News

The Clarity Alliance Launches with a New Vision for the Hi-Fi and Home Cinema Industry in the UK (12/7/2012)

On Wednesday 11th July 2012 The Clarity Alliance launches as the new trade association for the UK’s hi-fi and home cinema industry, with the primary purpose of promoting the benefits of quality home entertainment to new consumers.

By bringing together the best of the UK’s industry in the form of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, the media and PR/marketing consultants, Clarity will pool the creative resources of its members to further the common aims of getting more people interested in good quality home entertainment. It will do this through a series of high profile communications campaigns aimed at consumers who are currently unaware either of the benefits of the industry’s products, or indeed its existence.

The campaigns will focus on subjects easily identifiable by consumers and will be designed to make them think about the possibilities of improving their enjoyment of music and movies in the home. The first campaign will focus on the sound quality from the latest TVs, which is getting poorer the thinner the screen becomes and, perversely, the better the picture gets. Its call to action will direct consumers to a campaign website from where they can find their nearest high street audio expert.

Membership of Clarity will confer equal status on all members, with no differentiation by type or size of organisation. Each member will have one vote on constitutional matters and elections for the management board, for which all will also be entitled to stand.

The Alliance will run a series of training programmes for its members and also for non-members, which will provide training in subjects useful to the running of their businesses. Initial training will include: two and multi-channel system set up and demonstration, sales techniques, effective marketing strategies, networking and computer audio.

Further short courses will be developed which will be delivered in-store after hours which will focus on specific areas such as turntable setup, CD ripping and getting the best from iTunes and subwoofer placement. Participation in the training courses will enable individual members to progress through different membership levels, from: Member of The Clarity Alliance, to Licentiate of, Associate of and finally Fellow of The Clarity Alliance. The continual professional development training is intended to confer a recognised industry qualification and be seen as an aspirational career progression programme.

Clarity will also provide a range of useful business benefits designed to help the members both professionally and personally, whether a single outlet retailer or multi-national manufacturing company. Benefits will include business information and advice, resources, specially negotiated discounts on products and services, news and technology updates and regional events.

The launch of Clarity has come as a result of the Project Grass initiative, which was setup by retail association, BADA, in the wake of discussions held with its members and industry wide surveys. The project’s objective was to gain a thorough understanding of what the industry as a whole wants from a trade association and to devise a new structure that fulfils the objective and is relevant for the hi-fi and home cinema industry of today and tomorrow. As of 11th July BADA, the British Audio-Visual Dealers Association, will cease to exist and all its existing members will be transferred over to Clarity.

Aiming to be much larger and better resourced than any of its predecessors; membership is open to any business within the UK AV industry that is committed to a positive future and happy to actively work with Clarity.

Speaking just before the launch event, Alan Sircom, chairman of the Clarity steering committee said, “It is with sincere thanks for the hard work put in by the volunteers who worked on Project Grass for the last 18 months that we now find ourselves in the situation where Clarity is ready to launch.” He continued, “We are clear as to what it is that the industry wants us to do – that is to help get more people going into more stores so that they can experience just what drives our collective passion. Our promotional campaigns will do just that, but in order to work effectively we need the combined creativity and resources of the whole industry. I would urge all people in this fantastic industry of ours to join the Alliance and work together to secure our future.”

The Clarity Alliance board at launch will be made up of: Roger Batchelor (Roger Batchelor Associates), Simon Byles (Infidelity), Geoff Coleman (Acoustica), Vernon Hamblin (Unilet), Chris Henry (Overture), Geoff Mathews (Soundcraft Hi-Fi), Geoff Meads (Presto AV), Terry Murphy (Greenbridge PR), Rachael Prasher (What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision), Miles Roberts (PMC) and Alan Sircom (Hi-Fi+).

www.clarityalliance.co.uk