Struggling distributor group Amber Technology has snared the Boston Acoustics account from Hi Fi and Video Marketing despite losing more accounts during the past 12 months than they have gained.
According to Andrew Menzer the CEO of Video & Hi Fi Marketing who has had the Boston account for 18 years the decision “makes no sense”.
“Boston has not really been interested in the Australian market. No executive from the company has visited Australia in over 12 years and what they have done is appoint Amber who has lost several accounts this year including PSB, KEF and Celeste Audio. It will be interesting to see how they sell the Boston custom range of audio products up against their existing Sonance range. I doubt whether Sonance will be happy.”
In recent weeks several executives have walked away from Boston Acoustics including the executive who appointed Amber Technology.
“The Company is not tracking well globally so it will be interesting to see how they go in Australia”.
In other moves Amber appears to have lost the Altec Lansing brand after Brisbane based Crest Electronics was appointed earlier this week to market the consumer electronics brand in Australia.
Earlier this year Amber lost the highly popular KEF brand to Advanced Audio Australia who since taking on the brand have introduced several new KEF products including a new pair of Blade speakers and new home theatre kits.
The Altec Lansing deal with Crest to sell Altec Lansing’s range of iDock solutions and PC audio gear, commences on 1 September 2011.
Altec Lansing APAC VP of sales and marketing Stella Chan said.
“We believe Crest have the ability to reinvigorate the brand to retailers, at the shop floor and to the end consumer,” Chan said. “There is no doubt that the retail network will benefit from Crest’s commitment to category management, dedicated sales forces, and our continued commitment to delivering innovative audio solutions to excite our customers.”
Amber Technology has not commented on their recent losses or made an announcement about the Boston Acoustics appointment.
