Accessories Vogel’s
Accessories Vogel’s Expanding Experiences A European leader in mounting solutions at IFA with new corporate theme CEO Gerdi Vogels wants her company to take a major step forward in its brand development, shifting from a product brand that sells hardware to a consumer brand that creates an emotional connection with its products. Vogel’s perceptively understands the consumertechnology market is changing quickly, even to the point that consumers use technology in different ways in different rooms and on the go. “Our mission is to expand the AV experience,” Vogels said. And the first way one expands is by following the expansion reflected in industry product categories. From the world’s first loudspeaker mount in 1973, Vogel’s has grown its product range to offer mounting solutions for other audio/video equipment, screens (LCD, plasma and LED), tablets, gaming consoles and projectors. All these product categories are expanding, changing in both technology and footprint, and adding more mobility and more applications. The Netherlandsheadquartered company’s latest breakthroughs include the revolutionary THIN products for ultra-thin screens, the new RingO system for mounting tablets on any surface including the car and the Connect-it modular ceiling mounts for professional applications. The new brand strategy was developed after market research into shopper trends and shopper behaviour carried out by Vogel’s in 2011. Using this information, the company has optimised its retail-support programme with a complete self-selling concept, which includes a new range of simplified packaging, self-guiding display materials and wellstructured planograms. That’s another way one expands the customer experience: by making it easier for customers to fulfil their evolving needs. Meanwhile, Vogel’s has simplified its complete wall-mount portfolio and all new products will be Gerdi Vogels, CEO Vogel's marketed under one new Vogel’s identity. Product types will be indicated by the words WALL and THIN. All mounts in the portfolio are designed to support LED, LCD and plasma flat screens. The company’s new packaging will feature the colour orange for three reasons, Vogels added. First, there is tradition, as it was the original colour used by Vogel’s nearly 40 years ago. Second, it is the colour of the Dutch royal family. And third, it’s a “call-to-action colour”, she said. And a call-to-action is exactly what starts any experience. Hall 16 - Stand 202 Hall 25 - Stand 138 Sanus Mounts To Match the Flat TVs Two new mounts for customers who tire of TV screens that stick out from the wall The consumer brand of Milestone AV Technologies – a leading flat panel TV mount manufacturer worldwide – releases two new Sanus Super Slim full-motion mounts. The holy grail of mounting is to be as flat as the wall and the new Sanus VMF322 and VLF320 Super-Slim fullmotion mounts place flatpanel TVs extremely close to the wall while still offering full-motion capabilities. Milestone AV Technologies, mother company of Chief and Sanus brand AV mounting and display solutions, recently merged with Da-Lite Screen Company, mother company of Da-Lite, Projecta and Procolor brands of commercial and residential projection screens. The combination of Milestone and Da-Lite creates a consolidated company in mounting solutions, AV furniture, and projection screens across both commercial and consumer AV markets, with nearly 1,000 employees worldwide and eight major operating locations around the globe. Hall 25 Stand 166 34
Accessories Taking Stock in Accessories Hama fills hall with products that ‘connect, maintain, protect and personalise’ German-headquartered Hama is one of the leading accessory companies in consumer electronics, new media, photo/video, gaming and white goods, with about 2,500 employees around the world. In 2011, Hama opened two subsidiaries in Russia and China, bringing the number of countries in which it has a presence to 18. Vice-President of International Sales, Joerg Hempen, talks about the Hama success story… By Bob Snyder Accessories generally revolve around a particular hardware — a notebook, a tablet, a TV, a PlayStation. With retail, you need to keep the excitement up because, if you like a particular product and it’s important to you, you tend to buy an accessory that makes your usage more exciting. At Hama, we want to connect, maintain, protect and personalise the product experience. We are in a business environment where, if a retailer sells some of the famous branded products, it ends up making very little money. Our accessories, with their higher margins, make the retailer much more money. Today’s consumer is not looking for only one solution. Twenty years ago, we sold accessories around the photo camera, TV and camcorders. Now we have to sell for mobile phones, gaming, TV, health, small appliances and more. We carry 18,000 items and our average store would carry about 2,000- 3,000 accessories. And the number of SKUs grows as the consumer electronics market converges with other industries. We want Hama accessories to be sold in every retailproduct department. In each category, we want to connect, power, clean, protect, pimp up [fashion] and emotionalise. What’s the hardest part of the accessories business? The hardest part of our business is finding the right products, bringing them to market on time, and keeping the necessary assortment in stock. In accessories, execution is very important. We must be doing well in bringing our concepts to market, however. We’re actually selling our Hama accessories in China, even though most accessories are manufactured there. Do you sell only under the Hama brand? Most of our products sell under the Hama brand, but we also distribute some famous brands where it makes commercial sense. For example, we sell accessories under DJ/producer David Guetta’s brand, F*** ME I’M FAMOUS. Additionally, we have some brands of our own. For example, here at IFA we are launching AVinity, a new brand of cable and accessories. On our IFA stand, you can see our retail wall display. Hall 10.2 Stand 101 Hama’s Joerg Hempen: “Our accessories make the retailer more money” Hama’s Liquid Wood case Removable iPad Keyboard Goes The Distance Living up to its promise that it covers all i-needs, USbased accessories specialist Skech has come to IFA 2011 with an iPad case featuring a removable keyboard that can operate up to 10 metres away from the device. “The Caseboard was launched one month ago and the reactions to it have been fantastic,” said Kfir Benshushan, Marketing Team Director at Skech. “We haven’t yet sent it to bloggers and professional reviewers, but we are confident that the Caseboard is a really strong product.” Skech products are now selling in 20 countries. At IFA, the company is also showcasing the Porter, which comes in four different colours. The iPad folio case features a magnetic wake and sleep flap, an easy grip strap to facilitate holding and displaying the screen and a multi-position stand for optimum typing, browsing and viewing. So what’s next? “We’re currently focusing on a new generation of phone cases that will be easily adjusted to any iPhone,” Benshushan said. “Currently, one of our most popular iPhone cases is the Custom Jacket Flip. It’s designed to protect the body of your iPhone 4 while allowing full access to the screen and all controls. It’s made from a polycarbonate with a leather exterior, so it looks luxurious but offers the sturdiness of a hard shell.” Hall 15.1 Stand 153 The Skech stand in the iZone www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Wednesday 7 th September 2011 35
