Paradigm Introduces New Brand to Appeal to Younger Audience

Canadian loudspeaker maker Paradigm Electronics is introducing a new brand called Paradigm Shift at CES that’s targeted at a younger demographic. The brand will comprise powered loudspeakers, earbuds, headphones and gaming headsets, Marketing Director Mark Ailing told Consumer Electronics Daily. The 28-year-old company, known for high-quality loudspeakers at affordable prices, has a target market of 25-34-year-olds for its traditional loudspeaker line, Ailing said. With the new line, the company wants to create brand loyalty that will grow with customers as they advance in income level and audio sophistication.

The first product, called Paradigm Shift Active Atom, or the A2, is a 100-watt bookshelf speaker that can be used alone or in stereo pairs with digital music players, computers, home DJ decks, and videogame consoles, Ailing said. The speaker can be used with devices packing a 3.5-mm mini-jack or RCA outputs -- or for wireless streaming, the company said. A built-in interface on the rear panel connects to Apple’s Airport Express wireless networking device. Shipping is slated for spring at a suggested retail price of $249 each. The A2 will be followed by “at least” 14 other products over the course of the year, Ailing said, including six earbuds, three headphones and six gaming headsets across a range of price points.

Sound quality “is the most important thing” in the new brand, with style playing an important role, said Zoltan Balla, brand manager for Paradigm Shift. Headphones are expected to run from under $100 to about $300. Some will include “exotic materials,” including suede and aluminum, to separate the headphones from “the clutter of plastic products on the market today,” Balla said. The line will also include travel cases, replaceable ear tips and mixing amps, he said. The Shift brand will be “edgy and hip,” Balla said, but will also “tie back to existing Paradigm audio roots."

The company has set aside a six-figure budget to push the new line in “more far-reaching consumer magazines,” Ailing said. The brand will have its own website at paradigm.com/shift where the company will sell product at suggested retail prices, he said. “We're taking this very seriously as a massive launch for this company."

The biggest challenge for the Canadian company, which says it’s had No. 1 loudspeaker market share in Canada for the past 24 years, is to become a recognized brand in the U.S., Balla said. “If you ask people in the U.S who Paradigm is, they can’t even say it properly,” he said. “Our biggest challenge is introducing people to who we are and why we make the best possible earbuds or headphones.”