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.
At a major press event in New Jersey Tuesday, Denon announced a new company name, a new logo, newly restructured operations…and an imperative to create new products and expand into new markets. Technically, Denon has been in the headphone business for a while. But as part of a new more aggressive marketing strategy – the company has launched an all-new line of headphones designed for specific and tightly defined consumer segments. But wait…as infomercials and headphone product manager Petro Shimonishi liked to say…there’s more.
