What's New
ARCAM Radia Launch
By Dave Tovissi
Vice President and General Manager
HARMAN Luxury Audio
Earlier this year, I wrote an article about our Global Stakeholder meeting in March and the need for companies to take the time to create and execute strategic plans. As you may recall, I listed some of our strategic plans with you including the goal to successfully launch our products in a more collaborative and cohesive manner with our partners. That initiative was tested for the first time earlier this month when many of our customers and the press were invited to participate in the global launch of the next generation of ARCAM’s hi-fi products, now commonly known as the Radia Series. Before I share the spectacular marketing and commercial results of this launch, I thought it would be helpful to share the WHY, WHO, and HOW strategy that went into creating these products.
WHY?
As many of you already know, ARCAM is a brand that was born in 1976 when two Cambridge University students decided to build a passion product for their own use. Chris Evans and John Dawson, the original founders of ARCAM shared a passion for recreating musical performances with hi-fi components. At that time, the original company name used to incorporate their company was called Amplification & Recording Cambridge, which later was shortened to A&R Cambridge, and then finally shortened again to ARCAM.
In 2016, ARCAM was acquired by HARMAN to bolster our ability to innovate. The people and intellectual property of the brand were a perfect fit for our company’s growth plan. We are fortunate to have one of the original founders, John Dawson, still working with us at our engineering facility in Cambridge. His passion and curiosity for improving our products is as strong now as ever. John shares his experiences and vast knowledge with our broader team of HARMAN Luxury Audio engineers.
Over the past 47 years, we have launched some innovative audio solutions. While we remain focused on catering to our core customers, with the launch of the Radia Series we also want to expand our reach to a broader audience. To do that we felt like we needed to give our brand a makeover of sorts.
WHO?
This makeover required a fresh new look at the design of the product. That’s when we turned our attention to Huemen and the talented team of researchers and design professionals. We worked with them to better understand the way our customers and our targeted customer felt about the products, the website, and the industry we serve. We asked participants in our research what most resonated with them about the brand.
There were two common responses that came back from the research. Firstly, the brand was respected because of its British heritage. The other common statement was regarding our brilliant sound quality. With a music-first approach to everything that we build, ARCAM has become a brand that hi-fi and cinema enthusiasts desire to own.
When we asked those same participants about our industrial design, our marketing and our website, the feedback was mixed based on existing and potential customers. However, both types of customers stated that the brand’s industrial design and marketing was too technical in nature.
HOW?
With data and perceptions of the brand at hand, we turned to Jason Gokavi, our Principal Industrial Designer to create a BOLD DESIGN for our next generation of hi-fi products. Jason took the time to research design trends in the automotive, fashion, and interior design industries. He is fortunate to be married to an interior design professional who also shared her knowledge of trends in materials and colors being used in homes with him.
The research and design journey included a look toward the skies above which ultimately led Jason to the first of most recognizable design statements of the Radia Series. A true solar eclipse is an astronomical spectacle that rarely occurs and is seldom observed, especially with the naked eyes. The radia, or the bright ring around the shadow of the sun was introduced in the early rendering of the products. It led to the circular rings of color around the volume and source select encoders and other buttons on the front chassis and remote controls of our products.
With an industrial design in hand, our engineers, under the direction of Paul Neville, Director of Global Engineering, worked tirelessly to develop a new sound signature that would reflect this new design. The statement, Brilliant Sound takes on a new meaning when you see and listen to one of the amplifiers or source components. The team tested new Op amps, new DACs, and new chassis materials to determine which should be used in Radia. That time and effort was worth it as we have already received three 5-Star reviews and Product of the Year awards from WHAT HI-FI?
With the backstory now explained, you may better understand what went into the timing and the location of the Radia Launch. A successful launch requires the collaboration of global and regional experts. The Radia launch was managed globally by Tim Giblin, Director of Global Brand Strategy for HARMAN. Tim worked with our product teams, our regional sales and marketing teams across the globe to determine the scope of the launch. David Glaubke, Director, Global Corporate Communications worked with internal and external partners to ensure that we had the right balance of industry and lifestyle press in attendance. Tina Leitz, Sr. Marketing Manager for Global Brands and Dannica Brown, Marketing and Communications Lead for our Luxury Brands in the EMEA market, teamed up to create the lifestyle and product photography, video assets and the design elements of the launch party. Every detail down to the color venue selection, décor and the menu for the guests were carefully selected by them.
Global Launch - London, England 10-3-2023 6:30PM
On the evening of October 3rd, invited guests from across the globe, came to the SOHO District of London to participate in the ARCAM Radia launch. It kicked off with a keynote address featuring Jim Garrett, Paul Neville and me talking about the past, present and future of the ARCAM brand. Jim and Paul introduced the products with a sizzle reel video and provided the audience some key features or performance advantages of them.
After the keynote, guests were served specialty cocktails and food then received in our listening room by James Todd, Sr. Global Product Manager. James spoke more in depth about the performance attributes of the products and played some great demo tracks to prove his points.
Later in the evening everyone was entertained by some local musicians that represent the personalities and the music genres of our broader customer base.
Press Embargo Lifted
At the conclusion of the keynote address, there was a flurry of press releases occurring simultaneously. Because we were able to share some of our products with WHAT HI-FI? In advance of the launch, we were honored to start receiving 5-Star product reviews. The great press coverage continued throughout the evening. Our invited media guests were Live Streaming and posting comments and images of the event in real time. Also, at 7:00 PM, our global launch partners started selling and taking pre-orders for the products. This coordinated press and customer sales execution could not have happened without the collaboration and the trust of our partners.
Shanghai, China – 10-13-2023
To celebrate the launch of Radia in China, Tim Giblin and Tina Leitz worked with Bruce Ai, Director of Product Marketing for HARMAN China to coincide on the first day of the Top Audio-Video Show (TAS) held in Shanghai. It was the 30th anniversary of the show. The Radia Launch was attended by 120 invited guests of the region including 68 dealers and distributors. The keynote was presented by Steve Zhu, VP & GM of Consumer Audio – HARMAN China.
Like the launch in London the week before, the Shanghai launch party included product overviews and demos by our product and sales teams in the region.
Annular Solar Eclipse – 10-14-2023
Starting about 9:16AM in Eugene Oregon, the same skies that Jason Gokavi looked to for inspiration provided curious onlookers with the first viewing of the annular solar eclipse. Throughout the next six hours, people across the Americas we treated to this amazing performance. It’s not often that you get the Universe to help promote a product launch and have NASA televise it LIVE to viewers across the globe.
Radia Marketing Campaign
Tim Giblin shared the campaign strategy, the research behind the brand refresh and the assets that were created to support our new marketing campaign.
Watch the full keynote address at the London Launch Event in SOHO.
We look forward to hearing your feedback about our new products, the success of the launch and the marketing campaign. If you have suggestions that we should consider in future launches, please send them to me at [email protected].