is dead!
http://www.hmahobby.org/hma_new/radio-press.html

Doesn't look too promising!

 

It certainly looks like perhaps some Chinese makers are taking my advice - or at least some other advice which is similar! Here is the new Syma X3 (right) compared to the old X1 (spaceship look) Different, eh?