SCN: What is your position, and what does it entail? What are your responsibilities?
MEGHAN KENNELLY: My role as director of global marketing and communications is to share information about Yamaha Unified Communications products and services to the channel and end users. From overall company branding to product positioning, I help create messaging and strategies that clearly dictate the value and benefits our solutions bring. Together with my team, I create programs and tools to grow Yamaha UC and engage our network of partners.
SCN: How long have you been in this position?
MK: I’ve been at Yamaha Unified Communications just under five years. I started as a marketing and communications manager and grew into my current role as director of global marketing and communications.
SCN: How has your background prepared you for your role?
MK: Having moved through multiple positions in the marketing department at Yamaha UC, I’ve been able to get a great view of the department and overall business. It has helped me see firsthand the tasks that go into the day-to-day operations and has contributed to me becoming the leader I am today.
SCN: What are your short- and long-term goals?
MK: Personally, my short-term goal is to complete my master’s degree in digital marketing, which I hope to accomplish by the end of the year. Long-term, I’d love to continue to learn and grow within marketing, maintaining leadership roles that help develop those under me.
At Yamaha UC, my short-term goals are to continue to grow awareness of our ADECIA line. My long-term goals are to get to a place where our UC line of business is just as popular as the music and motor lines.
SCN: What is the greatest challenge you face?
MK: A challenge we face is increasing awareness of Yamaha UC in the unified communications space. While we are a well known brand for our larger lines, not many people know that we are in the UC space—and have been for quite a while. In Japan, Yamaha’s UC solutions have been around for over a decade. Our 130-year history of sound knowledge and technology is something I strive to make known, as it is a true differentiator for us. We’ve made great progress in a short time, and I hope to continue to build our profile in the market.
SCN: Where do you see the unified communications and collaboration market heading?
MK: With the pandemic forcing people to find new ways to communicate, unified communications and collaboration is now a household topic. People are seeing the benefits of it much more frequently, both in their personal lives and professional lives. Going forward, there will be greater demand for high-quality and easy-to-use devices that organizations will need to implement to allow the type of collaboration and flexibility people have become accustomed to.
Now more than ever, we must think about how people can stay connected no matter where they are—at home, in the office, abroad—and what tools are required to do so.
SCN: Are there new initiatives we are likely to see from Yamaha UC?
MK: While I can’t share the specifics, I can say that we’ll continue to evolve and grow our ADECIA audio solution line to offer additional customization options. In addition to that, we’ll continue to focus on bringing new products and technologies to the market that will aid in transitioning employees and students into new hybrid spaces.
SCN: How can systems contractors better position themselves to profit from products and/or services you have to offer?
MK: In addition to the innovative and superior sound technologies Yamaha is known for, one thing that systems contractors can count on with Yamaha is our quality. Systems contractors don’t want to gamble with products that can lead to install problems, additional on-site tech visits, or replacements. It can cost a great deal in lost revenue, time, and future opportunities. With a .001 percent manufacturer fail rate and automatic technologies (like auto tuning, auto configuration, and dynamic voice tracking) that remove variables and solve the problems that frequently lead to these errors, our solutions are a no-brainer.
Click here to read more stories from the September 2021 issue of SCN.
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