Q & A
DISCONNECTED? Not an Option
Kenwood was one of the many exhibitors at KnowledgeFest 2011, but listeners at their trainings didn’t hear the typical “Here’s our product and here’s what you do with it” sessions. Instead, Senior VP Keith Lehmann talked about the future of technology as it relates to mobile electronics — and how retailers need to be ready.
Keith Lehmann Senior Vice President, Kenwood
On Kenwood’s KnowledgeFest 2011 show presence: Q: What were you out to accomplish at KnowledgeFest? Did you accomplish it? A: Since we didn’t have any products to introduce and we’d already trained everybody, we talked with dealers about some of the newer technology, primarily smartphone connectivity. Our entire presence there was built around smartphone connectivity, mobile applications, how it works with our products, and what’s important to know for the next 24 months. This whole technology is scalable and dealers need to understand that and get comfortable with it. There are brand new customers out there and they’re going to have it in front of them. We had two training sessions at KnowledgeFest that didn’t talk about Kenwood products that much at all. We talked about the history of the smartphone, how it’s being used today and the directions different technologies are taking.
On the ‘Race to Zero’ campaign:
Q: What kind of results and feedback have you gotten so far this year? A: Our penetration of in-dash electronics this year is better than last year. Even though sales are about flat, it’s good to be ahead of the game because the industry is declining quite a bit. And we haven’t opened up distribution. We haven’t blown the product out. We haven’t opened up to Amazon. We haven’t gone to Target. In a declining market, the only way for us to grow is to either cap- ture market share or expand and cast a wider net. We chose to gain the market share and we didn’t agree with the usual way. When you talk about the Average Selling Prices (ASPs), this is part of our training. At this time last year, August 2010 to to- day, we’ve maintained the ASPs, we didn’t drop at all.
On In Car Experts and M.E.S.A.: Q: Are they good for the industry? A: Yes, very good. They’ll probably end up saving the industry. By offering best practices and this cen- tralized way of marketing. Additionally, not just the category but dealers themselves. They make good dealers look like good players. It’s such a challenge for these guys to let you know they’re even there.” Q: How do they compare with MERA? A: One big point of differentiation is that ICE and M.E.S.A. groups are not really educational groups. They’re merchandising business groups. MERA is educational. MERA must continue to focus on edu- cation, and make MECP a bigger part of it. MECP must matter — not just to the installer, but also to the owner. They should perhaps be willing to actually pay the installer more money to be MECP- certified, which has been a real problem for years. If MERA can square that circle, it would make itself as relevant to the dealer as ICE and M.E.S.A.
12 Mobile Electronics September | October 2011
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