Failed Marketer Goes To Arecont

JH
John Honovich
Jul 25, 2014
IPVM

This is a match made in mis-marketing heaven.

JH
John Honovich
Jul 25, 2014
IPVM

Intransa is one of the most spectacular failures in the history of video surveillance, blowing through $100+ million in funding.

Intransa Marketing

Intransa's marketing guru leader guy was Jeff Whitney who brought such cringeworthy inventions as flexi green guy and the imaginary secret sauce that made Intransa's box better than the same one purchased off the shelf.

Arecont

Now, he is joining forces with mismarketing legend Arecont Vision, becoming their VP of marketing.

Arecont is famous in their own right with wild camera replacement claims, false advertising, and their Spam, Twinkies and Arecont metric.

Arecont's Previous Marketing VP

The last Arecont marketing executive bolted to Digital Watchdog earlier this year. On his way out of Arecont, he had this to say:

"Like me, you may represent a company where the executives are afraid of what competitors or customers might say about them."

That is Arecont is a nutshell. Say crazy things, screw over customers and then blame people who call it out.

Intransa Reborn

Not only has Intransa been resurrected as a new company with a similar name, voiding warranties and charging for customer support, they have a big new vision tactic. As Viakoo, they are offering video surveillance system monitoring for a monthly charge, though they will need lots of luck getting traction after burning so many of their partners and customers.

What's Next for Arecont?

This has been the quietest period of Arecont marketing in years. However, with their new marketing maestro aboard, perhaps we will see a reinvigoration shortly.

Avatar
Brian Rhodes
Jul 25, 2014
IPVMU Certified

I just want to know if this means Flexi Green Guy will be rebadged and making a comeback?

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Jul 26, 2014

"What's Next for Arecont?"

I think being bought, but question is by who. Maybe for whatever patent that keeps them the only h264 multi-imager panoramic camera provider. (I could be wrong on that.)

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Jul 27, 2014
The available talent pool in this industry is often murky and shallow. Working for Arecont Vision can be financially rewarding, but as those who have come and gone have attested, a terrible work environment. one guy said he felt like he sold his soul to the devil. Have you ever been with any of the management at that company? Creepy and shady says it best. Knowing the Intransa / Arecont pedigree and the work environment at Arecont, I'd say this could be a great match. They deserve each other.
JM
John Martinez
Jul 28, 2014
UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #4
Jul 29, 2014

This whole item feels like a reckoning. I wonder why this discussion should have started in the first place. It doesn't add to my knowledge on the surveillance industry. It's not an objective description on how good or bad the products or the service is, but purely playing the man instead of the ball... I don't care who leads the marketing department, I just care about the quality of the cameras, the business model, the prices,...

U
Undisclosed #3
Jul 28, 2014

I'm sure you'll disagree with me, but I'm not sure that I'd call him a 'failed' marketer.

Intransa had a questionable value proposition, but from a marketing perspective I would say they did much better than average for the security industry. They had unique branding, a color strategy (I don't think anyone else will touch neon green as a company color in this industry for a while) and usually had a solid presense at various trade-shows. Given some of the technical limitation of the product it may have been hard to build a re-world marketing program around what was available to work with.

But, measured solely on their marketing I wouldn't call Jeff a failure. (note: I've never even met the guy, have no personal interest in this one way or the other).

JH
John Honovich
Jul 28, 2014
IPVM

"Intransa had a questionable value proposition, but from a marketing perspective I would say they did much better than average for the security industry."

He had 10x the budget of the average security industry company (easily). Has to be compared to money spent.

And if your key strengths are 'color strategy' and 'trade-show' booths, that's a very low standard for a Silicon Valley marketing executive.

Plus, I dealt with him repeatedly. He was pretty terrible at marketing. And the company failed. And he was the guy who ran marketing for 7 years, blowing through tons of money.

U
Undisclosed #3
Jul 28, 2014
New discussion

Ask questions and get answers to your physical security questions from IPVM team members and fellow subscribers.

Newest discussions