An AV and integration-focused podcast broadcast weekly

This week's episode of Automation Unplugged features a webinar One Firefly co-hosted with our partner Sony in November 2025, titled “The Big Screen Experience for Big Profits.”

If you’ve been looking for a high-margin category that naturally pulls in more components, more design, and more “wow,” projection is still one of the best opportunities in the custom integration space. In this session, we focus on how dealers can sell more big-screen experiences and increase profitability along the way.

During this webinar, you’ll hear from myself and Russell Warnhoff, Custom Integration Manager at Sony.

About this episode:

We cover:

• Why projection is still a profit engine — and how it competes in key ways against large TVs and direct-view video walls
  
  
• Why the Sony brand carries weight and how to use Sony’s “Lens to Living Room” storytelling to elevate your sales conversations
  
  
• How to actually market big-screen solutions using the buyer journey, smarter segmentation of your customer list, and the right channel mix to drive hand-raises

SEE ALSO: #349: Selling Emotion, Not Gear — Mastering the Luxury Experience with Doug Dushan

Transcript

Ron:

So I say we we jump right in. So, folks, we are here, in a, Sony One Firefly collaboration. We've been working with Sony for for many years actually, very closely going back to twenty twenty, and, we've done a number of webinars over the years. And, I know I'm personally very excited to to be working here with Russell and, Rebecca on this content. Our our presentation, our webinar today is the big screen experience for big profits. We're gonna mix it up. We're gonna talk part product and part marketing strategy as it relates to those I say products. We're also gonna talk about the Sony brand because that's also a lot of the sizzle. Would you agree, Russell?

Russell:

Oh, hundred percent. Yeah. The the Sony name, the Sony brand, I mean, I'll I'll get into it here as we get to the presentation, but it carries so much so much weight to it. You know? Not only is it great products, but just the name and what Sony's done in our industry is is is huge. There's no other manufacturer that has done the types of things that Sony's done, so it'll be cool to cover that today.

Ron:

Alright. Let's look at our, actually, Rebecca, I'll let you do the honors. Take us through. What do we get what what are Russell and I gonna be doing today? Rebecca: Wow. An honor to do the agenda. Alright. So as Ron mentioned, we're gonna mix it up a little and talk a little bit about product and brand and then a little bit about marketing. So we'll kick us off with some introductions as always, and then we'll turn it over to Russell to talk about the opportunity that you as dealers have to help grow your business with projectors. And then we'll move into, okay. Now that you know this opportunity, how do you effectively market that to your end users? We will leave time for questions at the end. The chat and q and a are open, so please drop them as you go. I will be collecting them, and we'll do a q and a session at the end.

Ron:

So, Rebecca, you you're you're teed up. You wanna get yourself introduced? Rebecca: Yeah. So my name is Rebecca Sternlicht. I'm the corporate marketing lead at One Firefly. So I've been working with Ron for many years, and I help oversee all of One Firefly's marketing initiatives, including our education like these webinars. So I'm here today to help emcee this webinar. As I just mentioned, if you have questions, please drop them. I'll be collecting those so that we can do that at the end. Also, a couple housekeeping things. You will receive a copy of this webinar recording along with the deck. Look for that in your inbox tomorrow. We'll be sending that out. So if you need to leave early, don't worry about it. You will get a copy of this, that you can rewatch and share with other people on your team. So, Ron, I'll kick it over to you next.

Ron:

I love it. Yeah. Ron Callis, CEO and founder here at One Firefly, and, many of you maybe have I've met you. I see a lot of familiar faces out there on this list. But I've been in the space for since two thousand, and I've been here at One Firefly since o seven. So that's, eighteen years. In fact, this month, November twenty twenty five, this is our eighteenth, birthday here as OneFirefly.

Russell:

Eighteen years. That's awesome.

Ron:

That's it. And, Russell, we're we're celebrating it with you and with Sony. So what

Russell:

That's great. Yeah. So, yeah, Russell Warnhoff here, custom integration manager, for the West. Also, responsible for some of our national initiatives. So I've been with Sony a little over three years now and, but definitely not new to the industry. I've been in AV for, gosh, close to about twenty three, twenty four years now, in the audio video realm. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to today and, yeah, covering a bunch of cool topics. So

Ron:

Awesome. Alright. Let's jump into it. We have a poll, and, this is the part where we help make sure that everybody out there is alert and ready to, participate. This is this is the participation part of the webinar. We love everyone to vote. Rebecca's gonna launch this poll for us. And when was the last time you installed a projector? Starting to see some answers coming in here. Let's see how much participation. We're already at thirty two percent participation.

Russell:

That's great. I can't vote on this. I just installed a projector, like, last week, I think. So

Ron:

You and I well, I would vomit because I've never installed a projector. I'm admitting, Russell. But, we would even each other out anyway because you have. You did one just recently. Sixty three percent. Come on, everybody. You're here. Let's participate. So we'll and we'll share the answers out right away so everyone can see what the experience level is. Maybe not even experience. Like, what's the rate at which you all are designing or putting projectors into your projects? I think

Russell:

it's Yeah. That that a good point, Ron, because a lot you know, you probably sold some projectors that have gotten installed, but maybe not physically installed them. Right? So, yeah, this this question is deep.

Ron:

Alright. Seventy six percent going once. I will name the names of everyone that doesn't vote. So as long as you're okay with that, no need to vote. No need to participate. Alright. That that scare tactic did not work, Russell. No no one has

Russell:

further Do we just lose a bunch of people? No.

Ron:

No. No one left, but, we're at seventy nine percent. So let's Rebecca, let's go ahead and share that out. And, Russell, tell me what your thoughts are. Let's see here. Okay. Thirty?

