Strategy in TECH...
Sonance announced today that it has made tremendous progress in building out its new company-direct sales structure for the residential channel in Canada. Within days of launching the shift away from a national distributor based approach to an HQ-driven network, the company says it has already signed up multiple new manufacturer sales representative firms in key Canadian regions.
AudioControl, a manufacturer of specialty automotive and residential audio gear popular in the custom integration channel, announced this week the appointment of Fielder Marketing as its manufacturers sales representative firm for Northern California and Northern Nevada. Considered an important region for the company, AudioControl made the announcement which is effective immediately.
Bryston, one of the top high-end electronics and loudspeaker brands, announced the appointment of two new manufacturer sales representative organizations. The company says it has appointed Fielder Marketing for Northern California and Northern Nevada; and Nova Marketing for Minnesota, North & South Dakota, and western Wisconsin.
On Monday, a federal holiday, VOXX International’s Premium Audio Company (PAC) announced that Oscar Bernardo, its Chief Operating Officer, left the company on December 31, 2022. The company says – in this kind of strange, after-the-fact announcement – that Bernardo left to relaunch the Mirage speaker brand. Mirage is owned by VOXX International, which acquired it in 2006.
Parasound is a unique company. A long-time specialty segment stalwart, the company has been delighting audio enthusiasts for more than forty years! That is no small achievement when you consider the twists and turns of the specialty segment over that time frame.
And the credit for that success is largely due to the commitment to quality – and, frankly, just the bulldog temerity – of founder and CEO Richard Schram. So it is a development worthy of note that, yesterday, Schram announced his retirement from the company and its sale to a new owner.
Fidelity Imports, a U.S. importer and distributor of fine, upscale audio products, announced this month the appointment of Derek Kolterman as Director of Finance and Operations. The move is said to be the result of dramatic company growth driving the need for personnel expansion.
Sonance announced last week that it was transitioning its business model in Canada from one centered around a distribution model with an in-country partner responsible for all sales and servicing in the country to a new direct one where Sonance HQ will directly handle all sales and service of its products there. This week, we learn that the company has appointed a new National Sales Manager for Canada, responsible for implementing this new business model, building an all-new sales team, and managing their sales operations there.
That new executive is Toronto-based sales professional Brad Middleton.
Draper Inc., a major manufacturer of shades, projection screens, solar control solutions, and more, announced this week a move to build up its management infrastructure to support its push into the residential custom integration channel. As part of this process, it has promoted Chris Sitarov and Pat Herron from within to two new Director of Sales roles overseeing the company’s sales force.
This week, AVNation features Ted Green – me – on a special episode discussing the CEDIA Director Elections taking place right now. As you may know, there was some controversy surrounding this election as CEDIA’s board decided to change the normal election process where association members pick from a selection of nominees to vote on those they want on the Board of Directors. Instead, this year members vote with a simple yes/no on a predetermined slate of candidates selected by the Board’s Governance Committee.
In the days leading up to the recent CEDIA Expo in Dallas, Nationwide Marketing Group, one of the largest buying groups in the U.S., announced that former ProSource VP Andy Orozco would be joining Nationwide as its Senior Vice President of Custom Integration. That news grabbed my attention as it came less than a year after Nationwide’s acquisition of one of the top custom integration buying groups, Azione Unlimited, back in October 2021.
