To what degree does the online audience reflect the pipe smoking community?

[pappymac]

"To what degree does the online audience reflect the pipe smoking community?"

Depends on the mirror that they are looking in.
Seriously, I would probably go with somewhere in the neighborhood of the 1% figure and that less than 10% of the 1% actually contributes to ANY pipe smoking forums.

I disagree that the older pipe smokers don't participate as much since I am about to turn 63. Then again that could mean I am considered not that old by the OP.
I do think that forums like pipemagazine.com have an affect on on-line pipe and tobacco shops if those shops have an active presence in the forums. I think forums drive a lot of sales as the occasional or new smoker will read a review on the forum and then decide they need to buy something.
I don't think it has that much of an affect on what a retailer will market. Those decisions are usually made by sales. A retailer will start carrying a product but if it doesn't sale, he won't order more of it.
If someone did a demographic study of pipemagazinecom users, I believe that majority of posters are over 35, financially comfortable and computer literate.

 

[johnnyreb]

How influential are we in the wider world of pipe smoking? Are "we" a group, or do we divide into smaller groups of pipe hobbyists (collectors, cellarers, Royal Yacht obsessives)?

Online forum groups as a whole suffer from turnover; newbie pipe smokers & newbie collectors can come & go rather quickly, & the mainstays often leave the forum because of the newbies. Other pipe smokers in the outside community never come to post on forums in part for the same reasons. The much maligned Hipster movement has only exacerbated the situation.
In every knowledgeable group of collectors regardless of what they collect, there is always one collector among them known as "the Magician"...because he can take good money & turn it into shit every time. He is not a knowledgable collector & doesn't have the eye or the understanding for it.
What online forums do do (along with pipe shows, pipe clubs, etc) is allow like-minded individuals to form friendships & remain in communication even if they never meet in person.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

when we talk about online, are we talking Facebook, Pinterest, whatever Reddit is, youtube, other forums, and other things online that I may not be aware of? All of that together may make a more sizable percentage,

As far as influence, I would think that if a brand was going to release something new, selling the online community as a whole would be a great start. If all online communities rejected something, that it would be harder for the company to wag the dog without us. But, maybe not impossible.

 

[atskywalker]

I was wondering about pipe smokers last night before reading this thread! Are we a minority in the larger group of smokers in general? I know hundreds if not thousands of cigarette smokers. Tens of Cigar smokers (would be hundreds if I count the occasionals), but I've only known 1 pipe smoker growing up (he smokes Borkum Riff Cheery and is oblivious to even the existence of other non flavoured tobaccos let alone different cuts) and have started to meet flesh and blood pipe smokers through the forum!
I would also say that this forum is the reason for my TAD and PAD which is both a blessing and a curse!
My brothers... Where art thou?

 

[deathmetal]

whatever Reddit is

No. We're never talking about Reddit. Reddit is where low self-esteem people go to have other people affirm them, making them dependent on that sad little neckbeard community. It is worth avoiding, no matter how "shocking" the subject matter in the little part of it you go to is. Fair warning from a guy who has seen more online communities than any of you.

If all online communities rejected something, that it would be harder for the company to wag the dog without us.

Combining this with earlier comments, the online community is a bit more affluent, literate and has more free time. It makes it a great test audience.
One thing I notice about this forum is that there's high turnover. The people commenting on most threads from even a year ago, although there's some overlap, have changed a lot.
Since I think highly of Kevin and the mod team's moderation efforts, I do not see this as caused by the forum itself, as it is in spooky greebo hideouts like PSF.com. I think it's the nature of fascination itself, and the tendency to have learned enough at a 1-2 year point to no longer benefit as much from discussion.
I'd worry about that except 9/10 here I'm coming here for people, not tobacco porn (although keep that "coming" too please).

 

[12pups]

I'm going to guess the collective constituency of an online community best represents online communities. Little correlation to the balance of the population.

 

[deathmetal]

Probably also true, but since the communities overlap, not exclusively so.

 

[warren]

There are simply not enough members to influence the industry. Some discussions may trigger a response from a company but, any company basing it's success on this limited audience will have a very confused ad campaign. Heck we can't agree on the best way to pack a pipe, maintain a pipe or even how to light a pipe and with what.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I would propose that the industry just isn't very large to begin with. There have been radio shows where pipe company execs compare it to the cigarette community. If the cigarette industry is a factory, the cigar industry is the tractor shed out back, and the pipe industry is the glove compartment on the tractor in the shed by comparison. I paraphrase of course. Yes the whole community is minuscule in percentage to the world at large, but we are an even small percentage than that.
After seeing how small the factory was for making perique, I started wondering just how many tins of a specific blend get produced. How many tins of Astleys 109 get made in a year, verses Escudo, or Penzance, or pounds in comparison to 1Q.

How many pipes does Stanwell make a year? How many of one particular shape get made?

I imagine 18 wheelers full of Escudo rolling down the road, but what if it is more like a VW van load?

Yeh, I think of weird things.

