Zoom’s history of innovation in handheld recorders is well known to anyone who has sold or used portable machines like the H1, H2n, or H4n. Now, the company pledges continued innovation as it starts a new chapter in North America. Distributed for years by Samson, it now strikes out on its own here in the U.S. as Zoom North America.
And when Zoom Corporation (Japan) decided this year to create the new American organization, it turned to former Best Buy director Scott Hagen to fill the role of vice president of sales and strategic planning.
“Scott brings incredible experience in both retail and business collaboration,” says Zoom North America CEO Scott Goodman. “His leadership ability and strong background in consumer electronics and musical instruments are exactly the qualities we were looking for.”
Zoom North America is currently only distributing the new Zoom H6, but starting January of 2014, they will take on accountability for US distribution of all existing Zoom products.
A Powerful Launch
Hagen brings 18 years of Best Buy experience with him to the table. He started at the bottom of the corporate ladder, stocking CDs, but went on to lead buying teams in home theater, mobile electronics, digital imagining products, and musical instruments (he’s a graduate of the Recording and Music Production program at what was formerly known as Music Tech of Minneapolis). Hagen’s front line MI retailing experience predates all of that, though, having worked by day at Minneapolis’s Encore Music, a new and vintage gear shop, while playing piano around town by night.
Another skill he brings to the table from Best Buy is his experience in supporting merchants by developing tools and ideas that move products off the showroom floor, something he says he’s anxious to start doing at his new gig. “I want to take all the business elements I’ve learned so far and apply them to Zoom,” Hagen says. “This is a great opportunity.”
The new company’s launch is a big deal, perhaps even risky. But the move is fueled by a pretty powerful new product – the H6 Handy Recorder, billed as the first six-track portable recorder. Hagen says it features a revolutionary system of interchangeable input capsules and is the most advanced portable recorder yet.
“The H6’s six tracks of recording is great, and people really like the system of interchangeable input capsules that can be swapped out as easily as the lenses of a camera,” Hagen explains. “The two capsules included are stereo X/Y and Mid-Side, and then Shotgun and dual XLR/TRS combo capsules are available as options.” It records directly to SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards up to 128 gigabytes in a variety of MP3 and BWF-compliant WAV file formats, including 24-bit / 96k for the ultimate in high-definition audio. “And there’s so much more about it – we’re really enthusiastic about it and that enthusiasm spreads to anyone who handles it.”
Hagen’s relationship with Zoom started with Best Buy’s foray into musical instruments. Hagen says he noticed the consumer demand for more high quality music and audio capturing devices that were affordable and easy to use. “During my time in Digital Imaging, I also noticed a gap for consumers,” he says. “There were all of these high quality video capturing devices but they didn’t provide equally high-quality sound.”
His move to Zoom at this point is a perfect one, Hagen says. “I want to be a part of Zoom building a closer relationship with U.S. customers and dealers,” he says. “I’m looking forward to building a distribution network. I love the product, I love what it stands for, and when you think of everything Zoom has done for making and capturing music, it’s just an exciting opportunity.”
What the Future Looks Like
Zoom’s distribution in the past delivered great customer service, training, and innovation, and Hagen aims to build on that, he says. For the dealers who will handle Zoom, he outlines three things he or she can expect:
• Feedback. Zoom is going to continue building close ties to the dealers and the customers, actively gathering feedback so the company can more quickly and efficiently bring to market the products consumers want. “This will allow us to continue our product innovation on an even grander scale,” Hagen says. “Streamlining communications will allow for more success for Zoom and our affiliate partners.”
• Personal Attention. The level of customer service will be even more personal. “We’re positioning ourselves so we have a direct focus on our core dealer base, and will make sure that each dealer has whatever he or she needs to be as successful as possible.”
• Training. Having lived in retail for nearly two decades, Hagen says he’s clear on the importance of training. “Product training support will be addressed as it never has been before,” he says. “We will seek input from our dealers and create training programs that are put together intuitively.”
Related to point three are promotional ideas like the teaser video already created on YouTube (ZoomSoundLab). “That is the kind of thing that will drive customer traffic. We hope to have a high level of interaction through video to create excitement for the consumers and drive them to purchase from our dealers.”
Zoom dealers can also expect to be part of a team that works together in getting new innovations to the market.
But Hagen does speak frankly on the immediate challenges for Zoom North America. “We have to build distribution from the ground up,” he says. “But we have wonderful resources for that, and we are using them to get up and running as fast as possible. We couldn’t have a better team in place for that, and we are making progress every single day.
“I’ll tell you another challenge,” he continues. “And it’s the best challenge. You could not have a better product in the world out of the gate then the H6 to do this with. The customer feedback on it already has been phenomenal. We’ve started with a bang.”
