Various views have been expressed in recent threads as to the nature of,solutions to,the problems facing B & O.

It has been stated,although I do not know on what basis,that the Company reads the respective forums,but a cynic might suggest that views are being expressed by "the usual suspects".

Hence my question.

Alternative to focus groups,I presume that dealers have a data base of their buyers,and hence B & O could circulate a questionaire.

If such a questionaire was to be formulated,what questions would one like to see that would help B & O "get back on track".

yes , they focus on making as much money as possible with the least amount of innovation

it's the stick a metal frame on and charge double and hope nobody notices syndrome 

TerryM:

Various views have been expressed in recent threads as to the nature of,solutions to,the problems facing B & O.

It has been stated,although I do not know on what basis,that the Company reads the respective forums,but a cynic might suggest that views are being expressed by "the usual suspects".

Hence my question.

Alternative to focus groups,I presume that dealers have a data base of their buyers,and hence B & O could circulate a questionaire.

If such a questionaire was to be formulated,what questions would one like to see that would help B & O "get back on track".

Many of the companies I deal with use focus groups in order to define brand strategy and I have found them to be completly useless in dictating the future of a brand identity.

The focus group always seems to revert to what they know and feel happy with and this prevents original design. If one looks at the products over the years that have been truly groundbreaking I doubt that any of then have come out of focus group meetings.

Furthermore if a brand relied upon the responses from a questionaire I suspect they would be in trouble sooner than now- we all want betetr features, quality, technical excllence - but BnO has the highest margins in the AV field and cant offer all this and maintain that profit!

As for B&O back on track- well measures are already in place for a new range of products - comming to a store near you in 12 months and it depends entirely upon the attitude of BnO as to the success of this- ie if greed again overtakes reality.

Below is my input:

Regards, Robert

 

 

Dear customer,

 

At B&O we think comfortable access to your media is important. We would highly appreciate your feed-back and opinion about the following questions:

 

-IS AT THIS MOMENT INTERACTIVE DISPLAYING AND SELECTING OF MEDIA FILES IMPORTANT FOR YOU?   A: YES OR B: NO  +C: YOUR OPINION . . .

 

-TODAY WE SHOW YOU THESE MEDIA FILES ON THE SYSTEM SCREEN. IS ACCESS ON YOUR REMOTE DISPLAY IMPORTANT FOR YOU? A: YES OR B: NO  +C:YOUR OPINION . . .

 

-HOW OFTEN DO YOU WANT TO GET ACCESS TO YOU MUSIC FILES? (FILES LIKE MP3/WMA/AAC ETC.)  DAILY/WEEKLY/I DO NOT USE MUSIC FILES

 

 

Most systems are PIN-code protected.

 

IS PIN-CODE PROTECTION FOR BEOLAB SPEAKERS IMPORTANT FOR YOU?

A: YES OR B: NO  +C: YOUR OPINION . . .

 

 

We need your free thoughts about telephone communication to. What are your thoughts about BeoCom products? (Future/Today etc.)

. . . . . . .

 

 

What do you think about B&O overall?

 

-HOW IS OUR TODAY PRODUCT LINE, DO WE OFFER WHAT YOU ARE PERSUING?

            A: LINE IS OK, B: IS AVERAGE, C: MISSING PRODUCTS +D: YOUR OPINION

-THE DEALER SERVICE?

-ARE WE INNOVATIVE ENOUGH?

-THE QUALITY OF THE SYSTEM YOU USE (PLEASE SPECIFY THE DATE OF PURCHASE)

 

 

Thank you for your time and sharing your thoughts!

TerryM:

Hence my question.

Alternative to focus groups,I presume that dealers have a data base of their buyers,and hence B & O could circulate a questionaire.

If such a questionaire was to be formulated,what questions would one like to see that would help B & O "get back on track".

No one with input for TerryM and B&O?

focus groups – horrible things – design by a committee of non-designers.the result is paralysis by analysis.

So,how does B & O go about ascertaining what it's existing/potential buyers want,rather than it telling them what they will have?

I think B&O knows perfectly well what they need to do. As they've already stated, they're going to be re-focussing on their core competences - audio and video systems.

The problem has nothing to do with PIN protection on speakers or a lack of digital connections on some of their sound systems etc... That's all completely irrelevant to the situation.