NEW YORK – BOOM, the fledgling DEI-owned lifestyle brand targeted to active-lifestyle youth, plans to expand its personal-audio assortment, expand its CE-channel distribution, and begin selling through lifestyle stores in 2013 to build on its growth through college bookstores, founder Ryan Minarik told TWICE today.
The brand name, which stands for Born On Original Motives, is targeted to 14- to 28-year-olds who “embrace the unique,” enjoy active lifestyles, and live “non-linear” days “filled with unpredictable events,” said Minarik, the son of DEI chairman Jim Minarik.
For now, the brand is focused on headphones and AC/DC Bluetooth speakers, reflecting the target customer’s on-the-go lifestyle even at home, he said. People in their 20s “prefer portable and personal products,” added Mike DiTullo, DEI Holdings chief design officer. They take Bluetooth speakers with them as they go in and out of the house, use Bluetooth speakers to listen to movies playing on a tablet, and take water-resistant speakers with them to the shower, particularly if they live on a college campus, he said.
The brand is positioned as a “youth-culture brand that happens to make personal audio” rather than as a consumer electronics brand, DiTullo noted, because young people view headphones and Bluetooth speakers less as a CE category “and more as an accessory to complement their lifestyle.”
