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PowerLines by Linnea Brush
October 19, 1998
Distributing the Wealth
Power Channels: Batteries and Portable Power, Switch-Mode Power, Automotive Electronics, Power Quality Protection, Renewable Energy, Communications Power, Motion Control, Power Components
What makes one power supply company stick in your mind more than another? If I said, "Name five power supply companies," who would you think of? Share of mind is becoming as important as service, product offerings and supplier capabilities as far as customer perceptions are concerned. A case in point is Artesyn Technologies, which didn't exist before this year.
Artesyn was faced with the monumental task of making their name at least as well-known as Computer Products, with no history whatsoever. Have they been successful? According to the results of the Darnell Group's annual "Power Supply Customer Perceptions Benchmarking" service, Artesyn was tied with Astec and Vicor as the third most-cited vendor of ac/dc power supplies and dc/dc converters. If you add the citations for Computer Products and Zytec (the two companies that merged to form Artesyn), Artesyn moves into a strong third position, leaving Astec and Vicor tied for fourth position.
One of Artesyn's competitors said that the reason Artesyn scored so high was because of all the money they've pumped into advertising. The implication is that not all companies have Artesyn's advertising budget. But is that really the reason? I think there's more to it than that.
If advertising was the primary factor driving share of mind, then the company who scored highest on the benchmarking service would probably be doing the most advertising. Who was that company? Power-One. Personally, I do not see Power-One doing any more advertising than, say, Astec. Something else is getting Power-One's name out to customers - something that might be even more effective than straight advertising: distribution channels.
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We would like to hear your comments on the topics discussed in this column. We welcome the opportunity to publish opposing opinions. Please email Jeff Shepard at jshepard@darnell.com.
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