ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
9 LEE: Amen. You couldn't have hit the nail on the head more if you were armed with a mallet the size of a large town (with it's own closed down dealer).. I think B&O are in what's known as a "financial tailspin" at the moment - and the only thing that will seize the controls and get the company out of it is some killer products and a decent marketing strategy. I feel I have an obligation to B&O, as the owner of the site, to blindly promote the company as I DO genuinely and honestly love the brand. I believe totally in my heart what Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen wanted - and achieved in many ways, and that ethos is exactly the same as my approach to life - and where possible, business. If you're going to do something, do it properly. Be the best - even if your budget is smaller. Never stop. Never look back. Always think 'how can I do it better' - and do it better - or if you can't afford to do it better, do it smarter - or the same but with more style at the very least. I'm afraid I was hooked as a kid. I saw the adverts in magazines. I walked into the multibrand showrooms and gravitated towards this amazing section with a strange name to a 12 year old boy. "Bang & Olufsen" to a small boy from a poor street in a small village was very strange.. The BeoVirus has stayed with me ever since and never left though. I always promised myself Bang & Olufsen when I grew up. No compromise. Now, the marketing department focuses on affluent 40+ year olds who knew the brand, like myself, when they were children - who aspired to own it. Yes, you're preaching to the converted chaps - and milking the cows that have been in your field for many years. However, we won't be around forever.. You need to focus on the new generation of buyers. What I'm trying to say is MARKETING... If i had bigger capital letters, I'd use them. Bang & Olufsen still make some great products. Really. I'm sorry, but the latest Samsung, Panny, Loewe TV - you name it.. The motion handling, the image quality, the contrast - it's simply not as good as B&O as a 'whole delivery'. The style and sound quality (combined) of B&O speakers is right up there too - no matter which drivers or crossovers they use. There are SO many little stories which have been told to me about manufacturing processes, innovations, triumphs in engineering that have blown me away and made me think "wow - THIS is what B&O is all about... the ethos still lives" - yet NOTHING is mentioned in ANY of the advertising and marketing. It's just photographed in a room nobody would ever live in, with a strap line at the top of the advert, and a web address. I can honestly say that the employees at Struer who I have met take immense pride in their jobs and genuinely give their all in areas from R&D through to Production. However, the marketing team are failing to create that "magical and mystical" aura the brand used to have back in the heyday. B&O have some gifted people. Look at Geoff Martin - and I'm sure he has equivalents in other departments who Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Linn, Chord, Loewe (and please name A. N. Other company ad infinitum) would love to employ - but they stay loyal as they know they are really at the cutting edge of their craft and are allowed to do so at B&O (they are, honestly - B&O encourage innovation). So, why do the things they do get brushed over? Personally, I'd be wheeling Geoff out on a podium about thrice a week in front of the world's press to talk about something which would baffle the dribble-stained clowns from 'Stuff' magazine into writing articles which brought B&O to the fore once again. However they get flown out to launches, put up in a hotel, get shown the product on a table, then sit through a powerpoint style presentation whilst stuffing a canape into their disinterested faces. Then, they go back and type "uber expensive" and "uber stylish" and then "over priced" because they simply do not understand the research, manufacturing processes, engineering, styling and huge amount of thought which has gone into the product. Why? Because it's not marketed.. at all... I know the lady who organises the press events and trips (who works harder than anyone I've ever known), I know the people who design the products, I know the people who make sure they are absolutely the very best they can be, and I've met the people that assemble them - and each of them has a very special tale to tell which has enchanted me, keeping me believing in what B&O is all about. However, all of these facts and stories (all true) have been very quietly told to me in private. Why? Bang & Olufsen are thinkers, innovators and creators. The marketers are procrastinators. Tell the story. Let the world know what B&O do. Stop being modest. To a degree, stop being so Danish! Lee
Amen.
You couldn't have hit the nail on the head more if you were armed with a mallet the size of a large town (with it's own closed down dealer)..
I think B&O are in what's known as a "financial tailspin" at the moment - and the only thing that will seize the controls and get the company out of it is some killer products and a decent marketing strategy.
I feel I have an obligation to B&O, as the owner of the site, to blindly promote the company as I DO genuinely and honestly love the brand. I believe totally in my heart what Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen wanted - and achieved in many ways, and that ethos is exactly the same as my approach to life - and where possible, business. If you're going to do something, do it properly. Be the best - even if your budget is smaller. Never stop. Never look back. Always think 'how can I do it better' - and do it better - or if you can't afford to do it better, do it smarter - or the same but with more style at the very least.
I'm afraid I was hooked as a kid. I saw the adverts in magazines. I walked into the multibrand showrooms and gravitated towards this amazing section with a strange name to a 12 year old boy. "Bang & Olufsen" to a small boy from a poor street in a small village was very strange.. The BeoVirus has stayed with me ever since and never left though. I always promised myself Bang & Olufsen when I grew up. No compromise.
