Klipsch fine-tunes product development and distribution with Dropbox
Published on August 08, 2017
There’s sound, and then there’s… sound.
Klipsch® makes speakers and headphones that deliver the latter.
Paul W. Klipsch founded the company in 1946, and his legacy lives on among audiophiles and people who aren’t satisfied with standard TV speakers or headphones that come with your phone. Using patented horn loaded technology, Klipsch delivers high-clarity, low-distortion audio for their customers’ favorite music and entertainment. And Dropbox is key to ensuring Klipsch’s teams stay in rhythm.
It all started in a tin shed in Hope, Arkansas, where Paul Klipsch designed and hand-built his revolutionary speakers. Now headquartered in Indianapolis, the company uses the latest acoustic and technological advancements in their products and the way they market them around the world.
Crafting an extraordinary product
The product development process at Klipsch is thorough. Designers mock up sketches and renderings incorporating the newest premium materials—like titanium tweeters and cerametallic woofers—while also making sure fans are getting what they love and expect from the brand. The headphone team is continually improving upon their patented oval ear tips to make sure their options fit comfortably into any ear canal. “Our attention to detail is our competitive advantage,” Vlad Grodzinskiy, Senior Manager of Product Development, says.
These designs are modified in real time in Dropbox. They’re then shared with senior executives and customer-facing teams, before eventually making it to production. This approval process runs the gamut from technical quality assurance to business considerations: testing dynamic volume ranges, projecting sales by region, and anticipating manufacturing challenges.
“We have 250 employees, which is small for a company with our consumer footprint,” Grodzinskiy says. “Our size makes it easier to collaborate with many teams, and Dropbox lets us share, gather feedback, and iterate even faster. We consider ourselves a 70-year-old startup.”
Amplifying the message
Klipsch sells their products through retailers (Amazon, Best Buy, etc.) and a global sales team. To ensure every partner has the latest marketing materials, Klipsch uses public Dropbox links. They set up custom landing pages that re-direct sellers to a Dropbox folder, with assets neatly organized by model. Material ranges from spec sheets to instruction manuals to high-resolution product photos.
Partners can also find tactical collateral like buyers’ guides, promotional event calendars, and product roadmaps. This method especially comes in handy for salespeople on the road, who can either use the Dropbox mobile app or visit the site directly. “We noticed what really gave us a leg up on the competition wasn’t necessarily the amount of content we had, but we had the easiest way for people to access it all,” says Grodzinskiy. “With Dropbox, our sellers know our marketing materials are always up-to-date, and the interface makes it easy to navigate.”
Despite having an impressive history, Klipsch is always looking forward. “Our CEO is very open-minded,” Grodzinskiy says. “He’ll say, ‘If there’s a better way to do something, there’s no reason not to try it.’”
To learn more about how Dropbox can help your design, marketing, and sales teams, visit dropbox.com/business.
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