Exertis boss Griffin reveals rationale for new AV rebrand
Distie's global AV operations rebranded under Exertis Pro AV name
Exertis pulling its global AV brands under the banner of Exertis Pro AV sends out a message to the market on the reach the distie has, according to Tim Griffin, MD of the distributor's parent company DCC Technology.
The US-based Stampede and Benelux-spanning Exertis Go Connect brands will be rebranded under the new name, while COMM-TEC - which operates in a number of European jurisdictions - and Netherlands-based Keren will come under the umbrella in 2021.
The broadliner said that as Pro AV is the largest unit within the global business, it is the "perfect place" to launch its specialist strategy and is the first in what will be a series of Exertis specialist brands that will come over the next few years.
"This rebrand is really a part of being able to communicate to the marketplace the extent and reach of the Exertis Pro AV specialism around the world," Griffin explained to CRN.
"It's very hard to do that when you're seen as a collection of businesses. Being able to leverage the Exertis brand is a crucial part of being able to communicate the value that we bring to global vendors, and indeed global resellers and customers."
Griffin added that the value proposition of the rebrand was too important to hold on in the current climate.
"I think that COVID is a reality for some time to come and this is an important value proposition that we have and couldn't wait till some indefinite point in the future," he explained.
"Our customers are live and active out there now doing projects, and we want to be the best possible partner we can be for them. Part of that is being a global partner and so telling them about that now is important."
The Exertis Pro AV brand has been around for a couple of years now, but the 2018 acquisition of Stampede accelerated the initiative, Griffin said.
Stampede Europe merged with Medium under the Exertis Pro AV brand that year, followed by the inclusion of Stampede Asia and Australia under the moniker.
"There is an evolution here and some of the businesses are further along the journey than others," stated Griffin.
"That's a function of the fact that we are always acquiring and so we will always have someone at the beginning of their journey and integration with the Exertis Pro AV brand. But we are creating a platform that allows those acquisitions to plug in faster."
Despite the ongoing disruption caused to many customers by local lockdowns and restrictions, Griffin is optimistic about the ongoing requirements for AV products.
"Society is changing and, as a consequence, the solutions that they require are changing," he noted.
"While we may have had a good business, in live events or large venue Pro AV solutions, obviously a lot of that has migrated to relatively small huddle rooms and home working.
"But we've seen retailers who have got back to work need a lot of signage and we've been doing a lot of work with restaurants as they communicate process and menu changes to their customer base.
"Our resellers are very creative, and we need to keep pace with them and help them and to, in some instances, lead them through a recovery story that enables them to do more."