What products can you imagine with the Polk Audio brand?

kab

Thanks to everyone for their responses to "Who is Polk?"

Today I'd like to have your ideas on another question. In order to grow, most companies have to consider brand and/or line extensions. I'd like for you to focus on brand extension in this thread.

Example: Starbucks. The company started as a coffee shop. It core essence is having caring people deliver a consistent, quality cup of coffee. The path of their brand extensions has been logical (except maybe the last) and embraced by their customers. Here's how I think it went:

Core: Create an coffee shop with inviting atmosphere - good people, "west coast-cool" store design, good background music, and coffee/expresso
Extension 1: Add danish, cookies, etc. and other beverages
Extension 2: Add coffee drinking and coffee making products (mugs, thermos, expresso machines, etc.)
Extension 3: Add mixed CDs of the music played in the store
Extension 4: Add sandwiches, salads, etc
Extension 5: Add Starbuck's Radio channel to XM satellite
Extension 6: Produce new music (Dylan, Springsteen?)
Extension 7: Produce movies ("Akeela", "The B Hive")

Don't worry that by asking this question that we would ever abandon our core and those who got us here! So stay calm.

What Polk Audio brand extensions and/or extension path seems logical to you?

Al

wingnut4772

Electronics. Amps, sources and etc.

jdhdiggs

What I would like to see:

A line up of maybe 2 Pre-Amps and 3 Amps with the Polk badge.
Pre-amp 1: Basic 5.1, no HD pre-amp
Pre-amp 2: HDMI 1.3 switching, all the audio bells and whistles, stereo bypass
Amp 1: 5-Channel, 100W/channel
Amp 2: 2- Channel, 300W/Channel
Amp 3: 7-Channel, 200W/channel

What would make sense (given current markets and Polk's penetration into those markets):

3 Receivers in the $200, $500, $900 price ranges and advertise the $900 as 4Ohm/LSi compatable. This would give the consumer a match between power and speakers. Look at it as a monitor, RTi, LSi lineup.

halo

Speaker Cables (IIRC - Polk produced some highly regarded speaker cables once upon a time), Interconnects, Power Cables.

How about some headphones?

Power conditioners / surge protectors?

engtaz

mono block amps 200 and above.

engtaz

dorokusai

I say stay away from major electronics. Boston Acoustics tried that and the gear is substandard with horrible resale value. Nobody takes that gear seriously.

I'm not sure what I would like to see at the moment. I have to think about that.

liordra

Value amps.
an amp series equivalent to the Monitor series (I view the Monitor Series as nothing fancy, just good, quality affordable sound).
things similar to the stuff in outlaw are doing (i.e. the M 2200 mono blocks)

read-alot

NaDa ....well maybe some of those snazzy white lab coats for us who like to tinker with our toys.

jdhdiggs

dorokusai wrote:

I say stay away from major electronics. Boston Acoustics tried that and the gear is substandard with horrible resale value. Nobody takes that gear seriously.

I'm not sure what I would like to see at the moment. I have to think about that.

That's what I was originally thinking but with the HD Radio unit having a DVD player, the XM tuner and some of the technology used in the old SRT system, Polk seems to already have a bit of experience in this arena. If the parent company would provide the money and Polk ensures that it lives up to the name this could be great.

TN_Polk_Lover

I agree with doro. Don't try to imitate Sony, Yamaha, Pioneer, etc. by trying to be all things to all people. Instead try to find smaller niches and excel in those areas.

Maybe develop a room correction device similar to Audysey. I notice that the new subs that you are coming out with have an auto setup device. Maybe also expand that into a processor similar to the Audyssey unit, or develop a business relationship with Audyssey and use their technology in a device that you would mass market.

Also, there is alot of discussion from time to time about room treatment. There doesn't seem to be one good central place to find out much information on room treatments. Maybe develop a Polk line of room treatment products. Bring room treatments to the masses. Have a room treatment calculator on your website where a customer can input their room dimensions and it will calculate the room nodes and suggest to the customer what they need in order to do the most good. Then with a link of course to purchase those products.