Russell:

Last thirty days. Yeah. That's that's great. I mean, that shows, you know, that projection is still hot here going into the hottest season typically for for audio video, right, going into the fall and and holiday season. Never. That's great too. I mean, there's opportunity here. Hopefully, you guys are joining to to learn how projection can help your business. So that's also that's not a bad answer. So I we're we're excited to see, you know, all of these. What do you think, Ron? What what do you what comes out at you on these numbers?

Ron:

Yeah. I'm just I'm adding up the the the two bottom numbers here. So you got about around twenty percent, have never installed it, or it's been over a year. So I I think that's that's really interesting. And then if you add up the top I'm gonna look at the top three. It's forty plus twenty. I mean, almost eighty percent Have installed a projector here in the last six months. So Yeah.

Russell:

That's great.

Ron:

That's a well informed audience. So

Russell:

Absolutely. And it's interesting too because, you know, with projection and we'll cover this. It's very not only is it kinda cyclical, but it's also you know, the projects take a little bit longer than just like selling a t TV, for instance. There's a lot more involved, which we'll definitely touch on because that that helps the profit aspect. So

Ron:

So, Russell, I'm teeing you up, my man, and I'll I'll lurk and, maybe weigh in every now and again. This is all you.

Russell:

Alright. So big screens, big profits. Kind of that's a good lead in. So as I mentioned, you know, the the sales cycle might take a little bit longer with projection, but the profitability is much larger than other, video categories, that we currently sell in our industry. So it's goes hand in hand. Big screens for big profits. Homeowners, you know, the reason why they're going for that big screen experience is they want that cinematic experience that they get at the theaters, but they want it inside their house. Right? There's lots of different types of content that people are consuming. And, you know, doing that on your little phone here, it just doesn't have that cinematic experience. So go big and stay home, as I like to say, with the biggest possible screen that's available. So we're we're seeing an interest in this big screen category. You know, for years and years, it was really just relied upon projection to deliver those large, large cinematic experiences. We are seeing a new trend, and you guys are probably seeing this true with video walls. You can go you can go back. Video walls have been making some headlines. Right? We're seeing a lot of interest in the direct view video wall category, But there are some, I won't call it drawbacks. There's just some things to pay attention to that video walls bring, where projections maybe have a, a lead ahead in certain aspects. So there's there's certain things we're gonna cover today, that makes projectors actually shine, compared to, to those video walls. But here's some video I mean, you can kinda see here, you know, growing interest from different brands, not just Sony, but we also have products in that video wall category, but that's another growing trend. So, where projection shines. So this is kinda what I was leading into. What I love about projection and and really what's what comes to mind when you're designing these systems is if we look at, like, the video wall category versus projection, projectors can be installed in a variety of different spaces. So for example, we don't have a picture here, but if you can just imagine walking into a space and, you know, the homeowner has got this gorgeous view of the Rocky Mountains. I'm just using that as an example because I'm here in Colorado. But you've got this, you know, bay of windows. And, typically, you'd wanna arrange your furniture around the view. Right? With a television or with a large, you know, video wall, you're kinda confined to where that has to go. Right? We can't make that video wall, that two hundred inch video wall disappear. With projection, you can. You can go with a motorized projection screen. You can put the projector in a lift, and you can hide it away in different types of applications. So it's not just like those dedicated theaters. There's opportunities to sell in multipurpose spaces, media rooms, and then, of course, gaming. So that's that's one key advantage of projection compared to, like, the video walls, let's say.

Ron:

I have a just a random question for you, Russell, and I'm curious. How often in applications are you finding, installers, the the dealers that are that are maybe signed in here watching and listening, putting the projector in view where you look up and you see it versus putting it in sort of enclosures or even designing it conveniently in another room where it shoots through a portal. I don't is that a is that a legacy of the past when projectors were louder, or is that today? I'm I'm actually just I

Russell:

don't Yeah. No. That's that's a great question. And we still see it today. I mean, a lot of the the dealers on here probably you know, you may still have, additional space behind where you can kinda hide the projector. It definitely cleans up the aesthetics of the room. But I would say most of the theaters that we tend to see, a lot of the driving force, the projector's still being mounted above inside that same space. But to your point, thanks to laser technology and how the projectors work, they've gotten so much quieter compared to what they used to be. And that's actually advantage that Sony brings to the table compared to some other brands is, you know, how quiet our our projectors are, thanks to the types of technology that we're using. So Got it. That's a great question, Roy. Yeah. Yeah. So so getting into just some other you know, why is projection profitable and some key aspects on you know, to to look at attainable price points. You know, we talked about video walls and, video walls while they're growing in popularity, they still are at that kind of premium price point. Right? With with projection, we allow you know, the cost per square inch is far better than the cost per square inch with a direct view display or even TV for that matter as you get to those larger sizes. So attainable price points, we'll get into that as we talk about some of the different models that we have. A design friendly integration. You know, a lot of the dealers here on the call, some of you might be doing some remote monitoring services where you wanna log in and check, you know, how many hours are on this this projector or this installation, you know, looking at the overall chassis design. One of the things that we've we heard from our dealers was, can you make these easier for us to install? We we don't wanna have, you know, to send two technicians out to climb up a ladder. So on the new series that we released, we took that in mind. We we've consolidated the chassis design, and we made them a lot light, lightweight for ease of installation. Less HVAC load and electrical complexity. I just was installing a video wall that we've got in our new West Coast showroom here in West Hollywood. It is our sealant product, and it did require some some more electrical work. You know, with a projector, typically, you're just looking at, you know, standard outlet, and that's gonna get you covered. With video walls, you have to run, you know, dedicated circuits. Not that you're, you know, probably doing that anyways, but you're gonna have to run more of those with a larger video wall.

Ron:

And how often, Russell sorry to interrupt. How often in video wall projects, even with the Sony CLED or, you know, other brands, there's a lot of great brands out there

Russell:

Yeah.

