OK - we've had the "this is what they've done wrong" rant. Now let's focus on what it will take for B&O to regain our trust as to theirs being the brand we want to have our A/V experiences through.

This will be coloured by our personal likes and dislikes, and I am certain there is no ONE answer -- but maybe the gist of a direction will show as the thread develops?

For my own sake -- let's get those stores humming with some true audio-visual experiences. The products are for show, often not properly connected, speakers too often so close together you don't get a stereo perspective, the walls so bright you get reflections on the screens, or with TVs placed so that you can't really get a good impression of what B&O is all about. Should be dynamic - not static.
So that's one thing B&O could do - make certain it's fun to go into the store and experience their products.

I've been quite vociferous elsewhere here at BW and some will know where my preferences are. I'm sending the challenge along to the next member!

What should B&O do to make you a satisfied (and surprised) owner of their audio/visual products? 

ok

 

1. spend as much time designing the rear ( ports / connections ) as they do the front

 2. stop trying to compete with the big boys by bringing out tacky rebranded samsung stuff

3. return to their core values - making the very best and here's a new one 'most advanced' a/v equipment you can buy

if bno made really cutting edge gear - like they did in their late 70's early 80's heyday i'd have no problem forking out loads of dough for their equipment , i just can't justify spending huge amounts of money on a/v gear that's 5 years past its sell by date

 4. either lower their prices or increase their value for money by cutting off the dead wood , forgetting about reinventing the wheel by writing their own software and just making sure that all their equipment is as easy to connect as possible to other manufacturers things as well as pcs and macs

pcs and macs seem to have standardised recently - usb-2 , firewire , dvi etc , maybe bno need to follow suit ? the world won't follow them , they have to follow the world ! 

people nowadays are much more clued up and with the internet you can really brush up on what people think about a companies products thereby giving one an informed purchasing decision , here and av forums are good starters !

I was also thinking about a thread like this with a "Lets move on theme" but I think your approach is better.  Instead of all the criticism, people are asked to present solutions.  I have a few ideas.

1. Get out of digital media like Beomedia 1 and others.  Instead include a connector to enable connections to iTunes and Windows media.  It was reported a few days ago that the market for iPod and iTunes enabled devices is over $1 billion USD.  B&O could do that without much investment and probably do it better.

2. Put more ICEpower amplifiers in existing loudspeakers and planned speakers.  Put Dacs in some of the speakers besides Beolab 5 or at least produce an optional add on Dac.  ICEpower is one of B&O's strengths.

3. Improve the Beo5 concept and let the user have access to the configuration software.  Maybe have a remote that has WIFI capability and add WIFI control to new products.

4.  Link products should be ethernet or network enabled.  This would reduce the amount of cabling in the home and offer many other possibilities for controlling B&O devices.  Cat 6 cable should be the standard.

5.  Don't even try to compete with the makers of portable players like iPod, Zune, and others.

I have listed a few of the technical things I think they should do but whatever they do, Bang & Olufsen should make one of the best and most distinctive A/V systems in the world.  The wow factor, style and ease of use is still there.  It just needs a little work.

Bring out a cutting-edge audio source to match their cutting-edge speakers....

Not make silly mistakes like make TVs without colour control adjustment - had this debate with DAB and I was proved wrong. However, BeoCentre one, that was pure silliness.

Thus just because you are B&O don't think you can get away with doing something quirky - if it does not serve a purpose or enhance the user experience stylisticly, do not do it.

Firstly I think there needs to be realignment of sorts in the pricing arena. Of course to do so would compromise existing customers so offer say a free speaker with a BV4 or BV7 for example and more importantly allow the BS3 to offer the possibilities of third party panel use, that way one can have 'the ultimate BV4' or connect it to a Pioneer or panasonic and it should work seamlessly. Encourage a little more integration with other brands. Properly supported DVD recorder/BR  controls in order to use third party products correctly. Reduce the price of 17 year old designs like bl8000 and bs9000 which are a it old hat now and hardly promote the image of B&O as a brand for today.

The dealer training should move away from 'selling a high end luxury product' to knowing about the audio business in general and being informative as to how some equipment (ie BS3) can be connected to third party applications and which ones to use, being aware and having a good knowledge of technology in order that 1080-, 24fps hdmi111 are known to them and why B&O use it- or dont as the case may be- in other words take away the 'veil' that is B&O today and have dealers that can do software or firmware upgrades in the store without making  a meal of it- or allow some paid for access site where the purchaser can do it themselves. Dont force all the dealers to carry all the expensive lines that B&O do- they will be out of business and dont open any more stores in countries where B&O is more than well reresented- you need happy dealers to make this a success.