Of course, anything that will work with or support an ipod will always be good. Don't try to invent a new ipod -- apple already perfected that and I don't think anyone will be able to improve upon their user interface.

I hope this helps. These are just some things that come to mind.

shack

Companies that diversify or "extend" too far from their core tend to produce watered down products across the board. Eventually their core begins to suffer. In the starbucks example 1, 2, and 4 make sense. Who actually cares about a CD of mucic played at a coffee shop? And that movie was a mega hit with only 18 million in domestic box office :rolleyes: (I bet the BOD is raving about that move).

Mark is absolutely correct about what happend with Boston. If Polk wants to expand in that direction (A/V electronics) they would be better served to use the clout of DEIX to purchase an existing electronic AV equipment company under the corporate umbrella. Maybe follow the example of D&M Holdings which now owns Boston to go along with Denon, Marantz and McIntosh. Maybe a better blueprint would be Paradigm Electronics Inc. with their Paradigm speakers and Anthem A/V equipment.

I think Polk may be heading in the right direction with the new Polk Audio Designs, taking the mass market consumer electronics separate from the speaker division.

I would love to see Polk pair up with someone like NAD (who btw is now in the speaker business) or Cambridge Audio. I think the dynamics of purchasing one of these would be outstanding. Same great value philosophies IMO.

As far as extending the brand, stick with great speakers and expand BACK into the true high end by kicking the LSi brand up a notch. Cables (also tried in the past) might work, but I doubt it.

MillerLiteScott

I would suggest proper amplification for the LSi series in retailers. I was always dissapointed with the sound of the LSi's because they are usually demoed with a AVR. I would have probably purchased the LSi if They had proper amplification.

I would love a good sounding iPod boom box with an AM/FM tuner. I am currently listening to my iPod through a Dewalt radio and it is a pain in the @ss.

I will think of some more.

Jstas

Polk Audio has already branched into "high end" electronics with success and matched those electronics pretty well with thier speakers. Go look at the Car Audio Products and view the amplifiers. Nobody is really raving about them like they did with the SR's but they do get good, solid reviews and are usually named as a good buy.

I think that might be a good place to go.


However, I think headphones are sorely missing. Unless you go with anything really esoteric, the only real player left in that game is Sennheiser. Blose and sn0y are still making head phones but most of the consumer stuff that Polk already markets to is complete junk and not worth the money. Polk can compete there and stomp on the competition. They can also compete with Sennheiser too.

I like the idea about room treatments. It would go very well with the in-wall products at a minimum. Along those lines of professional installation, I think corporate solutions for meeting rooms and presentation rooms would be good too. It's get Polk a little back to it's PA speaker roots too!

Along those lines, DJ equipment like amps and speakers would probably work well too. The only other big name in PA systems is JBL. The rest are pro-audio companies like Behringer, Electro-Voice, Peavey and so on. Most off those companies are going to have avid followers in the professional realm that will be difficult to win over. However, the regular joe who does parties, weddings and barmitzfahs and such would be a good place to sell to. Loyalties don't run deep and they go with what's cheapest or in thier price range. That market is almost always JBL EONs which are junk.

You might also try studio monitors but that's a very small market which is already firmly entrenched and hard to break in to.

I think shelf systems would be good too. Not necessarily an "executive shelf system" but more along the lines of a boombox or the kind of stereo a teenager or dorm room is more likely to have. Make something about 200-500 bucks that sounds totally spectacular and you'll make a killing competing with JVC, Sony and Panasonic because the junk they offer is just that, junk. Maybe rekindle a business arrangement with Onkyo to supply the electronics and Polk make the speakers to get your foot in the door on that one. It's a vast, untapped market for Polk Audio where they have ventured before but did not meet success. It didn't seem to be because of product but rather marketing. Market to the kids, make the stuff look snazzy, sell it in kid magazines and on TV and it'll sell.

Music CD's might work but without that younger demographic, they won't sell a whole lot of compilations. You might spend more in licensing fees than you'll get out of sales.