Ron:

How often are you needing to modify or update the HVAC system within the home? Ideally, imagining at the design phase if you're putting in those systems. Is that, like, always the case, or is it just sometimes the bigger ones might warrant that?

Russell:

It's it's something to consider for sure. You know, those video walls, they do put off a lot of heat. One of the advantages that we have here at at Sony actually is the power consumption is a is a lot lower, and the heat production is a lot less, compared to some other, video walls you might find out there. But it is a consideration because it is gonna emit some heat into that space, and that's something that if it's a confined theater that you're putting this in, you know, you're gonna have to make sure you've got adequate AC going in, to accommodate for that extra heat that's coming from the from the video wall.

Ron:

Is there typically less the case with projectors? Even the bigger Sony projectors is

Russell:

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. The GTZ three eighty, you know, being at ten thousand lumens is gonna output some heat to it. It's gonna have a little bit of BTUs. But, typically, those higher price points in those dedicated theaters, that's where you might see it being built in a separate room, you know, back behind the seating, so it's in a separate space. But, typically, with the laser technology now, the projectors don't put off a a a ton of heat like you would find with a conventional video wall, for sure. The other thing is the sound stage. You know, with projection, one of the things that I absolutely love is, you know, you can perforate your screen materials, and you can place those speakers directly behind the screen material itself. So your sound stage and your imaging is perfect. You know, the the the voices are coming from where you're actually seeing the people on the screen. If you think about, like, a video wall, not that you can't, you know, simulate that, but you're putting in a highly reflective surface that you can't place speakers behind. So you have to think about, okay. Am I gonna use speakers to reflect off of the reflective surface now, Or maybe I go with two center channels. There's there's just some more challenges, compared to being a little bit more friendly with projection. One other thing we don't have on here that, I just wanna kinda call out is projection in general when you're looking at it. It's a reflective viewing. So it's actually less harsh on your eyes. You suffer a lot less eye fatigue than staring at a direct view display. So you can typically watch content longer with less eye fatigue on a projection system than you can just staring directly at the light source. So that's something else to consider too. Great transition there. Thank you. But So why is projection profitable? Right? The integrated sale projector is kind of the hook. Right? The you're talking to your customer, and you they they wanna go with a larger, more immersive image. Projection brings the opportunity to add on and sell more of what we're known for in the CI channel. Right? You can sell, you know, higher margin products such as speakers, you know, your amplifier or integrated AVR receivers. You've now got your projection screen, whether that's a standard screen, maybe it's a ambient light rejecting screen, maybe it's a motorized screen that you might be selling, all of which is gonna help drive that customer satisfaction and lead to generating more business, right, for you guys. So not just in the audio video world, but think about lighting and shading too. With projection versus, like, a a television, it's better to have that room dark in some cases. Right? So now is an opportunity to talk about shades. You know? Hey. When you're watching this, we can integrate, you know, those Lutron shades or whatever the the case may be, for the shading aspect. Same with lighting control, you know, tying in the the lights to dim down and get to an appropriate level while you're watching. So, the add ons are, are great with, projection compared to just maybe selling a television in some cases. So speaking of that, let's let's just kinda run through, just some examples here. These aren't specific or exact numbers just to give you guys kind of an idea. So if you're looking at, like, an entry level projector, let's say, our XW five thousand e s projector. That's a great four k native projector. But when you're designing this, you've gotta have all these other components that go along with it. Right? So taking an entry level project, let's say that project's, you know, fifty thousand dollars, and your gross margin with, you know, your speakers, the audio, the projector, let's say your gross margin hovers between forty to sixty percent. Your profit range on that entry level projection system is gonna be about twenty to thirty thousand. So the the room to sell more than just the projector is is is kind of what we're alluding to here. If we take a look at the midrange projector, that project value is gonna go up to, let's say, a hundred thousand dollars. Hopefully, your profit margins also follow that too. So kind of gauging, that kinda same math, looking at, you know, forty five to sixty five percent margin, you know, you're doubling your profit range there as you're selling those hundred k systems. And then it gets even bigger. You know, you guys on the on the call here today, those large, you know, luxurious, style projection systems that you're selling, your project value, you know, let's say, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars plus, gross margin of fifty to seventy, percent, you're, you know, doubling that number again. You're looking at a hundred and twenty five thousand to roughly a hundred and seventy five thousand. Ron, did you wanna add anything to that? Or

Ron:

No. I I I think that it's it's clear, that for some of your clients, a room a media room or a theater space is gonna be just what the doctor ordered. And at at a high level, it's just worth having this capability in your back pocket or in your toolbox

Ron:

So that either, a, when the client inquires, you have solutions ready, or, b, you know, this will get into some of the marketing conversation we'll have in just a bit. If you want to grow this type of work I mean, I'm I'm a big advocate of designing your future. And so if you guys are thinking about twenty twenty six and beyond, the types of projects you wanna do either because you enjoy them. You maybe yeah. I know many I've met I've met many of my clients and folks in the industry that are super passionate about designing beautiful spaces that look great and sound great. And if that's your passion, then you wanna lead with it. And or if you like the the profitability side of these projects. Like, if that's true, then you wanna ultimately design that into your your your marketing and your sales strategy so you can go get more of those things.

Russell:

And I

Ron:

think what's neat about Sony is that the line card is so scalable. Right? Whether it's the the smaller project all the way up to the some of the biggest projects, Sony has the solutions.