Now, the marketing department focuses on affluent 40+ year olds who knew the brand, like myself, when they were children - who aspired to own it. Yes, you're preaching to the converted chaps - and milking the cows that have been in your field for many years. However, we won't be around forever.. You need to focus on the new generation of buyers.
What I'm trying to say is MARKETING... If i had bigger capital letters, I'd use them.
Bang & Olufsen still make some great products. Really. I'm sorry, but the latest Samsung, Panny, Loewe TV - you name it.. The motion handling, the image quality, the contrast - it's simply not as good as B&O as a 'whole delivery'. The style and sound quality (combined) of B&O speakers is right up there too - no matter which drivers or crossovers they use. There are SO many little stories which have been told to me about manufacturing processes, innovations, triumphs in engineering that have blown me away and made me think "wow - THIS is what B&O is all about... the ethos still lives" - yet NOTHING is mentioned in ANY of the advertising and marketing. It's just photographed in a room nobody would ever live in, with a strap line at the top of the advert, and a web address.
I can honestly say that the employees at Struer who I have met take immense pride in their jobs and genuinely give their all in areas from R&D through to Production. However, the marketing team are failing to create that "magical and mystical" aura the brand used to have back in the heyday.
B&O have some gifted people. Look at Geoff Martin - and I'm sure he has equivalents in other departments who Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Linn, Chord, Loewe (and please name A. N. Other company ad infinitum) would love to employ - but they stay loyal as they know they are really at the cutting edge of their craft and are allowed to do so at B&O (they are, honestly - B&O encourage innovation). So, why do the things they do get brushed over?
Personally, I'd be wheeling Geoff out on a podium about thrice a week in front of the world's press to talk about something which would baffle the dribble-stained clowns from 'Stuff' magazine into writing articles which brought B&O to the fore once again. However they get flown out to launches, put up in a hotel, get shown the product on a table, then sit through a powerpoint style presentation whilst stuffing a canape into their disinterested faces. Then, they go back and type "uber expensive" and "uber stylish" and then "over priced" because they simply do not understand the research, manufacturing processes, engineering, styling and huge amount of thought which has gone into the product. Why? Because it's not marketed.. at all...
I know the lady who organises the press events and trips (who works harder than anyone I've ever known), I know the people who design the products, I know the people who make sure they are absolutely the very best they can be, and I've met the people that assemble them - and each of them has a very special tale to tell which has enchanted me, keeping me believing in what B&O is all about. However, all of these facts and stories (all true) have been very quietly told to me in private. Why?
Bang & Olufsen are thinkers, innovators and creators. The marketers are procrastinators.
Tell the story. Let the world know what B&O do. Stop being modest. To a degree, stop being so Danish!
Lee
This echo's what I said here...... http://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/p/21227/174927.aspx#174927 . It is sort of stating the obvious but why cant B&O see this. Yes, Play had a good year.....but how long can you keep pushing out Bluetooth headphones and speakers before the market becomes saturated in premium products at a price they cant make the goods for?
I really hope B&O can pull their heads out of their a**es and read these comments and contemplate the merit of each comment like this.
While I agree there is some merit to better marketing, I believe this is only a very small part of a much bigger picture, or 'problem' perhaps. It wouldn't make much of a difference if your marketing was great but your products weren't current and didn't meet customer expectations; HDR capability being an obvious example from current forum threads regarding the BV14 and Horizon televisions.
Good marketing would only lead to more people finding Beoworld and then reading many of our posts that are quite dismissive and critical (albeit constructive we hope) which would at best, hinder the brand further, not promote it. They are also likely to read reviews from a multitude of other sites too, which only compounds the problem.
Marketing at this stage is not the right decision for B&O. Instead, a back to basics approach is what I believe the company needs to do. Back to the drawing board to consider the roots of the company; the history; the earlier products; revisiting what made the brand popular (holistically) and starting again from a clean slate - clearing the mind as it were.
I would definitely keep the engineering department (hardware/mechanics) as I think they always do an amazing job of bringing the vision to reality and 'making it happen.' The software engineering side needs to be addressed of course.
I would seriously consider a brand new design team though as these are the people without vision. There must be so many young people out there with great new revolutionary ideas, just as the once young Lewis and Jensen had... why aren't B&O proactively hunting these people down and giving them opportunities to go design crazy with complete freedom and no limits? Lewis and Jensen were able to do this but it seems B&O is stuck and has somehow lost this great ethos and way of thinking and working outside the box that made it so great so many years ago. It's not too late but it does require the right people at the helm and a new attitude and approach. It was 'how' B&O worked that made it so great in my humble opinion. A company that once thought so 'outside the box' is now trapped so 'inside the box.'
A good starting point would be to have honest and open discussions with every staff member, in every department (nobody in any position being left out at all) and ask them what their opinion is; what has happened, how and why do they think the company has lost its way a little and what is missing that was once there etc. To me, This is starting again. Not to be fearful of this process; not to worry about admitting you got it wrong. We all do, that's part of being human but its how we come fighting back and challenge OURSELVES that is the key. Ego and arrogance ultimately get in the way of this but the right person leading you with the same visionary ideas and approach that the original founders had could lead you successfully through this process.
