Brand Loyalty: Pros & Cons
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- Опубліковано 19 вер 2024
- Some people are loyal to certain brands or companies, even without a staff contract requiring them to be. There are definite pros and cons to this, and realistic and objective reasons both to be and not to be.
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I’m a Storm staffer and I always tell people if you’re not on staff you should be throwing different brands. Are there balls we wished we could throw? Of course! Same goes for other brand staffers. The reason I signed was because 90 percent of my success has come from Storm equipment so when I was given the opportunity to represent them I confidently took it!
I’m a spi fan but but i love my black widows and love that Brunswick tries to recreate classic bowling balls with modern technology
Buying a bowling ball is like buying underpants; once used you can’t return it. 😂
Unless a brand is loyal to you, theres no reason to be loyal to them.
I'm SPI for life, but also got one of those Brunswick Fury's back in the day and helped me win $$ in a tournament bracket. Also got both Quantum and Quantum Helix locked in a safe. Use Pyramid for spare balls. Haven't bought a Motiv ball yet, but that Venom Shock is used by a 240 avg bowler in my league and he makes it look so good LOL! Also, had not 1 but 2 original Black Widow's that I averaged over 230 with one summer. I gave one away because I was like "why do I need 2 of these?" Wish I kept the extra.
My wife broke my trend. I had only bought Storm balls for a long time.
Now I have Storm, Global, Track, Hammer, Pyramid, Rotogrip, and Motiv.
I’ve thrown several brands of bowling balls over the years Ebonite, Brunswick, Hammer, Track, Storm and as of summer of 2023, had mixture of Hammer, SPI and a Brunswick (spare ball). Know there’s many bowlers pro and not, that are exclusive to a brand. I was ordering some shirts for league and tournaments and made the decision to transition to SPI products. If the opportunity to become a Storm staffer would take advantage of if able to. Fast forward to now, other than my ball bags (off brands) the only 2 things left is the spare ball and bowling shoes that are not SPI. So with me wearing my Storm shirts to league and tournaments do start conversations with fellow bowlers about bowling balls and why we use particular ones for different lane conditions.
I share or buy all brands B7,SPI,900 etc. I buy for what I need and watch reviews and read about each ball . Thanks Luke
I agree with everything you said and in my area the cliques are usually MOTIV people. Us against the world mentality. Storm is still the top seller in my area but most people, like myself throw everything. I've never thrown a MOTIV ball because they seem too weak for my game. However it's hard to invest $200 or more into a company you don't know much about. I believe that's another factor to brand loyalty such as the point you made about your UA shoes. Thanks for the great videos as always.
I do tend to gravitate toward SPI products. I like the Roto stuff most. But I do have Motiv Venoms and a Purple Hammer that stay in the bag as well. Getting ready to drill the new Pepto Pearl.
I've stuck with Storm over the last several years. And it's for the same reason you mentioned; it's easier for me to follow one brand and familiarize myself with it than to look & jump across manufacturers. But I do know a few people who live on the Brandwagon. Sigh.
At the end of the day, the pins don't care what brand you throw.
Spot on. My whole arsenal is SPI because its what I know and it too hard to keep up with all brands choices. If i did need Urethane I would for sure look to Hammer.
My PSO who I know you know is a B7 staffer but sells all brands. While I was buying mostly SPI for awhile, the fact that he has experience throwing many of the B7 balls and sometimes have demos for me to try out, has made me lean to B7 for recent purchases. It's nice to try before buy! Although I research my buys heavily, I am surprised how often the balls turn out to be much different than my expectations from video reviews. For example, when I got my VEBO I wasn't expecting it to be so clean out of the box like polished White Dot for the first 55 feet. After surface adjustment it is earlier, but does not respond to friction as much as I expected. I bought a Fireball at about the same time, and I expected it to be clean through the fronts and have a decently narrow hook window downlane. Instead, it practically hooks off of the hand all the way down the lane to the point it burns up on the burn. So having a PSO who has lots of experience throwing what he sells and has similar layouts, speed, and style are helpful!
Yeah, B7 stuff is generally stronger than Storm, and Storm had trouble with Reacta Gloss for a while too, so there's a definite need to have especially people in the pro shop world be experienced with all brands, but most are actually on staff with someone because then the company can get direct actual sales numbers from them, and those people are in a direct position to sell their equipment also . .
I bowl everything...including SWAG!
My PSO put me in a Hy-Road when I came back after a 25 year layoff. I stumbled onto your videos and built a super nice Storm arsenal based almost solely on your reviews and recommendations. Now you have me wanting to start another one from other brands. Gosh darn ya Luke!