Russell:

And and how we collaborate with our vendors too. I mean, it really brings in the opportunity for you guys to sell those amazing brands and expand that profit even further. We tried to really show that at CD this year. In one of the theaters, we collaborated with many different vendor partners, and we wanted to just showcase, you know, not only does Sony make great products, but the relationships that we have in the CI industry help culminate and help build that that, that profitability for you guys. So and and a name that opens doors. Right? Sony. I before I worked at Sony, I I was a Sony fanboy, and, you know, I'd always recommend, you know, to my friends or, hey. You know, what TV should I look at, or what should I be looking at here? Even before I was at Sony, I was always sending business to Sony. So, but this is true. You know, Ron came up with, you know, iconic, trusted, and proven. You say that Sony name to your customers, and, you know, whether they're watching a football game and they're seeing the Sony logo on the headsets of the coaches or they've got their kids at home that might have a pair of Sony headphones they're playing their video games on with to Sony Pictures. You know, we've got a famous saying that we call lens to living room. And no other manufacturer in this industry, at least in the electronics industry, has this clout, has this story. And we tell this all the time and, you know, in the trainings that we do, we try to always begin with this. But it it's it's really something because, you know, the the movies and the television shows and the sports that you're watching, you know, a lot of those are and most of those are being shot on a Sony camera. From there, you know, the content creators are sending it to, you know, master that content and do color grading. That's being done in most cases on a Sony display as well too. And it's not just Sony Pictures. It's using our our professional mastering, monitors. It's it's kind of the industry standard right now in, in Hollywood. So shot on a Sony, mastered on a Sony. What better way than to watch it at your home on a Sony television or Sony projector in this case like we're talking about today? So that lens to living room really leads itself into starting with Sony and then helping build that story to then sell the full experience for your customers.

Ron:

Just two quick thoughts, Russell, just to point out to, you know, everyone. And you're here on a Sony webinar, so maybe you know this, but but maybe not. You know, Sony is one of the most trusted brand names in the world. Right? On many surveys, I wanna say on depending on the survey you're looking at, it's one of the top five most trusted brands on planet Earth. And I I know when I worked closely with Jeff Goldstein before he retired, I mean, he and I focused very much on this concept. It's actually why he wanted to roll out marketing programs and roll out webinars and education for dealers because he wanted to remind all of you that if you lead with Sony, that can be the hook that at least gets the the customer, the prospect's attention so that you can then sell all of the capabilities that you have to offer. And it's just, if you are a Sony dealer, you're here on this webinar, you're partnered with Sony, there are opportunities to leverage that to your advantage. Absolutely. And I think that's what's important. And then the second idea is just I love a good story. Storytelling, makes ideas memorable. And so you all, creating your own version of how to tell the Sony lens to living room story, it's going to make for a very compelling way for you to introduce the brand to to your customers to ultimately have them not only remember, the brand name Sony, but ultimately remember you and and why they should be working with you. And, it's just it's it's a powerful one of a kind story. So if you you and your sales team aren't you using this, it's there's an opportunity there to improve a little bit by by navigating that and figuring out how to work that into your your dialogue with clients.

Russell:

Yeah. There's a perfect story just to kinda just elaborate on that. The most popular demo you saw at CEDIA, you know, and still being used in most people's showrooms today is that scene from Maverick. Right? That two minutes and fifteen seconds scene. Well, that movie, you know, most of you probably know this if you've seen our trainings before, but, to get that realism, to get that effect like you're actually flying in the cockpit with Tom Cruise, Claudia Miranda, Joseph Kaczynski used Sony, Venice cameras inside of the cockpit. And, being able to share that story of, like, hey. This this movie that we all love and that we love to do demos for our customer, this this is one iconic movie that was shot on Sony. And that even led to, Joseph Kaczynski wanting to use Sony cameras and then the new, f one movie that recently came out that you all probably saw at CD that everyone was showing too. So, yeah, there's a little story there. If if you didn't know, you you feel free to use that.

Ron:

I love it. I I actually saw f one at the IMAX theater, and so that's it was it was it was really good. It's actually surprisingly good.

Russell:

So, yeah, made by Sony, seen through a Sony. So if if people are you know, if you're talking to your customers and they're just maybe even asking why did you choose Sony as a projector, well, it's not just, you know, being shot on a Sony and mastered on a Sony. It's it's we know how content is supposed to look. We create the movies. We create a lot of the stuff. So we know the way that the colors are supposed to look, that the way it's was shot. And we design our video products to to help, you know, help produce that, to to bring that cinematic experience, to bring that creative intent home. So even if you're you're setting up one of our projectors, for example, the out of the box settings are gonna get close to that creative intent as possible. We still recommend doing a, you know, full calibration. But in the polls that we've done at CEDIA, you know, over ninety five percent of our dealer base and ninety five percent of the dealers, they aren't doing that full level calibration, and you're perfectly fine. That doesn't matter because knowing that you're using those out of the box settings with Sony, because we're so close to that content creation, we're gonna make sure that that image looks absolutely stunning for your customers every time just the way that the directors intended you to see. I Oh, go ahead, Brett.

Ron:

No. No. No. Go ahead. I know you were gonna take him No.

Russell:

No. Was pretty much everything there. So kinda talking here, how does this scale now in terms of our product range? So if you're looking at this chart here, this is our product lineup of our native four k SXRD projectors. You know, all of our projectors in our lineup are all native four k. There's no pixel shift happening with these, so you're getting all the pixels on the screen, all the pixels that you paid for. And then there's a range of different prices. So depending on, you know, customer's budget, so, like, the entry level x w five thousand, that's one of the most popular projectors that's being sold at that six thousand dollar price point in in the industry right now, thanks to our integrators. So, that's a a laser projector. You know, it's two thousand lumens. So for most, don't wanna call it most theaters because we're going bigger and bigger these days. But most of the the the the screen sizes, you know, let's say up to a hundred and thirty three inches, the five thousand is gonna suit you just fine for a lot of those entry level projector systems that you're designing. Bravia projectors have been brand new to the lineup this year. We just released this a few months ago. We were showing this at CEDIA. What I love about this and then the the two projectors above it is it uses our latest XR processor. So that's gonna give you the dynamic tone mapping that you need for all your HDR content. That's gonna allow you to see the the perfect color every time and all those gradations of color and shadow detail, through the use of the XR processor. So the award winning processor that's used in our TVs, we're now using in the new projectors, starting with the Bravia seven, Bravia eight, and Bravia nine. And then, of course, at the top in those flagship theaters that you guys are selling is the GTZ three eighty. We're looking at, you know, a triple a triple laser system that's liquid cooled, ten thousand lumens. And this projector is so good that you actually need an FDA variance to sell this thing. So, that's been our, our flagship projector, in the lineup. But what I love about this so I showed you we've showed you the chart before where it showed different package systems and profit margins. So that entry level, you'd be looking at, like, the five thousand or maybe the Bravia projector seven. The Bravia projector seven retails for ten thousand, so kind of that entry to mid level price point. But as you step up, you've got your Bravia projector eight. You know, it's sub twenty thousand dollars, and then the Bravia projector nine, which is under thirty five thousand. So you've got multiple different price points and tiers to allow you and give you the flexibility to sell Sony and to sell that great performance in all different types of systems that you're designing.

