The ability to build a product well and the ability to promote a product effectively are two different skill sets. Just because a manufacturer does an excellent job advertising their brand name doesn’t necessarily mean that their product is superior. I know some great manufacturers that do a terrible job marketing their spas, and vice versa.  A well-known brand name doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than some lesser-known brands.

Consumers are naturally drawn to popular brand names with big enough budgets to have beautiful facilities in high-traffic areas and hire physically attractive staff and professionally trained salespeople. That’s why hot tub stores do all that stuff.  Although good exposure and effective promotion absolutely increase sales, it doesn’t accurately reflect the quality of the actual product being promoted.

The best-built hot tub I’ve ever come across was made by Custom Plastics in the early 2000s.  They were a world class company that fabricated for Disneyland, Universal Studios and were even commissioned for projects with aerospace applications. They put an incredible amount of research and engineering into their product, but their approach to marketing was technical and boring, thus it failed to catch the attention and interest of the average consumer.  Hot tub shoppers didn’t seem to care about physics and engineering, and were more drawn to brands that caught their eye and captured their imagination.  Sadly, Custom Plastics’ hot tub venture failed miserably due to poor marketing.

When making a big investment, don’t judge the quality of a product by the quality of its marketing – rather, look for substantial, practical information to help you understand what actually makes their product superior.