If Zaino is so great.....how come it's not sold in stores?

Also, how can this product be so superior to the big brands when the big brands can spend millions on R&D? Meguiars, Turtle Wax and all the others would jump on any competitive advantage they could find and exploit it. The only exception would be if Zaino's formula is patented. Is it?

It just doesn't make sense.

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Red 2002 Trans Am WS6
Red 1994 Probe GT
Red 1986 Fiero 2M4
Member, Michigan Fiero Club (www.michiganfieroclub.org)

 

Anyone in the US can go to www.zainobros.com and order any of Sal's products, anytime, via the mail-in order form. "Why isn't it sold in stores?", it's simple. Sal's business is mostly word of mouth, he has virtually no advertising budget compared with big companies. So, to keep quality high and prices down, he sells direct instead of putting mass quantities of product onto store shelves. He does rely on distributors to help sell more quickly, but distributors know every product and its proper application. If he sold in stores, he would likely have "dealers" selling his product in which they know very little or nothing about. Thus, customers would likely misuse the product and actually create negative publicity towards his brand. Zaino is a very specialized product which must be applied properly for best results. That's why Sal's products are highly regarded on many discussion boards like this one. So, among avid car buffs, I'd certainly say Zaino is mainstream, you just gotta be in the know.

Nearly ALL "premium" car care products are actually sold the same way, either online or mail order, and I suspect for the same reasons. There are dozens of "premium" products that will never make their way onto store shelves, but they still are far superior to Turtle Wax or Meguiar's. Companies like Meguiar's, Mother's, and Turtle Wax etc etc are like Wal-Mart in the respect that they pump out as much product as they can to the masses to make a profit, regardless of quality. Those companies are more worried about pushing product out the door than truly being the best in the business.

Those mass market companies don't spend millions on R&D. They spend millions on advertising and marketing BS. Their formulations actually change very little through the years. I know for a fact that the Zaino formulations have changed many times over the years as Sal is always looking for improvements to his already excellent products. So, who's really doing their homework? Sal improves his products while your mass market companies are improving their advertising schemes...

The demographics for the store bought products are completely 180 degrees different from the target market of Zaino or other premium products. They are simply fundamentally different companies and ways to do business, one sells superb products to enthusiasts, the others sell average Joe products... Zaino is not the ONLY business that operates the way it does...there are thousands of other examples in all industries.




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*Mike's 1992 Camaro RS 25th Anniv.*
Dark Red Metallic (ext.) / Flame Red (int.)
Flowmaster Crossflow, K&N, 20% 3M Panther Black Tint
JL Audio 3 10", PPI PC2100, Kenwood eXcelon KRC-953H/U, Kenwood / Pioneer speakers
Shine by ZAINO! - Special Thanks to Sal Z!

[This message has been edited by MikeLS (edited April 23, 2002).]

 

While virtually anyone can learn how to use Zaino properly, it is not a products that would appeal to the masses or mainstream. They don't care about car car as much. It is really a product for car care specialists and people who take it more seriously.

 

Sal Zaino is very customer orientated. He even answers his own e-mail and phone calls, try that with some other company.

Would you really want some stock clerk, who doesn't have a clue, trying to explain to you how to use the products, the someone badmouths Sals products because they were using it wrong.

Think about this. On many, many message boards there have been many polls taken. With ZERO advertising and not sold in stores, Zaino always takes over 50% of the votes. Second place is Mequiars, who spend millions on advertising and sold in any kind of store, but they usually get around 20-25% of the votes. All the other products combined mnake up the rest.

There is a reason Zaino is so popular, in spite of the fact there is no advertising and not sold in stores. Now ask yourself why??

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Kevin Villier, 2002 SS #186 - 6M with Hurst and "short-stick", TT, navy blue, chrome SS wheels, Bilstein suspension, SS grill, STB, SLP loudmouth, Direct-Flo lid with Holley filter and Mallory polished MAF ends.

Louisville, KY

 

Lots of fine products are not sold in stores, hence the popularity of the interent. I just ordered a Wheelskin steering wheel cover, it is not sold in stores, I order www.por15.com, it is not sold in stores. Different kind of marketing for different products is what business is all about.