Ron:

Russell, what was that FDA

Russell:

move for

Ron:

the GTZ three eighty?

Russell:

Yeah. So FDA, it's it's it's something it's it sounds intimidating.

Ron:

And Like, is in Food and Drug Association?

Russell:

Yes. Yeah. So the the GTZ three eighty with the the unique laser system that it uses, it actually requires a FDA approval. It's considered a laser light show in your customer's home, which is that's that's kind of a cool story in itself. Like, you know, to be able to tell your customers, hey. I gotta have the FDA approve this. They know that that's gonna be awesome. Right? So we we do all the paperwork for you. We help file it. You only have to do it one time when you're selling these, so you don't have to do it multiple times. So for those of you who haven't sold one, don't don't worry. It's super easy to do. We walk you through the process, and it's it's kind of a fun story to add add to the to the selling aspect.

Ron:

That that is fun.

Russell:

So, yeah, key takeaways. And, Ron, if you wanna fill in, you know, lead with Sony like we were saying. Sony can be that pool for you and build on that Sony that Sony story. That's just gonna allow you to, you know, sell some other amazing brands that really enhance that customer's experience at home. And then grow your profits. We're gonna talk a little bit more about that here. But is there anything I just thought, anything you wanna fill in?

Ron:

Yeah. I would I would leave with just a concept. And so we're really talking about Sony and what makes Sony unique and and such a powerful brand to sell and a powerful lineup. In this case, we're talking about projectors. But maybe in a few months, we'll be talking about the new TV lineup. What I challenge everyone that's paying attention here to think about is how are you telling the Sony story, and how are you talking about the lineup? And then I want you to think about how are your your team members doing the same. And I'm a big advocate of sales coaching and training, and I'll just say something we do a lot here at One Firefly, and I've been a part of it over my whole career, which is the idea of what is the company way of talking about whatever the product or service that you're offering, and then how do you have your team role play or test sell or test talk about that brand, and then offering a methodology where you critique it so that ultimately you can enhance the way that you are promoting. In this case, we're talking about Sony, but, obviously, those statements are relevant to all products and services that you offer. And, I just think that the Sony brand gives such a powerful hook. You wanna make sure that your team is really unified and operating at the highest levels of excellence as they go out there on the street, interact with architects, designers, builders, homeowners, and talk about Sony products and services. That that was my thought, Russell, as you were wrapping up there.

Russell:

Yeah. No. That's great. Know, I was I was kinda thinking about just, you know, there's there's so many different opportunities and ways to sell projection that, you know, hopefully, we covered and maybe talked about some. And a couple other things too just, you know, important. And maybe we'll cover this in the news newsletters talking about, you know, updating older projectors for for customers that might have, like, a lamp based projector. I think we'll touch on this here in just a few slides. But it's it's just, you know, thinking about the you know, how creative we can get with this. And, you know, as projectors are are coming out, they're getting newer, they're getting brighter and brighter and brighter, but bright brightness isn't everything. If if you're looking for the the most bright projector, you know, we've got our business line of projectors, which are are LCD based. They're plenty bright for a lot of applications. Where Sony is really gonna nail is that Sony story using the SXRD, technology in our projector lineup and, you know, having multiple tiers that you can kinda sell within. So you know you're gonna get the best picture quality, with the the best story that kinda goes along with it. So

Ron:

Makes sense. Alright. So we're gonna pivot from product into how do you go out and leverage this, dirty word called marketing to promote, the the Sony brand and the service offerings that are tied to, in this case, we're talking projectors. Obviously, One Firefly is very proud to be partnered with Sony. We've been collaborating very tightly with Sony here in North America, since twenty twenty. Here, you can see in the background some images of of KT and and Jeff with with our team and some of the the media that's been going on. One of those collaborations, and this is the only part everybody where there's there's just making you making it clear to you that there is a way for you to collaborate with Sony and with one Firefly to get this out there, maybe if you wanna press the easy button, and that is that all Diamond dealers are qualified to participate in the co marketing program. And this is where we work tightly with Russell and Joseph and KT and the team at Sony to look at what are the primary themes or or messaging, or or talking points to promote Sony products and solutions. And then we co brand, meaning we we put the Sony brand because that's a hook that your customer might go, that's interesting. And then your logo, of course, goes on everything, and all of the marketing is actually done through your channels, so through your email list, your social media, platforms. And so and you're you if if there is a hand raise from co marketing, you are the ones that are getting this. This is not going to Sony. Sony wants you to field it and wants you to go and convert that lead or opportunity or hand raise. And, so there's a QR code. You can scan that if you wanna learn more about it. There is, in many cases, Sony budget remaining for the fiscal year. And, so if you have not participated and if you are doing some volume with Sony, and ultimately, your hand raise, if you have not already been approached, your hand raise will be vetted by the Sony team just to make sure that, everything is, in alignment, but there's a good probability you then could be approved for participation in the Sony co marketing program. So, neat opportunity. Scan the QR code if you haven't already participated. I see a hand raise over here. Rebecca will will field that either through text or will field that question at the end. And I see there's another hand raise. Alright. Good. So we prompted some people to raise their hands, Russell. Oh, Russell, did you wanna add anything here about co marketing?

