Perhaps you shouldn’t?
I bought my S&B because it impressed me at the range not because of any marketing. I bought my NF because of marketing.
At least you admit that marketing works, and perhaps you broke free, however momentarily, from its grip by buying a product based more upon its merits. As you found out, pure physical/optical quality works as a sales tool as well, but has a harder time of it.
The people most susceptible to marketing seem to be the ones not aware of its power, including those who actively discount its effect (a bit like the
Dunning–Kruger effect)
Product price is an element in marketing. But it’s
rather boring to talk about. The following is more interesting.
To see how effective marketing can be, let’s take a cursory look at the Joe Camel logo that you currently use as your avatar.
Ignore for a moment the Hollywood sign reflected in the camel’s shades, the phallic shape of the nose, hanging balls of the upper lips, and strange vagina-like nature of the mouth clenched around the cigarette. These areas went through near-endless rounds of revisions and committee meetings. Just like any cereal box with cartoon characters does. The subliminal aspects of the design have been discussed ad nauseam.
None of the above was by accident.
In 1991, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was taken to task for using a cartoon to promote its product. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study showing that by age six nearly as many children could correctly respond that "Joe Camel" was associated with cigarettes as could respond that the Disney Channel logo was associated with Mickey Mouse, and alleged that the "Joe Camel" campaign was targeting children.
R.J. Reynolds denied this. They were sued.
Above and below from
this Wikipedia article:
At that time it was also estimated that 32.8% of all cigarettes sold illegally to underage buyers were Camels, up from less than one percent. [my emphasis]
Internal documents produced to the court in Mangini v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, San Francisco County Superior Court No. 959516, demonstrated the industry's interest in targeting children as future smokers.
The importance of the youth market was illustrated in a 1974 presentation by RJR's Vice-President of Marketing who explained that the "young adult market ... represent tomorrow's cigarette business. As this 14–24 age group matures, they will account for a key share of the total cigarette volume—for at least the next 25 years."
A 1974 memo by the R. J. Reynolds Research Department points out that capturing the young adult market is vital because "virtually all [smokers] start by the age of 25" and "most smokers begin smoking regularly and select a usual brand at or before the age of 18."
Now, you’re not going to die from smoking your scope.
I think.
Smaller (edit: high-end) outfits like TT tend to compete mainly on product quality (vs inventive marketing) because they don’t have the history, government contracts, and scale to fall back on. They are trying to scratch on by.
But don’t ever think a large manufacturer isn’t trying to pull a fast one on you.