KICKER home audio proposal by Carolyn Siska

Livin’ Loud

By: Matt Fletcher                    &          Carolyn Siska

  “To be the most innovative and

respected car audio company in the  world.”



In the beginning:

  The ﬁrm began in 1973 as a two‐person

operation, hand‐building professional  sound speaker systems.    In 1980, KICKER invented the high‐ performance stereo enclosure market when  company founder and president Steve Irby  developed the Original KICKER – the ﬁrst  full‐range speaker box designed speciﬁcally  for automotive use.  

Today:

  KICKER products are currently sold by

approximately 1,500 authorized dealers in  the United States.

▪  These locations are served by 15 manufacturers'  representative ﬁrms.

  Export sales serve over 2,000 dealers in

approximately 50 countries worldwide.



KICKER is a performance audio company that  specializes in car, home and marine audio.      Their car audio products range from  subwoofers, ampliﬁers and sub boxes.  With a price range starting around$200.  Most of their car audio products can be  bought through an authorized dealer.

   Their home audio category  provides the widest range of  products, including speaker docks  and earbuds. The price range of  these products falls between $20 ‐  $300.

   The last category is the marine audio  systems and includes products such as  the KM Tower Systems and the KM10  Sub. These products can be bought  from an authorized dealer.

  Product Distribution    KICKER is a worldwide corporation that

has dealer locations all over the United  States and is a recognized brand  worldwide.    There is an easy to ﬁnd dealer location  application on the KICKER website.     KICKER uses many extreme sports  athletes such as Ryan Sheckler –  professional skateboarder and Chanelle  Slandics – professional snowboarder to  promote their product and increase  brand awareness.    KICKER also sponsors events such as  Surﬁng American and the PacSun USA  Surf Team.



Skullcandy

  “Skullcandy makes the sickest headphones, earbuds, and

iPod docks, and guarantees it with a lifetime warranty.”    Price Range:   ▪  Ear buds: $19 ‐ $299



BOSE

  “Better sound through research”    Price Range: $99 ‐ $349  ▪  iPod Speakers: $299 ‐ $599  ▪  Ear buds: $99 ‐ $179  ▪  Full Range Speakers: $250 ‐$404



Logitech

  “Ultimate Ears. Listen like the pros.”    Price Range:  ▪  iPod speakers: $59 ‐ $149  ▪  Ear buds: $39 ‐ $419



iHome

  “Live Life Loud”    Price Range :

▪  iPod speakers: $24 ‐ $299  ▪  Ear buds: $19 ‐ $59  ▪  Full Range speakers: $149 ‐ $1199



Strengths

  Several diﬀerent sized ear buds to ﬁt ears of all

shapes and sizes.     Large variety of diﬀerent products to choose from –  car, home, and marine audio.     All customer service is directed back to the  Stillwater headquarters.



Weaknesses

  Not located in major electronic distribution centers

or stores in the US.     Catalog doesn’t have prices associated with each  individual product.



Opportunities

  Have the opportunity to become more well‐known

because it is not the ﬁrst product that comes to  mind for consumers.     Great product that has better audio then any other  product on the market.



Threats

  More expensive then similar products.    Hard to test an earbud audio product without

having to change the ear piece for each consumer.

Primary: 13‐30 yr. olds                    Males

Secondary: 18‐ 30 yr. olds

Females



Demographics           



Age: 13‐ 30 year olds  Sex: male and female   Race: predominantly white  Marital Status: single   Education: high school or some college

Psychographics

  Their occupation of choice is related to all ﬁelds of study.    Many are students who have an interest in extreme sports.

Primary: 13‐30 yr. olds                    Males

Secondary: 18‐ 30 yr. olds

Females



Demographics      Age: 13‐30 year olds    Sex: male and female     Race: predominantly white    Marital Status: single     Education: college or graduate programs  Psychographics (MRI+)    Their occupation of choice is business related with an average  household income of $125,000.  ▪  Many commute to a larger metropolitan city during the  weekday.     Many have children who are around 6 years of age.

Take oﬀ the suit.   Put down the books.   Need a break?   Kick back with KICKER.

Tagline: “Kick back with KICKER.”



KickbackwithKICKER.com will be a  micro‐site where consumers can go to  get the latest news of and events that  are going on at KICKER, new and  upcoming events, promotions, or new  products that are in the works.    This micro‐site will also used to allow

consumers to post videos of them using  their KICKER product and showcase their  favorite things about them.



