We do appear to have gone off my original thread - thanks Paul! -  your are entitled to your views as much as anyone else, however perhaps they could be expressed in a more educated, elegant way so as not to cause offence - if not then fine - they are always entertaining

Standing up for the US - most of the blogs about minimalism and simple living all originate from the US - there are a couple from the UK and non that I can find from Europe. They advocate the kind of life I personally would like to live. However most of the life lessons I have learnt - rightly or wrongly - on minimising, cutting down, buying good quality, eating healthily, spending time outdoors and not watching TV have been reaffirmed and the ideas born from these Americans - perhaps the reality is different and of course it is a small minority - but then America is a much bigger country than the UK. 

I agree with Jowus in that money does not equal taste - back in college we called it socio economic grouping which was basically some people will aspire to one thing, one to another - in my years following college neither is right or wrong and we should respect peoples choices. 

We look at this site because we either love the old B&O or the new - neither is right or wrong and either doesn't equal taste or education. Just as voting in or out in the UK is not a measure of ones education - I know lots of people that voted either way and not for uneducated reasons, but for reasoned arguments, so I doubt that can be used as any measure of education and many of these like Chris are in high powered jobs that require tremendous skill and knowledge, some aren't and they voted to stay in! Anyway, this thread isn't about the rights and wrongs of brexit - we voted to leave and the world hasn't ended - we are meant to be an international community on this site that share, respect and learn from each others cultures - let's keep it that way. 

Back to my original thread, which I apologise should have been posted in lifestyle, and did not mean to cause this argument - do we still have high streets that we want to visit or has the world, apart from East Anglia, UK, gone Mall and clothes shop crazy and where does the future of B&O lie - yes, the Play range is incredibly important and will draw in and suit young customers - but what about the rest of us?

Jeff wrote:

Some interesting posts in this thread. All my life I've heard Europeans whine about "Ugly Americans" but it appears that there are a significant number of "Ugly Europeans" or "Ugly Brits" wandering about as well, who are perfectly willing to indulge in insulting stereotypes about Americans. 

I guess ignorance, self-righteousness, and insular thinking is common world wide sadly.

So true. As German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said:  "In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."

With all of the hype surrounding the internet, entrepreneurs, small-business owners and marketers often overlook the importance of offline marketing. An offline-online blend is vital to a successful marketing strategy. They should be more focused on delivering value and evangelizing their customers at every possible touch point. The use of social media is very important in this, be involved in the same social media channels as your customers. Do a exercise in human psychology and find that focus has to be on social and content marketing.

B&O has not yet managed to defy the trend and adapt its business model to the changing times. With online retailing giants like Amazon dominating the electronic retail segment, B&O has to come up with new strategies to retain its loyal customer base. They simply have to choose a new strategy “price match guarantee” which matches the prices of its products by with the lowest ones available online.  By doing so, the retailer could been able to capture customers who otherwise would have simply visited its stores to browse electronic products and ordered them later online. They have to support also their dealers a lot more as they actually do now, because unlike the big online retailing giants a dealer has to pay all of those people who work in its stores and the overhead of rent and electricity, etc. 

The strategy B&O is following now comes with a cost to dealers and puts the retail store margins under pressure, forcing the company to restructure its business operations. 

At the end, it’s all about understanding people to create a real human connection between the customer and brand.

Hi Jeff,

I'd like to apologise for my recent posts, which having read back, I feel very uncomfortable about having written and submitted publicly. I can't explain what my mindset was at the time of writing and I am not really sure either why I felt I needed to jump in on the back of Paul W's comments. Either way, my views were attacking and stereotyping towards the USA as you suggested and I regret saying them. Perhaps my own low mood was starting to kick in and at these times I can be quite negative and not always exercise self control, although no excuse.

Sincere apologies for any offence caused, Simon.

There is a B&O shop in Colchester - near the castle

BAND'OH! wrote:

Hi Jeff,

I'd like to apologise for my recent posts, which having read back, I feel very uncomfortable about having written and submitted publicly. I can't explain what my mindset was at the time of writing and I am not really sure either why I felt I needed to jump in on the back of Paul W's comments. Either way, my views were attacking and stereotyping towards the USA as you suggested and I regret saying them. Perhaps my own low mood was starting to kick in and at these times I can be quite negative and not always exercise self control, although no excuse.

