Bang & Olufsen’s sub-brand receives marketing prize

Photo: Anton Greiffenberg, Global PR & Communication Manager at B&O PLAY and model photo.

They have infused a beer with music by lowering a speaker into the fermenting tank. They have made audio installations at a Danish festival, and they use skaters and young people dressed in pastel to market their portable products.
 
Five-year-old B&O PLAY has worked hard to reach a younger target group. Bang & Olufsen introduced B&O PLAY as a sub-brand in 2012. In former times, you would almost always see a Bang & Olufsen-TV in Danish homes with other design classics such as the Piet Hein super ellipse dining table, the Arne Jacobsen series 7 chair and the PH lamp. But the sub-brand started to manufacture wireless headphones and portable radios in the attempt to attract a younger audience.
 
In this week, the HBH Foundation and CBS will announce B&O PLAY as the winner of the HBH Marketing Prize 2017. Mogens Bjerre, Associate Professor at the Department of Marketing at CBS and member of the Board of the HBH Foundation, has taken part in appointing the winner:
 
”With their portable products, B&O PLAY has managed to attract a new and younger segment of the population. It is about enjoying sound while you are on the go, but also to maintain design and quality, which are the core elements of the illustrious brand B&O. Despite the higher price, B&O PLAY has been successful in creating a much-coveted product that the target group wish to buy", says Mogens Bjerre.
 
The award worth DKK 50,000 will be given to the winner on Thursday 21 September.

Read more about the award reception

Beer brewed to the beat of B&O
“We’re incredibly proud! It’s a clear recognition of our efforts,” exclaims Anton Greiffenberg, the Global PR & Communication Manager at B&O PLAY.

According to the latest quarterly report, the sale of B&O PLAY products has grown by 27 percent since last year. What was the stroke of genius behind the success? Greiffenberg highlights their focus on lifestyle and quirky partnerships as part of the explanation.

“Our goal is to be a lifestyle product, which is why our merchandise is always placed in specific surroundings, such as a landscape or urban setting. We want to inspire people beyond just showing our products.”

In order to inspire its target group B&O PLAY made sure to work with partners who hit the same segment.

“Our target group is the Millennials, represented by 20 to 40 year olds. They filter out all traditional marketing,” he explains, continuing:

“When we participated in the Heartland Festival on the island of Funen at Egeskov Castle, for example, we set up a listening station with Beoplay headphones draped from an oak tree. People could lie under its canopy, relax and enjoy a musical experience.”

Not only that, jointly with B&O PLAY, Mikkeller brewery made beer to the beat of B&O that has been dubbed BeoBrew:

“We submersed one of our speakers down into the beer during the brewing process. DJ Le Gammeltoft came up with a playlist of new young musicians.”

“The brewmaster discovered that the beer was ready two days earlier than usual. Though perhaps not a scientific fact, beer brewed to a good sound might have an impact,” suggests Greiffenberg, with a hint of a smile in his voice.  

A podcast, magazine and sound installations at the Museum of Modern Art in New York are examples of other initiatives that have boosted the visibility of B&O PLAY.  

Win DKK 50,000: Write your thesis with B&O PLAY
The prize includes the opportunity for CBS students to write their master thesis with the company and the chance to win DKK 50,000 when the best thesis is awarded next year’s Trouble Shooter Prize.

If that grabs your attention, then check out this year’s awards ceremony, where Greiffenberg will give a more detailed presentation of the thesis topics: social media strategy, customer engagement and corporate social responsibility. You will also have the opportunity to speak with the students who wrote their thesis with VELUX, last year’s HBH winner.

In short, Greiffenberg will tantalise students with an offer to work with him to give a 90-year-old brand a new iconic image. Nothing, he explains, will be business as usual.

“We’re dynamic and agile, and even though we are part of B&O, we see ourselves as a startup”, he concludes.

The application deadline to write your thesis with B&O PLAY is 27 October 2017.

Join us for the awards ceremony on Thursday 21 September 2017 from 15-17 at Dalgas Have.

About the HBH Prize
Henrik Bødtcher-Hansen, the man behind the marketing prize, founded H. Bødtcher- Hansen A/S shortly after World War II and turned HBH into a household name in electrical appliances. The HBH Prize has been awarded since 1991 to winners such as Hummel, JBS, Hi-Fi Klubben and VELUX.
 
For more information contact CBS journalist Matilde Hørmand-Pallesen