At Bose, sound is boss

MANILA, Philippines - The darkened room is awash with rich, crisp sound emanating from speakers flanking the 55-inch LED television.

At least one would think so.

With a flourish, not unlike an illusionist, the lady removes the black cloth you assume had been veiling the subwoofer, center, left, and right channels. Nothing is underneath. All the ear candy has been produced within the television that is non-descript save for the shiny brand name on its black frame. Bose.

We have just witnessed the audio power and definition of the Framingham, Massachusetts-based audio equipment company’s VideoWave III product entertainment system that combines a home theater with a built-in music system. In many ways, the product (P380,000 for the 55-inch, P320,000 for the 46-inch) exemplifies the Bose ethos.

“It should be about performance, coupled with simple and elegant looks,” says Wilson So, whose Eleksis Marketing Corp. is the licensed distributor for the famous brand’s portfolio of home and personal audio products.

Currently 10 branches strong, the local Bose network in the country is expected to wrap up by year’s end a remodeling effort that commenced in 2009 and is aimed toward a globally unified look and feel. This affords customers a consistently effective in-store experience while providing dealers with an easily reconfigurable showcase for the product range. So adds that four branches (in SM Aura, Greenbelt 5, TriNoma, and Shangri-La Mall) currently have demo theaters geared specifically to showcase Bose’s video products. Still, he invites potential customers to experience the range of Bose products for themselves at all outlets. That, So contends, is the crux of what Bose is about.

He avers that the company’s longtime motto “better sound through research” does not ring hollow, insisting: “It boils down to performance and enjoyment of music and sound. If that is important to you, then you should have a Bose product. Anything else — design, function — are very important, but they come next to your enjoyment of sound. To have a Bose product is to have the most natural-sounding system.”

The uptick in demand for iOS and Android peripherals has led to an explosion in the breadth and number of third-party brands. To make sense of the bewildering array of choices, So maintains that the proof is in the pudding. “I know of all my competitors,” he says. “Some are cool; some are low-priced. For Bose, the difference is really in the sound.”

So cautions that price or prestige is no guarantee of quality — another reason he is confident about inviting people to try Bose products out for themselves.

Many obviously have noticed. It is a testament to the brand’s values that many churches, hotels, malls, and schools proudly display and use Bose products to elegantly solve public-address needs and the like.

While pushing the boundaries of audio technology and even form factors (Bose was a pioneer in the now flourishing iPod/iPhone docking system), Bose has also delivered where demand is biggest. So reveals that personal audio products account for a hefty 80 percent of sales volume. Under this category fall Bluetooth speakers, computer speakers, aforementioned sound docks, and, of course, headphones (both passive and noise-cancelling). At the head of the list is the extremely popular SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker (P13,000). So is particularly excited about the new QuietComfort 20 and 20i Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones (P18,000) — packed with features, and can even be used as a passive pair when the rechargeable battery runs out of juice.

The Eleksis president says that people’s “enjoyment of music has changed” over the years. They would rather listen to music or watch video on their mobile devices (cellphones and tablets) than the living-room television or stereo system. “Home theater will never go away, but there will be more people listening to music personally,” he predicts, and later admits that his entire CD collection of over a thousand albums “has been in a box for six years.”

So reveals that Bose is extremely confident of its products’ quality that it backs them up with an international warranty — five years on speakers, a year on electronics. It’s an intrinsic part of the brand promise of delivering superb customer experience that begins by simplifying rather than complicating life.

For instance, So insists that Bose never subscribed to the old marketing tack of highlighting ever increasing wattage ratings (or peak music power output). “Bose deliberately does not even publish the wattage or power ratings of its speaker products,” he shares. “We believe that for an average person, the numbers don’t mean anything. It has no relevance.”

What Bose instead works on is customer support in terms of helping them choose the right product for the right application or even room size. Even Bose’s uncomplicated remotes reflect this way of thinking. Again, it’s about simplicity and the almighty sound — everything else is a pleasant bonus.

“Wouldn’t you rather be enjoying the music, rather than worrying about how to work it?” he declares.

That’s a, well, sound observation.

Visit www.eleksis.com for more details.