2016 has seen the Roland Corporation dive into the accessories market with new lines being fielded by both the Roland and BOSS brands. MMR recently spoke with the company’s general manager of global accessories, Niko Spanos, about what was behind the move into the wide world of cables, picks, straps, and more, as well as Roland’s plans for the future in this area.
Roland and BOSS introduced quite a few accessories – Roland at NAMM in January and, more recently, BOSS at Musikmesse. Can you talk about the company’s entry into this market segment?
Ultimately, our customers were the catalyst for the new accessory line. They had been asking for these items to complement our products for some time, and we really wanted the overall customer experience to be the best it could be by creating a complete solution. So the inspiration for our new accessories was really born from the idea of enhancing the experience of our core products.
Was there any trepidation going into a part of the market which may seem to some to already be well served, with a number of well known and respected makers of stands, bags, cables, straps, and the like already established?
No trepidation at all, really, because Roland and BOSS themselves are well known and respected brands that have a proven track record. We just knew we had to create high quality products with unique feature sets, be competitively priced and complement our core products. It required a lot of homework but in the end, the customers know our reputation. We’re carefully weighing the benefits versus any possible barriers in the marketplace for each new accessory product, and if it doesn’t pass the test, we won’t launch it. We’re also enhancing our “lifestyle” accessories in the form of new t-shirts and barstools, which are getting a lot of attention!
Both BOSS and Roland are now offering cables. Aside from branding, are there significant differences between the two?
The main difference is that they are designed for different applications and have different recipes internally to achieve this. Our Roland cable line is engineered more for the studio and uses a low capacitance design to ensure high fidelity reproduction and wide spectral range. The BOSS cable is more of a live performance cable that caters to guitar and bass players and is super quiet and really durable. Of course both have lifetime guarantees and are available in a multitude of sizes and configurations.
So far, what accessories are selling best for both Roland and BOSS?
Most every Roland dealer is supporting our new accessory line to some degree, and we have been extremely pleased with our cable lines and the support they have received already. They both have won some awards since we launched at NAMM 2016 and received high praise from many of the professionals we work with. We did extensive research on them to make sure we were filling a need and understood the market. We fine-tuned the pricing and features to be extremely competitive, and made sure our retail partners would support this project in every way.
Will either – or both – of the new lines be expanding in the near future? Any product introductions on the horizon?
Our accessory products were designed to support the core products Roland and BOSS bring to market, so our plan is to also expand the accessories line in a way that complements new core products that are brought to market as well.
What’s your assessment of the overall accessory market at this point in time and what are your expectations for the remainder of 2016?
The accessory market continues to be healthy as it remains the simplest and least expensive way for musicians to enhance their rig. It is one of the most recession-proof areas in MI. It can also bring in a large percentage of your profit! So there is no reason to stop expanding the accessory market, in my opinion.
