If you follow them on Instagram or other social media, you certainly know what we’re talking about…

Behringer is a manufacturer that generates a lot of discussions around the Internet for its strategy. Some hate them, some love them and most are somewhere around the middle. Their clone strategy is to make vintage (and sometimes modern) synthesizers at a wildly affordable price and no one can deny that they have improved their quality significantly.

There are tons of videos comparing a vintage synth to its Behringer clone and most of us can barely hear a difference. The general idea of making synths and music production gear accessible is by default a great one. And so many people have been able to own actual hardware synths for a fraction of the price of their vintage counterparts.

Is it ethical? Well, that’s a difficult question to answer. Most of the time, the synths Behringer re-creates are pretty old and the companies that initially made them seem to have no interest in re-issuing them. Except for some rare occasions, like the Minimoog, most synth manufacturers are focused on making new and original gear and are not fixated on their past. Ok, maybe except Roland that keeps delivering 808s and 909s. On the other hand, when you re-create something that’s on the market, like the Keystep, and sell it for less, well, you may have crossed a line…

But today, we are not planning to bring more attention to Behringer’s product strategy but to its Marketing one. If you have been following them on any social media, you’ll know that they are constantly teasing or even demoing brand-new synthesizers and concepts. To a point that I honestly have no idea which of them are real or just concepts. I tried to list all their teased products but it’s almost impossible. So, I’ll just have a few examples below to get the idea.

So what’s the main idea behind that?

Behringer is a company that promotes its openness and willingness to open discussions with its customers. They have the Music Tribe Community which is basically a forum for discussion and support with more than 300.000 members and almost 200.000 posts. So we cannot blame them that they want to communicate with their customers and build a community around their brand.

Another main advantage that this teasing strategy has, is that they are able to test their ideas with the public. Sharing a mockup of a new synth with your audience is a great way to get feedback and understand if it’s something that excites them or not. It’s also a great way to discover some things that you might have missed when initially designing the specs of your product. After all, there is no better judge than your own customers and audience.

Lastly, you always have something to share. Creating content on social media is not as easy as it seems. It is a job that’s very demanding, costs a lot of money, and demands creativity every single day. So just sharing ideas and concepts is a great way to have people engaged and talking.

What is the problem with this strategy?

In two words: Broken Promises.

Trust is one of the most important things a company has to earn from its customers. And when you constantly tease but do not deliver, people are starting to believe you’re lying to them. So many products have been teased and so many people got excited only to see that this new synth they would buy has not been released after a year (and sometimes even more) it has been teased and presented to them. The worldwide chip shortage is definitely a key factor in this but people don’t really care about this.

My own story of this is the BCR 32. It was teased on January 9, 2021 (!!!), and we’ve seen no signs of an actual release since then. It is a product I was genuinely excited about and that would get immediately after its release. I’ve been googling it for months after I realized it was ’t going to be available any time soon. So we are almost 2 years after the initial tease and the product is not yet available. Isn’t that disappointing?

We also feature a post of their new compact synths that resemble the Korg Volcas here but we still have no news about their release dates.

It is no lie that most of us are now aware of this and when another “tease“ comes up from Behringer, we instantly think that it’s something we won’t see with our own eyes for the next couple of years.

So, what’s the solution?

In two words: More Transparency.

Behringer just by giving us all those behind-the-scenes updates is already the most transparent synth manufacturer. There is no other company that’s so interactive with their audience but they need to do some fine-tuning to their strategy. So what they could do to improve their status?

Clearly state the production status of a teased product. To be fair they already do this but no one understands what pre-production actually means and what’s the time schedule for the actual production of a piece of gear. If we knew that pre-production means that it won’t be released for the next couple of years then we would not get too excited and then disappointed. The best thing to do here is to have a dedicated page on your website and state the production or release status of every synth that’s already presented to us. This way, we would have a better idea of what’s going on.
Be transparent on how you utilize customers’ feedback. I’m sure that Behringer reads all the comments people make on their posts and use them to improve their products. But that’s my own speculation. Having, for example, polls instead of just an early look would be more beneficial to both parties.
Release dates (or estimations) on everything. Since this gear-teasing thing is a huge part of Behringer’s marketing strategy, having release dates or at least some kind of estimation would be very much appreciated. In their defense, they often announce the pricing that’s also a big deal!

Conclusion

Behringer is certainly a huge part of the music gear industry. They played a very important role in the hardware synth revolution of the past decade and they made products that are accessible to almost anyone. Some may have concerns about their quality but when you think of their prices, you are getting way more than you could imagine.

And to be honest, I think that they’re an opposing force to some synth manufacturers that charge extremely premium just for their brand name and history. So, it’s a much-needed company in the industry.