Last Wednesday, I got a wake-up call the likes of which I never expected…and it has changed my life. Oh yeah, not hyperbole. It started with a simple walk and ended with what I think demonstrates an important lesson in life…and an important lesson in business.
Marketing
ACTP Launches TiO Home Automation – They Want You to Turn it On
Last month we told you about the [probably final] closing of 3vNet…the third or fourth time it – or more accurately, its predecessor company Colorado vNet – has gone through that process. At the same time CEO Mike Anderson announced that closing, he also announced the launch of a new company called Automated Control Technology Partners – a company that he said would ultimately have a stable of brands under its control.
With this week’s announcement of the launch of Turn it On (TiO) – we have the first of these brands… [Read more…] about ACTP Launches TiO Home Automation – They Want You to Turn it On
NAD – Pulling High Performance Digital Away From the MP3 Muck
Saying they want to move their traditional audiophile customers into the exciting new world of digital music – while at the same time offering higher sound quality solutions to attract the “digital native” computer music lover – NAD Electronics today in a press preview in New York launched three new digital audio products it calls “The New Digital Generation.” Staking out the high ground, NAD hopes to be able to offer affordable access to better quality digital music…while at the same time, offering an upgrade path to the ultimate digital system performance.
See more on this remarkable digital evolution by an upper mid-fi company… [Read more…] about NAD – Pulling High Performance Digital Away From the MP3 Muck
Better Late Than Never? KEF Enters Headphone Market with New M Series
Well, it’s a pretty crowded business these days, but KEF, the U.K.-based company launched in 1961 by ex-BBC electrical engineer Raymond Cooke, has chosen to enter the headphone market now with two “M” series headphone models – the M500 over-ear model and the M200 in-ear model. Now over 50-years old, KEF (Kent Engineering & Foundry) has a long history as a respected loudspeaker innovator. These are, however, their first headphone designs.
See more about these two new headphone models joining the crowded headphone market… [Read more…] about Better Late Than Never? KEF Enters Headphone Market with New M Series
Caught! Samsung Investigated for Placing Fake Reviews on the Web
Samsung Electronics Co., one of the fastest growing and most popular electronics brands in the world, is the subject of an investigation by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission that is acting on tips it received that the company’s marketing department has allegedly been placing, or contracting for, fake reviews on the web. These reviews, which were said to be positive on Samsung products and negative on Samsung competitors, were not visibly identified as paid or sponsored reviews.
See what Samsung meant when it said this was a simple case of “insufficient understanding”… [Read more…] about Caught! Samsung Investigated for Placing Fake Reviews on the Web
Yamaha Launches New Medium-Term Plan; 1st Task? Explain Why Last One Failed
Yamaha Corporation last week announced a new medium-term management plan titled Yamaha Management Plan 2016 (YMP2016) which sets forth management’s strategies for the time period of fiscal 2014-to-fiscal 2016. The new plan succeeds the previous Yamaha Management Plan 125 (YMP125) which was just completed March 31, 2013.
First task of the new plan? Explain why the previous plan failed… [Read more…] about Yamaha Launches New Medium-Term Plan; 1st Task? Explain Why Last One Failed
3vNet to Shut Down; CEO Anderson Launches Automated Control Technology Partners
BREAKING NEWS
Mike Anderson, CEO of 3vNet announced today that 3vNet’s business is being wound down and would cease shipping all products by December 31, 2013. At the same time, Anderson also announced the launch of an entirely new enterprise called Automated Control Technology Partners, Inc. which is expected to debut at the upcoming InfoComm in Orlando, FL this June.
See more details on this surprising pair of announcements… [Read more…] about 3vNet to Shut Down; CEO Anderson Launches Automated Control Technology Partners
First Onkyo – Now Gibson Guitar Acquires Majority of Teac; Can Gibson Put the Pieces Together?
Gibson Guitar Corp. announced last Friday morning at 4:00AM EDST that it would acquire a controlling interest in Japan’s Teac Corp, extending it’s entré into consumer electronics market via newly affordable, if struggling, Japanese companies. Last year, Gibson took a significant minority stake in Onkyo Corp., and additionally purchased a majority share of Onkyo’s American subsidiary, Onkyo USA. Teac, with both a consumer business under the Teac and Esoteric brands, and a professional business under the Tascam brand, broadens Gibson’s consumer and pro initiatives.
Can Gibson put the pieces together into a cohesive – and profitable – group?… [Read more…] about First Onkyo – Now Gibson Guitar Acquires Majority of Teac; Can Gibson Put the Pieces Together?
EXCLUSIVE: Core Brands Set to Announce Sweeping New Initiatives April 1st

Senior VP of Marketing
Core Brands, a division of Nortek, Inc., will announce sweeping new structural and marketing initiatives this coming Tuesday, April 1st, Strata-gee.com has learned from multiple sources. In a recent post on parent company Nortek, we alluded to sources telling us about impending changes in what was to be a major announcement – literally a fundamental change in the way the company does business.
Find out what Core Brands is set to announce next week… [Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: Core Brands Set to Announce Sweeping New Initiatives April 1st
Nortek’s TECH Segment’s Troubled Transformation
In a recent fiscal year 2012 fourth quarter and full-year report, Nortek, Inc. showed a mixture of hit-and-miss results with fourth quarter sales dropping 5.6% to $505.4 million as compared to Q4 2011’s $535.2 million. Worse yet, the company’s Q4 net loss increased from last year’s $800,000 to a substantial $12.5 million. These results were in spite of the fact that this year’s calendar for the quarter had two more days in it than the quarter last year.
However, Nortek’s overall annual results showed a brighter picture with 2012 sales increasing to $2.2 billion, up 2.8% from the previous year’s $2.14 billion. Net profits in 2012 came in at $9.5 million – a substantial improvement over 2011’s net loss of $55.9 million.