Marketing and Advertising New Products for Music Brands in a Vintage Marketplace

Opportunities and advantages for music brands in the vintage marketplace.

Vintage instruments and accessories attract a lot of current players. Whether musicians are interested in the vintage market for nostalgic reasons or in hopes of achieving a new sound or emulating the sounds of their idols, there’s no denying that the vintage gear market is huge.

In some cases, manufacturers cater to vintage buyers by reviving popular out-of-production lines, and even entire companies like Supro amplifiers have come back to life due to the demand of the vintage market, but the reissues are never truly vintage instruments.

By definition, vintage instruments are old, pre-owned/used instruments. It’s a tricky environment for manufacturers to showcase their new products.

This article will cover some tips for marketing in the vintage space.

The Vintage Instrument Audience

Musicians who play the instruments that you sell are your most important target audience. A publication or online video detailing vintage instruments can be a very valuable space to advertise new products, based on the audience rather than the specific subject matter. The options for reaching this very narrow and niche customer are limited, and any space reaching your desired demographic should be utilized.

Vintage Enthusiasts Need New Products Too

Used gear might be sought after, but with the “vintage” moniker can come questions of reliability and dependability. Irreplaceable instruments also tend to include big price tags. New products are usually thought to have better reliability and include warranties to protect the buyer. Players who love vintage instruments rarely exclusively play vintage gear, supplementing their vintage collection with dependable new instruments, while keeping the vintage treasures in a safe place. If a new product has an edge with reliability when compared to vintage competition, that benefit can be something to highlight in marketing materials for the vintage space.

Exploit the Differences

Instruments have evolved over the years, and innovations were added for the player’s benefit. It might seem strange to call out a newer feature in an ad for a new product in a vintage instrument forum, but if that feature enhances the performance of the instrument, that is something to note. When an old instrument lacks an innovation, that’s an advantage to the current manufacturers. Calling out new features should be done delicately though to avoid turning off the vintage fans.

The vintage market can be treated like any musical instrument marketing space with the additional opportunity to highlight parallels to vintage instruments and newer enhancements to enthusiastic and engaged players.