This week's review victim... - ....begins with m

[Tony McC]

It's taken an age to write and illustrate, mainly because of the breadth and depth of what they produce, but just before midnight last night, I finally uploaded this week's brochure review.

Read it here

[mickg]

Well done Tony that's an excellent review of the Marshalls 2014 brochure complete with photo's taken of Marshalls register members patio and driveway installations (including real life size models too)

[Dave_L]

I want more PYT's!!!!!

[lutonlagerlout]

How many pretty women vs how many hunky men? How many gingers? How many dark faces, or disabled, or Inuits, LGBTs, dog-walkers….???

:laugh:

we have all been there ,lovely patio done and pointed
next morning go for the cheque and a big steaming dog turd right in the middle

I am not on their register but in my dealings with marshalls I have found them ever so helpful and efficient

I still have the sample boards I requested 2 years ago and they alone sold tegula to the latest customer

premium products and premium prices but you gets what you pays for

looking forward to tobermores new catalogue

LLL

[London Stone Paving]

Great review there Tony. That's a very impressive brochure from the best in the business.

[Nigel Walker]

Very good review Tony.
After reading your review, I pulled out my stash of previous Marshalls brochures dating back to 2001.
Its amazing how the style of brochures has changed
Back then it was mainly just about the paving with the odd photo of a person or dog. Now its much more about a lifestyle. Every photos seems to have someone drinking, having breakfast, playing with the kids etc etc. Also with expensive new cars parked on the drive !!
Also, back then the block paving was always at the front of the brochure, now its the expensive flags at the front with the block paving at the back
I love the new style brochures. Lots of photos - especially of Marshalls Approved Installers installations. I think it makes a difference knowing that the photos are of 'real' jobs and not photoshopped or staged photos. Lots of pages relating to the register and approved installers.
In fact the whole brochure is a good read for both client and contractor
And for us register members it is great to show clients photos of our jobs in the brochure. I was really chuffed to have before and after photos of one of my Drivesys Cobbletech jobs in this years brochure. It really does impress the clients

I too love the new Wildwood flags. I do like the exposed aggregate look. I have just had samples sent to me and the client loves them. I think an order will be going in very shortly.

Savanna - I have done 2 jobs this year using these blocks. There was something niggling away in the back of my mind that I have seen these before. Now I know where - from the 2001 brochure and a job I laid back then.
Not a bad block - basically its a Tegula without the distress. Very good value for the price. Clients love them so far

Drivesys - I am installing 2 drives in the next 2 weeks using Drivesys Split Stone, both in Grey Green colour. Having laid numerous Drivesys Original Cobble (Cobbletech) drives previously, I am really looking forward to the new Splitstone. Will post photos when done

[Tony McC]

I think it makes a difference knowing that the photos are of 'real' jobs and not photoshopped or staged photos.

While many of the photies in that brochure are indeed 'untouched', some of them are very definitely given a....let's call it a 'cosmetic makeover'.

Have you got a copy of the separate New Products brochurette? Compare and contrast the images for the Casarta Slate and the Eclipse Granite. Can you spot the differences?

If this 'makeover' had been done to amend the appearance of the paving, to prettify it or give a false impression, I would have mentioned it, but it was done to correct a minor balls-up by the installation contractor that the lovely marketing people at Marshalls knew I would have commented upon had it been left untouched. I know this because they told me so.

And I have to do it, too, occasionally. I use photies on the website to illustrate a particular point, but every so often, the only photie I have also has some error, flaw or, for example, a semi-cured dog turd lurking in the background, which doesn't really help me make the point, so I might use PotatoShop to remove it, without changing the context. The most common 'object' removed from the photies I use on my website? Can you guess? 'kin Chewing Gum spat out by dirty abtsrads who were brought up wrong.

I know some brochures use 'digitally improved' images, and I'm not sure that is really fair. To me, it's mis-representation and it's nothing more than an attempt to pull the wool over customers' eyes. I tend not to review these brochures in the hope of denying them the undeserved oxygen of publicity.

But nearly every brochure uses staged photies. This is often done to create a 'representative image' of the product in use. For many years, manufacturers would build 'idealised' patios or driveways to photograph for publicity purposes, but over the last 2 or 3 years, we've begun to see more and more 'real' jobs, projects installed (usually) by members of that particular manufacturer's 'Nice List' and which may have been temporarily populated by brought-in models and PYTs.

Hey! It's marketing. It's not real. They alter reality to suit their purposes. If we insisted on marketing only ever telling us the bald truth, then we'd see Andrex promoted because it gets the shit of yer arse and your fingers won't go through it! Who wants that???



Edited By Tony McC on 1393094044

[mickg]

its like showing a photo of a driveway but without the vechicle, we know its a driveway because its the bit what goes from the pavement to the house but by adding a car makes it come to life, by adding humans stood on the driveway makes it possible for the customer to put the dream into reality knowing that they can have that same product on their driveway too - its selling the lifestyle

I was asked about 4 years back by a customer, why can't my small driveway appear in the brochure, its out of my hands but I did pass the comment back to Marshalls

the customers comment came from seeing all these big nice fancy footballers/film star style properties which i'm sure sells lots of product for all the paving manufacturers but the volume of paving that is laid on the average size propeties will surpass the one off large houses by far

fast forward 4 years and we now see more and more smaller size homes show casing paving products which I think is a great result