One promotion that will be posted on  the micro‐site will be consumer created  videos about their “double lives” and  how they kick back with KICKER.    Winners will be picked each week.     Year long contest with prizes varying each

week from installation, products, discounts,  etc.



KICKER will activate Bluetooth proximity marketing in  select commuter trains and university student unions  within the 12 selected cities.    These areas will be designated by the KICKER Bluetooth

sticker.

   The Bluetooth blocks will be opt‐in messages, meaning           KICKER will not prompt phones with annoying “join”        messages if the phones’ Bluetooth is on when they             enter the area.     Users will see the sticker and can use their      Bluetooth to locate the KICKER signal.      Once connected, users can access the video contest       winner of the week.

Each week, a song will be available to  download from an up‐and‐coming artist  from Atlantic records via Bluetooth and/ or the micro‐site.     In turn, Atlantic Records will provide  space at concerts for a KICKER booth  and representative to demonstrate  products and sell KICKER merchandise.   



We will implement an elevator test over a 6  month period, one week on, one week oﬀ. We  have chosen 12 metropolitan cities spread out  over the United States and picked the tallest  building in each one of those cities.  Our idea is to have a KICKER sponsored  elevator that will be equipped with hidden  cameras, a competitor speaker on one side of  the elevator, and a KICKER speaker on the  adjacent side of the elevator.   Our hidden camera will record the reactions of  the riders to the change in sound. Before the  door opens to let the rider oﬀ, a short  statement will made to thank the riders for  listening to the KICKER sponsored audio ride.   Our goal of this test is to capture the reactions  of the people in the elevator and post them on  our “Kick back with KICKER” micro‐site.



Unsuspecting riders will enter the “normal looking”  elevator. Once the door closes there will be a large KICKER  sticker and  the real test will begin.   The music that will be playing in the elevator will be an  artist associated with Atlantic Records ; the music will be  playing out of the competitor speaker while the rider boards  the elevator.   The music will switch to start playing out of the KICKER  speaker once the door closes. The music will get louder to  emphasize the switch and will also be able to show the  impact the change the audio makes.     Supposed to simulate an amusement type ride to allow  the business professional to kick back for their elevator  ride.



12 cities:            

New York City  LA  Chicago  Houston  Phoenix  Philadelphia

          

Detroit  San Francisco  Denver  Charlotte  Jacksonville  Oklahoma City



12 cities and the tallest buildings in these metropolitan  cities:    New York City, New York

▪  Empire State Building – 102 ﬂoors

  LA, California

▪  US Bank Tower – 73 ﬂoors

  Chicago, Illinois

▪  Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) – 108 ﬂoors

  Houston, Texas

▪  JP Morgan Chase Tower – 75 ﬂoors

  Phoenix, Arizona

▪  Chase Tower – 40 ﬂoors

  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  ▪  Comcast Center – 58 ﬂoors

  Detroit, Michigan

▪  Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center – 73 ﬂoors

  San Francisco, California

▪  Transamerica Pyramid – 48 ﬂoors

  Denver, Colorado

▪  Republic Plaza – 56 ﬂoors

  Charlotte, North Carolina

▪  Bank of America Corporate Center – 60 ﬂoors

  Jacksonville, Florida

▪  Bank of American Tower – 42 ﬂoors

  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma   ▪  Chase Tower – 36 ﬂoors



KickbackwithKICKER.com

  This site will be used as a way to empower opinion leaders and

encourage them to be “ﬁrst‐users” of the KICKER  products and  encourage others to follow.



Bluetooth Blocks

  These areas are key places to reach our new target audiences.     Additionally, this will act as a break in the day for both the

business people on their way to work and the students taking a  break from classes.



Atlantic Records

  KICKER is all about audio, and cross‐promoting with Atlantic

Records reaches our target market on multiple fronts. Whether  in their work setting or while they’re kicking back, KICKER will  promote it’s unique audio quality and culture.



Elevator Test:

  For every 1 elevator we are assuming that there are 2 riders per

trip.     If there are 64 trips taken a day (approximately 8 trips per  hour), that amounts to about 128 people a day who will ride in  our KICKER elevator.     Since we are only doing it for the work week – which is 5 days  long – there will be approximately 640 people a week in the  elevator.    This test will run for 6 months and will cover 12 cities with a  total reach of approximately 7,680 people.