Phoenix Soaps: "Douglas Smythe" aka Erik Coates any good.

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I guess I should re-phrase and say advertizing hype then @Leisureguy. There is so much bullshit promotion going on though. I would be more likely to buy a product from personal recommendation than brand image or hype. It's like my car, a Skoda. Not the flashest brand but known for dependability. A mate recommended that I try one. I bought one and (touch wood) it has been extremely reliable.
 
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The dependability that it's known for is a result in part of marketing: it's an aspect that the marketing team thought was more important to their target market than flashiness. There is also a market for flashy cars, of course, and those marketers function on finding creative ways to be flashy, though some level of dependability is necessary to avoid negative word of mouth. And if the Skorda marketing team is on the ball, their advertising will emphasize dependability and will, for example, use testimonial videos from down-to-earth people who say things like, "The wife and me, we're not interested in being flashy. What we want is dependability, and by God, the Skorda delivers!" etc.

I was unaware of the marketing/advertising for the RazoRock Hawk. That seemed to be driven more by word of mouth and customer expectations. In general, Italian Barber seems to go for high value and low price (the Wunderbar, even, is priced low for a razor machined from stainless steel, and the German 37 is a bargain at $20 (head only for $12).) Sometimes they muff it, but IB has shown a willingness to learn and improve.

So far as excitable word of mouth, I would not blame the vendor for that. Some shaving enthusiasts get excited about new toys before they try them, which is why I review only products I've actually used.
 
matteob said:
There is so much bullshit promotion going on though. I mean there was a big round of hype on here recently about the Razorock Hawk and people flocked to buy it and then some complained the finish was abysmal when they got it.
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Just an honest question as I found the above to be surprising - short of de-plating the razor in an ultrasonic bath - who complained about the plating being abysmal? Personally I found it to be rather good actually.

It's an honest question as I'm curious to see if there are some plating issues with them and maybe that could explain the chrome discontinuation so if you could give some examples that'd be really helpful. Thanks in advance.
 
Darkbulb said:
Just an honest question as I found the above to be surprising - short of de-plating the razor in an ultrasonic bath - who complained about the plating being abysmal? Personally I found it to be rather good actually.

It's an honest question as I'm curious to see if there are some plating issues with them and maybe that could explain the chrome discontinuation so if you could give some examples that'd be really helpful. Thanks in advance.
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I thought you review of the razor in question included comments from yourself about finding the finish to be of, less then expected quality for the price of said razor?
 
The short amount of time I saw my Hawk before being wrapped the finish was fine.

To defend RazoRock their website clearly states that the finish was not "jewel piece" and for $20 its hard to imagine it would be. For me it was the chance to own a modern SE razor without selling a kidney
 
I eat dead animals many times a week and really am not too concerned with how they get to my plate, although I prefer to shoot my own. Regardless, the vast majority of advertising is schlock as that's what people want to hear/buy. Look at all the lemmings who throw wads of money at Kickstarter designs purely based on prototypical sketches, models & pie in the sky promises. People believe what they want to believe and that's usually based on emotion and not deductive reasoning.
 
Advertising and kickstarter (and early access computer games) I agree with @Bogeyman

I'm a trusting bloke by nature, a lot of us are, we send expensive razors on trips to people we have never physical met or can claim we know. However once bitten twice shy, if you sent a razor to someone and they damaged or didn't return it then you're unlikely to send them another.

If any of my current preferred soap suppliers lied about their ingredients then I'm not giving them a second chance. I've never used this guys stuff but seen the problems and I'm not touching him with anyones barge poll let alone mine.

Its nothing to do with marketing or advertising, its trust. If I can't trust someone I'm not dealing with them...end of. There are plenty of alternatives
 
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@matteob - A lot of people like to hear from those who have used the product, which is why Amazon's product reviews are so popular and (as noted) it's why I don't review products until I've tried them. For example, this morning I used my tub of Phoenix Artisan Honeysuckle, and I have to say that (for me, with my tap water) it's a first rate soap. It does smell pleasantly of honeysuckle, but what has impressed me is the quality of the lather (easily produced and very thick, creamy, and slick) and how my skin feels after the shave. I've never had a problem with Phoenix Artisan, though based on some reports he did make some bad choices, but so far as I can tell, he's cleaned up his act.

Also, I tend to discount the internet rumor mill which can go into overdrive from a disgruntled customer's report. Recently someone posted that he had heard that iKon had discontinued the X3 and 102. I took the elementary step of emailing iKon to ask, and the report was completely baseless and iKon hopes to have the X3 and 102 back in stock in time for Christmas shopping. There's a reason that hearsay evidence is not even allowed to be introduced in court: it is highly unreliable.

I prefer to go as much as possible on my own experience, and with Phoenix Artisan the experience so far has been excellent. And I do like his soaps and aftershaves and some of his razors.
 
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