q&a Leading By Example
New car audio brand Audiofrog is venturing into the aftermarket with a specific purpose: to sell premium products at premium prices. But is the timing right?
T
he voices of the car audio industry are at odds with each other. Some experts think the future of car audio should be paved with diminishing prices that cater to the bargain
basement shopper, facilitating an inevitable decline toward smaller profit margins. Others believe value should be celebrated with appropriate price points that match the quality of the product or service being sold. The latter view is one shared by Andy Wehmeyer, president and CEO of new high-end speaker brand, Audiofrog, based out of Monrovia, Calif. Wehmeyer, a 30-year veteran of the car audio
perspective, we’re the new industry vets. It’s our turn to be mentors and there’s a significant business oppor- tunity out there. ME: Why now? What makes this an ideal time or
ANDY WEHMEYER AUDIOFROG
industry, is launching the brand with fellow indus- try experts, Gary Biggs and Chris “Grizz” Archer. Mobile Electronics recently sat down with Wehmeyer to discover what made him and his partners decide to launch a premium product line, despite many feeling the price of 12-volt products should go down, not up. ME: Tell us about the new brand. What inspired you to create it? Wehmeyer: I spent the last 20 years working for a huge audio company. At the beginning, it was an absolute dream job. But after 20 years of getting a pretty good handle on the car audio business I saw an opportunity to do something that I don’t think anyone else is doing in a global kind of way. There are global brands that are managing themselves in all of the markets like Harman, Pioneer, and JVC. While there are others, like Focal and Audison, they are primarily European-fo- cused brands and they go to market in countries outside their home market exclusively through distributors. That can be a pretty good model if just moving product is your objective, but often that prevents dealers from getting proper training and receiving proper tech support. It can also lead to indiscriminate distribution, which destroys profitability for everyone. What we’re after are the best specialty dealers in markets all over the world who are hungry for great-sounding products, straightforward tech support and involvement from the people who design and develop the products. It’s all about helpful sup- port for specialists who cater to car lovers, car audio lovers, and enthusiasts everywhere. Gary, Grizz and I have been in this business for almost 30
years. There’s a world full of installers who were exactly where we were 25-30 years ago. There will always be new guys who are learning their craft and we think there’s an opportunity to do premium business and give back some of what we were fortu- nate enough to learn from past industry veterans. There aren’t a lot of brands left who are providing great training. From my
10 Mobile Electronics June 2014
situation to bring a new brand to the marketplace? Wehmeyer: As a product guy, I was duped by financial managers into thinking I didn’t have the acumen to be a business manager. What I discov- ered later was that there’s a world full of financial managers that think managing a business is the same no matter who the customer is. What I now know is that this is absolutely not the case. The real value is in deep expertise and years of experi- ence and contacts—that’s the stuff you can’t buy at business school.
An MBA is pretty important to get yourself in the door at a major corporation; if you want to be a business manager, that’s valuable. But in an enthusiast business like car audio, where people spend an inordinate amount of money on products they love, the real skill you need to be successful is a connection to the customer, experience in the market, and technical exper- tise with regard to products and their application. MBA-style management by spreadsheet is killing big brands as they focus on cutting services, making me-too products cheaper and bat- tling for market share at the low end through price reductions in the big boxes and online. All of that is what made me decide this was the right time for us to do this, coupled with what I see as the two biggest markets in the world, Europe and the U.S., reverting back to what will have to be a focus on enthusiasts. ME: What effect will the emergence of the connected car have on the aftermarket and Audiofrog’s place in it? Wehmeyer: Super high-end cars are always going to have some kind of branded audio system. There is a fight among OEM suppliers for what they refer to as B and C level cars. A Toyota Avalon is an A level car. Cars like Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Corolla are B level cars. Nearly every OE supplier wants in on the Toyota Corolla. If you look carefully at what Toyota has just done in the latest Corolla, I think you’ll see a trend for the future for OEM auto sound. Toyota offers base, step-up and premium audio in the Corolla. In years past, step-up and pre- mium audio would have included component speakers, maybe a subwoofer and an amplifier with DSP. In the new model, what you’ll find between base and premium is different software for the head unit and a pair of tweeters in the front doors. The focus is on connectivity with the phone and access to content. There isn’t a lot of margin in B-class cars and something has to
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