At InfoComm 2024, integrators and consultants got their first taste of a new initiative from Bosch: its Integrated Audio Brands (IAB) revitalization. This holistic investment in North America enfolds well-respected audio brands Electro-Voice, Dynacord, Bosch, RTS and Telex. An exciting initiative that is occurring simultaneously with Bosch’s planned divestiture of the Communications Business Unit, IAB opens up a new world of possibilities and potentialities for these venerable brands. “We’re optimistic; we’re enthused,” David Prince, vice president of sales, says with a smile. “It’s the right thing to do for the industry, for our customers and for us.”
Here, we’ll explore what IAB means for integrators, consultants and fellow industry stakeholders.
Integrated Audio Brands Enfolds Renowned Names
Inarguably, the brands that lie at the heart of IAB are renowned. As Prince puts it, “Historically, we have some very well-respected brands. We have some very well-respected products. We have some amazing engineers.” The challenge, he says, was to unify product strategy and customer engagement more efficiently and effectively, in step with the changing needs of customers and partners. “It was very siloed,” Prince says. Moreover, he acknowledges that Bosch had room to improve in the area of resourcing and building direct relationships with integrator partners, while also nurturing a business-development pipeline with end users and consultants. “It was time to increase our strategic focus on those functions,” Prince states.
And now, with IAB, the brands are embracing a back-to-basics approach to resourcing the industry, when and where it needs those resources. “We want to be able to come into play both quickly and precisely, with the right products and the right team to service them, making our customers’ lives easier and making it easier to do business,” Prince explains.
A lofty goal like that requires assembling the right team, and IAB clearly has that. Industry veteran Bradley Drummond pulls together product strategy and collaborates on the go-to-market approach. Sean Shallenberger serves as consultant liaison, leveraging his knowledge base to engage consultants robustly. Curtiss Singleton oversees the teams that compose IAB and puts all the pieces together. “We started with Curtiss, and then we brought in his director team, as well as empowering and promoting some of the internal resources we already had,” Prince explains.
Field Sales Engineering
IAB is built for success below the leadership level, as well, including benefiting from a significant investment in headcount. “We did not have field sales engineering in territory,” Prince acknowledges. “We have some great technical applications engineers here at headquarters, but they weren’t on the street with our customers.” That’s no longer the case. Indeed, IAB now boasts a team of eight industry veterans, all committed to proactive partnership with customers. What’s more, in an effort to create a funnel to drive more business to integrator partners, IAB now has a three-person business-development team. Plus, proactive distributor outreach is much more formalized than before.
The ultimate message is that these brands are passionate about partnering with the channel more deeply than ever before. “We want to engage the passion, and we want to engage the industry with where we see ourselves going in the next couple of years,” Prince explains. “And we recognized that was going to take a dedicated force who could really focus on the strategy and focus on more positively impactful resourcing for the benefit of our current and new customers.”
What’s more, whether IAB associates are helping with business development, sales engineering or something else, a simple mantra suffuses their approach: “Know your lane. Stay in your lane.” That’s not to say that people don’t wear different hats, of course. It simply underlines the importance of expertise and having dedicated focus.
Strength Across Verticals
IAB brands like Electro-Voice and Dynacord have earned their sterling reputation across a wide swath of verticals: houses of worship, sports venues, education facilities, hospitality locations — even space exploration! That requires a tremendous breadth of products and a global team ready to support them. Even so, at InfoComm 2024, IAB sought what Prince describes as “a reconnection and a recommitment to the industry,” including filling holes in the product portfolio. Indeed, in Las Vegas, IAB and its brands launched five new families with 22 new products, encompassing amplifiers, speakers and software.
“Renew the commitment,” Prince says, boiling down IAB’s mission at InfoComm 2024. “Not just products, but with a team that can resource them. I hope it was felt by the customers.” Integrators and consultants visiting the booth found Singleton and his team eager to learn about their pain points and welcoming active stakeholder involvement.
As IAB comes fully into bloom, Prince makes a promise: “This is not the end. This is the new beginning of a recommitment.” And that’s a good reason for integrators and consultants to be excited about working with some of our industry’s most revered, most trusted brands.