Reduce the price of the BV8-  and include DVB this should sell for no more than £2000 and bring back an entry level system that uses apple support, sd car reader, that looks good with a price that is approriate for the market, sub £2000 comes to mind. Any new upmarket system should have seamless support with itunes or similar.

Identify the very best factories in the Far East and use those to produce a range of products in order to 1, get access to new technology quicker 2,get to market quicker, 2 reduce R&D and tooling costs( but maybe not reduce retail price) and use this revenue for more design input, emloying bright young designers and technology to develop other products which will include multimedia devices such as proposed BC5 but ones that do not require a PC.

Move away from Samsung as a partner and move toward a greater association with Panasonic and develop a blue ray player.

Future products should have  a degree of futureproofing to mitigate the high initial costs- for example when selling a BV7 a REAL commitment to offer blue ray in it at a sensible price to existing customers and move toward a system of software and firmware updates available for download that enable a customer to bring a product that was purchased a few years ago, to the same spec as one purchased today- this is already in the pipeline for some brands. Not charge the earth for a chip change as present and expect cusomers to part with £6000 for BS3 when it wont even support the latest MA audio codecs- it could have been engineered to startwith to do that- it may even be possible but as usual no dealer knows!

Operate a mailshot system direct from B&O to keep customers informed directly of updates to third party support, and to products owned not just a mailshot from a dealer with pretty pictures attempting to sell more product.

Improve sales material, be more informative about the product, rather than a mass of pictures taken in some warehouse development, write the manuals properly and for after sales operate a system that means customers dont wait weeks or months with little explanation as to why.

I just remembered I have one more suggestion.  Bring back the real catalog or catalogue depending on your spell checker.  I hate that airline magazine format. 

Digital distribution of HD video and uncompressed surround sound with wireless option. HD video and audio disc drive - sounds like Blueray but should also accomodate audio formats using surround sound and up to 24bit 192KHz (I believe digital input on BL5's will need to be upgraded to accomodate higher resolution digital signals). Hard drive storage. Silent operation. Brilliantly simple and intuitive top level operation. Breathtaking styling that will still be contempory 20 years later. Self configuring (recognises attached devices and then interactively configures system as required). Two way LCD remote control.

And now for something I'm not sure of (it could be great but it could be a dog if it can't be made to work reliably) - voice control of your album collection on your hard drive. Imagine being able to speak the title of an album and it immediately starts playing - it would certainly make that coverflow stuff look long-winded.

- Stop with the car-audio

- Stop with the poor rebaged and pimped Samsung mp3 players

- Stop rebranding Philips hdd's

- Stop with the very very poor low-budget tv's (with the price of a high-end tv) without the modern connections, glasspanal and a rubbish picture.

- Make a good Bluray player/recorder (thats exclusive !) 

- Send mr. Lewis on vacation and get a new talented guy with his head full of new ideas

- They should use more high-end and better components (especially in the audio component sector)

- They must search for a good and fair price/prestation balance

 

 

Personally, I think B&O should move away from the whole computer integration thing, and just offer the ability to connect to different software packages. A built in iTunes/WMP/WinAmp interface in say, the BeoSound 4 or BeoCentre 2 (with those great big displays) would be fantastic.

The problem is, there are too many large companies like Apple doing the whole multimedia/music/movies/photos thing, and they're doing it very, very well.

B&O should stick to what they're good at, producing top quality AV and hifi kit (especially the hifi front, their most recent 'serious' speakers have been absolutely brilliant).

Plus, moving into the whole 'cheaper' kit thing is just not what B&O do. While the BeoVision 8 is fantastic, I personally see it as more of an absolutely storming brand-X TV, and not so much the kind of thing B&O have always done - it just doesn't have the class of say, the BeoCenter 6.

I forgot almost the best thing.... They should look to this topic full of good ideas 

Beobird:

- Stop with the car-audio

- Stop with the poor rebaged and pimped Samsung mp3 players

- Stop rebranding Philips hdd's

- Stop with the very very poor low-budget tv's (with the price of a high-end tv) without the modern connections, glasspanal and a rubbish picture.

