Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JANUARY 2017 50 RO I n the November issue of The Retail Observer, I wrote about the next generation of Nationwide's Connected Home Kiosk and reviewed our initiatives to drive that category into our dealer base. I'm happy to report that Nationwide's leadership and initiatives, like the Kiosk, got the attention of the premier vendor in the space, Nest. After a lot of hard work by our entire CE team, including Dean Sottile, Doug Wrede, and Ryan Calacci, Nationwide will be launching an exclusive Nest program to our dealers in the coming weeks. This program and their presence on the floor is sure to create a lot of excitement at the upcoming PrimeTime. The opportunity to partner with Nest and the 'Works with Nest' family of products will provide our members with the clearest path to success in what has been a confusing channel. That clear strategy, where all of the products seamlessly integrate into one, user friendly app, will help Nationwide dealers deliver their customers the best Connected Home experience on the market. While we don't have all of the details to report here, Nest is planning multiple product introductions this year that will cement them as the #1 player in this quick changing space. Along with the Nest product the relationship also brings access to the Google Home voice actived speaker. When looking to attack this channel, the Nest team quickly realized that they needed help to get their products and their message into the hands of our 3100 independent dealers across the country and that's where Nationwide's exclusive eXchange stepped in. Nest believed that the only way to effectively sell and service a dealer base as large as Nationwide's, would be to leverage their existing distributor partners. "When it comes to emerging technologies and categories like the Connected Home, distribution will always play a key role when it comes to servicing independent dealers. Nest immediately realized that the partnerships Nationwide has in place because of the eXchange platform would equate to faster penetration into the Nationwide dealer base," said Dean Sottile, senior vice president of distribution for Nationwide. Our eXchange platform brings together 8 of the largest national distributors into one portal, one place to shop and procure the products our members need for their business along with unified freight terms and real time inventory. Audio America, AVAD, Capitol Sales and Volutone will force multiply the assets that Nationwide already has in place and will help us create the best buying experience for Nest Products. Each distributor will carry the entire Works with Nest catalog giving Nationwide members one stop shopping with any eXchange partner. Further, each of these distributors is positioned to provide NMG members with in-depth training, service, and the just in time inventory needed to succeed in this emerging category. Nationwide, however, knows that the dealers will need a lot more than just the product relationships to be successful in the Connected Home. To that end, Nationwide Prime Media is collaborating with the Nest team to create customized commercials, training videos, and other in store assets that will help differentiate our dealers in the market. After all, without the right messaging and training, the Connected Home Kiosk and all the products would be nothing more than just a nice display and not separate the independent dealer from that of a big box store. THE 2ND GENERATION CONNECTED HOME KIOSK At our March PrimeTime! Show in New Orleans, Nationwide will introduce our second generation Connected Home Kiosk with the option for Nest and Works With Nest products, as well as the many vendor partners we've shown in the past. For the second generation kiosk we'll have more room for tablets to show how the products work, more room for signage and more room for the PrimeMedia message to be delivered. In short, more of the connected home to connect our members to the future of connected homes. Having Nest and the Works With Nest partners featured both on the kiosk and inside of eXchange, there will be no doubt that the connected home has a NEW home—with Nationwide. NATIONWIDE DOUBLES DOWN WITH NEST Hank Alexander Consumer Electronic Industry Insights Hank Alexander Director HTSN - Home Technology Specialists Nationwide Nationwide Marketing Group

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