Harman Professional Institutes Direct Distribution in India

	Harman's Blake Augsburger

Underscoring its determination to support growth in the India market and serve its professional audio and systems integration communities more comprehensively, Harman Professional today announced the immediate implementation of a direct distribution model in India. The announcement follows an extensive investment by Harman Professional in India-based R&D, operations, sales, and support and -- according to Harman Professional president, Blake Augsburger -- reflects his determination to serve customers with the best products, the best programs, and the most appropriate channel strategy for that market.

"Having invested so much time and resources into developing a strong product offering for the India market, we are determined that as many potential customers as possible get access to this winning lineup," Augsburger said today. "Our distribution strategy is to act as the market dictates and, in doing so, to provide a broad array of professional customers with the best possible systems and support."

Harman's switch to direct distribution includes the opening of new regional sales offices to support audio professionals with application engineering and sales support; new service centers across the subcontinent to ensure optimal deployment and customer service; project design and application support to address increasing convergence system sophistication; and comprehensive warehousing to ensure availability of the right products in the correct region at the appropriate time. The net gain to customers in the Indian professional audio community is that Harman will be easier to work with and there will be greater availability of product and better, more expansive support.

Leading Harman Professional operations for India is David McKinney, who was recently appointed senior director, India operations for the professional division. McKinney, a 12-year veteran of Harman Professional with a demonstrated capacity to build and lead organizations in emerging markets, previously established Harman Professional's Asia regional sales office in Kuala Lumpur where he achieved significant success at establishing the organization and growing the business.