Kicker To Launch New Top End Line in January

Kicker said it will launch a new top end line in January with details to be revealed at the CES Show in January.

With no further hints on product, we decided to quiz Director of Marketing Kevin Campbell on how Kicker  took the top slot in car audio speakers this year, according to The NPD Group, as measured in dollars for year to date through October.

Kicker did it by moving beyond its reputation as mainly a subwoofer brand, and by giving incentives to dealers and salesmen to move component and coaxial lines, said Campbell. (The top ranking was for all speakers combined).

It also got aggressive in product and installation training, which is now year-round.

“Many people thought of us as a woofer company…a lot of folks tend to forget we’re in the broader category,” said Campbell.

The company also continues to move into power sports audio.  “I think all of us are aware we need to diversify.  The core of car audio isn’t growing.  So it makes sense to look at what’s nearby,” referring to power sports as a related category to car audio.

He expects the biggest growth for car audio to be in 4 wheel ATV and UTVs.  “The real growth potential for our industry is the quads.  Everything indicates to me that this is a category the industry can grow with,” said Campbell.

For 2015, in car audio, he said, ” We’re making an investment in in-store advertising to really step it up.  At CES we’ll introduce a series of in-store items for dealers.”