Strategy in TECH...
Gibson Brands took advantage of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to make a bit of a show of their own to celebrate 120 years in business. The company, which serves up 23 different brands of musical instruments, professional audio products and, more recently, consumer electronics products, chose a unique way to mark the occasion by going “Back to the Future.”
Sony’s CEO Kazuo Hirai gave a relatively compelling keynote presentation that was in stark contrast to their rather dry Mike Fasulo and unemotional press conference. Not only was Hirai dynamic and at times, emotional even – he competently and capably articulated a new and strong vision for the company based on the Japanese word “kando” and the English word “wow.”
Samsung’s press day conference was the most unusual we’ve seen with everything from a product that caused an audible gasp of amazement from the crowd…to one of their celebrity presenters running from the stage in mid-presentation. But we believe we detected a subtle but significant shift with their TV business being less prominent and more in balance with the company’s other products such as their appliance, computer, and mobile businesses.
One of the bigger surprises on Press Day (the day before the show opens) at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was the Panasonic press conference. We were quite surprised when Panasonic opened their press conference at the consumer electronics show, talking at length about their non-consumer businesses.
Their official tag line at the event…Panasonic A Better Life. A Better World…seemed very generic and not particularly entertainment linked. But the more interesting tag phrase that we heard several times throughout the presentation was – Panasonic is more than a TV company…seemed to suggest that the company was distancing itself from its consumer TV business. Or at least, re-prioritizing their business segments as they spent the first several minutes of their presentation talking government, security, and commercial applications for Panasonic technology.
On Monday, CEDIA launched an all-new website that represents a dramatic leap forward from their previous offering and provides a much more accessible way for members and other “customers” (more on this later) to learn, communicate, and manage their relationship with the trade group. A complete overhaul, CEDIA’s Senior Director of Public Relations & Marketing Jamie Riley told us in a phone interview that this website has been under intensive development for two years.
Outerwall, Inc. (f/k/a Coinstar), owner of Redbox – the national video rental kiosk powerhouse – made several surprising announcements on Tuesday that suggest the company is dealing with some serious business issues. First, the company announced that Redbox division president, Anne Saunders, has left the company. And second, the company said that it would make significant cuts to its staff…and to other projects.
Spotify, the popular music sharing app, announced today that it will offer streamed music to smartphones for free (ad-supported), starting today. Spotify has long offered this capability on desktop computers for free (again supported by advertising), but had required a paid subscription (ad free) for mobile devices. Now…everything changes.
The company also announced that it has exclusively licensed the rights to stream music from rock icons Led Zeppelin…also starting today.
In news sure to send a chill through the backbone of every luxury retailer and manufacturer of every luxury product – electronics included – eMarketer is reporting that new research makes it clear that Affluents, loosely defined as those with household incomes over $100,000, are now shopping online in increasing numbers. Up until now, online shopping was predominantly the domain of the mass consumer, with Affluents preferring gorgeous showrooms laden luxury appointments and knowledgeable, well-dressed and poised staff who cheerfully kowtow to them. Not any more…
The DaVinci Group announced today a significant upgrade to its warranty program – already one of the best overall warranty programs available. Currently, the company offers 2-years parts and labor on all wireless products, 5-years parts and labor on all amplifiers, and an impressive Lifetime replacement warranty on all architectural speakers, volume controls, and speaker selectors. How do you improve on a solid warranty package like that?
Energy Squad, LLC, a distributor exclusively focused on offering energy-efficient or “green” technology products nationally, announced today that earlier this month it had completed its first round of dealer training on their “LED Diet” program – a solution first announced at this past CEDIA Expo. For this first 2½-day intensive training, the company brought in dealers from all across the United States who were interested in learning how Energy Squad’s LED Diet program could help make their customer’s energy usage lean – while making their integrators’ profits fat.
