If you look at Yamaha’s logo it is 3 tuning forks, which are used when tuning a piano. That is because it all started with pianos in 1887.
Fast forward nearly 140 years later and Yamaha is clearly the piano brand of choice by the masses. In the last 25 years Yamaha has been able to elevate its position as the preeminent piano brand, thanks to Yamaha’s marketing division.
The plan was simple; create an artist network so vast, that when people turn on their TV or look at their phones, a Yamaha piano would be the brand seen by billions of people worldwide.
The details of this program are not well known. Does Yamaha provide free pianos to selected well known artist? Is Yamaha’s vast dealer network responsible for providing free rental pianos to famous musicians and celebrities of note, when on tour, as part of their dealer agreement? Was their market dominance a natural result from producing so many different products (boats, motors, band instruments, etc.)?
There is ongoing research delving into understanding Yamaha’s incredibly effective marketing strategies. Their findings will be quite illuminating on how in just a few decades Yamaha was able to leapfrog past the American standard Steinway & Sons for top spot on the piano brand awareness scale.
It has become clear that the Japanese demography is terminal. The Japanese people stopped having babies decades ago, a typical feature which plagues most developed nations. Without creation of the next generation of workers, Japan has had to leverage the workforce of other countries to build their pianos, namely China and Indonesia.
Chinese and Indonesian made Yamaha pianos are considered to be inferior to Japanese made Yamaha pianos. This is due partly to the lower skilled workforce in these developing countries and also due to Yamaha’s purposeful lower quality designs in these more affordable pianos.
Yamaha produces its best designs and most expensive pianos in Japan.
A new Japanese made Yamaha 5’3” GC1 in a snow white finish sells for nearly $30,000! Much like a luxury automobile Yamaha pianos depreciate tremendously. At just $9500 for this Japanese made, like new, 5’3” baby grand piano, this is a tremendous value!
Unlike automobiles which only go problem free for 5-10 years. Pianos go problem free for over 50 years, making them incredibly sensible to purchase on the secondary market. To view this and many more heavily depreciated Yamaha, Steinway, Boston and Essex pianos visit Dave’s Piano Showroom of Tampa Bay.
