A different post on one of the forums got me thinking:

When I was in high school, we were fortunate enough to have an equipment deal because of our director and some connections he had.

When I was in DCI, we had our equipment deals with VF, Remo, Premier and Sabian.

Now that I'm with a college line, we have deals with Vater, Remo, Sabian and Yamaha.

Our HS deal was pure luck and convenience, and I have the feeling that our deals in college are mainly of the "who gives us the best deal/most stuff" variety, or whatever company our instructors already work with. I never quite figured out how it worked with DCI, though. Is it a "best deal" type of situation? I know it probably differs for each corps, but I was wondering if anyone could provide some insights.

It depends on the corps, the staff, and the companies involved. I know as for the marching drums. Most corps are "loaned" (lack of a better word) the drums for a year, then sent back, refurbished, and then sold. Some corps get to sell their drums once the new set come in. From what I understand is those are purchased at cost. I only know of a couple corps that do it. But don't see is the company reps jockey for endorsers.. Many times a rep will show up at a show with new gear and try to persuade staff of corps to switch. For the companies its all about getting high profile corps to use the gear. that's all pretty obvious. In a lot of cases corps will choose a brand because they get a deal on horns, drums, electronics. For a smaller corps with limited resources those deals are hard to pass up.
but some corps have contracts with companies and no matter who is teaching or writing they keep those contracts. And some corps rely on their staff to bring in a company. We all get wrapped up in what brand a corps use, but the reality is its all business. and what corps play what might just be a business decision less then a musical one.

Sorry if I am all over the map with that response.

Keep in mind I don't march corps currently, and I, of course, have never taught it either, but I'm giving a little bit of insight as to what I think it COULD be.

Let's look at it this way. If you were to take the G7, and then took into consideration some of the top endorsing companies (I'm going to stick with percussion specifically), let's say Yamaha, Dynasty, Pearl, Innovative Percussion, and Vic Firth. When looking at it, I would assume that Yamaha, Dynasty, and Pearl would offer them similar endorsements, and so would IP and VF. These companies want their names to be put out. I feel like, because they're offered similar contracts, that it just comes down to personal preference of the corps director, drum techs, etc.

I could be way off here; it's just a thought.

...but they don't.

Each company has a different set of products, different marketing goals, and different things they're willing or able to do. For example, Yamaha and Dynasty can offer package deals for both brass and percussion. Pearl doesn't do brass, so they can't make those deals. Pro-Mark and some other companies are willing to team up with the Blue Devils to market a "System Blue" line of products while other companies won't.

This is big in college. Like, HUGE. i.e.: If my group has a Yamaha deal, we might get the same discount on everything from drums and stands to trumpets, clarinets, saxes and electronics like mixers, mikes and PA equipment. The way budgets are being cut, that's a great deal.

Also, I just realized today that I've never seen anything marked "Prototype" in college the way I used to see in corps. I have to assume that companies use college lines for R&D too, is that just me not seeing it at all, or do they only do that with certain lines? That has to be figured into the deal, too...

Prototype is when companies wish to test their product with a well known group. For example, EVANS prototyped their new system blue heads with BD last year and they are now marketing them as a result of the rave reviews of the tone and sound quality of the heads. On top of that, they can market them under the Blue Devils name since they used them last year. Colleges usually aren't famous (for lack of a better term) enough to get prototypes. But Yamaha and Pearl are really big into giving great deals to educational institutions. Encourage your director to talk with a regional marketing supervisor at one of those companies to try and make a deal. You won't regret it!