Second time around it’s different and not in a good way

Following the recent news that Aigle is refocusing its efforts on the UK shooting market, another brand is set to make a similar return. Swedish marque Chevalier has announced that that it is giving the UK shooters another chance to buy its wares. According to a spokesperson, the company has a belief that “there is demand in the existing shooting industry for an innovative, distinctive and high end market brand”. One is tempted to answer that observation with the question have you not heard of Barbour or Seeland or Schoffel? This is to take nothing away from Chevalier, but they have already tried very hard to capture the minds and wallets of the UK’s shooters. Starting in 1996 and under the care of a sales agent called Bob Burton they gave it good go, but the problem quite apart from coming up against then, as now, a number of already well entrenched quality high end brands, was that they never had pockets deep enough to provide the marketing clout essential to elbowing their way into the shooting public’s consciousness. In other words, they wouldn’t or couldn’t come up with the advertising cash. And, of course now, during the ensuing period the Internet has come along, undermining the traditional messengers, ergo the shooting press and making it a whole lot harder to grab attention.