Monster Using Programs, Products to Bolster Specialty, Custom Channels

Throwing a lifeline to the struggling independent specialty retailer and custom integrator channels, Monster Cable announced a series of programs Wednesday at the CEA LineShows conference in New York, including a partnership with the Home Entertainment Source buying group to “reinforce the independent specialist and custom installers.” The deal was inked last week, according to Noel Lee, “head monster,” who said the partnership covers all categories of accessories.

Deena Ghazarian, vice president of sales for Monster Cable, told Consumer Electronics Daily that under the partnership, Monster will be HES’s primary accessories provider in HES warehouses. She underscored the organization’s “logistics” capabilities and quick response time with product delivery in no more than two days. “This is one of the first steps to make Monster strong again in that market,” she said. “We want to be true to our roots.” In the beginning, products will be those sold in other channels, but products exclusive to the HES channel could arise out of the partnership down the road, she said. There will be no minimum purchase requirements, she said. The partnership will have a “soft launch” in August and will officially roll out at CEDIA, she said, where Monster will hold a cocktail reception, hold training classes and offer promotional buy-ins, including “additional incentives for volume purchases.”

PRO Group dealers will also be able to participate in the program, Ghazarian said. Regarding the Home Theater Specialists of America buying group, Ghazarian said, “HTSA changed direction in how they wanted to support us.” Although Monster isn’t part of HTSA any longer, “that doesn’t mean we don’t support dealers who are part of that group,” she said.

Lee announced an initiative called the Power of Four sponsored by D-Tools, Lutron, Speakercraft and Monster. The four session series to “vitalize and stir up the pot in the installation market,” is designed to give independents and integrators business ideas to help them through the current challenging market, he said. Sessions will be held in July in Dallas, Long Beach, Calif., Teaneck, N.J. and Miami, he said.

Also as part of the commitment to independent dealers, Monster is sponsoring Earth, Wind & Fire events coinciding with the band’s summer in towns where the company has specialty dealers, Lee told us. The company has sponsored “meet-and-greet” events to help generate business for specialty retailers including Bjorn’s in San Antonio. “Driving business for this channel is very important,” Lee said.

Lee took the wraps off a $229 in-ear headphone set for the specialty channel. The Gratitude model, in rose gold finish, will have a $199 street price, he said. In commemoration of the late Miles Davis’s 85th birthday, the company is also launching an in-ear headphone called Golden Trumpet that’s part of a bundle including a CD of Davis’s “Sketches of Spain” remastered in Monster High-Definition Surround. The $329 package is due in stores in August, Lee said. Monster also announced a new series of headphones for athletes called iSport. Offering noise isolation, the first model, dubbed Immersion, will be available for $179 and is washable, Lee said. He followed the claim with a dunking demo on stage.

Monster’s headphone push is paying off, with the company now owning more than 50 percent of the market, Lee said. “We really did change the headphone game,” he said. Citing NPD data from December through last month, Lee said, “Of all headphones sold over $100, all the other brands together don’t add up to what Monster does.” He added, “We've only just begun,” and said “the revolution” will continue for the company in 2012 with a “whole host of new products."

Addressing “declining ASPs” in the HDMI cable market, Lee said the company is lowering the entry price to HDMI with a $29 cable “to give consumers a choice.” He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the high end of the market noting that it is the only company verified by Simplay Labs to have a cable rated above 10.2 gigabits per second and the only one with a cable capable of 21 gigabits per second data rate. He noted there’s “no reason to have 21 gigabits per second speeds today,” but said consumers who purchase the cable will be able to handle future video applications including 4K x 2K, 4K x 2K 3D and “the next Blu-ray.”