About two years ago, we asked CI readers as part of our State of the Industry coverage whether presenting your AV integrator firm as “AV” was detrimental to business. More than 70 percent of those who responded said no, a number that might be even lower than expected for the time. [related]
Perhaps coincidentally in terms of the timing, that was around the same time when Barry Goldin and his Unified AV Systems management team started thinking about how the company could better position itself in the marketplace to reflect that the company is about more than AV integration.
This week, Unified AV Systems became Unified Technology Systems, a branding refresh that seems subtle but says a lot in my mind. Sure, it’s only one part of the brand that’s changing, but it’s the key piece, the part that tells the world what the company can do for them.
No longer is the company only about providing AV solutions; the name Unified Technology Systems makes it clear they provide technology solutions, from AV to IT and security.
When Advanced AV joined the New Era Technology family last year, it looked to many like it was a simple case of one company being acquired by another.
But Mike Boettcher, CEO of New Era’s West Chester, Pa., office and executive director for the company told me “the ‘AV’ moniker comes with a perception of what we do—and what we don’t do. We do a lot more than AV, and this new name reflects that.”
It’s only one part of the brand that’s changing, but it’s the key piece, the part that tells the world what the company can do for them.
What’s particularly interesting to me in this age of rebranding is when InfoComm International shocked many in the pro AV integration space last fall by becoming the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association, part of the reasoning was to emphasize “AV,” an effort association leaders said was lacking in the previous incarnations of the association.
The AVIXA brand highlights that members are in the AV space, says senior director of marketing and communications Dan Goldstein, noting it’s an acknowledgement about “taking back the AV industry.” Of course, the AVIXA acronym also highlights the importance of an AV integrator creating “exceptional experiences” for their customers.
Who’ll Follow Unified Technology Systems’ Lead?
So, there’s a lot of strategic planning and long-term thinking going on across the AV integration and technology system installation business.
While I certainly don’t expect AVI-SPL to jeopardize its lofty perch atop the industry with a brand overhaul like the one undertaken by Unified Technology Systems anytime soon, I do expect to see more of it across the industry, maybe even before the end of this year.
I find it somewhat refreshing to know there are leaders who run successful companies who are willing to make major changes to their organizations in the hope of being more successful. Of course, that’s probably why their boards of directors chose them to run the companies in the first place.
