Honeywell Building Technologies Will Operate Through Two Distinct Channels: Amit Kaushal

The company has recently entered the pro audio consumer electronics segment in India. Electronics For You in an exclusive interaction with Amit Kaushal (AK), GM, Honeywell Building Technologies, India tries to decodes what Honeywell is looking to achieve with the launch

Amit Kaushal, in an exclusive interaction with Electronics For You sheds light on how the company is planning to compete against already established players in the Pro Audio segment. The company has recently launched three series under ProSound Audio targeting different audiences.

Amit shares, “It was crucial to enter the market with three different range of speakers, as we wanted to offer solutions for different categories through our choice product offerings.”

Though Amit refrained from sharing any figures in terms of targets, he did not hesitate from accepting the fact that Indian pro audio segment market is filled with ‘exciting players’.

Here are some more interesting excerpts from the interaction.

Que 1 – What’s the vision behind Honeywell foraying into Pro Audio Segment in India?

AK – With the launch of this category, Honeywell becomes a complete audio solutions provider with an attractive combination of products, meeting internationally recognized industry standards that ensures superior sound, appealing design, reliability and excellent performance.

An extension of the Honeywell Public Address and Voice Alarm (PAVA) solutions, known for its intelligibility and durability, Honeywell ProSound speakers will enable the company to offer solutions to new verticals like hotels, malls, multiplexes, amphitheaters, clubs, educational institutions, and auditoriums.

Honeywell Public Address and Voice Alarm (PAVA) solutions have been designed to meet the internationally recognized industry standards that ensure high reliability and excellent performance even in extreme conditions, including fire. The range is a perfect combination of appealing design, superior sound reproduction, and easy installation. Wherever sound acts as a major intermediary to spreading information, Honeywell’s speakers provide operational efficiency and a secure environment.

Que 2 – Please take us through the product line-up as?

AK – We have launched Honeywell ProSound speakers in three series:

Honeywell ProZeta – this range is capable of providing a high volume of sound in easy-to-transport and set-up models, and is suitable for DJs and travelling musicians

Honeywell ProAlpha – this range comprises of high-definition speakers ideal for touring and installation purposes, inbuilt with high-quality amplification. It comes in reliable high-quality wooden cabinets with built-in DSP for HD sound with multiple presets available for any application.

Honeywell ProZoe – this range comes with unparalleled sound quality with premium active line array technology. It is available in versatile cabinets, designed to suit indoors or outdoors requirements. The ProZoe range comes with a 32-bit DSP processor and a software to maximize the built-in DSP engine.

Que 3 – You have launched three different ranges, is there a specific strategy behind the move?

AK – It was crucial to enter the market with three different range of speakers, as we wanted to offer solutions for different categories through our choice product offerings. Our ProSound range has three distinctive features – superior engineering, exceptional Honeywell quality and the channel presence.

The Honeywell ProSound speakers are all active speakers, with built in high quality amplification. The portfolio also caters to the mass-mid segment as well as the premium segment with its high directive line arrays. Most of the products are plug and play and focuses on premium quality audio.

The Honeywell ProAlpha range is designed keeping in mind portability and easy installation requirements packed with presets for any application. Whereas, the Honeywell ProZeta range of speakers is particularly targeted towards customers looking for speakers which are easy to transport, set up and tear down. Similarly, the Honeywell ProZoe range of speakers are in-built with a 32-bit DSP processor and bi-amplified enclosures, crafted to provide an unparalleled high-quality sound experience for large gatherings.

Que 4 – When we say Pro Audio, what all sectors is Honeywell expecting sales from?

AK – With the launch of Honeywell ProSound products, we are specially looking to target verticals such as: hospitality, sports complexes, performance venues, clubs, amphitheaters, and auditoriums.

We are excited about the new range of customers these product will allow us to reach.

Que 5 – There are many established players already present in the pro audio category, how do you plan to compete against them? What will be your strategy while approaching potential consumers?

AK – It’s true that there are exciting players. At Honeywell, we pride ourselves on our customer intimacy, channel reach and quality of products that we launch. Our ProSound portfolio is receiving great response. Some of the products have already been implemented at some of the leading clubs, educational and commercial establishments in India.

We are confident that the speaker range will prove to be a premium offering for our discerning customers and its cutting-edge innovation, superior quality, uncompromising safety, and extraordinary sound performance, will resonate well with the industry. The Honeywell Building Technologies team will also give expert engineering support to our partners for large projects to ensure that it differentiates itself from competition.

Que 6 – Will Honeywell be using its existing sales network, or do you have plans to establish a new network of the Pro Audio segment in India?

AK – Honeywell Building Technologies will operate through two distinct channels in India. One, through authorised partners, where customers require high level of engineering and technical expertise and the other is the small medium business distributor channel, where plug-and-play products can be sold over the counter.

Que 7 – Which regions in India will you be targeting for driving Pro Audio sales? Will these products also be showcased at any of your experience stores?

We are looking at Pan-India distribution for the portfolio and working to identify and enroll the right partners for the business. Keeping in mind the overwhelming response we have received so far, we have started working on setting up experience zones in conjunction with our partners to experience the range first-hand.

Que 8 – What will be your marketing strategy for ProSound venture?

AK – We have a comprehensive portfolio which is going to hit our target verticals. Our marketing efforts are focused on supporting business identify the right partners and giving them a first hand experience of the range. To support this, we recently organized a Customers Meet in Delhi where we not just showcased the entire range but also used Honeywell ProSound speakers for giving an experiential to the audience present.

The entertainment for the evening was also supported by Honeywell ProSound Speakers and it was very well received. Besides this, we are also aggressively showcasing our product range at trade shows like Palm Expo and through experience zones.

Que 9 – The success of such products depends a lot on the after-sales-services offered? What approach will you be following for after-sales-services?

AK – We pride ourselves on our customer intimacy, channel reach and quality of products that we launch. We are spread across 16 cities directly with our Sales representatives and more than 45 cities through our channel partners. We are very well placed to support our customers as rarely do you get local sales, local marketing, local manufacturing and after sales service through local technical support regionally available.

Que 10- IoT in appliances and electronics is a major trend these days, have you used this technology in the Pro Audio Range OR are you planning to introduce Pro Audio Products with AI, ML or IoT embedded technologies?

AK – We do not have any plans of having AI or IoT in any of our Pro-sound products at the moment.