jbl harman at rmaf 2009

[Valentin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACGwyuTjFlM

it is nice to see that jbl and revel and mark levinson and lexicon are being promoted together

as i understand harman has a new tactic of now offering all there hi end products threw revel and other speciality sellers

so the places where Revel have sales JBL will be an option that meeans new point of sales for JBL hi fi products

[Valentin]

here is the note

Elkhart, Ind. - The Harman performance A/V group (HPAV), which markets Harman's high-end home audio brands, is stepping up its advertising and promotion efforts as part of a revamped marketing and distribution strategy,
Group marketing VP Marc Kellom told TWICE that the his group was formed about seven months ago to consolidate


Marketing VP Marc Kellom is stepping up the group's advertising and promotion efforts.
sales and marketing of high-end audio brands Lexicon, Revel, and Mark Levinson. HPAV also took over responsibility for the high-end JBL Synthesis brand and for JBL speakers priced at about more than $3,000/pair. JBL Synthesis and more expensive JBL speakers were marketed previously by Harman Consumer, which continues to market JBL speakers priced under $3,000/pair, Infinity speakers, Harman Kardon electronics, and aftermarket car audio amps and speakers.
Harman Group Reveals CEDIA Plans

With the consolidation, Kellom assumed responsibility for marketing all HPAV brands. John Batliner took over sales responsibilities as sales VP, and Mark Graham, president of Harman's Crown pro-audio brand, added the title of HPAV president. Kevin Voecks is group marketing director.
Together, they and other HPAV members launched a new distribution strategy that offers incentives to dealers of one brand to carry all HPAV brands. In the past, few dealers who carried one HPAV brand carried another, Kellom said. Now, because of sales-incentive programs and a new demo program, "We are very close to having all U.S. dealers offering all brands," Kellom said. About 100 to 150 dealers sell HPAV products, he said.
HPAV's strategy emulates a strategy pursued by Harman's pro audio brands, he noted.
"It's very powerful to have everyone aligned with all our brands," Kellom said. Now, a single dealer can offer a complete home theater audio or stereo-music solution built from HPAV-brand components, he explained. Revel, for example, offers in-room and custom speakers; Levinson offers amplifiers, preamp/processors, and a CD/SACD player; and Lexicon offers preamp processors and a planned Blu-ray player, which will also play DVD-Audio discs, SACDs, and CDs. The JBL brand offers speakers, and JBL Synthesis offers a complete turn-key package of home-theater speakers and electronics, including in-room calibration electronics. (See related story on the brand's product plans for September's CEDIA Expo.)
Although it was a challenge to get dealers to bring in new brands in sour economic times, the group pulled it off through its incentive and demo programs, Kellom said.
Dealers were also attracted to the group's stepped-up advertising, promotion and dealer-support plans, he said. They include significant boost in consumer advertising, a greater focus on advertising in luxury-oriented media, and a 53-foot tractor trailer with expandable sides to provide 1,000 square feet of demo space featuring working systems. The truck will support dealer promotional events, act as a place for dealers to set up one-on-one meetings with prospective clients, and double as a rolling training tool that the group will take to dealers to train their sales staffs, Kellom said. The demo vehicle, which might appear at the Expo, will hit the road in support of dealers in the fall.
To advertise to audiophiles, the group will spend the same or more money as it has in the past but will expand to advertising in online audiophile sites, Kellom said. For the first time, he added, the brands will invest in a significant amount of advertising in luxury magazines to reach very affluent consumers who aren't as passionate about products as audiophiles but simply want the best. "The brands struggled to get face time with the ultra affluent," he said of past efforts. Ads are appearing in such magazines as Architectural Digest, Cigar Aficionado, Guitar Aficionado, the Robb Report and local luxury magazines.
HPAV recently moved the sales and marketing operations of its brands to Elkhart from Woodbury, N.Y., where its predecessor, the Harman specialty group, was located, Kellom said. The Harman consumer group was also located there before moving earlier this year to Northridge, Calif.

[Mr. Widget]

Marketing VP Marc Kellom is stepping up the group's advertising and promotion efforts.
sales and marketing of high-end audio brands Lexicon, Revel, and Mark Levinson. HPAV also took over responsibility for the high-end JBL Synthesis brand and for JBL speakers priced at about more than $3,000/pair. JBL Synthesis and more expensive JBL speakers were marketed previously by Harman Consumer, which continues to market JBL speakers priced under $3,000/pair, Infinity speakers, Harman Kardon electronics, and aftermarket car audio amps and speakers.

I think it is a great move... and I hope they continue to grow the higher end of JBL and continue the trend of getting JBL back to it's roots. Unfortunately that means that fewer and fewer people will be able to afford them, but as a brand it would be nice to see it regain it's once held position as a leader instead of simply another commodity brand.

I do think they need to create more of a visible divide between the higher end and the Best Buy product... simply selling $3K and up speakers through one set of dealers and those below through another seems weak. I think they should either renew the Radiance brand, as in JBL Radiance, or rebadge the lower end JBLs all as Infinity or Harman Kardon. Few of the consumers buying at Best Buy know anthing more about JBL than they do about their "Altec Lansing" computer speakers.

Trailer Trash

Harman used the same trailer at the CEDIA show in Atlanta early September... I've also seen Harman use a similar trailer at recent AES shows outfitted with AKG, BSS, Studer etc... including JBL Pro. Trailer trash comments aside, it actually is well done. Maybe these guys will finally pull the brand out of the doldrums that we have witnessed for so long.