Cables and wires would be a good thing too. Especially if they don't cost a fortune but perform like they do. I'll leave it at that for the wiring argument. However, speaker wires, interconnects and signal cables that don't have a 700% markup would be spectacular and the only ones that you wouldn't impress with low prices are the snobs who already look down thier noses at Polk Audio anyway so where's the loss? Polk Audio competing with the likes of Monster Cable and under-cutting thier extravagant prices on absolute junk would just make my day and I'd gladly spend my money there!

I think that instead of branching out to new products, Polk Audio should be looking at places where thier ideas of high performance for low cost and quality products can give them a competative edge. You guys always seem to find a way to bring innovative ideas to market. They aren't always a new, ground breaking techonolgy. Like the LSi's are just really nice speakers that the average joe can afford. Nothing ground breaking there but the way it was achieved through the use of innovative components is an innovation. The XM tuner is available anywhere. How many tuners out there actually exploit the "high fidelity" claims of XM though? Polk Audio's does and it does it for the same price as the craptastic stuff from other companies too. Hell, it stayed on Sound & Vision's Best Buys list for over two years. It might even still be there!

No, don't branch out. Go after Monster Cable, Sony, Panasonic, Bose and Sennheiser and so on and so forth and do what you do best. Build a fresh, innovative product that you can let go for a song and stomp on the competition. If you can give a customer a quality product that is well made with total support for a price that they can actually afford not one they are willing to make sacrifices to afford then you will always have a good product and you will stand even if not ahead of your competition.

I think the worst thing for Polk Audio to do is to mimic another company like Paradigm or Boston Acoustics.

tonyb

Hmmm.....tough question.....maybe some wifi stuff.If you want to target mass amounts of youngsters,then head in that direction.You could pawn off lots of cheap and profitable gear that way but then,you'd be like everyone else.Or stick to what you know,the problem as I see it,is that Polks are poorly
marketed and lack some higher end stuff.After all,brand loyalty only goes as far as your offerings.Polk has some great fans here,myself included,but you lost me to other brands because you stop building high end speakers at a certain price point.Hey...us ageing baby boomers have all the cash don't ya know.An effort must be made to change people's perspetive of who Polk Audio is.And you have to come out with a rock solid performer to compete with the best,be it speakers,amps,pre/pro,etc.The choices now a days for mid-fi company's like Polk are crowded to say the least.What will set you above the rest?? Adding more products for mass teeny bopper purchases,or quality gear,coupled with quality marketing? Look to brands like BAT,Cary,Cj,
Musical Fidelity,Vmps,Tyler,Wilson,Wadia,Dynaudio,Revel,Merlin,VS,Dodd,and many more.All have brand loyalty up the ying yang and considered high end.
I guess what I poorly am trying to state is....if you are looking for brand
extensions,go up the ladder,not down.

McLoki

I don't know about the value of embracing the DIY crowd, but a line of polk audio drivers, crossovers, tweeters, etc - with recommended plans for enclosures would be pretty cool. Sell the SDA crossovers with plans (and parts) for someone to build their own if you decide it is not worth your time to do so.

I could see it as a very good extension of your excellent customer service. Pick (or just endorse) various drivers, tweeters, crossovers, etc. and sell them direct through your website. (of course finished and tested products would always be available through the current retail outlets.)

Just a thought.

Michael

RuSsMaN

Wireless distributed sound. Convergence tech type stuff, lighting control, system integraton, music servers, internet radio (in the car?) etc etc.

You won't abandon the core? Prove it with a Legacy line of speakers.

Don't look for Polk to sell amps and cables anytime soon. That's what their retailers do.

Cheers,
Russ

AndyGwis

If we're looking short term, someone brought up the LSi11s which sounded like a good idea. Basically, the LSi15s (or a nice small footprint tower) without the subs. . . (or I guess an LSi9 but with a tower cabinet).

Everyone loves the sound of the LSis, especially the Vifa tweets and the midbass. No one seems to be enamored with the built in subs, and since most people are running separate subs are most of those aren't Polks either. So, the LSi15/25s could be seen by many as expensive, heavy, and redundant, esp in HT. The 11 would be a leaner, lighter, cheaper to produce, and an easier to drive tower speaker.

