Bose: Good Technology … or Great Marketing
Posted by michael franzi on April 25th, 2011
Welcome back to The Sound Room!
This weekend I was sitting in a friend’s living room and he decided to turn on some music, as he knows that I am in the audio industry. He picked a CD of Classic Rock from the 60s & 70s, however it became obvious that what he really wanted to do was demo his new stereo system. His system of choice was a Bose “Lifestyle V” home entertainment unit that he had recently purchased.
He started to rave about how good the system sounded and how much he really appreciated the “technology” that Bose has included in this system. I was struck with an overwhelming desire to launch into a debate on the real “audio quality” and actual technology that Bose was using in the unit he had just purchased, but decided to let him continue his “one-on-one” marketing speech. For 15 minutes he moved from track to track working hard to point out the audio benefits of his Bose unit. He then went on to explain how his Bose unit surrounded and immersed his living room with good sounding audio.
I decided to explore what he would say about multi-channel audio that accompanied a movie and asked if he had listened to any surround encoded movies with his Bose system. He then switched to his cable box to find a movie that he could “use to impress me” and Terminator Salvation happened to be playing. We did not get to the even more pressing question: How does it sound with compressed iTunes type of material.
Please note that my friend does not work for Bose, is not in the audio field and is not professionally associated with audio products or services… actually, he is in finance. All said, he was a walking, talking ad campaign promoting his new Bose audio product. It was clear that he had done some research and got a serious education on Bose at a local big box retail store where he spent thousands of dollars for the system.
When he was done, I did not have the heart to tell him that in my opinion the audio quality from his Bose unit lacked any real audio punch, was not that immersive, delivered muted (at best) voice reproduction and seemed to me to simply be a bass and treble boost of the audio content. It did not matter if the audio content was stereo based classic rock-n-roll music or a recent high-definition, multi-channel movie content. It was simply not that impressive! And most importantly, based on what he said, he may have paid too much for the system. Yet….he was happy!! So I was happy for my friend as well…..sort of!
After leaving my friend’s house (yes… he is still my friend), I began to ponder how Bose was able to establish such a loyal fan and create the perceived market value of their audio reproduction systems. The reality was sitting in front of me: “Bose is a high-performance marketing machine!” They have created a market image with many consumers that their audio systems represent the latest in technology, and consumers (like my friend) are willing to pay big money for the privilege of owning a Bose audio system.
So my questions to “The Sound Room” members: At what point does marketing overwhelm technology performance in consumer electronics products? How many of you agree that Bose is more of a marketing organization than a technology innovator or leader? Do you own a Bose system? And finally…Why?
Thanks for listening!
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In audio, confirmation bias is a powerful thing. Bose stuff sounds brighter and thumpier in an A/B test but quickly gets tiring on the ears. But in a shop only the first part happens. Later on, people find the need to confirm their prior bias: I guess that’s where you came in.
Chris….Spot on! just trying to bring some honest thinking to The Sound Room!! Seems we have common ground…a good marketing company figured out that the 2 minute demo in the store is the key sales point, and bass and treble are the first pass differenciators. Reminds me of the COKE vs PEPSI challenages…where one tastes better at first because it is sweeter, but drink a can or two and it becomes too much for the taste bugs! Thanks for listening!
Disclaimer: I’m not a bose owner, not working for Bose, not in the audio industry
I’m an admirer of the Bose technology based on the demo’s that i’ve attended in NY, Bangalore (india) etc.
Could you advise, what other options we have?
Venkatesh, Agree that the initial impact of the Bose sound can be impressive. But as one responder stated, it is a strong boost of bass and treble….sound good at first, but is fiteging after a while! For less money, you can find many different audio products that deliver great sound and are reasonabily priced…. I have a number of differnt manufacturers in my hosue from iHome, to Denon to Logitech. I have found that it depends on what your use case is!! There are good products to be had..so don’t always be fooled by marketing! Use your ears and pick what sounds best to you. I say that as a marketing person…how ironic!
The itty-bitty cubes and the behind-the-sofa woofer have a high Wife Acceptance Factor. (WAF) If we were a hardware company we could discuss ways of bringing *good* audio to stylish living rooms and educating those consumers on why it’s better, how to listen and why they should care.
Keep up the good work, Michael.
–jlb
JLB…Got the WAF! That is anther point in favor of Bose being a Marketing Company! I am working with a lot of gloabl OEMs and in my conversations with them…they do seem to get the message that audio can be a powerful differenciator in the consumer market. I am looking forward to the next generation of CE devices…they just keep getting better! Thanks For listening!