Widget

[Valentin]

or rebadge the lower end JBLs all as Infinity or Harman Kardon

i second that

but it is a toff sell

how about JBL ES (especiality series) for hi fi and JBL radiance or whatever for consumer and JBLPRO for professionals

but all logos should have the distinction of category and different web-pages and distribution and support addresses (electronically)

JBL is the holding with sub brands

[4313B]

I think it is a great move... and I hope they continue to grow the higher end of JBL and continue the trend of getting JBL back to it's roots.

Like I've told you in private, there are no roots left to get back to.

[Valentin]

JBL will have to grow new roots again in the Americas

thy have great soil to start with hope MR Marc Kellom Marketing VP takes advantage of this

corparete have a way of looking at the whole forest insted of seeing some very valueble trees

[Titanium Dome]

Thanks for the link. It was cool to see.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, eh? So here's a big step, but there are obviously many more to go.

As for going back to its roots, there are no deeper roots for Lansing products than getting back to cinema. That Synthesis® gear I've got downstairs proved that to me, and getting more exposure for what Synthesis® is all about seems like a good more.

It kills me to see/listen to some of the expensive HT gear around LA that just misses the mark. People really don't know that Synthesis® is the real deal, and too many of the old line Synthesis® dealers are jerks. (And some are fantastic!)

This may be an adaptation of Apple's strategy of creating an environment where consumers could get the real Apple experience instead of going to some lame-ass retailer who didn't give a darn.

[polar_bear_0104]

This is great to hear indeed. Making a subtle label change for lower priced JBL I think will be a good move. It's been used in cars quite sucessfully, no reason it won't work in speakers.

Regain the marquee brand image for high-end JBL products is going to be a long but rewarding endeavor for a brand that has such a rich heritage.

It's about time, JBL flexes its real muscle and make it known to competitors.

[BMWCCA]

how about JBL ES (especiality series) for hi fi and JBL radiance or whatever for consumer and JBLPRO for professionals

If they really intend to go low-line versus high-line (and to me $3000 is an arbitrary demarcation line not in step with the marketplace) then they should just be honest about outsourcing the cheap stuff and simply call it "Radiance® by JBL" and be done with it. Sort of like an Epiphone "Les Paul"

[Titanium Dome]

Well my vote is for full line JBL top to bottom. To me part of the power of the brand is in its breadth.

Properly positioned, a single brand could provide a stair step from iPod baubles to entry level consumer to high level consumer ... but it has to be marketed right.

[4313B]

If they really intend to go low-line versus high-line (and to me $3000 is an arbitrary demarcation line not in step with the marketplace) then they should just be honest about outsourcing the cheap stuff and simply call it "Radiance® by JBL" and be done with it. Sort of like an Epiphone "Les Paul"

It's already done (first quarter of this year). WiPro in India handles what was known as JBL Consumer in Woodbury. While the press release above paints a rosy picture the fact is alot of our folks lost their jobs. Woodbury no longer exists, Northridge is gutted. Consumer is no longer an issue. Bye Bye I'm wondering what is going to happen with JBL Professional. Last I heard they were also going to stop offering raw drivers and go the whole system route with replaceable drivers instead of kits. If something blows up just toss it out the window into the landfill and get a replacement driver.

[jblsound]

I think it is a great move... and I hope they continue to grow the higher end of JBL and continue the trend of getting JBL back to it's roots. Unfortunately that means that fewer and fewer people will be able to afford them, but as a brand it would be nice to see it regain it's once held position as a leader instead of simply another commodity brand.

I do think they need to create more of a visible divide between the higher end and the Best Buy product... simply selling $3K and up speakers through one set of dealers and those below through another seems weak. I think they should either renew the Radiance brand, as in JBL Radiance, or rebadge the lower end JBLs all as Infinity or Harman Kardon. Few of the consumers buying at Best Buy know anthing more about JBL than they do about their "Altec Lansing" computer speakers.
Widget

I think the Harman~BB connection is already a thing of the past. I haven't seen any JBLs in the local BB in over a year. And I just read, yesterday, a post on AVS, that BB was replacing Harman gear with Onkyo.

But a dealer network of only 100~150 dealers is still pretty thin. Unless someone starts up a new store in this area, there still will be none in the northern half of this state, or maybe even in the entire state.
And many areas around the country are in the same boat. I've read many posts of people having to drive hundreds of miles to find a JBL/Infinity dealer.

But I certainly do like the idea of a single dealer offering Revel, ML, Lexicon, JBLs. About a decade ago, there was a HT dealer in Reno that had a Citation room. But that was the only Harman products they had. And that store, along with 4 other local stores, are no more.

[mcds]

Any news on the mini-9900? I forget whether it's called the 8700 or the 9700.

[JuniorJBL]

There was a room with DD66000. There was also a pair of Sony SS AR1's next to them. The JBL's were powered by a pair of ML 33h's. The people running the room were more stuck on the AR1's but I did get to hear the JBL's. They had towels stuck in the massive ports in the rear of the cabinets so I can only imagine that they had that distinct JBL bass. The rest of the speaker sounded wonderful with an almost disappearing act no matter where you where in the room. The horn was a most pleasing array of openess and detail that was just amazing.

Its to bad that these guys were more into playing the Sony's. I could have stayed in this room for a long time.

Another bad thing was the power kept going down (entire hotel) for about an hour and a half.
I will post some pics of these when I get back to my house where my SD card is!!

[jblsound]

If I had been there, I would have pulled out the damn towels!
Those guys were obviously totally clueless.