Since LG established its premium brand name five years ago, Ross Snow has been its face in Canada.
Under him, LG has been able to double its sales every year since 1999. This year it will sell three million LG devices, from laundry machines to cell-phones, optical drives to the Xnote notebook.
The Xnote is a good example of how strong LG’s brand is in this market place.
“”LG’s strategy is a brush fire strategy, which means don’t explode because then you will go down to nothing,”” said Snow.
“”We are not the price leader. We are not securing business based on price. So we do not worry about those who come in to this market with heavy price discounts.””
Snow said that LG is about consistency, relationships and integrity with our partners. “”LG wants to give solid margins for resellers,”” he said.
The Xnote fits into LG’s premium brand strategy. Snow’s team firmed up distributors such as Ingram Micro Canada, EMJ Data Systems, Supercom and ALC Micro. In return it offered its VARs 25 per cent more margin than if they resold Tier One branded products. In some cases, Snow said resellers are getting 12 per cent and more from Xnote sales.
The strategy illustrates that LG is not willing to rest on its laurels. And, it is to Snow’s credit that he and his team took this risk. BenQ Canada, for example, decided against the launch of a new notebook, and other competitors such as Samsung and JVC are still on the fence.
The launch of the Xnote may have made a newsmaker out of Snow, but the fact that LG Canada will sell more than 1.3 million optical disk drives this year, more than all other manufacturers combined, only enhanced his profile as a executive leader.
In that role, he also helped to complete a $1 million expansion of the LG offices in Mississauga, Ont.