Simon.
B&O products are V1-32, BS2, H95, E8 and an Essence remote.11-46 now replaced with Sony A90J 65”, Sony HT-A9, Sony UBP-X800M2 and Sony SRS-NS7.
.
Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.
Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.
seethroughyou: Mail on Sunday, Event supplement. Devialet are here. Where is Bang & Olufsen...? I know which I'd rather buy but if it's nowhere to be seen, it's not going to be bought.
Mail on Sunday, Event supplement. Devialet are here. Where is Bang & Olufsen...?
I know which I'd rather buy but if it's nowhere to be seen, it's not going to be bought.
Final paragraph has more than a hint of the usual B&O review. Good but expensive in essence!
Mr 10Percent:I really hope B&O can pull their heads out of their a**es and read these comments and contemplate the merit of each comment like this.
Good luck with that one mr 10 percent!!! Bang &Olufsen have proven over the years that they are very stubborn and their slogan seems to be "the customers always wrong"!!!
ed7: Mr 10Percent:I really hope B&O can pull their heads out of their a**es and read these comments and contemplate the merit of each comment like this. Good luck with that one mr 10 percent!!! Bang &Olufsen have proven over the years that they are very stubborn and their slogan seems to be "the customers always wrong"!!!
There's nothing inherently wrong with "the customers always wrong" but it relies on a visionary leading the way! Would the customers have ever demanded the (old) Avant, the BL8000's, the BS9000 etc.? Of course the answer is no, however the customers are now at a loss, there is no one in charge with a vision, as much as I have raved and ranted against Apple as a company you cannot dismiss the influence of Jobs (and their complete indifference after his demise).
B&O no longer has a concise and comprehensive plan, they are surviving on a rapid turnaround of new headphones and Play speakers. As I've always said in recent years, their future is in speakers, the more money they throw away in TV's the less they will have to invest in their core competence!
Ban boring signatures!
Puncher:the more money they throw away in TV's the less they will have to invest in their core competence!
I somehow agree with you but i still think B&O still more than capable of delivering that awesome tv !!! but still not out yet!!!
Chris Townsend: So now is a bad time for a career change in the retail sector?
So now is a bad time for a career change in the retail sector?
Chris, completely mad. I walk past the Bath store and there's never anyone in there during the week. Also, I've now seen the accounts of two UK B&O stores which went under and both had significant outstanding debts.
Hold on...just noticed I've replied to a post from 2013. Talk about resurrecting old threads :)
StUrrock: 9 LEE: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=350ba01d-c5ea-4de6-a404-4a37b9731cd1 B&O seemed to be damned if they do and damned if they don't, I do feel for them sometimes! €900k fine for not allowing online sales in France!
9 LEE: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=350ba01d-c5ea-4de6-a404-4a37b9731cd1 B&O seemed to be damned if they do and damned if they don't, I do feel for them sometimes!
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=350ba01d-c5ea-4de6-a404-4a37b9731cd1
B&O seemed to be damned if they do and damned if they don't, I do feel for them sometimes!
€900k fine for not allowing online sales in France!
This is still happening widely in my technology sector, in 2016. Two examples:
1) Some US software companies still get away with restricting licences per region, but those "regions" are split across the EU. A UK retailer isn't allowed to sell in to France - which is completely illegal under current EU law!
2) Manufacturers put serious pressure on retailers NOT to promote or sell in to other EU countries, even though this is against EU law. They just make it hard on you, reduce your discounts. As an example, if you received a 60% reseller discount, the manufacturer will reduce this to 40%, which is effectively a 20% "fine" for not meeting their distribution requirements.
Harking back to some of the comments a few threads back, I agree totally with letting people know about the heritage of the company and B&O should be doing more about it - the Avant commercial was excellent and the stuff they did for the 90 year celebration so it would be good to see more.
Yesterday I went to my first Volvo Car Owners Club meeting - they held it at a local dealer as they were stuck - What impressed me most was that there were older Volvo's (2 x 164's and 340 etc) sat alongside new ones, the dealer had laid on lunch and seemed to be carrying out free checks on the ramps of the older cars - they managed to get the new S90 for everyone to drool over - all of this helps create brand loyalty and a chance for people to get together and talk over products - Maybe the Danes should look at how their neighbours actively engage in marketing opportunities and take a leaf out of their book? At the moment the products are coming over as exclusive toys for the rich whereas the reality is that if you create something that people want, they will save up or find a way of buying it - but it needs to be different and the stores need to be inviting - perhaps creating a display of classic equipment would get people in and engaged - more pictures of the history of the products etc, etc. It would give people a chance to go in and look at something and talk to the sales people about B&O without feeling they have to buy something or that they are wasting the sales peoples time.
I am reluctant to go into a store as I know I am not going to buy anything, but I am passionate about the brand and when I do go into a store I feel guilty asking for Demos as I feel sorry for the sales people (all of whom have been brilliant I have to say)