In today’s culture it seems that everything is mass
produced, automated and disposable. Even in the luxury market. It is very
important to us to create beautifully made products that represent quality with
extraordinary craftsmanship.
Working in a no mass-production way, we frequently have to
consider the differences between handmade and mass-produced products. It’s not
just the better quality of the product; there are also real differences in end
consumer behaviours that have to be taken into account, especially as one
produces for different national markets.
In the United States and central Europe for example,
consumers have enough disposable income to be selective about their Mechanical
Mods. 2016 just might be the best year in a decade for the Vape market, driven
in no small part by specialty and quality Mods. Clearly, handmade Mech Mods can
compete and win in that market, especially if these Mods bear one of the
“consumer preferred” handmade labels.
In some countries, consumers generally don’t have the
disposable income levels to consistently show financial preference for handmade
Mods. Instead, the average consumer has a preference for Mods in its most
affordable forms. Large local players or international mass producers dominate
with cheap Mods that are inexpensive to produce and distribute. Quality is
rather secondary. This is not to say that end consumers wouldn’t like a fine
handmade MOD. The challenge is that many consumers are not deeply educated
about the differences between handmade and mass produced, and even if they do
appreciate the difference, price is a definite factor.
Consumers in the US have been trained to use a quality
evaluation process in their life purchases. We see it from European buyers
also, who are very concerned with quality. On the other hand, as a less wealthy
nation consumers place price as a primary evaluation process when buying items
like this. This can make it very hard for no
mass-production producers to break through and win market share.
Do we see this changing in the long-term? Yes, but since the
beginning of this project we think that Mech Mods are for a Niche market.
The Niche market is gradually growing and moving toward the US and
European markets in terms of product sophistication. Even in Asia the situation
is changing. All over the world we have a client that prefer the authentic and
the unique.
No matter where you fall on the “expensive is better”
spectrum, we all have something in common: At every price point, we want a good
Mech Mod.
What does "good" mean, though? It's a completely
subjective measure? People talk about quality like a matter of preference, but
while we've found that there are a number of personal preferences that
influence what people like and think are best, there are also a number of
objective factors.
To simplify, we made a comparison with quality wine (Port,
Barolo or Château), we have boiled down those determinants of quality into
three factors that anyone can recognize:
1. Complexity
In Wine, the more different notes and distinct flavour
compositions you find, the more complex the wine, that's where you get
descriptors of flavour profile like plum, wood, cherry, vanilla, or tobacco.
The more of those flavours you can taste, the more complex the wine, and the
more complex, the higher quality.
The material is different. We see in the market products
made by gold, silver, bronze, and other new materials that have more resistance
and “Class” than those found in mass-production Mods. In some Mods, the
different parts of the product are made like jewellery and the complexity is
there.
2. Intensity
The more intense is the wine, the more clearly the drinker
can identify and distinguish between the flavours present. More intensely showing
flavours make it easier to spot, appreciate, and recognize, when you have a
very complex wine but all the flavours are fairly clear, the intensity is to
the advantage of the wine quality."
The users of a quality Mech Mod senses in his hands a product
with different weight, care for detail, exclusivity. It should never feel like
a toy that could have never replaced the real thing.
Handmade items often have a story behind them, a purpose and
inspiration for their existence. There’s a reason why it was created beyond
just the obvious monetary reasons.
3. Balance
An optimal wine contains a number of flavour profiles:
fruits, vegetables, oak notes, the structure and earthiness. The well-balanced
wine shows the vast majority of all of these five components, integrated to a
degree that they're visible, the proportion of taste in harmony and in good
relationship to the other tastes shown. The exigent drinker knows it.
Balance is the idea that we have when we touch for the first
time in a quality Mech Mod. Nevertheless, the best Mods are a product of the ever
expanding industry that addresses every consumer’s needs. Mech Mods are more
suitable for advanced vapers who are sufficiently informed about the do’s and
don’ts of vaping