I have a problem with buying bowling balls, so I like to stick to one brand to narrow down my decisions. Not saying I would never throw anything else. I have experimented with several brands at this point, but seem to throw Motiv and Storm balls best for whatever reason so I’ll tend to stick to those. I ventured out to the brands of Brunswick last season and of course naturally saw some success since every dog has his day, but far too inconsistent for my liking. I’ll never trash the brand though, to each their own im just speaking on personal experience. I’ll probably stick most with Motiv from here on out, but that ion max is tempting since it’s pink and we all know what that means.
My first ball coming back after 20+ years was a Storm ball, hated it. Drilled a Hammer ball, loved it. Drilled up around 20 more balls across SPI, Brunswick, Motiv, and Ebonite over the past 2.5 years. After that first Storm ball that I hated so much I had it in my head that SPI balls suck. My current bag is 4 SPI balls 1 Motiv and a purple, lol. IDK, I'll just throw whatever works,
I'm a "hammer" guy but I've thrown ebonite too in the past. It's not that I'm loyal to the brand but I think the options hammer has fit my game and I never felt the need to switch brands completely. Only to get a different look that I can get for a better price or if hammer discontinued a ball I'll get a different brand.
You said it well!
Can very much relate to this topic. I was a Hammerhead for years and wouldnt look at anything else (which may and probably did limit my scores). But when I converted to 2H this year (thumb issues) I took a look at other options within B7. Radical and Track have joined Hammer in my league bag and tournament arsenal. Nothing against SPI - quite a few league buddies are tearing up the lanes rolling their stuff. But the sheer volume of great looking balls out now has me sticking with B7 and fine-tuning using that smaller sample size...
My Dewalt tools share the same batteries, but my bowling balls are all analog so they don't need to share the same brand. I do favor Rotogrip, because that was my first reactive ball.
The main reason that I (generally) throw Storm stuff is that it's the line that's easiest for me to understand and draw comparisons with. Part of that is due to Luke having been a Storm staffer when I was first coming back to the game and finding his community, so there was a wealth of SPI info available at an easy asking point. The relationships between SPI balls are (for me) easier to understand which lets me make better decisions around purchases and knowing what balls might fit in where.
Doesn't mean I won't look elsewhere if I need a specific reaction or if something cool comes out (gestures to his neon green Sniper). When that happens though you bet I'm going to be doing a LOT of talking to people more knowledgeable and experienced than myself. Again, Luke's channel and Discord is a huge part of that (sign up for the patron or channel membership, people, it's worth it)!
Brunswick umbrella gets my scratch.
I stick with SPI and Motiv because they are made in the USA. I used to be mainly Ebonite and Brunswick before I stopped bowling for a while. When I came back and found out they had moved production to Mexico, I switched.
I love this conversation! While I have only been bowling for 4 years I only threw SPI, just because that is what everyone knows, and in our area, the majority of the pro shops are huge on SPI. But this year I jumped into the Motiv Brand, and I believe they fit my game and style better, don't get me wrong, my Infinite Physix never leaves my bag tho. Meanwhile, the GF feels more comfortable with the Storm brand rather than Roto or 900 Global.
my best friend will only use storm. I told him that roto,900, and storm are all together now. he said if it doesnt say storm i dont want it lol. Myself, as a jr i was a big brunswick guy,now mostly storm. However I have also used ebonite,columbia,lanemasters,all big brands but motiv. I have never seemed to be attracted to their stuff. Just came back after a long break have a summit peak and ion pro. looking 2 others above them, thinking gem,xcell,absolute power, also the mesmerize looks really good as well. some of the hammer stuff looks great rite now as well, so many choices. Im a speed dom lefty with high tilt
I root for all brands but throw Motiv exclusively (last 10 years) because of the way I feel Motiv equipment matched up with my game/style. If I don't like a ball I'm honest with you about it. I will put/recommend any ball to anyone that I feel matches up to them if they ask me. I like a lot of Brunswick and DV8 ball motions, however, being an "older" person (60-) a lot of the people I bowl with (recreational) don't need the "big balls" that drop every month from "all" the brands. I like this new chapter in your channel it suits you well.
I'm brand loyal because then there's only 40 balls I have to research instead of 250. Mostly a convenience.
Growing up my choice was AMF...college was Columbia (school discount) ..back in the late 90's was AMF and Columbia. Fast forward to when I got back into bowling after an 18 year layoff, Radical is the main choice but have had success with Columbia and Hammer. For some reason the Storm balls never really caught my eye although I had a UFO that I loved but was unavailable when I had to drop down to 14 lbs. My all time favorite was the AMF bone white XS. I would be more of a ball ho if they weren't so expensive.