- Make a good Bluray player/recorder (thats exclusive !) 

- Send mr. Lewis on vacation and get a new talented guy with his head full of new ideas

- They should use more high-end and better components (especially in the audio component sector)

- They must search for a good and fair price/prestation balance

 

 

I agree with everything except the car-audio part. The system in the A8 was a great move, a prestigious hifi manufacturer like B&O producing what is a stunningly good sound system for a prestigious car. It's bought in a lot of business for B&O, and new customers.

As for the whole 'poor low-budget TVs' thing, they haven't produced anything with a 'rubbish picture'. The picture on the BeoVision 8 is brilliant, along with the sound and build quality. I'd still prefer to see something a little higher-priced and better finished than the BeoVision 8 as an entry level TV, with a proper glass screen (even if it isn't AR) and the use of classic B&O materials such as aluminium (one of the things B&O always goes on about is how ahead they are with aluminium manufacturing, which they are, and yet they don't use it at all in the BeoVision 8).

To me there should never be a 'watered down' B&O experience.

1. No re-badged/co-badged Samsung (see a trend emerging?)

2. Either produce a blockbuster cell phone concept or get the hell out. The future of B&O TeleCom will be in a mobile experience. The Serene is a poor entry into the market and the Serenata is just awful.

3. Revamp current line-up to reflect current technology: Blu-Ray in BC2 & BV7, Stereo pair in BV9 (I understand it will mean sacrificing the acoustic lens, but sacrifices must be made!), lose the "rolled frame" on the BeoVision 9 and pre-lose it on the upcoming BV4. There's much more, but those are a major start.

4. Don't listen to people who want to lower the price. The prices are not the issue. The fact that the prices don't make sense with the CONCEPT is the problem. No one questions $5,200US for the BeoSound 9000 and the damn thing is over a decade old. The BeoVision 9, however, is nothing BUT questions! We simply need the products to be beyond reproach in design and capabilities. At least here in the states, where I understand it is a bit ahead, the BeoVision 7 is very close to the BeoSound 9000 in terms of first and lasting impressions. The price is rarely an issue and it sells briskly.

5. Rep Ops! Products are brought to market as though they're snuck past anyone with any sense! BeoMedia without enough horsepower to play short video clips!? At almost $3000!? Developing the BeoVision 5 into the BeoVision 9 by taking steps backward!? Producing products with a Samsung logo on them!? BeoLab 9s made from leftover BeoLab 1 parts!? A BeoSound 3 without a mini AUX jack for iPod playback!? SERIOUSLY!?

6. With Torben gone, stop focusing on the number of launches and think more about what we're launching and where it's taking the concept. Without even discussing the BeoSound 5, we have 4 entirely different ways of dealing with digital music! Get it together!

7. Develop something like the following products: iPod dock, wireless system (like a BS1) that can tap into wireless link network, a few more link products like BL3500 or BL2000, BeoLabs dynamic enough visually and technically to naturally kill off older generation of speakers, noise-cancelling headphones (givin' the people what they want!), EarSet 2s that rarely fail, seperate the BeoSystem 3 into 3 smaller products: Picture Engine (side by side demo in showroom please!), Stage Manager, Amplifier (does not yet exist) to run non-B&O (gasp) speakers.

8. Develop retail experience. Give customers the Louis Vuitton experience with a well dressed and competent staff and more dynamic displays (thanks soundproof). Convergence is the cornerstone of modern AV so let's converge a little bit!

Thanks for reading the bulleted rant.

Good luck B&O. 

 

My response to B&O would be simply, "Surprise me! You always used to."

Simon.

These last two posts have nailed it exactly for me! My only addition is to remove B&O collaboration with all Aston Martin and Audi models, perhaps with exception to the Audi A8.

Looking at the B&O financial figures, I would say the TBS plan failed because costs got blown out of the water. There is also the fact that the UK did not bite in terms of sales either which is probably a case of Mr Neogeorgeiancopyclone wanting 10 channels of HD on sky and the fact that his disposable income vanished with a pseudo inflation rate of 2.5% (probably more like 25%) :-

 

Here's my shot:-

 

1. Drop the number of TV models for sale from the dozen or so they have now to just 2. (My dealer has always gone on that for the last 30 years only one TV model ever sells well at any one time). A 32 incher and a 40/46 incher. If people need something bigger – get a beamer. A 100incher isn’t going to sell in numbers so why spend a fortune in R&D?

