Phelonious Ponk
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Is JBL going out if business?
- Thread starter Phelonious Ponk
- Start date
Try as they might I don't think they are shutting up shop.
It's probably the worse managed brand in history though so I'd expect further profound changes to happen after Harman was acquired by Samsung a while back .
It's probably the worse managed brand in history though so I'd expect further profound changes to happen after Harman was acquired by Samsung a while back .
OP
Phelonious Ponk
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You're clearly not a student of brand management.
Well, if I were to ask a freind what JBL ment to them they would say "cheap hifi and portable speakers" if I was to ask a studio engineer what JBL ment to them they would likely say something very different and if I were to ask a Japanese hifi enthusiast etc etc
There are no consistent brand values or indeed any type of purposeful coherent identity.
What's a brand ment to do?
It's ment to carry a value, it's got be be consistent else the name will damage the product. That's what happens with JBL , the high end stuff is tainted by the lower end reputation it has. That's in the domestic landscape.
It's like having McDonald's open a Michelin star restaurant, they might indeed do that but they won't call it McDonalds and put a yellow M outside.
Unless they are trying to add value to the chain by linking the name to high end cuisine , unlikely though.
Getting back to JBL their hifi business is not enhanced by sharing a name with its more basic lines and nor is their basic lines enhanced by the hifi reputation.. possibly the studio side having a good reputation benefits them.
So a unnecessarily confused and incoherent brand strategy.
For good brand management look at the European automobile industry.
You won't find Porsche scrapping the name in favour of VW ..
Fiat won't scrap Ferrari and put fiat on a their latest model ..
JBL make Skodas , they make VW's and they make Ferrari's but they are all called JBL and suffer accordingly.
They do have strong name recognition.. most folks have heard of JBL in some capacity.
I could go on and talk about the fractured distribution network, the hideous management they have in foreign territories like the uk.. all effects the brand value.
That mostly relates to customer mindset and product perception ( there's other elements obviously, like the distribution I briefly mentioned ) But I'm not a student of brand management so I would not know anything about them .
Last edited:
OP
Phelonious Ponk
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Oh. Don't get me wrong, it's bad, but having spent most of my career in brand development, I've seen worse. What JBL has, whether they're aware of it or not, is a very poorly-executed master brand strategy, in which the well-recognized master is meant to lend gravitas to the sub brands. The problems, superficially, are that they have almost completely different target markets for pro audio, consumer audio and automotive (whose customer is automobile manufacturers), and that they have utterly failed at leveraging the strategy. A good ad team could make a case for the excellence of the pro line trickling down; I think the case is there, actually. But they haven't made it.
The author was lamenting yet another loss of a legendary US company to a foreign power, same as I did in an earlier thread. 
Very sad that the situation exists where so many companies that built honored and respected name recognition have been gobbled up by those wishing to align themself to that greatness without having to first put forth the effort, Just buy it.
Hannibal Lecter: No! He covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer now.
Clarice Starling: No. We just...
Hannibal Lecter: No. We begin by coveting what we see every day
Very sad that the situation exists where so many companies that built honored and respected name recognition have been gobbled up by those wishing to align themself to that greatness without having to first put forth the effort, Just buy it.
Hannibal Lecter: No! He covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer now.
Clarice Starling: No. We just...
Hannibal Lecter: No. We begin by coveting what we see every day
That is just sour grapes from Greg Timbers. He was let go because he did not want to enter the modern era of acoustics. One that is dominated by proper research, controlled listening tests, etc. He kept kicking and screaming and eventually folks are let go who don't adopt change. You don't keep building CD players in the age of digital music distribution.
New, highly talented people have taken his work as evidenced by the superb work/performance of JBL M2 and alike (note: my company carries their products).
JBL is a very strong brand and I see nothing impacting it.
New, highly talented people have taken his work as evidenced by the superb work/performance of JBL M2 and alike (note: my company carries their products).
JBL is a very strong brand and I see nothing impacting it.
dallasjustice
Major Contributor
Out with the Greg, in with the Alexander. It's as simple as that, IMO.
http://www.jblpro.com/press/nov08/JBL_Voishvillo.html
http://www.jblpro.com/press/nov08/JBL_Voishvillo.html
The designs as far as I know are move forward looking and represent genuine progress .
I don't see it as a strong brand though beyond having name recognition, a established recognised R&D department and being bank rolled by Harman ( possibly not as bad as I thought in those terms at least )
Do strong brands announce a product launch as being weeks away but then have 4 months delay?
We call that a Shambles in the uk. 
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
My take is that post is from a disgruntled ex-employee (granted, an important one) on the changing of the guard.
FWIW, Timbers was not meaningfully involved in the M2 design, nor its descendants, which appear to be the new design direction.
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
In contrast Dynaudio plays in all those markets - car (~50% of sales, OEM), pro, and consumer and seems not to have suffered. Maybe it's because they don't play at the lower end of the consumer market, i.e. no <$100 Bluetooth "pill" speakers.
IINW, the main reason Samsung bought Harman in the first place is because 2/3 of their revenue came from automotive.
I am dismayed, overwhelmed by the fact that a somity of electro-acoustic physics, the great Engineer Greg Timbers, could have been fired on the one hand, and under such conditions after 43 years of life and professional loyalty for JBL. It is just shameful, absolutely inhumane rogue methods.
How can we fire such a great Engineer who gave his letters of nobility to JBL with legendary, mythical series like the 43 (consumer and professional division) or the fabulous Everest then its incredible Evolution DD66000 certainly the best acoustic cabinet of the audio industry in its class.
But who are these incompetent, these skunk, these irresponsible who have no recognition and cut the branch of the tree on which they are sitting? And, who is this "amirm" on the forum that supports them and doesn't seem to have invented hot water.
Harman was a fabulous company with prestigious brands including flagship JBL, Crown and Souncraft until Samsung came into the group's capital and turned everything upside down, suicidal attitude. A sound technician specifying the JBL, Crown and Soundcraft brands since 1977.
How can we fire such a great Engineer who gave his letters of nobility to JBL with legendary, mythical series like the 43 (consumer and professional division) or the fabulous Everest then its incredible Evolution DD66000 certainly the best acoustic cabinet of the audio industry in its class.
But who are these incompetent, these skunk, these irresponsible who have no recognition and cut the branch of the tree on which they are sitting? And, who is this "amirm" on the forum that supports them and doesn't seem to have invented hot water.
Harman was a fabulous company with prestigious brands including flagship JBL, Crown and Souncraft until Samsung came into the group's capital and turned everything upside down, suicidal attitude. A sound technician specifying the JBL, Crown and Soundcraft brands since 1977.
Humm, strange first post but welcome to ASR in any case.
I get this feeling there's a bigger story behind this post.
Identify yourself please.
Great Engineer Greg Timbers mainly worked in the high fidelity division. The JBL M2 is in the professional division, recording studios. Don't mix everything up. That being said, there are wealthy individuals, the rich, let's say it, who bought this speaker for their living room! JBL professional equipment has always had in the past versions for the general public, compared to the famous sound of unrivaled realism, hence the saying:
It is unconsciousness to say such words, you are in pain I think.
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
Timbers was let go 5 years ago.
JBL/Harman hasn't gone out of business since then, and has in fact released many new speakers, some of which are well reviewed.
As for the rest of the stuff you wrote....
wowie
No, I am in the know. You are in love with a fantasy.
I am the one who knows stuff like this:
You want to stay employed in a big company, you don't pick public fights like this.
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