Russell:

Yeah. Well, I was just gonna say some of that, like, kinda story. You know, a lot of, a lot of the people on today have sold projectors throughout the years, and it doesn't have to be just, you know, an older Sony projector. It could be brand x. Right? But a lot of the older models were lamp based. So, you know, a a good way to to to gain sales, especially, you know, where you know, if your business is, maybe not as busy as it once was and you're looking for opportunities to kinda grow and market, one good outreach is to reach out to all those old clients you've sold those lamp based projectors to and tell them about the new laser four k projectors. You know, they don't have to change out lamps anymore. They can get into the new technology where the brightness is gonna last a lot longer than those lamps did. And it's that's that's just one aspect, but that you could kinda ties into that story of the email campaigns or whatever you wanna do for those existing customers.

Ron:

Yeah. For many of you, one of the most valuable assets in your business is your customer list. Yeah. And so if you aren't actively reaching reaching out to that list, and I'm I'm not saying be promotional or try to sell them or buy now or else, none of that garbage. But I'm saying to go out to your customers and educate and remind them that you exist and remind them that technology is evolving and there's a lot of fun topics. What happens is some of those customers, some of the time, read or consume that content, and ultimately, they raise their hand. And it might not even be about them. Maybe they wanna go, oh, yeah. I needed to refer you to my neighbor or this person at the the the country club or whatnot. Right? So just staying in front of your customers is just a good idea, and Sony makes it easy with this program. Alright. We're gonna dive through. I got a a handful of slides here and a little bit of time, so I'm gonna try to move fast and try to deliver some value here. I want to state or restate the position that I said a few minutes ago, and that is marketing your marketing strategy should support and align with what your business goals are. So that does warrant and necessitate that, in fact, you have defined what you're trying to do in your business. So in this case, we're here in q four twenty twenty five. We're looking ahead into twenty twenty six. Here at One Firefly, we practice EOS, which is one of the many, business systems out there that kinda provide structure to one's business. But within good planning, a lot of times planning is happening right now, planning for the year ahead. You're looking at what do you wanna accomplish next year, whether that's maybe adding certain categories. Maybe you wanna do more projector business with Sony. Maybe you wanna do more home theaters. Maybe you wanna, move into different geographic territories. Maybe you want to, do larger projects. Maybe you wanna do smaller projects. Maybe you want more profitable projects. Maybe you want more commercial projects. Russell and I are not here to tell you what to want, but it's helpful if you know what you want and or you discuss that with your leadership team and, in fact, you write it down. Because if you write it down, you now can work backwards and start aligning the decisions you make in your business and the decisions and investments you make in your marketing. So I'm just reminding you. I know for most of you, you've been in business a long time. That's probably not new information, but it's just a really good idea. Have clarity on what you're trying to accomplish, and then you can align your willingness to invest in marketing efforts to support those business outcomes, and that helps make the the return on investment a little bit more clear as you spend those dollars. I also want to I I know if you've attended education with me or the team here at One Firefly, we're always reminding you that the consumer is at varying stages of their decision making journey, and, this isn't like far fetched marketing science. Just think about yourself. Right? Think about yourself when you were gonna go make a purchase, and maybe it was a purchase on a subject that you weren't fully informed around and kind of your journey from generally aware to becoming more and more aware to now deciding exactly what you wanna buy and where you wanna buy it. That's what we're referring to when we talk about the buyer journey. It's important to understand the buyer journey, and and we're gonna, tee up some shortcuts here in a minute, is that you wanna think what questions are your prospects asking as they are at these various stages of their journey. Just as if you were having with your prospect, and there's the the customer that's very early in their, say, journey of building a new house to someone that this is their sixth house in the last ten or fifteen years, and they're veterans, and they know exactly the types of solutions they want in their home, and maybe they even know they want you to do the work. Right? That's an example of someone that's that's more mature in their process. But remember, you and your customers are often using this thing called the Internet to go out and do research. So whether they are, ultimately on Google or AI, they're they're in various places on the Internet consuming information. Now I want you to go back to that buyer journey, and I want you to think of, the awareness phase, and let's use in this scenario someone's building a new house. What are the types of questions that if they were very early in their journey, what would they be asking? And so here's a a handful of examples. You all can can read what's on the screen. You know, how big of a screen or projector can I put in this particular room? Maybe they know they wanna do a media room, but they don't know what's possible. How much should I expect to invest in a high end theater setup? They don't know. Maybe they've never done it before. So all the way through consideration where they're a little more now they know they want a room. They know they want projection or they want a theater. And now they're saying, how does Sony projectors differ from other options in the market? Right? So now they're starting to research into brand specifics. All the way over to the decision making mode where they are deciding who's gonna do the installation work, who's gonna be the designer and the installer. So I'm presenting these questions to you because these questions then can become the subject matter of the content that you're putting out across all of the channels. Alright? So it's not it's not too abstract. I think it's fairly straight up the middle. If you're trying to research and or move towards making a decision and becoming informed, what would you ask? So you can ask yourself. You can ask your team. Heck, you can even go to AI and ask, and it's gonna help you tee up the types of questions that someone might ask. What's neat and here's an example of a real client. This is why clients, a wonderful integrator and Sony dealer out of Seattle and Scottsdale and Spokane. They have three locations. And this is, some of the terms that people are searching on the Internet and ultimately being driven into their website. And so, for example, there's a search term that's one of their top drivers, Sony Premium Home is the way why? Because they've SEO configured their website to have people when they conduct that search ultimately land on their website. So you want to look at, a, how's your website currently performing, and then you wanna match that up to your business goals and say, well, how do you want it to perform? And this is where it puts you, the business operator or manager, in the decision making in the driver's seat versus in the passenger seat and things just happening to you. What is different today, and this is about twenty twenty five and into twenty twenty six, is the game of search is very different today, and I'm gonna go quickly through these in more detail. But the idea that you would want your brand your brand to be found when people are doing those searches that we showed a few minutes ago, you now have the opportunity to think about it's no longer just traditional search, traditional search being Google, but you're now also having to incorporate your visibility both in generative search, which is, for example, Gemini summaries at the top of Google, but also the way you're showing up in the large language models such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and others. And then paid search, that's the pay to play game, and that is still relevant today. I would say in years into the future, it's uncertain how that plays out. My bet is Google makes most of their money through paid search, so they're probably gonna figure out how to continue to lead in that game, and it is a very relevant strategy, for you