ASL Intercom appoints Dream Inc for Japan
Published: ASIA
JAPAN: ASL Intercom has arrived in the Japanese market, having appointed Dream Inc as its exclusive distributor for the country. The new relationship follows initial conversations earlier in the year at Frankfurt Pro Light & Sound, and was officially unveiled at InterBEE 2013.
Dream Inc is primarily known as a rental company within the Japanese market, boasting a 30-year legacy, though it has more recently acquired a strategically chosen small portfolio of brands for distribution. Alongside ASL Intercom, the company represents German brand Teqsas, plus its own range of loudspeakers and amplifiers. For ASL Intercom, meanwhile, the deal represents an opportunity to enter a traditionally conservative market alongside an already respected partner.
‘We met for the first time in Frankfurt – they came to our stand and were very interested,’ explained ASL sales and marketing director Susan McLohon. ‘We’ve never been represented in Japan before and we were pleased that they knew about us and wanted to do business with us. We signed the contract very recently and we are now up and running.’
Ms McLohon added: ‘Before this we weren’t thinking so much about Japan because it is a difficult market for a new brand. But with Dream Inc we have found a company who is more or less starting in the distribution field but already has a name in the market as a rental company. They are very enthusiastic about the product, so I think they’re going to do a good job. They are concentrating on these two brands and that is sometimes better than having a partner with a big portfolio.’
Dream Inc president and CEO Masanobu Noriyuki explained that part of the company’s motivation for approaching ASL was that ‘it is completely new to the Japanese market’. He added: ‘We really like the clarity of the sound that the system offers and the product is also very robust.’ Regarding Dream Inc’s plans for establishing ASL within Japan, he continued: ‘We’re mainly going to start with fixed installations and we are planning education seminars in the beginning. Also because we are a rental company we can spread the ASL name into the market.’