Exclusive interview with Altec Lansing Marketing Manager Rob Puzey

Web site: http://www.alteclansing.com

Altec Lansing Technologies, Inc., the leading designer and manufacturer of computer speaker systems, announced its first foray into the video game market by previewing a new line of speakers at International CES 2002. Recognizing an untapped market in video game audio and the opportunity to improve television audio systems, the company has developed the new XA line of speaker systems specifically for video games enthusiasts and consumers who want to easily improve the sound of their TVs.

NextGen Electronics: You wouldn't mind giving us a brief introduction of yourself…

Rob Puzey : I'm Rob Puzey, and I'm the product manager for the video gaming line of speakers.

NextGen Electronics: At CES 2002, Altec Lansing announced that they were diving into the video game market with the XA line of speakers. What was the thinking behind that decision?

Rob Puzey : As a product manager, when I'm asked to look at a category of products, the first step I like to take is to find real consumer problems to solve. When I was asked to look at video gaming as a potential category for some speaker products we held focus groups in New York, San Fransisco and in Chicago. We talked with gamers, and we're not talking about junior high school kids, we're talking about how now the majority of gamers are over the age of 19. So the focus groups were comprised of anyone from the younger generation to the older gamers. We just asked them what they wanted in an audio system for video gaming. The problem that we discovered is that the TV audio sucks. The TV audio coming out of the typical American TV today isn't what the gamer wants for their video game experience. In defining this "typical American television," it's a 27", $300 television that only has approximately 3 watts per channel of audio power. Those small crappy little speakers were made to reproduce the mid-range "voice" typical television programming, but are very deficient when it comes to reproducing the full frequency spectrum, particularly the bass (lows), that the gamer really needs.

NextGen Electronics: Sounds like you have a highly defined target audience. After the focus groups, what was the product development like? What did you identify as a viable product and why?

Rob Puzey : Well there are some typical speaker system configurations that are available today. We immediately recognized that every video game system that we came out with would have to have a subwoofer. There's a 2.1 system which is just two satellites and one subwoofer. The "2.1 System" which is the two speakers and a subwoofer is perhaps the most common speaker system sold today for PCs. It's that way because the two satellites give you your stereo separation. The lowest common denominator is stereo, and after that the subwoofer gives you your lower end effects - the bass. So creating that 2.1 system was a natural. The 5.1 configuration is a standard for immersive surround sound audio, primarily because of Dolby. Both Dolby Pro-Logic and Digital assume that you have a center, left and right channel, and that you have speakers behind you as well as a subwoofer. So the 2.1 system and the 5.1 system were naturals, and our 5.1 system employs Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound technology. We also took a chance with 0.1 system, which is just a subwoofer. It's not a common configuration, but we thought it was very natural because every television does come with two speakers, even though they are crappy, and we thought by just adding the subwoofer to those two speakers you end up with an effective 2.1 system. One thing to note is that with our 0.1 system we were able to hit what is a very important price-point with the gaming industry - which is $49.95. It's the same price that folks are spending on new titles for their console system.

NextGen Electronics: One thing I'm seeing with a lot of the promotional materials for the XA line is that its "Styled with Attitude" and that its "Gnarly as it sounds".

Rob Puzey : Absolutely!

NextGen Electronics: What does that mean for the potential buyer?

Rob Puzey : Coming out of the focus groups there were 2 primary benefits that the consumer wanted. One was an intense bass experience, and two, they wanted an industrial design that spoke to the gamer. If you get into home theater speaker system, the consumer wants an unobtrusive, conservative look and feel. If you get into multimedia speakers for the PC, an elegant or blocky design is commonplace. For the gamer we wanted something that looked like a gaming speaker system. By all indications we hit the nail on the head, with this XA3000 series set of speakers.

NextGen Electronics: You talked a bit about your focus groups, did you work with any of the console manufacturers such as Microsoft or Sony for research purposes?

Rob Puzey : Well we really went straight to the consumer to make sure that we were enriching the experience. We've spoken with some of the console manufacturers, and discussed various marketing and development opportunities. However the bulk of our efforts on our XA3000 series of speakers are results of us communicating directly with the video gaming consumer.

NextGen Electronics: How difficult is it to break the barrier with these products when marketing them for the first time? What efforts are being made?

Rob Puzey : Well this is a new category, and the retailers that we've spoken with, especially those who have experience with us on the PC audio front, are extremely happy that Altec Lansing is leading the charge with a video gaming line of speakers. As we've spoken with these retailers there's been a broad agreement that the XA3000 series needs to be positioned in the stores with the video gaming consoles and titles. In order to build this category, it's a given and easily recognized that TV audio sucks when its pointed out to the consumer. Unfortunately a lot of the consumers don't realize that the problem exists. So with the retailers we all agree that the best way to create awareness of this significant consumer problem is to demonstrate a comparison at retail between typical television speakers and our XA speakers. So we're coming out with a merchandising display for retailers where we set up the XA3021, the 2.1 speaker system will sit on, and will be plugged in at retail stores where consumers can press a button and hear a soundtrack played over both typical TV speakers, then again on our speaker system. And believe me, the difference is night and day. As we've found out with our focus groups and now with our merchandising display, once the consumer hears the difference they are sold.

NextGen Electronics: Sounds like a lot of what you're up against is raising awareness and developing consumer mindshare, making them realize there's an obvious deficit with what they are doing now?

Rob Puzey : Exactly, there's a lot of education.

NextGen Electronics: Anything new and exciting coming perhaps that we'll see at E3?

Rob Puzey : At E3 our focus is to show these products shipping for the first time, specifically the XA3001 and the XA3021. We'll also be showing the units of the XA3051 which is the 5.1 Dolby surround sound Pro-Logic system. The XA3051 system will not be shipping until mid-July, but we will have pre-mass production units at the show and we also emphasizing our PC gaming product, including a new $99 5.1 system for the PC.

NextGen Electronics: That's the model 251. What's the word on that new product?

Rob Puzey : I went on a press tour recently with that product, the 251 Line of PC Speakers, along with the XA line, and I did some training in San Francisco last week where we brought in sales associates from Best Buys, Circuit City, Frys, CompUSA… basically all the retailers. They all went Ga-Ga over the Altec Lansing 251 speaker system. It sounds incredible, and then when they hear the $99 price point they fall off their chairs! It really is an amazing product.

NextGen Electronics: Sounds like you guys are really market leaders.

Rob Puzey : Absolutely, not only are we leading the way in the video game category, and not only are we coming out with truly revolutionary products, we're also the market leader when you look at the numbers. With a third of retail sales coming to Altec Lansing, we sell more multimedia audio systems that anyone else by a wide margin.

NextGen Electronics: In closing, is there anything you'd like to say to all these gamers?

Rob Puzey : Yeah, please listen. The tag line of Altec Lansing is "Just Listen to This", and that's what we invite gamers to do - is at retail locations to search out our products and check out our merchandising display. Test it out and listen, and they'll see the obvious difference between the typical TV speakers and our XA products. It'll make their video game experience much more fulfilling, especially when their feeling the strong thump of the bass!

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