I’m an 80% SPI guy. I have a venom shock, jackal ghost and forge flare from motiv. And a purple hammer, widow 3.0 and envy tour from hammer. However the majority of my equipment and the brand I always gravitate to is SPI
I started off as a loyal SPI buyer, but I've since added a lot of different brands and had success with all brands
As someone who was into huge Hammer, I found that I liked Storms motion too but in a different part of the lane. My early reading equipment is mainly Brunswick with the Black Pearl Urethane, Envy Tour, Obsession Tour and Teal Rhino Pro. It then switches over to Storm with the IQ Tour, Night Road and IQ Ruby. Brunswick gives me strong early read on the fresh that’ll continue well through the pins, and when I move in Storm gives me the extra kick I need without having to force anything, where previous Brunswick equipment did not. Hopefully this helps someone!
I choose to use Motiv balls for all the reasons you stated. The balls perform at the highest levels, and do a variety of things with a limited pool to choose from. When you limit your pool to one brand, as long as you are satisfied with the product, it lets you make informed decisions (or educated guesses) when purchasing a new ball.
The biggest downside is that I have no good urethane option. And, no "big" balls like the Magic Gem. So, I will still need to buy other brands at some point.
I typically stay with SPI only because it is easier for me to know where certain balls fit in relation to one another. I'm familiar with the covers or the cores and have an idea of what to expect. The one exception is the purple hammer bc, we'll, come on.
Exactly how I feel too
I’ve been a fan for four years. Average went from 175 to 220. Watched a lot of your videos during Covid. Haven’t bought an SPI ball since you parted with them. Not that I don’t enjoy most of my SPI equipment, but I don’t like $250 ball experiments. I’d rather see them go down the lane a few times with people I can relate to. Last two purchases were a Widow 3.0 and the Effect. They are 15# along with a Journey at 15 I bought earlier this year. Need to fill three more slots. If EBI keeps sending balls, they’ll probably get more of my business.
Well said, agree 100% 👍🏻
I miss the old days when there were 8-10 different ball companies all with their own pro staffs, as opposed to just Utah Michigan and Mexico. We used to debate which company could field the best 5-man team. They could have done some side event like the PBA league is today but way better by having 8 different brands bowl matches against each other.
I mean.. that used to be the case. I want to say by 2010, they started merging the companies, and contracts, but I remember they used to be separated. Monopolies suck. 😢
i'm brand loyal to my pro shop. whatever he's selling i'm buying. He has decades of experience and always gives me the perfect fit! He only sells brunswick brands I do like how brunswick has dozens of options so you can find a ball for you. But i would like to get my hands on a storm or a motive ball eventually just to try one out one day.
I help in a shop on weekends. We are a storm VIP shop. I throw storm to help the shop. However IMO here is what is going on.
Storm/Roto/900 feel all the same like they overlap everything (Optimum idol, sublime focus, Summit Ascent, Phaze II), Magic Gem, Harsh, Harsh pearl...
Brunswick (all 7 brands) are more diverse and versatile, between HK22, Cohesion, Non-HK22 etc you have more options and less overlap
Motiv, it has been a few years since I threw motiv. They don't seem to be innovating as much as the other brands. I mean everyone lost their mind when Motiv put the Venom Shock Cover on a primal Rage Core (ummm everyone else does this). Motiv has its staples (Forge line, Venoms and Jackal Ghost (only the Jackal Ghost the rest are hot trash))
Good thing about motiv is if you like their brand they have a release every 45 days. They don't oversaturate the market with balls that overlap or are discontinued after 3 months. The bad... They are too expensive to justify to most customers when Brunswick (all 7) and SPI are cheaper for the higher end balls.
There were a lot of reasons I left, ball reaction being at the end of the list, but yes, your points are accurate in my opinion.
The SPI overlap and recent neglect on the mid to low end balls (i.e. HP2-2.5) has me interested in B7 again.
There's no Honey Badger or Punch Out type ball in the line. I'm also not a huge fan of the AI Core so far as it seems to make everything roll heavier and I generally don't need extra help for that.
@@rb8999 Yeah I really have no idea what they're doing, it doesn't seem to make much sense.
@rb8999 the issue I see is they are either a). Out of ideas or b). The company they get their resin material from is having issues with the hardness requirements.
If you listen to phil and some of the brunswick guys they have in house chemists working on their materials.
