First Act, Inc. & Brook Mays Music

Abstract

First Act, Inc. & Brook Mays Music are two very different competitors fighting for a piece of the school band instrument market. Brook Mays, in business for over 100 years, is a specialty musical instrument retailer with over 60 locations, while upstart First Act designs and manufactures instruments for sale in “big-box” retailers. First Act’s Concert Series instruments have been built to provide a low-cost alternative to higher-priced band instruments commonly found in stores like Brook Mays. In response to brisk sales of the Concert Series instruments, Brook Mays has issued a letter to 8,000 music educators across the country, instructing them to advise parents and students to avoid purchasing these instruments. Just months after the letter’s issue, Concert Series sales have fallen, customers returns have skyrocketed, and First Act must now decide how to respond and recover its lost business.