31 May 2023
ertonline.co.uk
Stuart George with ERT Editor, Jack Cheeseman, in Melomania
Q&A
Q: There’s such a mix of product categories in the audio sector, so how do you make sure that Cambridge Audio continues to appeal to the various needs of today’s consumer? Stuart George: We see the business as having three pillars of product categories –
core Hi-Fi, portable, which includes
headphones, and then straddling those is a more mainstream lifestyle home audio offering. The Hi-Fi products that we make are more specialised, whereas the headphones are a little more mainstream and we believe this helps us reach a much broader audience. We’ve been quite successful in that space in the last few years, so we want to build on that and go further. The market is huge, and can we really compete with the likes of Apple? That’s a tough question. But Cambridge Audio offers something different – it’s our passion for music that distinguishes us and our products stand out for their audio performance. Our product development never really stops. Later this year we’ll have brand new headphones coming out and we’ll have new Home entries as well. In addition to that, we are going to build out
the EVO lifestyle range.
Key to all of this is our new R&D Director, Matt Dore; he’s joined us with a wealth of experience in consumer and professional audio and we’re really excited about what he’s going to bring to the business.
Q: Within retail how do you think Cambridge Audio is perceived by consumers when compared alongside your competitors in the market? SG: The retail environment is a big challenge. We operate in 70 countries and we have different retail partners in all of them. For core Hi-Fi there is no question that the support of a retail network is absolutely critical because people ideally want to see and hear those products before they make a purchase. But with headphones, the opportunity to deliver a product through an online channel is more relevant. From a digital standpoint, we can control the way products are presented, whereas in the wider marketplace having a three stage distribution to reach the end consumers means it’s near impossible to operate at a competitive price point. Our products are not commoditised by any means. We want them to be accessible and affordable and that’s something we offer with our latest range of streamers, AXN10 and MXN10; they’re part of a trickle down of the StreamMagic ranges but they’re some of the most affordable products that we’ve ever made.
Q: You’ve just launched a new podcast series called Made By Music, which features some familiar faces. What’s it about, and what’s the idea behind it? SG: This has always been something that we have wanted to do, as we spend a lot of our time listening to and talking about music – so
Left: Melomania 1+ and Melomania Touch earphones. Above: The StreamMagic app
it seemed like a natural step. It’s a series of exclusive interviews with various music icons from across the generations; we talk about their own music moments and the specific tracks that mean something to them. We’ve managed to get some big names in like Boy George, Guy Pratt and Fatboy Slim, all with such brilliant stories – it really is fascinating. I suppose from a business point of view we wanted to do this for ourselves to draw attention to the brand, but to share this kind of content with people is really special. Then from a technical point of view, all the interviews are done here in person, which is very exciting, but that’s because we want the best sound quality in the recordings. Often you’ll hear podcasts that are done over the phone or over Zoom and they can sound poor.
Q: We’re sitting here in Melomania – your UK HQ but also your very own live music venue, which must be a very special place for you guys? How important is it for you to have this? SG: It’s so important. Over the past year or so we’ve been inviting more and more people into this space for all kinds of live events, and we’ll keep doing that because we are totally customer centric and we need to talk to our audience and understand what their needs, wants and desires are – so this is actually for them. We often have bands playing in here – most Friday evenings and sometimes during the lunch hour in the week, so while we do actually work here, we love the fact that it’s a multipurpose venue because at the end of the day, we’re actually just a big group of music lovers! >>
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