Why do controversial "brands" do so well?

tallyho!

tallyho!

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I'm asking as a matchy-matchy thread prompted me... sorry to the poster, nothing personal! :)

I am curious, after the controversy that surrounds rollkur and Anky Van Grunsven, as to why her technical clothing & horsewear range is advocated so widely.

Personally, I boycott the brand because of the personality behind it. Not everyone is of this opinion I am sure as she has a huge fanbase :rolleyes: but it does make me wonder how people can part with money to buy her particular brand and continue to support her in this way and be against rollkur.

Maybe some people agree with rollkur, I don't know but I just wondered...
 
Good point.

(I struggle with understanding how such expensive items sell just because of a name is attached in the first place).
 
In my ignorance, I hadn't made the connection between Anky and Rollkur... :o

It would put me off purchasing, definitely. However I think Anky pads do so well purely because of the colour scheme - there aren't many brands out there that offer such a wide range.
 
tallyho! said:
Personally, I boycott the brand because of the personality behind it. Not everyone is of this opinion I am sure as she has a huge fanbase :rolleyes: but it does make me wonder how people can part with money to buy her particular brand and continue to support her in this way and be against rollkur.
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Good thread. I've often thought this before, and completely agree with you.

Regardless of brand, I also have little time for colourful bandages or chopping and changing what goes under my saddle.
 
Polypads do identical ones in terms of quality fill and good enough for me. Admittedly there is no neon orange... my fave colour (not :D)!

Dylon exists for creative minds.

Again, personal opinion :)
 
I keep mine on a shoestring horses on a shoestring so cannot afford brand names and to be honest have never been a brand name sort of person cant see the point in paying a fortune for a name and I personally cant see any difference in quality or style they all copy each other and nothing stays clean long enough to worry about the brand name. I think horse owners are shafted all round because of it. Dont know why people support those with a controversial background but maybe it is just ignorance
 
RebelRebel said:
Me neither :o I am going to go and give myself a slap. Not that I actually have any Anky stuff mind.
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^^^^This

I do like the colours that they do but seriously £69 for bandages and a saddle cloth that matches - yes they do look lovely, but a set alone would cost me more than a months worth of hay & haylage!!!! :eek: I think i might be better off buying another brand such as polypad for the thickness, or a nice sheepskin with a pretty coloured saddle cloth :)
 
To be honest i hadn't considered that, mostly because i have never considered buying an Anky set because it's extortionately priced. However if i was going to buy matchy matchy i would probably also a brand with the name of someone such as Anky on it.

But then i don't buy Mark Todd stuff just because it has his name on it...
 
Too expensive for me.....can get a good Roma one for £15 and it will do.



Plus I don't have the time/patience/ will/ under standing to have matching bandages. Give me the coloured woof wear booties any day.
 
Agree 100% op. I don't really go for brands anyway, unless its something where you really are paying for the quality, eg sabre bridle over £20 cheapo one. Daughter does matchy matchy, but even without the link to rolkur, Robinsons sales & eBay etc are adequate suppliers of £10 max pink & purple kids stuff.
 
I'm the same as you OP. I will not buy/use any of her products because of the whole rolkur discussion, I personally don't like what I've seen of her training or her interviews.


oh...and because I stupidly own too many horses...£70 quid for bandages and a saddle pad..I can only dream of afford such luxurious things ;)
 
Funny you should bring this up, I was browsing through a web site selling Anky products and thought no matter how nice and how much of a bargain the goods are, I wouldn't buy the stuff.

Problem is, that when shopping on line, you can't physically handle the goods so its difficult to tell from a picture what the quality is like, so I do prefer to go for quality makes so I don't end up with a piece of tat.
 
Nope, no way I am supporting her financially or otherwise. Amazes me that people are horrified on the one hand but still buy it!

It's a matter of principle IMO.
 
I didn't know she did rolkur and I also didn't know she was connected to the saddle pads.

