Among the many events that were flipped on their head by Covid, NAMM looks to be finally getting back on its feet, with its second in-person event since the end of the pandemic scheduled to take place in just a few weeks.
However, though NAMM will be returning to the Anaheim Convention Center once more, it will be doing so with a number of high-profile absentees casting a shadow over proceedings: just as was the case with last year’s installment, many of the biggest brands simply won’t be there.
Last year, the likes of Gibson, PRS, Fender and Boss all opted against showing up for NAMM’s returning event, and 2023 looks to be no different. Once again, those four brands will be taking a step back, giving the show floor to the likes of Ibanez, ESP and Yamaha among others.
For Fender, the overarching factors that prompted their absence were two-fold: cost, and the ability to conduct more in-depth networking sessions elsewhere.
Speaking to Guitar World as part of an upcoming interview, Fender CEO Andy Mooney discussed all things NAMM, and cited the Covid-induced, industry-wide change that took place over the past few years – and the alternate approaches that stemmed out of sheer necessity – as having significantly altered the nature of the show.
When asked whether Fender would ever consider returning to NAMM, Mooney diplomatically refused to rule out the possibility, but made note of the fact that NAMM – along with the overall trade show format – is no longer something especially attractive to some larger brands.
“On the one hand, I never say never, but the biggest trade show that’s in Los Angeles is E3, and this year Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have all said they’re not going,” Mooney noted. [Editor’s note: since this interview was conducted, E3 has been canceled.]
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“What happened was, out of necessity during Covid, people experimented with other approaches and have found that they are actually not only better for the brands but better for the industry.”
If NAMM can prove to me why it’s better for the industry, I’ll go back. But at the moment I’m kind of scratching my head as to how we’re going to do that
Andy Mooney
In this new virtual format, Fender could conduct more focused and in-depth networking and marketing efforts, which would both reduce costs associated with NAMM and increase the time the company had with retailers.
He continued, “In our case, it costs to set up the booth, have everybody there – that’s a substantial bill. What happens during NAMM which always used to make me pull my hair out is, we’d only get to spend an hour with major retailers. We weren’t reaching deep into the organization, and you couldn’t really romance the products or anything.
“So with the online events, what we found was we were reaching 5,000 dealers, we were reaching much deeper into the organization at just a fraction of the price, and we were doing more business.
“And the money that we weren’t spending, we could take that and plow it into demand creation to drive digital traffic into their online stores and foot traffic into their physical stores.”
All things considered, it doesn’t look like a NAMM return for Fender is on the cards any time soon, but that’s not to say it’s impossible: “If NAMM can prove to me why it’s better for the industry, I’ll go back,” Mooney concluded. “But at the moment I’m kind of scratching my head as to how we’re going to do that.”
Despite not attending NAMM, Fender has been capitalizing on the gear hype by dropping the all-new Squier Sonic series, which will serve as a successor to the Bullet family.
To keep up to date with this year’s event, head over to our dedicated NAMM 2023 hub for the latest news.
In other Fender news, Mooney recently told Guitar World of the brand's plans to explore new Acoustasonic body shapes – shapes that might include outlines inspired by classic acoustic guitar models.
