I thought I would share a quick little story with you on the power of marketing and it's impact on me.

I read a review on halfwheel about a new brand, Crux Cigars, coming to market. (I enjoy reading reviews on halfwheel. These guys do a fantastic job.) This cigar and a few of the others piqued my interest (I'm a lancero whore).

I started following Crux Cigars on twitter. They started posting pretty interesting pictures of their manufacturing and distribution process. Not just people smoking their cigars. I really enjoyed seeing what they were doing.

I have no idea if any of their cigars will be any good. IMHO, though, the work they have done to simply build some buzz is working on me. I am definitely looking forward to seeing if the quality of their product will match the hype they have created.

So, the reason why I post this is, how often do you make your purchasing decisions based on something you have never tried? How often do you buy something based on the looks of the band/box?

I definitely judge a book by it's cover from time to time. I find this somewhat comical. I have this small list of cigars I really want to try based entirely off a well designed cigar band. A few of these are:
Herrerra Esteli
Illusione Rothchildes (tried recently)

Conversely, I have definitely stayed away from some cigars, based on the terrible looking bands/appearance. :-) No need to list those here.

Thoughts?
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I'm not usually moved by bands or packaging. But I am vulnerable to a well written description of flavors or ingredients. And I can definitely be had by marketing pitches that provide detailed descriptions of manufacturing or research processes. I try to be on guard against my tendency to fall for those kinds of sales pitches and to rely more on reviews by people who seem to have the same kind of tastes as me. I'm sure I am still influenced sometimes anyway.
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I probably never would have tried MUWAT just because of the name and what not but I was sent one in a trade and it was great. Since then I am less apt to judge a stick until I have tried one.
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Just tell me where the tobacco is from and let me make my own decisions
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I admit that when I first started out I was a easily swayed by a catchy band or box. But since building up a network of cigar smoking friends and acquaintances who have much more experience and whose judgement I trust, I can usually rely on their recommendations to not steer me wrong. But, I do still fall for some catchy marketing from time to time.
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If icehog says they're good, that's all I need to hear.
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Oh, I do the same thing.:-) I, too, have a list of sticks I want to try based (partially) on the bands. It's worked for me in the past. :-)
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ya it works on me overriding my better judgment sometimes.

Austin
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I buy 99.9% of my cigars from a local B&M and I am definitely influenced by the bands/boxes of cigars I'm not familiar with. There are quite a few that I just passed over until one of the staff eventually recommended one to me.

In fact, sometimes a good deal of time will pass before the shop receives anything "new" and I'll be in the humidor feeling disappointed that there isn't anything different for me to try. The stupid thing is that there's probably more than a dozen brands and vitolas that I've never even looked at, let alone tried. Granted many of those are Gurkha and Rockey Patel offerings.
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I'm not usually influenced by marketing anymore or fancy bands and boxes. Dang, gtg, Pete just came out with another box on Monsters I have to go chase down.
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