Quick Bio
NAME: Jonathan Pusey
COMPANY:Hosa
TITLE: Vice President, Sales and Marketing
OVERTIME: Pusey started at Hosa as one of three inside sales representatives. He then moved to marketing manager, director of sales and marketing, and then product manager.
SCN: What is your position, and what does it entail? What are your responsibilities?
Jonathan Pusey: I hold the title of vice president of sales and marketing. My responsibilities include those typically associated with that title. Rather than regurgitate its traditional job description, which is boring, I’ll add that my focus is simply to foster communication between Hosa, its customers, and its business partners. Good things come to those who communicate. For that reason I’m pleased to have been invited to participate in this interview.
SCN: How long have you been in this position?
JP: I’ve been in this position for six months, but it seems like it’s been much longer.
SCN: How has your background prepared you for this new role?
JP: I came to Hosa from record retail with experience in management, buying, and promotions. As a manager, I was responsible for motivating salespeople and negotiating contracts with venues, among many other things. As a buyer, I was responsible for product research and negotiating deals with vendors. The latter prepared me especially well, as I’ve handled the responsibilities of those with whom I now do business. I also created and implemented promotional activities.
I began at the bottom at Hosa, first as one of three inside sales representatives. We’ve since consolidated those positions into that of sales coordinator, which supports our outside sales representatives. As marketing manager, I initiated our branding and repackaging efforts and worked directly with many of our key resellers to build their Hosa business. As director of sales and marketing, I simultaneously held the de facto position of product manager, so I’ve held every position I now manage.
SCN: What are your short- and long-term goals?
JP: My short-term goal is to streamline our distribution network. Domestically, I will strengthen our relationships with resellers that buy volume consistently and shift resellers that buy piecemeal and/or only occasionally to distributors better able to serve them. The latter will particularly benefit contractors who work job to job, which our internal systems are ill-suited to serve. I will also apply our successful sales management procedures to our international markets.
Long term, we will diversify Hosa, in terms of market more so than product, by embracing our core identity as a prosumer brand. Hosa was born of the need for inexpensive connectivity products for prosumer multitrack recorders back in 1984. As more and more enthusiasts control the creation and distribution of their own creative efforts, the market will continue to evolve toward our core competency and we will fill its need for inexpensive connectivity and accessory products.
Hosa has traditionally focused on producing entry- and mid-level products for consumers who need pro-quality products but have limited budgets. Just as we are able to apply the lessons learned in developing Hosa Pro to the DJ segment for our Beatport DJ Series products, likewise we may apply our new expertise to similar products for photography, videography, Electronic News Gathering (ENG ), amateur filmmaking, and a variety of media disciplines now available to anyone with a dream.
SCN: What is the greatest challenge that you face?
JP: The greatest challenge we face as we transition Hosa from a brick-andmortar commodity to an added-value brand is price erosion on the internet. Years of selling to anyone and everyone have resulted in a proliferation of grey-market resellers in online marketplaces selling Hosa at pennies on the dollar. They threaten the very profitability of the brand we’ve worked so hard to establish and we must stop them. This goes hand-in-hand with my short-term goal above.
SCN: Where do you see your market heading?
JP: DJs are poised to reinvigorate our market just as rock stars did in the 1980s. The catch is that DJs aren’t musicians in the traditional sense. A laptop is at the core of every DJ rig, so catering to them requires more IT expertise than MI and pro audio experience. Consequently, our focus has expanded beyond our traditional resellers to embrace those equally at home in IT and conversant in the new culture. This is an exciting development that will keep nimble resellers profitable for the foreseeable future.
SCN: Are there new initiatives we are likely to see from Hosa?
JP: Hosa is a madhouse as we launch five new lines for 2012. We launched Mogan Microphones in January. If you haven’t seen it yet, you soon will. Both models are tailored for boardroom and presentation use, so I encourage SCN readers to check them out. Goby Labs, our non-connectivity brand, is MI focused, but our new Tablet Frame for iPad, Microphone Sanitizer, and Headphone Cleaner are universal products that are well-suited to multiple markets.
Hosa has teamed with Beatport, the leading brand in the electronic DJ market, on a line of co-branded cables and accessories. An extension of our successful Hosa Pro coop with Neutrik Hong Kong, the first Beatport DJ Series cables are in stores now.
Chuck Ansbacher is the managing editor of SCN.
