Prosound News - April 2008 - (Page 80)

viewfromthetop Delivering ‘Compelling Value’ Tim Dorwart, CEO, The Stanton Group L by Fred Goodman ike many executives in the pro audio industry, the Stanton Group’s CEO Tim Dorwart got his start as a musician playing in bands. That was followed by a stint in MI retailing and then by a few years as an independent rep. He then moved into the corporate world working for a major manufacturer in various sales, marketing and executive management roles. He joined the Stanton Group in 2005, initially to lead the sales and marketing for the KRK Systems and Cerwin-Vega! brands. “I basically grew up in this industry and have held positions that allowed me to experience how products are created, manufactured, marketed, sold and supported from just about every angle,” Dorwart acknowledges. “I have a keen appreciation for the importance and interdependency of each step in the creation and delivery of innovative products and services. Most importantly, since most of my career was focused on the sales side, I’m always thinking about the impact of our actions and deliverables on the customer. We must deliver a compelling value in all we do, otherwise, we will not be successful. I focus on this constantly.” Dorwart points out that the Stanton Group is a global company; all three of its brands (Stanton Magnetics, KRK Systems and Cerwin-Vega!) have well-established distribution and resellers in all major countries around the world. There are approximately 135 employees overall, with the corporate headquarters in Hollywood, FL. The R&D center is in Chatsworth, CA. There are sales/operational offices in Brussels, Belgium and Shanghai, China, and a cartridge and styli manufacturing facility in Riviera Beach, FL. Each of the brands has dedicated sales and marketing people, with sales people located in the regions they manage to be accessible to the customers. The back-office support is centralized to take advantage of scale and efficiencies. Dorwart stresses that they work to keep the brands separate in the marketplace and to the customers, but have the combined company size to offer services on a global basis that wouldn’t be possible if each brand operated separately. He adds, “We are a product company. We strive to create innovative and differentiated products—products that offer a compelling value to our customers. Our management style is very participative. We include all of our management in the creation and implementation of our strategies and initiatives. We proactively work to have all of our employees contribute to our objectives. We are open and communicate where we are going, why and how we are going to get there across the company. Internally, we call this ‘alignment.’ If you ask any of our employees what are the company’s key initiatives or current objectives, you should hear the same thing. Alignment doesn’t mean that everyone agrees on the direction. It means that everyone knows how we got to the answer(s) and why. This is alignment to us. We believe that the power of passionate, talented humans working toward common objectives will yield innovation.” Dorwart claims he spends most of his time with the marketing and sales groups. “Our product roadmaps, strategies and marketing programs are the key to our growth,” he asserts, “so I find myself spending a lot of time there. I also work very closely with Mike Quandt, our president and COO. Mike is focused on getting the strategies and products implemented company-wide. He and I really April 2008 complement each other as an executive team and have great teamwork. Mike gives me the time to be externally focused. I spend a lot of time in the field with our customers and partners. This is my most important area of focus.” Dorwart explains that each of Stanton’s three brands is well positioned and has market leadership positions within certain niches. He points out that the company’s focus is to grow each of the brands from a “position of strength. Each brand has opportunities for growth both within their current niches as well as new areas.” For example, KRK Systems just introduced ERGO (Enhanced Room Geometry Optimization). ERGO is a device that basically fixes room problems allowing recording engineers to create better mixes. This, Dorwart states, is an example of the brand entering a new product category. In addition, Stanton just introduced SC System, which Dorwart says is the first professional DJ controller, an entirely new category for the brand. Cerwin-Vega Pro recently launched CV Active series, the first active speaker range for the brand. “Entering these new categories is helping to pro- pel our growth globally,” he declares. “We see other opportunities to increase our market share within our current niches. We are also exploring adjacent markets for each of the brands. Our brands have a positive legacy and global reach; this creates market awareness for us and allows us to enter new markets we currently do not serve. We are extremely bullish on our growth prospects.” When asked how the company deals with competition, Dorwart responds, “Our three brands serve multiple customer types. Therefore, we have a tremendous amount of competition with which to contend. We monitor all of our major competitors. We have a great deal of respect for them and keep a close eye on their sales successes and market acceptance. We learn from them, and when and where appropriate, we will aggressively fight to grow in a segment or defend our current market positions.” He continues, “Our industry tends to have more suppliers than are needed to serve our customers. This creates a perpetual need to be extremely attentive and aggressive. It also serves to keep us uncomfortable and striving to improve—this is a healthy and necessary part of any business. We thank our competitors for helping us to be a better company.” Dorwart is quick to point out that the people who work for the Stanton Group are still the company’s greatest strength. “We have brought together a talented group of industry professionals who are passionate and aligned around our company’s strategies,” he observes. “Our people, coupled with the global reach of each of our three brands, are the most important strengths. Next, I would say it is our new products. KRK ERGO, Stanton SC System and CV Active Series have all been recently introduced and are already receiving critical acclaim. But, more important, these products significantly have been accepted by our global resellers. Product acceptance is the essential measuring metric for us and an important strength for the company.” Company: vitalstats The Stanton Group 3000 SW 42nd Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312 Phone: 954-689-7837 Fax: 954-316-1590 Web: www.stantongroup.ws 80 prosoundnews.com http://www.stantongroup.ws http://prosoundnews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Prosound News - April 2008

Prosound News - April 2008 Sound Business Contents Sound Retail Mojo’s Working at NY Noise Studio Showcase: Jungle Room Studios Software Tech Tracks Sessions Nomad Takes Root TCB at NYC’s JSM SoundScreen White Space Turning Gray Audio for Video and Broadcast Field Reports:Sony PCM-D50 Linear PCM Recorder; Holophone H4 SuperMINI Surround Microphone Sound Innovations: Earthworks Audio PianoMic System Frozen Liquid Live Sound Showcase: Jill Scott Centerstage Soundcheck Sound People View From the Top Product Spotlight Advertiser Index Company Index Classifieds Music, Etc.

Prosound News - April 2008

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