Why is Storm so popular?

What makes them so special?

I see so many bowlers in my area throwing Storm but I also hear so many people talk about how they wont throw Storm ever again, its weird... I have a 50% success rate with Storm. Half the balls have been duds. I just don't get it.

Storm equipment mostly gives people the shape their eyes want to see. Clean and angular off the spot so they don't have to have a bunch of hand. Toss it at the friction, watch it bounce. It's a reaction shape that Storm has down to a T. Every company has a ball.or two with that reaction shape, but you ask a normal house bowler if they want a Honey Badger, Paranoia, or HyRoad Pearl, you're probably going to go with the HyRoad Pearl.

Quote from: itsallaboutme on December 25, 2017, 08:58:08 AM

Why are they so popular?  They by far spend the most on marketing.

 
This pretty much nails it. They've bought far more exposure (advertising and star staffers) than any other company.
 
I'm a major ball whore and I've bought more Storm balls over the past few years than I realized. It wasn't by design -- it just kind of happened. There have been a few I really like. My current favorite is the Rocket Ship. It bailed me out for a few cashes in PBA50 tournaments. The Torrent is more condition specific, but when it matches up it's a winner. More recently the Match Up solid and pearl have been disappointing. They're not drier lane balls, and they're not the best medium choices either. The Optimus Solid is so-so at best. The Sure Lock is a distant third in choice after my Columbia Lit and Track Paradox. Overall, there have been more misses than hits.
 
It's different for everyone, but that's my take given the multiple choices and companies I have in my stash.

This was going to be my answer before I saw yours.  Their marketing is arguably the best by a mile.  If you don't get anyone to look or don't get them interested, doesn't matter how good the equipment is.  The scents are unique and draw attention, USUALLY the balls look really good, and all their designs and logos are very stylish and "cool."  Then when you have balls like the Hyroad and IQ Tour Solid, and a "magical" cover in R2S, they can often back up their marketing. 

The absolute key for me though behind the marketing is that everyone else but Storm has had bad periods where everything they made for a couple years was bad, Brunswick had a couple bad years 7-8 years ago, really hurt them.  Right after that, Ebonite had a couple bad years, all 4 brands, and now Motiv is having a couple rough years including the Jackal scandal.  Storm has really never had anything like that, and even if they did have some bad releases, the Hyroad was always there, the IQ Solid has been there, etc., and the other companies just don't have the marketing to overcome some bad releases.  There's nothing that draws me to any other company, and honestly there's a lot of good stuff out there right now, but I couldn't see myself enthusiastically getting behind any other brand right now because there's a major part or major flaw with every other company right now that I don't like.  I like what Storm/Roto are doing right now with everything top to bottom and even though they've had some awful releases here and there, just identify those, skip/avoid them, and you still have 15 really solid balls left to choose from between the brands. 

The bottom line is that Storm is just doing "it," I.E. a combination of everything, better than everyone else right now, and I don't think I'm being a homer or a "staffer" saying that.  That's why I'm here, I don't want to be with a company that I feel like I have to lie for or "fake" it, because I'm not going to do that in the first place, but I don't know why another company would want me on board just to talk shiatsu about something they're doing. 

Quote from: itsallaboutme on December 25, 2017, 08:58:08 AM

Why are they so popular?  They by far spend the most on marketing.