I do like them but I can always find something else to buy first so I haven't got one.

Tally ho with this and your post on the other thread you are indeed a Matchy Matchy guru expert person :eek::p:D
 
Because of pretty colours and people know of it as a premium brand, I think they are just one of those fashion things that gets a following and people are like 'ooh have you seen the latest colour?' Fair enough I wouldn't stop using it if I had a set but they're too expensive for me, there are cheap alternatives by HKM and other such brands.

The trouble with celebrity endorsement is celebrities fall of favour very quickly! Thankfully John Whitaker is pretty alright as far as I know, shame a lot of his stuff is a bit chavvy (IMO).

Maybe Carl Hester should release a series of matchy matchy in opposition!
 
Feel the same about Heather Moffatt (sp?) . . . a rather nasty altercation on here put me right off and I simply won't entertain buying her products.

To answer the wider question . . . which is why products peddled about by contraversial equestrian celebrities sell . . . the answer (IMHO) is that people simply don't think about the ethics/ethos of the person behind the brand and respond to the very effective marketing of said product.

I buy based on quality first, price second and then, reputation . . . and there are a number of people whose products I won't buy on principle.

P
 
the majority of people buying Anky products are going to be well educated enough (in terms of horses/dressage/top sport), and wise enough to the foibles of the dressage world, to know that Anky is not the she-devil and that not everyone who appears wonderful in public is whiter than white in private ;)

i would imagine that everyone who in fact buys it, has made the connection between the name of the rider and er, the name on the gear for instance......................

silly to rule out good quality,useful gear on the basis of a few vidoes and the obsessive trial by internet.
agreed that she has, sometimes, pushed horses too hard and too far, but we all make mistakes and id bet some of your horses have been made uncomfortable at your expense at some point, you just arent succesful enough to warrent people videoing it and posting it on youtube!
She (along with Sjeff) developed a system that has subsequently developed a lot of very beneficial exercises and systems world wide (when not taken to the absolute extreme), its given a lot of people more tools in their boxes to develop hot headed and over sharp horses.

controversial brands will not do well if not backed up by money well spent on developing them, on good materials that wear well, that do the job they are meant to, that appeal to the masses etc.

to take the example of polypads-good quality for the money but they dont have the anti slip properties of the Anky pad, the coolmax lining or the colour range (and like it or not, fashions change as quickly in the horse world as they do on the high street). The poly pad is not of the same quality and thus has a lower RRP.
I doubt very much people would spend money on the Anky pad if there was NO benefit over a polypad, but if it stays put better, absorbs sweat better and looks better, the higher price is IMO warranted.
 
I have one Anky pad, and one Polypad, I bought them within two months of eachother 4years ago, the PP is in bits because it can't take a washing machine that well, and as someone has already said it doesn't stay in place, which rather negates the concept of having one on.

The pad is the only horsey thing I own of Ankys, although I have two jackets which are probably also between 5-7 years old. They not only still work but are made of good quality stuff, so still look good. Based on the quality of the products Anky produces, I would buy more from that range - because unlike a lot of overpriced *****, you seemingly get what you pay for in this instance, and I would rather buy something good once, than buying something rubbish several times.

There is controversy surrounding all brand names - I never understand why people pay through the nose for very poor quality JW things with one hand and use the other to berate his son for wearing sharp spurs on young horses.
 
Well I certainly would never buy anything from the KP (Katy Price) range either - the thought of giving that trollop even a penny makes my blood boil.....!

Re the Anky products again I would not buy those even if i could afford them.
 
Puppy said:
Regardless of brand, I also have little time for colourful bandages or chopping and changing what goes under my saddle.
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Same here.

I can't comment on the MAnky stuff as I've never seen any in the flesh but have found most of the 'celeb' named stuff that I have seen of rather disappointing quality, Whittaker, kp, some of the Mark Todd stuff, etc.
 
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