 

[warren]

I like the comparison, very visual and easy to grasp.
It may be weird but, it is lineal. I like lineal thinking. I see annually, one or two pallet loads steaming across the Atlantic to New York or Boston. Although some members probably envision two tins of each of "Penzance" and "Escudo" annually arriving on our shores to be auctioned off at a secret location to very small selection of retailers.

 

[johnnyreb]

I agree with Cosmic. That's why these "burn your bra/hear me roar" threads are so out of touch with reality.

 

[mso489]

If I were management at say smokingpipes.com, I'd be more fixated on sales figures than chat groups, but I'd make a regular foray to chat groups and have someone assigned to look more regularly, just because these are customers who will talk. You'd have to wade through a lot to get data, but to have even a general idea about what your customer base is thinking (or not thinking) should be an advantage if you have a knack for interpreting it.

 

[deathmetal]

And also, as the more tech-savvy group, may be more representative of opinions and practices than we'd think.
Sort of like opinion polls or customer surveys...

 

[warren]

If I was going to stock a tobacco store this forum would be the last place I'd look to with regard to inventory. Crap, I'd need a warehouse a square block big and probably three stories. I'd have to carry pipes with and without bowl treatments, forty different lines with every shape possible, and some that are not, no fills or defects (hidden or not), God only knows how many blends which, by God, better be in stock all the time, a ten foot display of tampers and tools, enough lighters to satisfy all desires, stinky lighter fluid, sweet smelling lighter fluid, lighter fluid with no odor, wooden matches, punks, leather pouches, plastic pouches, roll-ups, zippered, folding, exotic leathers on and on and on. Oh and everything must be lower in price than any of my competitors. No pipes over $100.00 including silver mounted Dunhills.
Lastly all pipes and products would have to have life-time warranties against damage, failure and could be returned at any time for any reason for a full refund adjusted for inflation. A customer who has decided that straight bulldogs no longer appeal could simply bundle them up and ship them back, with the shop bearing the postage costs, for a full refund plus interest. Lost interest in a half-smoked tin? Return it for a full refund.
I do believe I'd have a lot of business during the time I was in business. I wouldn't make any profit but, damn I'd have a lot of business with a totally satisfied customer base. Well, except for a couple of complainers bitching about how easy it is to satisfy their PAD and TAD. There is just no pleasing some people.

 

[damianmonk]

I think that shows how 'diverse' we are :lol:

 

[deathmetal]

How many tins of Astleys 109 get made in a year, verses Escudo, or Penzance, or pounds in comparison to 1Q.

On the other hand, Rich at 4noggins managed to sell 2,000 tins of Nightcap within 24 hours:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/dunhill-nightcap-sale-at-4noggins#post-870085

 

[warren]

I do not believe there is a lot of consumer testing, research or polling in the pipe blend business. I doubt that moneys for such exist in the blending business. Certainly there is a bit of testing (mostly in-house?), Dan and crew spent some moneys getting samples out and feedback, I doubt it was large amount of money. But, they knew what they wanted and were testing to see if a handful of smokers thought they were achieving their goal. Why I was included with my poorly developed palate only Dan and company knows. I do appreciate their consideration though!
Companies and their blenders look at what sells and tweak. That's their research. Well, the odd hunch might be given some weight. The smaller the company the more it relies on what is selling in their niche market. The larger the company the more information they possess in their files so, the fewer the required risks. Tobacco companies are no longer driven to advertise, in fact they are largely prohibited from doing so, nor are they actively seeking to create new smokers, they are simply trying to get a share of the established and shrinking market. That is accomplished largely by feeding already developed tastes with a tweak here and there, a holiday or seasonal offering now and then.
I personally do not see anything close to even a million dollars total, all manufacturers included, being spent in consumer research. Large tobacco companies know their market, it's small and focused on "drug store" blends. Niche producers also know their target market and cater to it, hoping for better days ahead. And, there is the company whose name should not be whispered. It seems to sell what it wants, when it wants, is happy doing so, and seems, at times, to not even cater to its established base.

 

[deathmetal]

Blending is one of those things where the blender is his own laboratory. He concocts something he thinks is excellent, then puts it out there to see if others like it and may tweak it in response to what they express as their desires. The weak point there is the expression; it is difficult to assess and put into words what one knows through one's own actions.

 

[deathmetal]

If companies were influenced by blogs/forums/message boards all cigars would be "boutique" cigars and they would stop making Macanudo.

That's a really good point. Same way they keep making cherry blends.
Online communities are odd because your avatar is all people know about you, so people "style up" their online presence with ever more polarizing choices.
In my experience, online communities reflect their base community but transmute it through this effect.

 

[iamn8]

Phil, I couldn't agree more... right up until you said they exert more influence on us. When it comes to literal taste, we like what we like and no amount of advertising, endorsements, or influence can alter that and make the unpalatable palatable. Price point and availability exert influence more than anything... IMO if Macanudo customers could suddenly afford and have access to OpusX, I'd venture a guess macanudos sales would fall. We buy that which we can afford.