Whether it cares to admit it or not, the professional audio industry is heavily influenced by brands, their reputations and their connotations. The extension of the Roland Corporation’s product development into the pro audio and video markets has called for some careful brand management as the MI giant evolves a focused approach for professional users.

While Roland is known as one of the biggest players in the MI business, since 2000 the company has been designing and manufacturing specifically for the pro user, first in live video performance with the launch of the Edirol by Roland brand and, more recently, for the professional audio market with RSS by Roland.

It has, therefore, been a logical, some might say smart, move to place the development, marketing, service and support of these products under a single and separate umbrella – namely the Roland Systems Group (RSG).

While the RSG team is very proud of Roland’s place in MI history, its heritage and R&D, the corporation’s mighty reputation can be a double-edged sword. “The Roland brand opens the door and sometimes firmly closes it,” states Peter Heath, general manager for RSS. “Some people feel the need to remind us that our background is MI, but although Roland remains a leader in that sector, we now have a dedicated group for addressing the professional audio and video markets.”

So far, so simple. RSG takes the core values and talents of its parent company – particularly an ability to marry sexy software with great hardware and intuitive user interfaces – and matches them to the requirements of professional users, offering them the tools they need to build their businesses. On top of that, the recent acquisition of Cakewalk has added computer audio recording capabilities to the group’s portfolio.
RSG’s business is handled slightly differently from region to region around the world. RSG America was started as the first branch of the Roland Corporation, while in Europe, distribution channels vary by country. In the UK, Edirol Europe and RSS co-habitate in a showroom in Chiswick, London.

RSG’s discrete identity begins at the R&D and manufacturing phase and continues all the way down to having its own booths at trade shows. “When you go to Frankfurt, you will see a Roland booth in usikmesse, and a separate RSG presence in the Pro Light + Sound exhibition,” explains Edirol’s managing director, Massimo Barbini.

Barbini feels the RSG proposition is unique. “There are a lot of companies that claim to offer audio and video under the same roof: for some of these video product manufacturers, the ‘A’ in AV amounts to a pair of speakers.

RSG products are all dedicated to their target audiences in professional audio and video, but, uniquely, they can be connected together. Because we have designed in this connectivity from the start, we believe it opens up new creative opportunities.”

While promoting interconnectivity and integration within the audio-visual sector, Edirol and RSS differ in their individual clients, dealers and product offerings. Each company has developed a unique stream within its markets, and, similarly, have separate success stories.

The RSS by Roland V-Mixing system has gained considerable popularity in the short time it has been on the market. The BBC has been one of its most prolific customers, putting the system to work on many applications from theatre installs to the OB vans it uses. Its recent purchase of a pair of M-400s has now gone into two of the broadcasting corporation’s training facilities.

RSS products could also be seen at Glastonbury for the past two years. “Glastonbury has been a good example of how product placement really does work,” notes Heath. “There were three Digital Snakes used at three different stages in 2007 and 2008, and the M-400 was used for FOH and monitors on the ‘BBC Introducing’ stage, while a Digital Snake was used on the Park Stage. This type of placement also really helps by showing the gear working in a tough environment and working steadily all weekend.”

Edirol has had similarly good results from its efforts. Not only has the V-4 become a standard in video editing, the company also recently sold ten of the VC300 HD converters for use in boats sailing around the world in Volvo’s Ocean Race. The VC300’s compatibility with the many television formats around the globe made it the ideal product to fit the bill for all concerned.

While most market-specific products come with a hefty price tag, Heath insists that such is not the case with RSG’s products thanks to the mother company’s tradition with innovation.

“Roland Corporation’s investment in R&D is still greater than our competitors and, up until the acquisition of Cakewalk, we have never borrowed or bought anyone else’s technology; it has all been our own. This high standard is evident in all our products and we are able to offer them at a price point that is well below that of our competitors, so the value for money is immense.

“What is clear is that we cross borders. As a corporation, we are able to address everyone from the person who wants to play an electronic drum kit in their front room to the working VJ programming his shows, right through to the professional broadcaster.

“Part of our journey will be getting confirmation from professionals that we can do that – that we can be borderless. Right now, we are very clear as to who we can sell to in order to establish ourselves in the professional market.”

“We are still in the early stages, but we are thinking long-term, and pioneering something that will be more visible in years to come,” adds Barbini. “Our great strength is addressing the pro audio and video markets and the synergies that occur between them.”

The message is, therefore, that while built on the foundations of the Roland giant, RSG’s dual carriageway into the AV markets is very much a path of its own.
www.rolandsystemsgroup.net