The Marketing mix of JBL analyses the 4Ps of JBL, which includes the Product, Price, Place, and Promotion of JBL. JBL is an American-origin company associated with the audio electronics industry. It was founded in 1946 by its founder, James Bullough Lansing, hence the name of JBL. The company is a subsidiary of its parent company, Harman International, and has dual independent divisions, JBL Professional and JBL Consumer. Later, it is associated with manufacturing and producing audio equipment for the consumer home market. The former offers professional cinema equipment, portable sound, tour sound, and installed sound for a studio. Some of its competitors are as follows:
- Beats
- Bose Corporation
- Sony
- Pioneer Corporation
- Philips
- Panasonic
About JBL
- Type: Consumer electronics company
- Industry: Audio
- Founded: 1946
- Founders: James Bullough Lansing
- Headquarters: Santa Monica, California, United States
- Area served: Worldwide
- Current CEO: Dennis Olive
- Number of employees: Over 13,000
- Major products: Speakers, headphones, soundbars, subwoofers, home theater systems, car audio systems, and professional audio equipment
Table of Contents
JBL Product Strategy
The primary products of JBL are loudspeakers and the electronic items associated with them. The company has partnered with brands like Motorola to bring quality audio to its smartphones and Lenovo to offer superior audio to its ultrabooks, laptops, and tablets, with TCL for tablets and ALCATEL for their smartphone. It also has tie-ups with car manufacturers like Smart, Ferrari, and Toyota to supply the best car products.
The new Product Mix of JBL in 2023 is as follows (Source).
- Wireless Category: Home Speakers: Offering high-quality sound for home entertainment; Portable Bluetooth Speakers: Designed for easy mobility and convenience; Accessories: Enhancing the user experience with additional products; Wireless Headphones: Providing a cord-free audio experience.
- Home Audio Category: Subwoofers: Delivering powerful bass for home audio systems, Wireless and Docks: Offering versatility in connectivity. Home Theatre Systems: Complete solutions for immersive home cinema experiences, Soundbars: Compact and powerful audio solutions for TVs, Loudspeakers: Traditional high-quality speakers for various uses, Computer Speakers: Explicitly designed for computer audio output.
- Headphones Category: Yurbuds Sport Headphones: Tailored for fitness and sports enthusiasts, On-Ear and Over-Ear Headphones: Covering a range of designs for personal preferences, Wireless Headphones: Combining convenience and quality, Yurbuds Enhancers and Accessories: Additional products to complement the headphone range.
- Marine and Car Category: Connected Car: Integrating audio systems into modern vehicle technology, Car Component Systems: Comprehensive audio systems for vehicles, Car Speakers: Delivering quality sound within a vehicle setting, Car Processors and Amplifiers: Enhancing car audio performance, Car Subwoofers: Providing deep bass in a car audio setup.
JBL Place Strategy
JBL is an international company with a presence in several countries. It has a widespread and robust distribution network that includes the services of distributors and corporate offices in several parts of the world. Its subdivision, JBL Professional, is one of the company’s top marketers, manufacturers, and designers and has its headquarters in Northridge, California.
JBL products can be easily obtained in places like South Africa, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and Brazil in the Americas, China, Australia, India, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and New Zealand in the Asia-Pacific region, and Austria, Norway, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in Europe and Middle eastern region. It has a website where one can easily order a product, and delivery is assured as soon as possible. JBL is served by the help of a capable workforce that includes services of more than 12,000 employees for efficient workings.
The place strategy of JBL is multifaceted and can be summarized in the following five points:
- Global Presence: JBL is an international business in many countries. It maintains a strong distribution network across continents, making its products available in regions including the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. This global reach ensures that JBL’s products are accessible to a diverse international customer base?.
- Extensive Distribution Network: The company has an extensive distribution network comprising distributors and corporate offices worldwide. This network facilitates the efficient and widespread availability of JBL products in different markets, enhancing brand accessibility and market penetration?.
- Partnerships with Major Retailers: JBL partners with a wide range of authorized dealers, including major retailers like Abc Warehouse, Best Buy, and B&H Photo, as well as specialty audio stores. This varied network of retail partners provides customers with convenient access to JBL products, catering to different shopping preferences and locations.
- Direct Online Sales Channels: Besides leveraging retail channels, JBL prioritizes direct sales through its websites, JBL.com and Harmanaudio.com. This approach allows customers to browse and purchase products directly from JBL, offering them greater control over their shopping experience and access to exclusive online deals and offers.
- Targeted Online Advertising: JBL strategically utilizes advertising on platforms like Target.com and Youtube.com to reach potential customers. This targeted advertising approach helps increase brand awareness and drives traffic toward their website and retail partners, effectively supporting online and offline sales channels.
JBL Pricing Strategy
JBL caters to consumers from both the middle section and the wealthy class with the help of its diversified product portfolio. It wants to extend its customer range so everyone can easily afford its products. Moreover, continuous innovation has helped the brand to remain ahead of its competitors. It does not want to lose this advantage and has adopted a skimming pricing strategy for new products to generate revenues as early as possible.
For established products, it has adopted a reasonable policy for some products belonging to JBL Consumer and a mid-premium policy for JBL Professional products. Its products are leaders in their respective fields, so the company has garnered good revenues from marketing and sales.
JBL’s pricing and marketing strategy is a carefully crafted approach that balances customer reach and innovation:
- Diversified Customer Focus: JBL’s product portfolio is designed to cater to both middle-class and affluent customers. This diversified approach helps extend the brand’s reach, making JBL products accessible to a broader audience.
- Innovation and Market Leadership: Continuous innovation ensures that JBL stays ahead of its competitors. This focus on innovation is critical to their pricing strategy, contributing to the brand’s strong market presence.
- Price Skimming for New Products: JBL adopts a skimming pricing strategy for new products. This approach helps generate revenue quickly by initially setting higher prices before gradually lowering them over time.
- Reasonable Pricing for Established Products: JBL maintains a reasonable pricing policy for its established products. This is particularly evident in products belonging to the JBL Consumer range.
- Premium Pricing for Professional Range: The JBL Professional products follow a mid-premium pricing policy, reflecting their leadership position in their respective fields. This strategy aligns with the high-quality and specialized nature of these products.
JBL Promotion Strategy
JBL is a recognized brand and believes in advertising to promote its products. It has launched several ad campaigns featuring ordinary people using its products, like wireless headphones at general places like cafés, on treadmills, and at work. The brand has adopted a humorous approach in ads and marketing campaigns, which an ordinary person can easily relate to, making these ads very popular. Ads are shown via television channels, in the newspaper, in magazines, and on hoardings.
JBL has identified its brand with different kinds of individuals and created a mass market for its products. The company has also roped in celebrities as its brand ambassadors. Famous Indian music director and singer A. R. Rehman has become associated with JBL to promote its brand. Paul McCartney, a famous musical legend, allied himself with JBL to create immense brand awareness.
Some Recent Video ads and Print ads for JBL are:
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