So, while doing all this other stuff sounds great for a 5 year plan, I'm sure you could have R&D knock out the LSi11s out of some spare parts in about an hour. . . with a Proof of Concept at my place by April 1st, and on the showroom floor of Tweeter for the summer.

madmax

RuSsMaN wrote:

Wireless distributed sound. Convergence tech type stuff, lighting control, system integraton, music servers, internet radio (in the car?) etc etc.

Totally agree with the above! Others have mentioned headphones which is what I would have suggested. Give us some headphones to compete with the Sennheiser and Grado line. A high quality headphone amp with some form of sda function would be nice too. Maybe some wireless.

Skynut

TN_Polk_Lover wrote:

Also, there is alot of discussion from time to time about room treatment. There doesn't seem to be one good central place to find out much information on room treatments. Maybe develop a Polk line of room treatment products. Bring room treatments to the masses. Have a room treatment calculator on your website where a customer can input their room dimensions and it will calculate the room nodes and suggest to the customer what they need in order to do the most good. Then with a link of course to purchase those products.

I really think this is a good idea.
Room treatments that look nice and are easy to install.
This goes hand in hand with good sound IE. the speakers Polk already makes.

Also I notice that many new people are getting into the home theater thing. I think an expansion into that area would be great with electronics that are affordable and preform well.

Whatever they do they need to remember that cheaply made or preforming products will bring the overall customer base down not up.

McLoki

madmax wrote:

A high quality headphone amp with some form of sda function would be nice too. Maybe some wireless.

Wouldn't it be a reverse SDA function. Rather than speakers that sound like you are listening to headphones - make headphones sound like you are listening to speakers???? You shouldn't have alot of channel crosstalk with headphones on....

Michael

Jstas

RuSsMaN wrote:

Don't look for Polk to sell amps and cables anytime soon. That's what their retailers do.

Cheers,
Russ

Polk Audio already has a line of amplifiers. Thier retailers sell them right along side the speakers.

Polk Audio developing a line Polk Audio branded wires that don't cost thousands or even hundreds of dollars is what everyone is talking about. It'd be easy to tie in with the speakers. Polk already gives you wires with car audio speakers. Branding wires for both home and automotive applications is a logical step. It'd be easy to sell too. A Circuit City salesman would have an easy argument to make if a customer buys a Polk speaker and uses Polk speaker wires and interconnects to hook them up.

cfrizz

I agree with Miller & Andy.

1. Team up with a company that makes good high quality amplifiers. Have them produce amplifiers that will have all your speakers run to their full potential from the very beginning. The endless quest to get the best sound from your speakers is found with proper amplification.

We know that a good chunk of your speakers have a range of 30-250wpc. But most of us have found out that they sound the best with more wattage rather than less.

People should be able to walk in to Tweeters listen to your speakers properly amplified. Literature should be handed out printed up by Polk stating quite clearly that while your speakers can be run on 30wpc they perform to their FULL potential when fed 200wpc. You should also insist that Tweeter NOT run any LSI speaker on just a receiver alone & should make it clear that they DO need separate amplification.

Leave it up to the customer if they want to run them off of just a receiver after they have been properly educated & informed about the benefits of amplification.

I also want a lighter, smaller tower LSI speaker.

cfrizz

I have NEVER seen Tweeter hook up the LSI's to an amplifier. If they have an amplifier it is hooked up to some very expensive gear in another room. They just hook the LSI's up to a Yammie or Denon.

Jstas wrote:

Polk Audio already has a line of amplifiers. Thier retailers sell them right along side the speakers.

shack

cfrizz wrote:

I have NEVER seen Tweeter hook up the LSI's to an amplifier. If they have an amplifier it is hooked up to some very expensive gear in another room. They just hook the LSI's up to a Yammie or Denon.

He is referring to car audio amps.

Skynut

The obvious thing being over looked here is......


Any new gear should be handed out to loyal Club Polk people for careful examination before going public.

