SHEFFIELD wrote:

Anyway, I stand back to await the torrent that this will receive defending the brand, although I fully accept that B&O are far from perfect, I still love the brand, and just about to set off on my 3 hour round trip to open my store, expect there will be a massive queue of happy customers queuing to get in 😀

There is no doubt Nick is a great brand ambassador for the brand and the type of person you want to do business with. I have spoken with him several times over recent years. The problem is not with the dealers or the dealerships; rather the products. I would queue at the door gladly, but truthfully, what would I be queuing for? I am hoping for a killer product, something revolutionary and worth the premium, so a modern day BS9000 for example, or a modern day BV5 equivalent. There is nothing. Several posters on different threads have suggested we (as a forum) suggest what we want to see from the brand but that is the job of the designers and what I always thought I was paying a premium for! It's not my job to design the products - instead it's my job to purchase them if I like them. I've been waiting since 2009 and I am still waiting. The LG W7 'wallpaper' TV is a great example of what I would expect from B&O; I refer to the soundbar with its movement rather than the panel size, which I would not expect B&O to create given their lack of financial resources. They could do so much more though, so as I have echoed on different threads of late, there products are incredibly lazy efforts, certainly not worthy of my money or time. Simon.  

There are two brands I immediately think of, that were in similar situations.  Porsche and Apple.  Both were (and still are) seen as over-priced and paying a premium for the marque.  What saved both?  Fans of the brand may not have loved them, but the Boxster, and the iMac brought new users and cash.  Is BeoPlay the answer?  I'm not sure about that.  I think a truly exciting product, at a realistic price-point is the start.  Once consumers love their €1000 item, they are intrigued by the €5000 next level item.  I think B&O needs to figure out THAT ITEM, and get new users involved.

What really saved Porsche was the Cayenne, though personally a Porsche SUV is still just anathema. The CE business is a far cry from cars though. I went and looked at, for example, Bose's page, what a conglomeration of things none of which are what they were. Their selection of home stereo speakers is limited and even crappier than usual for them, they don't even sell the 901s anymore. But they do seem to sell a lot of personal, Play type devices. And hint hint, a soundbar.

Stick to the core elements:

Integration of products: Vertical (TV+Audio) and Horizontal (Old equipment and new equipment).

Superior Sound with great design.

Invest in sound technologies.

Extend the compatibility of the automation products (BLGW).

What I would change:

Keep the stores but make life easier for the dealers. For example announcing a product and make it available to dealers 4-5 months later is not the way to go. On the other hand ditching the stores will make the brand "cheaper".

Take some action as far as new products becoming available on eBay with a huge price cut is concerned. After 10 days that BeoLab 90 was announced it was available for about 60% of the dealer price on eBay.

Create a refurbished section in every store.

Change the attitude towards technology. Do not chase the technology just follow it. LG deal is towards this goal. (A BeoSystem 5 as someone else mentioned is a good way to go since it allows for easily swapping screens).

Jeff wrote:

What really saved Porsche was the Cayenne, though personally a Porsche SUV is still just anathema. The CE business is a far cry from cars though. I went and looked at, for example, Bose's page, what a conglomeration of things none of which are what they were. Their selection of home stereo speakers is limited and even crappier than usual for them, they don't even sell the 901s anymore. But they do seem to sell a lot of personal, Play type devices. And hint hint, a soundbar.

All Porsches use the same basic design language. In the days of David Lewis it was the same for B&O but now there is a "let's have another go" look about the range of products. It's always good if the customer or potential customer feels there's a plan.

Simonbeo wrote:

Jeff wrote:

What really saved Porsche was the Cayenne, though personally a Porsche SUV is still just anathema. The CE business is a far cry from cars though. I went and looked at, for example, Bose's page, what a conglomeration of things none of which are what they were. Their selection of home stereo speakers is limited and even crappier than usual for them, they don't even sell the 901s anymore. But they do seem to sell a lot of personal, Play type devices. And hint hint, a soundbar.

All Porsches use the same basic design language. In the days of David Lewis it was the same for B&O but now there is a "let's have another go" look about the range of products. It's always good if the customer or potential customer feels there's a plan.

Well, that's a good point, during both the Jensen and Lewis days, there was a lead designer who had authority to drive the bus so to speak, resulting in consistent design language across a range of products. Gave you the impression anyway that someone was coordinating things.

Apple has a design figurehead. Tesla has a figurehead in the shape of Elon Musk. B&O did have somebody coordinating things. Now , the man from David Lewis is designing TVs for the company that provides the core of the Eclipse. How do you get a USP when it's available to others? There's even a speaker grille like the Horizon grille on both brands products.

Simonbeo wrote:

Apple has a design figurehead. Tesla has a figurehead in the shape of Elon Musk. B&O did have somebody coordinating things. Now , the man from David Lewis is designing TVs for the company that provides the core of the Eclipse. How do you get a USP when it's available to others? There's even a speaker grille like the Horizon grille on both brands products.

Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8 , MX 5500 . Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.

Simonbeo wrote:

Now , the man from David Lewis is designing TVs for the company that provides the core of the Eclipse.

I suppose, that you with ‘the man from David Lewis’ mean Torsten Valeur.

It’s been written before...

....Torsten Valeur is involved in the Signature series from LG - in the highend household hardware, that they make.

However - due to his contract with B&O - he has had nothing to do with what is called Signature in the audio/video department of LG.