Seems like spi and motiv do not. Eg: Hammers response to the pba urethane rule was the NU then they had been working on a formula for a 78 hardness urethane. Even with the smaller core the black pearl 78 is better than the iq 78
Same with the Envy Tour and both Asymmetrical venom's. The ion (at box surface) is far too clean to be a benchmark ball. It needs 2k or 3k to be there. However I did a resurface and lost the logo color (ion pro) I drilled one up and drilled out part of the MB and it seemed to be like a rubbery material almost like very think silicone caulk (I was able to peal out the MB in 1 solid chunk for the color which was...odd.
Don't get me started on the harsh and harsh pearl. At polish the harsh and harsh pearl are the same length with the harsh pearl being .5 to 1 board more than the polished solid. No point in having both.
As far as Big B they definitely have some questionable ball choices (max bias etc).
As of late it seems like the companies are making better product than the start of the year (xcell, optimum pearl and harsh pearl with that typical spi shape). Big B with the vaporize, Effect, troublemakers, and motiv with the hyper venom and forges.
Personally if I was to sign a ball contract. It would be with Motiv. I like the every 45 days for releases and I can keep my bag fresh by drilling a new ball every month and a half.
@@rb8999imo they sell so many IQs, hustles and hyroads they don’t feel the need to produce more “weaker” equipment
Have chucked 300 with multiple different brands and both my 800's and also with different brands. Atm I'm currently got mainly Storm gear but I'm open minded if my ball driller suggested a different brand. Venom Shock is the ball currently taking my eye as my potential next ball.
Big storm guy here, I always carry my purple slammer. I also got an Envy after seeing a college teammate make it look sick. I might have to get an Extreme Envy for my next big ball, I love the OG
Should wait to see the Pure Envy lol
Well said.
I know some tools
casual bowler here..
i always have a storm ball in my bag because they smell amazing. i like it when i open my bag and the scent just gave me an extra reason to purchase a certain ball.
i woulda be a storm only guy for this reason but storm bowling ball just does not last as long as other brand in general.
also, what makes me put my ball in my bag is due to the colouration, i will never add a phaze 2 in my collection no matter how good people recommend it to me as i would rather get a venom shock.
The only problem is when people are brand loyalists simply because of where a ball was poured...(while they drive Toyotas and BMWs)
Yeah . .
I try to support American companies and jobs as much as I can. I don't have a single ball manufactured outside the United States. I make no apologies for that.
What I can't stand about staffers if they are also a PSO is when they say the Hammer or Motiv I bought is shit and constantly try to sell me a Storm. 😂
Brand loyalty is stupid
With that being said, PRE-ORDER your Ion Max and Sublime Focus today!
Seven balls: 3 Hammer + 1 each of DV8 - Motiv - Radical - Storm. I started out with one company (not Hammer) and had to find out just about every company has a good ball for me.
Spi fit my style best, but If another ball from another brand is a goat I’m not shying away. Urethane ball is definitely a purple.
Most of my stuff is Motiv, but I have discovered I really match up well with the Summit line from Storm.
Definitely feel like I’m a big Motiv fan, but definitely don’t completely dismiss options from SPI or the B7.
That makes sense because when I drilled the Summit, I was like "wow this doesn't feel like a Storm ball," and I didn't realize until I started drilling other stuff at the beginning of the year that it felt a ton like a Motiv ball lol.
Majority of my balls are storm. Most of my big games are from my Phaze 2 and IQ Solid. However, the track theorem and black widow balls have also been money for me. These days i have a pretty good arsenal so I'll just wait for the balls to be on closeout sales to experiment with them
I tended to really love Rotogrip balls. Ended up getting hurt. SPI went through that time where they were putting 4K Fast on everything. Decided to switch to 14 lb balls. I wanted a polished ball and I chose a Brunswick. Now, I just happen to have all brands of Brunswick in my arsenal (all my Storm stuff is 15 lb). It's more that I look for "families of balls." I do notice that SPI and especially Motiv are pricey, but some pieces of Brands of Brunswick, especially Hammer are getting up there
I try to support American companies and jobs as much as possible. I don't own any balls manufactured outside the United States. That is a starting point for me.
I've stayed with SPI, except for Roto Grip, I have never had a ball I've ever felt comfortable throwing from them. I've thrown Hammer balls, hated them. No one in my league really has a high average throwing Brunswick company balls either. I wouldn't mind giving Motiv a try though. But balls are getting so expensive along with drilling that I try to avoid buying immediately and patiently wait for sales or it to discontinue.
It's not good or bad... the real question is what's the point of being a staffer unless you're bowling on TV?
There are still a LOT of people who bowl very competitively, and being on staff gives you access to discounted equipment. It's not discounted nearly as much as people think, but it still matters.
The old motiv balls never matched up with my game. Just took my husbands new Max Trill Pearl away from him, I fell in love. Can't believe that is a low end ball, shot 598 first night of league with it, thinking of buying Max Trill Solid.
