Runco making it to CEDIA after all
The CEDIA picture for Runco is finallyclear, and we're thankful it's good news for the longstanding high end marque and CEDIA founder. Runco will indeed be at the CEDIA show next month, with more than a dozen new products in the company's booth and two dealer training rooms in play as well. Even though we can only dream of affording Runco gear, it's good to see it will be at the show -- given the nature of its product line, CEDIA really is the best fit. Apparently, the company agrees, and is tailoring its booth activities to address dealer needs. Full PR after the break.
August 4, 2009 – Runco today announced its plans to launch more than a dozen new products and provide multiple presentations and demo venues at CEDIA EXPO 2009, September 9-13. Runco's plan includes a booth on the show floor (Booth 3069), as well as daily training sessions in rooms C-301 and C-302 inside the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.
"Runco is a founding member of CEDIA and we will be at EXPO in a big way," says Gerry Perkel, Planar president and CEO, general manager for Runco. "There have been many rumors, misinformation and speculation about what Runco plans to do at EXPO so we want to make it abundantly clear that we will be there with an arsenal of new products. These new products, combined with our recent flat-panel announcements, are providing an improved roadmap across the board. We have made strategic investments in engineering and design and will proudly launch and demonstrate over a dozen new Runco products including new technology that will once again put Runco at the forefront of innovation for home theater."
Since last year's CEDIA EXPO, Runco has focused its efforts and made significant investments in successful dealer-centric programs and promotions. "Our goal has been to be laser-focused on our dealers when making decisions about where to invest and focus resources, and the resulting programs have helped our dealers create incremental revenue during challenging economic conditions," said Bob Hana, Runco's vice president of sales and marketing. "Our CEDIA EXPO plans will continue to be linked directly to our dealer's feedback, namely to bring some exciting, differentiated products to the channel and provide time and space for each Runco dealer to be trained effectively. As a result, we will have both a booth on the show floor and two large training rooms, as has been our practice for many years."
Runco's booth will be slightly different than in past years. Instead of incorporating multiple partners over a large footprint, the booth will focus on serving Runco's dealers. Runco's booth on the show floor will be a dealer-exclusive Runco Dealer Red Carpet Lounge, a meeting space oasis that will offer face time with Runco's sales team, tech support, marketing and inside staff, who will take dealers through the new products, programs and services in detail and help each customize Runco's offering to their dealership.
"CEDIA is an important partner for Runco," said Pippa Edelen, Runco's worldwide director of marketing. "Together we have created a plan in direct response to our dealers' feedback. We have realigned resources, invested heavily in our new products, and have dedicated significant training space so our Runco dealers, who represent the absolute pinnacle in the custom industry, will have a front-row seat to see the proof of that realigned focus. We are confident that this plan will help them achieve immediate sales, and that each of our dealers will leave CEDIA EXPO amped to be part of Team Runco."
