Move over Gila... There's a new DIY film in town!

MikeMN · August 25, 2015

Yep. Short term gain and long term degradation of brand.

For anyone who does not sell that brand, and has to compete against a shop that does. This is a HUGE favor they have done for you. If your customer asks you if you use that brand,you can direct then to the window film section.. Right near the trash bag section at the local HD / Lowes. It cheapens the brand and implies that there product is a garden variety material .

Tom, How does it make the brand look cheap ................?

suntint, 3M has sold DIY window film in the past, explain how the 3M Window Film brand has degraded from the last time they sold DIY window film .............. ?............... As far as I have seen 3M Window Films have been growing since day One.

TomTint · August 26, 2015

Itches

Ends the brand because, as you know, many people who are DIY ers know that what they get in the local HD /lowes is not the best of the best. And there are people who refuse to buy things from those stores because of that, These are the customers who want a professional grade material and service.

Because I know you will have a response, I will give you a apology. ...If a customer is having a home built and they are interviewing potential contractors, first guy works with the local high end lumber yard and has access to multiple professionals in the field. Next guy takes the plan to his local Lowes and tries to find someone who can figure out how to read it. ... Who is going to look more professional.

F1windowtinting · August 26, 2015

3 shade options . Dual reflectives or dyed?

suntint · August 26, 2015

Yep. Short term gain and long term degradation of brand.

For anyone who does not sell that brand, and has to compete against a shop that does. This is a HUGE favor they have done for you. If your customer asks you if you use that brand,you can direct then to the window film section.. Right near the trash bag section at the local HD / Lowes. It cheapens the brand and implies that there product is a garden variety material .

Tom, How does it make the brand look cheap ................?

suntint, 3M has sold DIY window film in the past, explain how the 3M Window Film brand has degraded from the last time they sold DIY window film .............. ?............... As far as I have seen 3M Window Films have been growing since day One.

Mike,

If I am attempting to sell a premium, well branded (think Prestigous) product at a premium price, association with what others see as that same branded product at Loews (or Window Genie) is not helpful to the cause. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, GM, Ford, etc. sell their premium products under different branded names to emphasize their exclusivity/luxury. Using the 3M brand name on the Loews and Window Genies film products is a positive for those products - but a negative for the film professionals marketing their other film products. As a well established dealer not dependent upon resid'l work I expect to lose very little if any business to the Loews and Window Genie marketing efforts. But can see how other less established and more dependent upon resid'l work dealers would be more affected. I do recognize there were earlier efforts in the DIY market.

BIG E · August 28, 2015

There is a reason Gila is branded as such, and not branded as a Llumar product!

Naples Tint Company · August 28, 2015

one of the close up shots in that video had a ton of contamination showing... anyone with a respectable house will not go this route, and the ones who do will suddenly appreciate us a little more. I agree that it diminishes the value of the brand... somewhat hurts the industry as a whole to make it appear that the professional installer is not necessary to hire.

Glass Tinting Supplies · August 28, 2015

Not trying to bad mouth three M. But if they could do away with pesky pro installers and create a very easy to apply product they would.

Same goes for all manny's.

Think back to the 60's, 3M had no idea that an industry would be created from professional tint installation. It was just another kind of sticky tape to them... And this is obviously still the case to the market team at three M as it would seem.

What they need to realize is that even if they make a film that is super easy to install, they will still need pro installers because people in general are just too bloody lazy to do this for themselves...

So unless they make "an app that does that" then they will need us. So they should not be treating us like idiots. Or we will just look to other "non Do it yourself" brand to buy our fave films.

Peace.

WearTheFoxHat · August 28, 2015

Thank you Mike for hanging on to those old "kits" and other "antiques" from our industry.

The DIY kits in my opinion are more a marketing tool to get the idea of window film out in front of people.

I field calls from people who had never heard of window film asking if we have films wider than the Big box store offerings.

Most of these calls end up as clients.

MikeMN · August 28, 2015

Thank you Mike for hanging on to those old "kits" and other "antiques" from our industry.

The DIY kits in my opinion are more a marketing tool to get the idea of window film out in front of people.

I field calls from people who had never heard of window film asking if we have films wider than the Big box store offerings.

Most of these calls end up as clients.

I have a few other things Fox ................... :beer

It is my understanding that 3M did some market research and found that some consumers wanted to install solar film themselves and manufactured such a film that would be more user friendly then what we install.

The 3M film sold in a DIY kit is only 36" x 60" and is double the price of other similar DIY films on the market.

I think this will bring attention to all window films more so because of the 3M brand, not a bad thing at all for us IMOP as WearTheFoxHat thinks this as well.

With 3M selling a DIY film only makes all consumers aware of window film even More and not just the DIYer, 3M has always done more marketing and advertising of Window Films, correct me if I am wrong, has any other window film manufacturer advertised or marketed window films more then 3M .................. ?

Look out they are taking over the window film market............. :blink ........ :spit