On May 4, 10:41*am, soartech wrote:
On May 4, 3:57*am, gotovkotzepkoi gotovkotzepkoi.

wrote:
Get real. Other than the feel good factor of the people wearing the
stickers this campaign is a waste of time. The sport needs to appeal to
more primal instincts. Remember the scene in Cool Hand Luke where the
women is washing the car? Well, how about the glider version: she's
washing the canopy....The young men will be knocking the doors of your
club down. Sorry to any ladies out there who might be offended by this
brazen idea.

--
gotovkotzepkoi

I hate to admit it but he's right. Sexiness sells. That's why all the
ads these days feature female youth.
These (expensive) TV ads are fine tuned by focus groups to provide
maximum interest in minimum time.
This is probably one of your wive's top complaints (ads, movies,
etc.). I know it is for mine.
You might also notice the increased use of coffee cups in all
commercials. They're there just to catch
your brain via your coffee "additiction".
Old guys in funny hats just don't get much interest in this world no
matter what they are doing.
It's quite an unfortunate situation.
My feeling is that it takes a special kind of interest to want to fly
gliders. Those that have this innate desire will seek
us out. The rest of the world is clueless. Let them be.

My theory is that roughly .1% of the population has the "Glider
Gene". If simply exposed to what soaring is about, they will
obsessively pursue the sport. Spending serious money on mass
advertizing to reach that tiny demographic isn't reasonable or
affordable. We have to be smart in how we spend scarce resources on
promotion.

Bumper stickers and trailer graphics as well as Facebook and Twitter
campaigns are affordable and, hopefully, will reach enough of the
genetically afflicted population to get the sport growing again. .1%
= 300,000 potential glider pilots in the US which is a bit more than
our 200 training gliders and 400 working instructors can handle.