 

1. Drop the audio only models to 1 only i.e. Beosound 1 – consolidation.

 

1. Drop all MP3 players – questionable product placement in this niche

 

1. Drop all Mobile phones – questionable product placement in this niche

 

1. Drop all DECT phones to 1 model i.e. Beocom 2 – questionable product placement in this niche. BC2 is an icon even if it is a difficult phone to use.

 

1. Drop the BL4/6/8k loudspeaker range – time to move on. Get over it!

 

1. Develop the BeoSystem 3 further as a modular concept inside the two TVs. This will help focus on more rapidly developing trends in technology and keep the TV’s “in fashion”. TVs would essentially be re-badged X-brand with a decent “engine” in there. B&O have absolutely no chance in the visual market unless they re-badge. Use as a beamer engine too.

 

N.B Re-badge means the mechanics and operating system of a TV, DVD, BR or whatever. It does not mean the mechanical or electronic software interface.

 

1. Introduce one very high end A/V master. (BeoCentre 5 sounds almost right) but must include a high-end CD drive for quality non-PC ripping. Let it have the B&O “touch” and operating interface. Multi-media player. Let it do all the work.

 

Accompanying this master would be a series of re-badged boxes: a DVD box, a BR or HD DVD box (or universal player). A Hard drive box. (thinking BS5000-7000 type boxes here). Each could to be developed rapidly as market trends change. CD Audio to exquisitely copy to the Hard-drive as required. All communicate with the A/V master only. Customers can add/choose what combination they want.

 

1. Introduce an entry-level A/V controller (i.e. a Beoport of sorts without the direct touch interface but TV Beo4/5 operation as a basic master).

 

1. Plough oodles of cash into loudspeaker development and marketing. All loudspeakers digital/digital inputs etc… Amplifiers as required A/B/D etc. Develop a better speaker than the BL5.  Develop an ICE Amp not for sale to 3^rd parties. Keep that amp way ahead of the competition. Put something between the BL4 and the BL3.

 

1. Develop a new wired distribution system based on modbus technology or similar. One wire transmits everything. Signals, controls, data, power. Keep away from wifi!

 

1. Cars, yachts, hotels – pay for themselves out of new model range only. Easy to limit functionality.

 

1. Stop expanding the B1 shops. Let the customer travel. Give the dealers more market area and allow them better turnover. This will increase the quality of staff as their margins will allow for better class of salesmen. Kevin from Curry’s need not apply.

 

Basically, B&O should reduce there overall product portfolio, focus on a few key products  - especially loudspeakers and try and keep up with development. An A/V master should be the new control interface and tactile experience but unfortunately there will be only one until the core business is re-aligned. This will reduce costs significantly enabling pricing to level-off and even dip.

 

Cost reduction is the key. Get rid of surplus departments, low margin products, focus revenue into more R&D on acoustic transducers, HID technology. Focus on modularisation of separates so internals can be changed easily within a B&O operating core.

 

10%

Yes - B&O should stop developing their own digital media software like Beoport and Beomedia. 

What they should do though is to build a UPnP client into their TV's. Then users could stream music and video from what-ever-server they have (Media Player etc) Look at PS3 and make a very nice user interface. This would give the user added value for money.

B&O should go into home automation. This will be the future and put B&O ahead of other competitors. And most important. Make it open for 3rd part vendors to produce products that can be controlled.

Agree, streamlining of current product range is needed and a return to core B&O products, hifi speaker etc.

I see no sense in chasing mobile markets when all B&O can do is churn out products like the (awful) serenata and below market mp3 players so maybe a return to what it does best?

B&O is not apple, apple customers have a very shortlife expectancy from thier products and when bought are already discussing possible changes or improvements in the next model whereas  B&O customers do not and look forward to further integration or future devolpments which will enhance what they already have.

I think the distincition between the two brands has to be very clear, apple is here today gone tomorrow and B&O is here today, here tomorrow. 

I believe first generation ipods are struglling to sell for £10 pounds... I paid near £400 for my 40gb when it was first launched.  Some old Apple gear is still desirable, isight etc but not in the way that B&O is and if B&O are to adopt apples approach than we have a very different brand with a very different approach to its consumers and its products.