Top 5 Restaurant Market Integrators

These innovative, market-leading firms share dos and don’ts when approaching this AV-intensive vertical.

Think of the CI Industry Leaders as power rankings.

We recognize the top integration firms serving 12 vertical markets, not purely by revenue but by a variety of factors including reputation, innovation and market approach. Put another way, these are companies that are making waves and worth watching.

CI spoke to five restaurant market integrators about what helped them succeed (or fail!) at every step along the way. Check out what they have to say and click here to download the complete report, Meet the 2014 CI Industry Leaders.

On Success:

“The bar/restaurant market requires innovation and creativity. Owners are looking for cost-effective solutions that can differentiate their brand and provide a great user experience.” —Scott Birdsall, President and CEO, CompView

“It takes flexibility to succeed in bar/restaurant market. Sports bars require a unique approach because of the scale of the systems coupled with the high number of different people who control and manage the AV system. And to add an additional degree of difficulty, there is usually a strict budget. So we focus on highly reliable systems that are easy to use for the expert and novice alike.” —Casey Johnston, Founder and Lead Designer, Serious Audio Video

Related: Serious Audio Video Performs Complete Boa Lounge Upgrade

“It is by far our strongest market because it allows us to implement solutions that are enjoyable for the patrons yet easy to use and scalable for the owners. As an added benefit, we generally have the blessing from most of our clients to design and engineer a custom A/V solution based on the varying applications of the venue such as sports bars, country clubs, fine dining or a happening burger joint. This market does not stymie our creativity which we value deeply.” —Chima Gale, President, 360 Media Innovations

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On Failure:

A firm cannot be rigid in their approach because every venue requires a different set of hand-holding. We’ve heard many times that the competition just didn’t take the time to understand their needs.” —Chima Gale, President, 360 Media Innovations

“The bar and restaurant market requires a successful project management experience. Time is money in this segment. The project has to be delivered to schedule. Additionally, this industry segment requires high reliability and fast service response.
No owner wants a system down for the World Cup!” —Scott Birdsall, President and CEO, CompView

“You’ll fail if you don’t think outside the box. Also, everyone needs to be on the same page so we don’t have a lot of explaining to do about the differences in the build versus the original design, once the project is completed.” —Casey Johnston, Founder and Lead Designer, Serious Audio Video

Click here to download the complete report, “Meet the 2014 CI Industry Leaders.”

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