We will give you honest input as to how well it will sell after we gat a chance to evaluate it.

warlocks1

Polk should spend some of their money marketing existing products. Sitting a $300.00 XM tuner on a shelf at Circuit City is not going to sell without marketing and advertising. You can't even listen to the unit. Tweeter isn't pushing the LSI line(IMO) so they are not going to get a big audience. Polk does a great job keeping their customers, but doesn't do much to get new customers. When is the last time Polk Audio aired commercials?

The future of mainstream audio sales will be in computers and MP3's. There will always be the audio purest, but most kids now are thrilled with the sound of their IPOD through crappy headphones or through the IDock. I know Polk makes an miDOCK, but do you think my 13 year old daughter knows Polk's will sound better than the cheap brands? How would she? She has never heard of the midock. Maybe partner with Apple to provide high quality ear buds for the Ipod. That would give you brand recognition without a huge marketing budget.

Don't waste time or money developing amplifiers, speakers, cables etc. The market is saturated with those.

I would love to know what percent of revenue is spent on marketing compared to Bose or Apple. Imagine the loyalty Polk Audio would have if
1/10th of the Bose owners had a chance to demo Polk next to Bose. With your product and customer service, Polk should be a household name like Bose. Market, market, market and then build loyalty.

No, I am not in marketing, but I know 2 of the most important aspects in a business are brand recognition and loyalty. Probably even more important than quality and price. Polk Audio is half way there.

Thanks for listening. Jeff

F1nut

Stay away from electronic gear, there's plenty of top notch stuff out there already. Stick to what you know, speakers and speaker related items.

Like some others have suggested, offer some true hi end speakers. Be bold and make a statement that you guys still know how to do it.

Shizelbs

Wireless music server.

Demiurge

kab wrote:

In order to grow, most companies have to consider brand and/or line extensions.

Rather than give hollow answers to your question, I have to take issue with this statement as a business owner.

Polk would be far better off focusing on what they do -- Speakers. You make speakers, and you make them well. Stick with that, or build and expand on that. Moving to new things is more than likely going to cost you money as opposed to making you money over the long term. This isn't a rule, but it's not something a lot of companies have great successs with.

Why?

Well, in response to your analogy, you're not Starbucks.

A cookie with a cup of coffee is a lot easier for a consumer to swallow (no pun intended) than speakers over here paired with amps over there.

First you have to look at price in that analogy. Enhancing a cup of coffee and enhancing a set of speakers are world's apart for the average consumer. They're usually two totally different types of spending for the consumer. One is comfort spending while the other tends to be less reactionary and more researched spending. Not to mention you have the consumer that just doesn't care about amplifying speakers (just as an example, not that you'd be limited to amps). "They sound fine the way they are. Why do I need to spend $300 on an amp?" It's a typical response.

Secondly, a company can't be all things to all people. Do you want to be the go to guys for speakers, or all things electronics, or whatever it happens to be?There's nothing wrong with having a niche. If Polk was at the top in speakers at the consumer level I might have a slightly different reaction.

Lastly, marketing. Bose isn't popular for their great speakers, but rather for their great marketing. Polk hasn't done anything even remotely touching Bose in that department. That's where I would place my focus. Growth can be found there for any company, not just in expanding to different product lines. I talk to non-audio nuts and everyone knows Bose and very few know Polk Audio.

It's not my aim to give a discouraging message. If anything I hope posts like this invigorate the marketing department at Polk Audio. You'll find a thousand people who will tell you you're wrong, but it doesn't mean you're not right.

Frederick W. Smith, founder, President, and CEO of FedEx was given a C by his professor on paper about the need for on time overnight delivery in a computerized information age. He ended up taking that C grade and turning into into billions of dollars for his company. So, in closing, anything can be done -- but when risk is involved, failure is also a reality in business, not just success.

Systems

I'm thinking some Polk chili, mmmmmm tasty

madmax

McLoki wrote:

Wouldn't it be a reverse SDA function. Rather than speakers that sound like you are listening to headphones - make headphones sound like you are listening to speakers???? You shouldn't have alot of channel crosstalk with headphones on....

Michael

Sorry, I didn't state that very clearly. I was talking about a technology similar to SRS (tm) etc. (not signature reference series either. )
madmax