SF Wars?

August 9th of last year we posted an article on the return of Sebastian Flute to the world of archery kit. In collaboration with Korean company GK Archery, Seb released 4 risers and associated limbs. This was under the brand name of Sebastian Flute, not SF. In that article (you can read it here) we surmised that Win&Win still held rights to the SF logo but Seb was free to use his full name as you can’t copyright someone’s name. Well, we just got proof …

Win&Win have released a range of SF branded equipment including 2 risers, 2 sets of limbs, a sight, clicker, button, rest, a full stabilization system and 2 different arrows! Recent adverts have shown the words “Super Feel” under the SF logo. Not sure if this is the new brand title or just some advertising malarkey. The catalogue of the kit can be found at the following link …
http://www.wiawis.com/doc/wns/WNS-CATALOG-WEB-SF.pdf

If you look at the above address, you’ll notice that the catalogue pdf is stored in the WNS folder with a WNS prefix. There is also prominent placement of the SF range on the WNS webpage … see here. This is logical as when the SF brand was terminated in 2017, all of the kit was rebranded WNS. However the SF brand was discontinued and rebranded for good reasons. Companies do not spend money on rebranding exercises for nothing. So what are these reasons?

Well, in the other article we suggested the rebranding might have been for reasons of better integration with the WiaWis range, perhaps streamlining of a range which had become unfocused and sprawling or the feeling that Flute’s name recognition had faded. However, to bring out a new range of SF branded equipment seems counterintuitive (like everything in archery ;o) if those were the reasons. Of course, we could be seeing the opening shots in a little competition for market share or even straight up spoiler tactics from Win&Win miffed at some perceived poaching of their brands recognition.

Having both a SF and a Sebastian Flute brand on the market is going to get a bit  confusing but W&W must have a game plan. Big companies don’t do things on whim and certainly not this specific. How this plays out is going to be interesting but we suspect that it may favour the larger W&W whose market share and clout will give them greater visibility in what is becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace.

References:

GK Archery’s Facebook page
Sebastian Flute products stocked by Quicks

W&W’s SF range on their WNS webpage
W&W’s SF catalogue

Hat tip to the Halls for the heads up.