Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Generally, no.

I have seen a made in Canada sports product (kayak accessories) that has gained some benefit from being made in Canada with Canada customers, but that didn't help them at all in the US.

The exception to this is if you can prove that the quality is better by being made in the US. This can be done through you having higher quality (and proving it), or this being a product that made elsewhere has proven to be bad (examples being toys with lead in them made in China).

Gary's spot on with "if you can prove that the quality is better by being made in the US"; now, you'll be operating in the US marketplace and that implies a US sales and aftersales process.

You need a guarantee of some sort - what makes your equipment a "no brainer" to those who are most likely to buy your equipment. Make sure it's genuine and appeals to them. Plus you must be able to back it up. Care is needed! There will be something in the way you sell, or the things you sell that will give you this edge. Remember - this has nothing to do with where the stuff is made. Toyota cars only have US plants to save distribution costs - not to have a "made in US" badge; Toyota speaks for itself. So should you.

Your other questions are best put to a landing page. Give them a while as a headline on a low-grade Adwords campaign (not your main one!) and see which comes out on top. The one that gets the most clicks is the one that stimulates their interest. Simple, effective information gathering at this stage, not sales right now; you're testing the water as it were. Because no marketing consultant can give you these answers - unless they do it for you (and that can get very expensive very quickly!)

Companies that trade on patriotism tend to need to be pretty much 'all in' because the customers who value this type of mark also tend to be 'all or nothing'. And if you're making a marginal claim and customers decide it's untrue it may be more damaging to your brand in the long run. So if the US work genuinely adds quality then sell the value itself - sell the value that US production is adding that you can't get elsewhere for that value.

The answer is: it depends.

It depends on the buyer, on their national affiliations, and on their preferences and compulsions.

If I'm a Grade "A", dyed in the wool, good ol' boy, all-American hunter, any company that wants to win my heart (and my business and product loyalty), had better get its ass in gear and make its products in the U.S. of A.

* There will be a certain segment that will buy Made in USA for that very reason. Though many 'poll's ' suggest consumers prefer Made in USA...in their true buying decisions, products being equal in quality, low price point winds regardless of Country of Origin.

For country of origin to become important to consumers, our marketing needs to complete the statements: "Made in the USA, because..." and "Made in the USA, which means..."

The world has outsourced its factory for almost everything to China. Has that caused Apple a problem? Are buyers of hunting products in some way different to buyers of iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macs (I suspect some of them are).

Are, for example, cars made in China as well regarded as cars made in the USA? Or Germany, or Japan? In my home market of Australia the Chinese auto makers still have some ground to make up for perceptions of poor quality versus their North Asia competitors. Brands such as Great Wall and Geely are seen as cheap and poorly made.

What is the premium your hunting goods supplier has to pay its suppliers to make their components in USA? Is it worth it?

I don't recommend you 'red, blue and white-wash' your suppliers products by adding some small component of value in USA to components largely made in China (I presume) and then claim they're made and/or assembled in USA. That sets the foundations for public outcry.

Better to decide if you're aiming for a price-sensitive segment, or an up-market, quality seeking patriot. Then you had better deliver a high-quality made in USA product if the latter is the case.

If talking hunting rifles, for example, you could have cheap imports in bottom of the range and hand-made, vastly-better USA-made products at top of range.

Hope that helps.