“We’re going back for one purpose only”: Fender CEO Andy Mooney on the firm’s return to NAMM 2025

“We’re going back for one purpose only”: Fender CEO Andy Mooney on the firm’s return to NAMM 2025

Fender may have announced its return to NAMM this year, but things won’t be as they were down at Anaheim, with the firm opting for a more dealer-focused approach this time round.
Appearing on a new episode of the Zak Kuhn Show, Fender CEO Andy Mooney explains the company’s decision to return to NAMM after a several-year absence, as well as its goals heading into this year’s event.
“I think we really missed the personal interaction with the dealer base. That, I think, is the single biggest thing,” says the executive. “Even though we’re going back, what I felt had happened at NAMM – which is what had happened in my two previous lives at Nike and Disney – is that trade shows take on a life of their own.”

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“It becomes like Booth Wars – ‘My booth has to be bigger than your booth’ – and you end up spending tons of money for a very short period of time. We were kind of thinking, ‘Is this the right way to go forward?’”
Mooney notes that the pandemic forced the company to rethink its approach: “For Covid, we were compelled to do something differently and what we found during Covid when we did the online events, we were able to do them at much less cost but reach deeper into the organisation.”
“But we missed that personal interaction,” he adds. “So we’re going back but we’re going back for one purpose only, which is really to spend time with the dealer base and converse with them to listen to what’s on their mind and for us to communicate to them where we would like to take the industry and take the brand.”
Mooney also confirmed that Fender will continue to host its online dealer events in the fall
Back in January 2021, NAMM was cancelled due to COVID, and replaced with the virtual “Believe In Music.” When the show resumed in April 2022, major brands like Gibson, Fender, and PRS all opted not to participate—and they have remained absent ever since.
NAMM 2025 is particularly noteworthy, as it marks the return of the Big F — alongside key players like Gibson and Marshall — to the music industry’s premier trade show.
Watch the full interview below.

Stay up to date with all the happenings at this year’s NAMM show at our NAMM 2025 hub.
The post “We’re going back for one purpose only”: Fender CEO Andy Mooney on the firm’s return to NAMM 2025 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

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