I am a storm bowler but I have brunswick hammer roto grip and 900 global. Balls are balls
Ego mower?!
Sam Cooley is a bad example. He switched and went downhill 😅. I throw all the brands. Whatever I think fits my arsenal best.
now that you've thrown other brands. would you say storm and Bruns have flipped? Seems like Storm is now the slower equipment and brunswick brands are now on the flippy side? when it used to be the other way around?
Yeah, SPI is definitely the early and slow company now and B7 has all the clean and fast stuff. Wild times lol.
Only buy storm and motiv balls because they are made in the USA.
People lose me on this one because most of the things we all own are made in other countries. If people say "I buy American made if I can," that's reasonable, but the hard USA stance when I know 75% of the things they own aren't USA made is a little confusing.
@@LukeRosdahl Right but there’s a clear path to buy American made balls from companies that value keeping manufacturing jobs in the states over maximizing profits in Mexico. This prolly would make more sense knowing I’m from Michigan where Brunswick left. Like you said it’s definitely I buy American where I can with regard to any product I know I can’t do it for all products but where I can make the choice I do buy made in USA products.
Yeah that makes sense.
My only problem with SPI and Colombia product is that when you drop to 13lbs or less they use generic core that does not provide the same ball reaction to what all videos on UA-cam
Everyone does that, they have to just because of the nature of what it takes to produce balls in those weights to begin with.
I'm a whatever-works-for-me fan
I just started bowling last summer, but I’ve now got 1 storm, 2 motiv, 1 ebonite, 2 hammer balls. I have a whole list of balls I want next but at the top is a storm ball, Phaze II. I like them all except the storm ball I have, I can’t get it to do what I want lol, a me problem.
Luke, first of all how are you? Thank you for making this video. I first heard of your channel because you were a storm bowler now you are a free agent. I am loyal to storm, even though I am not a professional bowler with no contract yet because I am still developing, but the reason I like them is because I really like their high-quality videos. Have you ever heard of the show ESPN sports science like how things development such. I really appreciate how they go in detail while I may not understand everything. It’s just a fascination and yet they are down to earth people like how you and I would talk. While scents are not required in a bowling ball they are a nice added touch as a bonus when you purchase one. Currently right now I have a three ball arsenal which I’m still developing my technique as a Bowler . They have similarities, but they are different. I have the phase II as my first ball out of the bag/benchmark ball when it’s on it is on. The second bowl out of the bag for me is the IQ tour solid for more control after the phase 2 burns up. finally thanks to you and your colleague on the live and asking a lot different people after breaking it in and getting used to it. I have the pitch black as my spare ball and the third ball of the bag for controlling the pocket. I would like to at least double it sometime in the future to have one more symmetrical piece preferably a pearl and I need two asymmetrical a solid and a pearl, most likely within the storm brand. My dream was the proton physix or supernova. The infinite physix and the hy road pearl. Unfortunately, they are discontinued. my back up choices to take their places will probably be if they stay in existence and budget and so forth would be the new ion max, I really love how early and strong it looks. The virtual energy blackout for an asymmetrical it’s pretty clean after the solid would burn up for the bottom of the bag on reactives I would consider the Ruby
The Ion Max would definitely fit the Proton/Super Nova zone. VEBO would definitely be Infinite territory, and the Hyroad Pearl replacement doesn't really exist. The Ruby is a quite a bit different ball. New shiny Hustle maybe??
@@LukeRosdahl thank you for your comment. I’m more than appreciate it. That I did not know about the Ruby it’s not similar to the hy road pearl. I know you know the industry pretty well, but what’s your next prediction for storm since they just released the ion Max? What type of ball do you think they will release next? Do you think it is gonna be the one to replace the hy road pearl or something else? or to be something else that I don’t know about that you know again just asking for your prediction
I use to be spi but have changed to brunswick brand as it would take months for storm to be delivered aftrt ordered it and storm ball are now 30 to 60 dollars more then brands of brunswick and I order now and get my balls in a couple of weeks now
I really have no idea what they're doing up there, so I could say what I think they need to do, but they've been pretty successful without my opinion so I'll just wait and see what happens.
I like bowling balls that look cool and smell good! Just not a fan of the girly colors. The wife loves it though! I love the cover stock on my Motiv Supra GT and on the Track Theorem. After trying other brands I just want them all!
2 handed Ambi bowler is my excuse to buy more bowling balls!😂
My wife is a Storm loyalist because they smell pretty. I’m a Motiv fanboy because they tend to name their bowling balls less stupid things than the other two brands.
Two more absolutely pointless opinions for you… 😂