guys to make sure you're showing up. Now this is the marketing framework, that I have talked at this point to thousands of Integrators about, and that is when you are gonna do anything, air quotes, anything, you're gonna work on your website, you're gonna write a blog, you're gonna send an email, you're gonna write a social post, you're gonna create a YouTube video, you always want to start by thinking about who's the audience you're speaking to, right? And this is where, when we talk about your business goals for next year, we're we're we're being as specific as who is that type of customer that you wanna be working with. Right? Because we all could admit there's good customers and there's bad customers. There's people you wanna work with, there's people you work with and people you know you don't wanna work with. So in this case, we wanna try to appeal to people we do wanna work with, and then you will say, well, what's the subject matter? And then I'll give an example. Maybe we're talking about home theaters. And then what's the action? Well, I'd love someone to come in and schedule a consultation with a designer. And then what's the channel? How am I gonna get that message out? Maybe it's email in front of my customer so that because they did build a new house, and I didn't even know that, but they they still have their email. So they cracked open my email, they were inspired, and now they've raised their hand to say, hey, Russell, I'd love you to, let's connect, and let's talk about my new project. Right? So just to tee that up, you wanna be very specific about the audience. Is it your existing customers? Is it your, legacy customers that you've been serving for, you know, five, ten, twenty years? I see some of the names here. Many of you probably have clients you've had for thirty or forty years. Right? And or are you trying to, appeal to that new prospect? Maybe there's a very nice part of town, it's just the right size home, the homes have just the right size of value, so you know if if they buy that house, they are potentially a great customer for you, then you wanna have that exact customer in mind as you're producing content. Now topics, keeping this topical related to projectors today, but this is really fully expansive across the spectrum of all the products, services, and brands that you represent. You wanna be as specific as writing these things down. Right? Because whether you do your marketing in house or you work with a local agency or maybe you work with one firefly or another company, that team is only as good as the input you give them. So if certain things are important to you, you have to communicate that, and then marketing efforts can be put in place to drive that home. And then you say, well, if we're gonna talk about, I'll use an example, home theater, then what's the action? So there's an audience, there's a message, and there's an action. Why? Because at the bottom of every piece of content, whether it's written content, video content, regardless of the platform, you're asking that audience to go do something at the end of that. Here are some examples on the screen: schedule a consultation, RSVP for a demo, attend your event, right? Maybe you're nurturing the relationship and you want them to increase their trust in your brand and in your business, so bring them to an event and expose them to your team and your space, so on and so forth. And then lastly, you want to look at the channel. Right? I know this can be overwhelming. Generally, you're looking and I didn't say it here on this slide, although many slides I do generally, you're looking at that website as being the center of the hub, and you're looking at all of these various marketing channels from blogs to Google Ads to online reviews, all the social media platforms. You're looking at communicating to your audience through these mediums. And what we at One Firefly would always advocate is you do less and you do it at the highest quality. So rather than do more and and try to speak on all channels and do it poorly, operate on fewer channels and operate at a very high level. And then when time, money, and willingness to invest increase, add a new channel, and then operate the highest level in that channel for communication. So certainly, you could I'm stating the obvious, but many of you don't have Sony content or Sony that Sony brand story on your website. Many of you are not regularly photographing or shooting video of your beautiful projects and putting those into galleries on your website and or Instagram for example. But you want to be keeping in mind, making your website beautiful and authentic to your brand and particularly speaking to your target audience is one of the more important things you could do as it relates to your marketing. You can do something called thought leadership. This is in blogs and FAQs. Thought leadership by definition is something that AI is not, and AI cannot do. Thought leadership means you're presenting an opinion. By the way, AI does not have an opinion. You, the individuals in this training, you have opinions. Your team has opinions. So if you think the Sony, projector a is better than brand b, if you it is better. If you think that's true, you can write thought leadership content on that, put that out to the world, and that's gonna get not only clicks and attention, but it's gonna get engagement. When you're expressing opinions, another one, we're heading into the holidays, okay, in terms of this timing right now it's November, So if you wanna say the best thanksgiving, videos to watch in your media room with your family. By the way, that's thought leadership. And what a fun listicle of your top ten. Maybe you you do pics of of favorite thanksgiving or or holiday themed movies from your staff, and you feature that into content. That will get clicks on social media, that will get clicks on your newsletter, that will get clicks on your website. So, a fun tactic there. Social media. Social media does not have to be highly polished or produced. You can be out there. You can get a Gimbal for a hundred and fifty bucks from DJI and shoot Steadicam footage of yourself or your team doing very basic installation acts. You can talk to the camera, and some of the best social media in our industry are the practitioners that are putting that content out there. Also, going back to those questions, you can answer those questions that we presented earlier on social media, and you could do it either live or in prerecorded videos. You can put answers to those questions out via email to your client list. Alright? These are are easy to do things. Paid advertising. If you know the type of product service solutions and brands such as Sony that you want to attract those customers, then you can do paid advertising both in social media, typically through Meta, and you can also do it through Google. Right? So there's ways to cast that net, pay to play, pay to have your brand and message visible, and ultimately drive visibility for your brand, or through Google, drive more bottom of the funnel people closer to making a decision to purchase. SEO for Google is certainly something that you wanna be thinking about. Yes. AI is on the rise, and, yes, Google is decreasing, but Google is still the eight thousand pound gorilla, and AI is tiny. So years into the future, that game might be different. Google still matters today, and the way your business shows up absolutely matters. And if you wanna be found for the best home theater install company in my town, then you need to do the work and the investment to make that true. What's neat about doing the hard deep work for search engine optimization is it also helps both in your business and brand and website showing up in what's called, the training sets within the AI LLMs, meaning when they are indexing the internet, you want your brand and business to show up in the answers, but also when AI is out doing web research, you want your business, your website to show up. And so SEO, from our perspective and whether it's called there's a lot of different acronyms and and terminology being cast about as it relates to AI. It absolutely matters, And when Fireflies made it easy for you, we've given you a cheat sheet. So this QR code is a education article teaching you about visibility for your business and brand around the service and solutions that matter to you, and what you need to be thinking about as it relates to Google search visibility and AI search visibility. So this is just our team on our SEO team, and our writers crafted this education article just because there was so much uncertainty about what's going on with the Internet. So with that, I'm going to close and wrap this up, tee up. Rebecca, maybe we have time for a question or two. And I just wanna say in advance, Russell, it's been awesome presenting with you, sir.

