Major New York Metro & Mid-Atlantic sales representative company Audio Associates has been selected by both Bay Audio and Wilson Electronics to represent their brands. In addition to this, Audio Associates separately announced that it has promoted long-time salesman George Christianis to the position of Sales Manager for the company.
News
Thiel Announces a Brand Relaunch…Again
BREAKING NEWS
Thiel Audio dealers were surprised to receive an email Wednesday from the company announcing plans to – in their words – “revitalize” the storied audio brand. We last reported in April that the company had finally acknowledged to its dealers that it was moving its operations to Nashville, TN – after 38 years in Lexington, KY. This acknowledgement came one week after we reported to Strata-gee readers that the company planned to move.
Since then, the company has been silent. Now, this announcement sets out a new agenda for change – and it is an ambitious one.
See the many changes announced at Thiel… [Read more…] about Thiel Announces a Brand Relaunch…Again
After Disappearing Completely, TiO Stages an Improbable Comeback
In what was a complete surprise to many last week, several industry reps and dealers received a letter from Audio Control Technology Partners (ACTP) CEO Mike Anderson that announced the return of Turn it On (TiO) to the market. TiO, as you might recall, lost funding back in May and ultimately disappeared from view…all before they shipped their first product.
A Strata-gee EXCLUSIVE: TiO’s Anderson shares the inside scoop on recent developments… [Read more…] about After Disappearing Completely, TiO Stages an Improbable Comeback
Marketers Continue to Shift B-to-B Advertising Dollars to Digital
Whether you’re a manufacturer/brand, distributor, rep…or even an integrator selling largely commercial installations…you are a business-to-business or B-to-B marketer. And you’re going to want to pay attention to this new data on marketing trends for B-to-B marketers.
New data released by Advertising Age shows a continued swing away from traditional media to digital media spending by B-to-B marketers. Some of the numbers from this new survey are eye-popping.
See more on Advertising Age’s new B-to-B marketing trends from their latest “Fact Pack”… [Read more…] about Marketers Continue to Shift B-to-B Advertising Dollars to Digital
Gone Fishin’
Metro New York Rep Steve Glatzl Passes Away Suddenly Last Week
*SEE UPDATE BELOW
We learned Wednesday that long time industry veteran and for the last 28-years New York Metropolitan market sales representative Steve Glatzl has passed away. According to his company, the New York Marketing Team, Glatzl passed away suddenly last week on July 3rd.
See more on this unexpected passing… [Read more…] about Metro New York Rep Steve Glatzl Passes Away Suddenly Last Week
Gibson Brands Opens Showroom in Tokyo
Gibson Brands (née Gibson Guitars) announced last week that it has opened a showroom in Tokyo, Japan that it calls a “pioneering music lifestyle concept showroom.” Although Gibson Brands owns many different brands, this particular showroom focuses on just three of them: Gibson Guitars, TEAC and Onkyo.
See more on this unique showroom… [Read more…] about Gibson Brands Opens Showroom in Tokyo
Monster’s ‘Head Monster’ Talks Beats & Women at CE Week 2014
When the history of Monster Products is written some day in the future, there will be many legitimate highlights for their historian to ponder. First and foremost among these will be the fact that CEO Noel Lee (known as the Head Monster) virtually single-handedly created an industry when in the late 70s he popularized step-up, higher quality speaker cables that independent specialty retailers pushed like crazy over zip cord because it was much more profitable for them (and for Lee). And even though Monster Cable was more expensive for consumers, a clever Monster-created retail display demonstrated to them that they could indeed hear the difference with their own ears.
But we’re pretty certain one scene will not make Monster’s corporate history highlight reel – the company’s failure to continue to capitalize on its partnership with Beats by Dr. Dre. That partnership dissolved some two-plus years ago…with Beats going on to be purchased by Apple recently for $3.2 billion. Monster’s share of that eye-popping windfall: $0.
So why, in the wake of that loss, is Noel Lee talking about Beats to anyone who will listen??… [Read more…] about Monster’s ‘Head Monster’ Talks Beats & Women at CE Week 2014
Sony, Desperate to Cut Overhead, Launches Early Retirement Incentive
Sony Corp., the troubled Japanese giant consumer electronics company, has launched an internal early retirement program in a bid to cut overhead in its headquarters. The company has already announced major worldwide staff cutbacks, but it hopes this new incentive for headquarters staff will cut administrative costs by about 30%.
See more about this newly announced initiative… [Read more…] about Sony, Desperate to Cut Overhead, Launches Early Retirement Incentive
A Deeper Dive into the World of Dolby Atmos; Is This Audio’s 3D?
GUEST POST
Is Dolby’s new Atmos format the next frontier in surround sound processing? Or will it merit a repeat of Paul Klipsch’s famous line: “Ho, hum, another breakthrough”?
You’d certainly think the former after prowling the aisles at the just-concluded CE Week in NYC. Both Onkyo and Pioneer showed prototype Atmos-enabled A/V receivers (complete with demonstrations under what must be called “challenging” conditions) while Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, and Integra all indicate they’ll be ready with an array of products in late Q3 or early Q4 this year. But will Paul Klipsch be proven prophetic once again, even if posthumously? That remains to be seen.
The Thinking Behind Atmos…
[Read more…] about A Deeper Dive into the World of Dolby Atmos; Is This Audio’s 3D?