Meguiars spends more on advertising than probably any other wax company, I assure you the label, bottle, and advertising of a bottle of Meguiars cost MORE than the actual contents of the bottle.



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96 Black Impala SS
Authorized Zaino Showcar Polish Distributor
www.zainobros.com
Remember #3

 

Premium quality products are rarely sold in chain stores (or are only in a selected few). Examples are Meg's professional line, Pinnacle Souveran & Blitz One Grand (and Zaino too ).

Going through the expense of putting premium products like these & Zaino in stores like Wallymart would be a marketing disaster. I could just see someone looking at Souveran, laughing at the $60.00 price tag & then going straight for the $4.00 Turtle Wax.

Sal's just taking it one step further by marketing direct or through distributors and ignoring the chains altogether.

Just my $.02

 

Im not really going against you guys, because I plan on buying a set of zaino waxes soon, but.. I really cant remember ever seeing a comercial for car wax... maybe like armour all and tire foam products... but not really for car wax. So where is all this advertising money going?

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My 2 Babies:
94 black Z28-5.7 k&n cold air induction, performance MAF,air foil & flowmaster exhast. new pics w/ SS hood & spoiler
94 Z28 pic1 pic2 pic3 pic4
86 laser red IrocZ - k&n air filters,full msd setup, flowmasters, modifed MAS & air foil,92 hood, Ground Effects & spoiler
86 Z28

 

A lot of the ad budget goes towards magazine ads. I see a TV ad for car care products from time to time, but I don't know of any that are sponsors of a prime time show.

 

I saw a Meguiars truck, trailer, setups,etc. I'd hate to think what it cost, very high I'm sure. Then I went and checked the paint out. Swirl marks galore, cloudy surface, smeary finish. You'd think they would actually take care of it since it is part of their advertizing. This was at an event too.

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Kevin Villier, 2002 SS #186 - 6M with Hurst and "short-stick", TT, navy blue, chrome SS wheels, Bilstein suspension, SS grill, STB, SLP loudmouth, Direct-Flo lid with Holley filter and Mallory polished MAF ends.

Louisville, KY

 

You must not ever watch any car TV shows or auto racing on television, Speedvision has a commercial for Meguiars Gold Class, ESPN has an entire show series devoted to Mothers waxes. Car mags are chock full of wax ads. Meguiars spends WAY more on advertising and marketing than any other wax brand, the bottle, label, and marketing it took to put one bottle of Meguiars wax in the store I guarantee costs more than the actual contents of the bottle.



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96 Black Impala SS
Authorized Zaino Showcar Polish Distributor
www.zainobros.com
Remember #3

 

Keep in mind that TV is just ONE way to market products. There are numerous other ways to spend money on marketing. There's the huge cost of magazine ads, car show setups, special events, sponsoring, etc etc...adds up to multimillion dollar expenditures. TV is just one portion of what the major companies spend money for. At a recent car show I attended, Meguiar's, for example, had a big display with a booth set up and a very fancy truck that hauls them from show to show. I know that alone ain't cheap...and it's still just one portion of what they spend.

Take a look at who spends what (scroll down to bottom for the "Look at TV expenditures" link): http://www.nufinish.com/tvadvertising.html#

This is for TV advertising ONLY, does not include several major brands, I can't help that not my study, but you get the point. It's funny that they left out Meguiar's and Mother's though, because I'm sure they spend a fortune in ads alone too.

It's all about marketing to the big companies. They "WOW" people with ads in various forms, in return their sales jump...classic marketing ploy.

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*Mike's 1992 Camaro RS 25th Anniv.*
Dark Red Metallic (ext.) / Flame Red (int.)
Flowmaster Crossflow, K&N, 20% 3M Panther Black Tint
JL Audio 3 10", PPI PC2100, Kenwood eXcelon KRC-953H/U, Kenwood / Pioneer speakers
Shine by ZAINO! - Special Thanks to Sal Z!

[This message has been edited by MikeLS (edited April 26, 2002).]

 

the reason it's not in stores is because mainstream people wouldn't buy it, only a few people are willing to spend $100 on car polish so distributing his product in stores would ruin him Financially.