Russell:

Yeah. Thank you so much, Ron. Likewise. Man, it's already been sixty minutes. Isn't that crazy? This this flew by. So

Ron:

Oh, we have one or two minutes. We're gonna try to fill the question or two. Let's let's see what Rebecca has.

Russell:

Rebecca, before we just get to the question, so this is the website. That's sony premium home dot com. I also just wanted to call out. We have a new LinkedIn page too. It's Sony Electronics. It's tailored towards custom install. So if you guys haven't, like, liked it or subscribed to our our LinkedIn page, just look for Sony Electronics custom install, and that's where you'll find all the stuff related to, you know, the topics that we covered today and all the other great things that, you know, are part of your guys' business. So just wanted to throw that out there. Go ahead, Rebecca. Sorry. Rebecca:Yeah. Awesome. Thanks, guys. Yeah. These sixty minutes flew by. Time flies when you're having fun. We did have one question come in. Someone just wanted to retouch again on maybe, like, specific advice or tips for how to position that experience value or the ROI of projection versus, like, a large TV or a video wall.

Russell:

Yeah. So, I mean, it come cost cost per square inch is definitely one thing. Right? I mean, you're gonna be able to go very, very large with projection, at sometimes a fraction of a cost, especially compared to, like, a video wall. Projector placement, you can like, as we touched on earlier, you can hide the projector in a projector lift. You can arrange the the furniture around the view of the space rather than focusing just on where the TV or video wall or screen needs to go. It it offers more flexibility in terms of those applications you can install them into. You can do the same with TVs too with, like, you know, TV lifts. There's a lot of great, partners out there that help hide televisions. It's a lot harder to hide a a large video wall, though. I haven't seen that done yet. So, yeah, flexibility of of the space that it goes into and and definitely cost are are are two probably big things and considerations with projection. Rebecca: And then we have one we have one more question that came in. Ron, this is more up your alley in terms of marketing, but I have a lot of clients who have an older projection. Any advice for getting a marketing campaign going around upsells?

Ron:

I think, thinking of your customer list and thinking, the marketing term is called segmentation. So thinking of the ways to slice and dice that list in ways that you could curate what message you wanna put in front of that audience. So an example could be that you have a customer list and you segment them for maybe all of your past Sony projector clientele. You could then design a an email outreach or nurture campaign to reach out to those customers, maybe to educate them around the service and maintenance and or upgrade paths of projectors. So the the general rule of thumb is the more curated and segmented your list is, then the tighter and more refined you can make the message, and the more likely you are to get hand raises from those lists in ways that ultimately benefit your business. So that's just, I would say, one of many, dare I say, infinite's too much, but there are many, many ways to slice and dice a customer list. Rebecca: Awesome. Alright. Well, guys, that's all the questions we had come in. If you have any more, please feel free to reach out to us directly. I did see, about trying to find the the LinkedIn group. Let me see if you hang on for one minute. I might be able to grab that.

Ron:

Yeah. And I was thinking, Rebecca, maybe everyone that registers in a follow-up email, we could get them that LinkedIn link Rebecca: so they Absolutely. And I I believe it is also on a QR code in this deck, on the introduction slide. It's attached to Russell's name. Hopefully, that thing I

Ron:

just the way back. Bear with me. Rebecca: I know. All the way back, Ron. Yes. There we go. That one should lead you straight there as well. So this will be included. Again, I'm gonna send out this recording and this doc tomorrow to everyone who is registered and or attended. So you'll receive this as as well as a recording of this webinar. So I just wanna thank everybody, who attended today as well as Ron and Russell. You guys were fantastic. It was a real pleasure listening to this presentation.

Ron:

Awesome. Thank you, Rebecca. Thanks, everybody. Good to see everybody. Thanks, Russell.

Russell:

Alright. See you guys. See you in the next one.

Ron:

Bye bye.

 

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Ron Callis is the CEO of One Firefly, LLC, a digital marketing agency based out of South Florida and creator of Automation Unplugged. Founded in 2007, One Firefly has quickly became the leading marketing firm specializing in the integrated technology and security space. The One Firefly team work hard to create innovative solutions to help Integrators boost their online presence, such as the elite website solution, Mercury Pro.

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Resources and links from the interview:

 

• Sony Custom Integration LinkedIn Group
• AU #330: From Hi-Fi to Sony - Kathleen Thomas on a Lifetime in the Audio Industry