Sincere apologies for any offence caused, Simon.

Thank you Simon! No harm done. We do have one or two posters who can't seem to help themselves, I usually don't say anything but the stereotypes get tiresome after a while. Appreciate your thoughts.

Sorry you're having a low mood, but I can relate. I tend to try and behave here as it's more of an international forum and you never know who is from where, but on a US political forum you should see how I post! Something of a Jekyll and Hyde thing, my natural sarcasm comes to the fore quite a bit there.

I will say that in my trips to the UK I have found the people to be wonderfully polite and helpful, and I think most Europeans who come to the States find the same. Stereotypes often fade when you are with people face to face thankfully.

As for McDonald's, I don't eat there more than maybe once every two years when I'm on the road and there's no other option other than going hungry. But, even in foreign lands they are successful, which kind of boggles my mind. They do have decent coffee though, and much cheaper than Starbucks!

5:8:13 wrote:

There is a B&O shop in Colchester - near the castle

Re positioning, i doubt that B&O would find much joy in John Lewis, though i'd love to be proved wrong.....they stand a chance of selling some units in Selfridges and Harrods, as some of the customers are flush, and there is a bit of feel good about shopping there......John Lewis is a more functional experience, and far from the worst, but i suspect very few of their customers are of a mindset to drop 5k on a tv.......

Re the changing face of the high street, its a bit depressing in that they are so generic....in some ways thats isn't all bad, where we have lost in variety, we have probably gained in average overall quality and consistency, and i;m not fan of the coffee and sandwich chains....i am optimistic to a degree though, as when it pertains to food, for numerous reasons i guess, there has been a decent increase in independent food providers, from pop ups, to butchers and fruit and veg stores - i see some of this around me, and my supermkt visits have dwindled happily, so its made a real difference....mayeb just a London thing, but still.....

Back to how this all pertains to AV, a lot of comments above have taken a very critical macro view, and some of the critiques of the modern economy are fair, but i look at this differently.......like it or loathe it, people in general value convenience over quality, we see this when it comes to music, and with people generally listening to music a lot more whilst mobile, the money goes into quality headphones first....thoughts about spending premium+ money on a B&O system are very distant........the question for B&O is whether there is enough of an audience for them to be profitable, i certainly hope so......i've got plenty of pretty well off friends in London, virtually none of whom have any B&O product, nor even considered a purchase.....

BAND'OH! wrote:

I'll also add that I am half Greek half English, and can tell you that the Greeks have never embraced McDonalds since it opened in Greece. The restaurants are often empty with Greeks being much more loyal to the Greek equivalent, which is a lot healthier. The Greeks are very passionate about keeping Greece Greek, and not losing their identity to the USA. I don't blame the USA for this, not at all, and I am not trying to be political, but I do want to give credence to Pauls arguments because I believe them to be correct and while the English may disagree (clearly judging by some of your responses) the Greeks and many other Europeans would understand exactly with what he presents, and that's fact.

I completely agree with you and Paul! As the time passes I spend less and less in always replacing my goods for the latest out and prefer to spend my money in several travels every year to enjoy my life with friends and family or for my social life. Some years ago I was really crazy (even addicted) in B&O, luxury watches, or design furnitures but now that I'm maybe more mature in my early forties I noticed that having 3 B&O HiFi in the same room or 5 Rolexes at the same time, or to buy a new expensive sofa every 3 years doesn't make me more happy... Of course I enjoy to live in a nice place that reflects my personality with stuff that I like but LIFE for me is something else now than only consuming and I try not to be influenced by the masses anymore.

And yes Goody's burgers are much more popular and tasteful then McDo 😕 and being 5-6 times / year in Greece, I think that despite the severe crisis imposed by IMF and EU, they try to enjoy their lives and probably much more than the 'sheep of Panurge'...

Just my 2 cents!