Your Competitor’s 30-Year Secret

Bose_icon1What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone says the name Bose Professional?

Remember that thought.

Ironically, even when emphasizing the word Professional in the name, Bose has such a strong brand image that as member of the Pro AV industry, you still may have thought of a specific consumer product. If you are a typical end user reading this, you may have been thinking about a high end audio brand in general. Bose Professional may be one of the best kept secrets in the Pro AV market – and this has been true for almost 30 years. Those in the know realize that Bose Professional is comprised of diverse products that are designed and built specifically for the Pro AV market. These are not rehashed consumer units at all.

Bose professional division’s backing from the larger Bose organization certainly helps when it comes to providing R&D resources, along with testing and support. In a similar manner Lamborghini, Porsche, Bentley, Audi, and Bugatti all receive backing from their parent company. If you knew Volkswagen owns all these companies, would you now look at a Lamborghini Aventador, Porsche 911, Audi R8, or Bugatti Chiron and say they are just VW Beetles in disguise? Probably not.

Bose Professional’s research extends into both their products and their go-to-market strategies; with a focus on positive outcomes for the dealer/integrator and the end user. The decision to leverage the Bose name on the professional side of the company makes sales easier and increases the likelihood of favorable customer responses to proposals. Bose Professional’s installed products are not available online; reducing price shopping from customers. The portable products with limited online availability have strict MAP policies providing further protection. I have seen Bose go to great lengths to protect projects for dealers that specify their products for design build projects. The way Bose conducts business by itself makes them worthy of consideration for projects.

I remember being introduced to Bose Professional during the late 80’s when working for a Pro AV dealer / studio design company. It took me a while to look beyond Bose as the manufacturer of the then-popular Wave Radio, but I am glad I did. In retrospect, I understand why the pro division has stayed a secret for so long. Bose has become the competitive advantage offered by many dealers and they don’t want their competition to know. Until recently, Bose was only available via a restricted direct reseller program. Almo’s value added distribution model has earned us the ability to provide Bose Professional to qualified resellers.

There is a lot of value in the line from both a technical and business perspective. If you want to learn more, check out a replay of the webinar introducing the Bose Professional line, take a look at the microsite or reach out to your Almo account manager. As always, feel free to contact me directly. There is more to the story that you will want to know.

 

For assistance in selecting the right Bose® Professional product for your next install, contact Rob Ziv at [email protected] or 888.420.2566 x6589.

Video Wall Refresh: A Makeover With Opportunity

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NEC’s complete 46″ 2×2 LCD TileMatrix™ Digital Video Wall Solution

So when did your end user last consider refreshing an older video wall? What a great question. I bet most end users consider replacing or reconfiguring video walls a prohibitive exercise of expense for soft dollar returns. In other words, it’s about metrics related to advertising attention or informational effectiveness. But soft dollars are challenging to measure and hard for integrators to include in project proposals designed to convince end users.

But today there’s more! When advances in large display panel technology, mount designs, content software, signal distribution, and control are combined with lower purchase, implementation, and operational costs, a “perfect storm” of hard cost justification opportunity begins to form. Add in the possibility that the end user’s current video wall may be fully depreciated as a capital expense, and BINGO! ….. dealers and integrators have a great pitch to sell.

In the coming month, Almo ProAV will be reviewing the opportunities with Video Wall Refresh. In the meantime, here are some quick items to consider:

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NEC’s 90″ Large Screen E905

  • Energy Savings: Today’s panels are much more efficient in operation, substantially reducing energy costs. Those savings alone can nearly justify a whole project.
  • Advanced Design and Features: One example is ambient light sensors that provide auto dimming. Another example is High Brightness (high nit) panels for high ambient light environments
  • Lower Install Costs: Today’s mount designs reduce install time. Easy to use color calibration tools reduce install time as well
  • Lower Large Format Display Costs: Perhaps consider a single 90”+ display rather than a 2×2 wall, for example

Look for discussion guide to Video Wall Refresh in the coming months.

Bose Knows: An Experience in Innovation

I’ve been waiting patiently since October to write about one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had in a long time – our visit to Bose Corporate Headquarters in Boston. For those of you who have been in the Pro AV industry a long time, you hear the words “factory tour” and you have flash backs of walking miles in hot warehouses, speeches about operational excellence and those signs that read “No Accidents in 213 days!”. This was not the case at Bose, which started at the uber impressive Wall of Patents (which was actually not a wall but a long corridor because there are SO many of them) . I asked our tour guide where he had been before Bose, thinking he would name another audio company and he said, “Finishing my Ph.D at Harvard”. Suffice it to say there are A LOT of REALLY brilliant people at Bose engineering A LOT of brilliant technology.

I had no idea there was an actual Dr. Bose before my trip. He was a professor at MIT and fostered a culture of research, excellence and courage to try new things. You immediately get this strong sense of culture when talking to anyone working there, which thanks to Dr. Bose, remains a privately held company that is dedicated to R&D. We saw it in action in, of all places, the shuttle bus! Look, it’s the Almo event at Bose!

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And then, there is a specially designed seat on the shuttle with Bose seat suspension technology, the smoothest ride on the road. Here’s our Director of Business Development, Brian Rhatigan experiencing the ride:

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This was the tip of the iceberg. The day was filled with all sorts of amazing experiences.

Ever imagine being in an underground bunker with a couple of hundred speakers going at full blast just to see at what point they fail? Been there, done that.

Ever imagine seeing speakers baked, sea salted, cooled, dropped, kicked, stretched and stressed to the absolute limit? Been there, done that too. You can’t believe the trials and tribulation they put their products through! All to make sure they are providing you with the highest quality products, even in the most outrageous of conditions.

Here we are at the end of the tour in a room that blocks all sorts of signals for specialized testing. Don’t ask me to explain it because after all, I’m in marketing. That’s why we have our audio BDM extraordinare, Rob Ziv.

From left: Brian Rhatigan, Melody Craigmyle & Sam Taylor

Almo ProAV team at Bose Headquarters (from left): Brian Rhatigan, Melody Craigmyle & Sam Taylor

I can’t tell you how excited we are to partner with Bose. And I think our dealers are going to be very impressed with the level of excellence, innovation and support from the folks at Bose plus our team of highly trained account managers. Take a look at Bose’s microsite for learn more.

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