Pioneer Car Radio For Sale
Brandi Wendelberger
Consumer Electronics: Increased market share to #1 (26%) in 2 years. Responsible for all trade and consumer communications, Ad, PR, Design, Promotions, Newsletters, Collateral, Trade shows) for the #1 consumer electronics (audio & business products) manufacturer. Won major creative/promotion awards. First to develop and sponsor network television specials for the industry. Negotiated contracts & endorsements. Worked hand in hand with multi-level distribution channels. Implemented sales and merchandising programs with channel/retail and direct sales force.
In 1975, 36 years before I was to become a full professor at San Jose State University, I was fortunate enough to have been a part of an exciting, historical growth period in the development of advertising and promotional campaigns for car audio manufacturers. At the time, automobile companies gave the consumer only a basic radio in the car and not much more. This opened the door for a high-end after-market of expertly or DIY-installed, customized, in-dash AM/FM car stereos and speakers. Marketing these highly prized products was fun, challenging, creative, and very rewarding.
Because the economy was doing well, America was mobile, and guys believed that a great sound system equaled a better sex life, young people had the money and the incentive to own their own car and upgrade the audio experience. One of the main reasons was FM rock stations where the deejays were the main purveyors of music that could be really heard. Their music became your music. With a top-end AM/FM car stereo, you could cruise around listening to your favorite radio stations in crisp, clean FM stereo.
I worked first on the client side of the advertising and promotion business when I was employed by the #1 car audio company in a division that oversaw the final products and took them to market. We had to understand who the consumer was what was happening on the streets as well as the coming trends in radio, music, and technology. After that, I switched to the advertising agency side and worked with other car audio manufacturers to get their new brands to the consumer. One of my favorite perks was that I had some of the first roll-outs of these new units in my cars, so I could show them off and get a personal experience with the products at the consumer level.
Some advertising campaigns tied everything together with actual musicians like Billy Preston, known as one of the few side players ever to be given credit on a Beatles album as well as a hitmaker in own right. These print ads ran in the kinds of magazines where consumers might look to get the latest in technology and other things that would fit their lifestyle.
As sales increased profits, companies continued to thrive, many enlarged their advertising budgets and pushed for bolder, more stylish promotions each year. Print and radio were the dominant and most cost-effective way to reach the premium car audio customer media, but some mainstream brands turned to television as the MTV cultural phenomenon took off.
And of course, cars were usually involved, in some cases the more exotic the better! At one point this company actually gave away a Lamborghini in a national sweepstakes. The advertising became a form of art and sometimes posters were also given to consumers for a nominal cost or if you visited a retailer to check it all out. I know for a fact that over 5000 posters were hung in bedrooms across America.
As the premium car radio culture grew, so did other mobile dashboard entertainments such as citizen band radios (CBs) that allowed motorists to talk to each other, scanners to follow police and fire news, and finally this unique thing called a car phone that the reader may have heard of. All these products were also scaled to fit in the car along with the radio, yet in some cases, we were back to mounting them on the hump or center console of the car.
As part of my job, I was one of the first to have a mobile phone system in my car. Not only did it take up the whole center console with the necessary electronics, it also took up half my trunk. They were so new, so big, hard to hold, and rare that I really did not know anyone else who had one that I could call! And yes, many years later they became what we know today as the small mobile phone that does not need the car for power or mobility.