Bang & Olufsen Strategy

Word Count-1842
INTRODUCTION

Bang & Olufsen is a Danish company, which was founded in 1925 in Struer, Denmark. It is renowned for manufacturing wide and distinctive range of quality audio, video and multimedia products. The company has proved to be an epitome of success in Innovation, due to its consistency and courage to question the ordinary in search of surprising and long lasting experiences. It is one of the oldest manufacturers of home entertainment in the world and its products are seen as synonymous with good design of technology based products. Bang & Olufsen is possibly the only manufacturer that produces audio and video products under one roof, and this gives the company a huge advantage in the area of audio and video integration. The company has won innumerable design awards and its products appear in the industrial design collections of museums all over the world. It employs over 2000 staff members in research and development, manufacturing and marketing divisions,and had a turnover of   DKK 2.762 million(370 million Euro) in the financial year(2009-10). (Bang & Olufsen, 2012a, Experian, 2010)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Company's flight of growth took off soon after it started in 1925, with significant innovations and use of unusual components. Bang & Olufsen's first slogan: “B & O- the Danish hallmark of Quality”, was justified by brilliant breakthroughs in innovation of technology, which soon helped the company to build a solid reputation in the market. In 1960's , the company followed strategic reorientation that emphasized on style and design with technical quality. Its distinctive products and marketing strategies led to securing global customers in the high end and style-conscious segment.
In the seventies the company faced competition from Japanese manufacturers, which made them rethink, realise and reposition it's identity in customers minds to describe “the Company's goals and personality”.   This resulted in the...