Home > Latest News > OPINION: Sonos Email To Staff Revealed, Board Members Desperate To Fix Dumped CEO’s Problems & Broken Brand

OPINION: Sonos Email To Staff Revealed, Board Members Desperate To Fix Dumped CEO’s Problems & Broken Brand

OPINION: Tom Conrad, a longtime veteran of the tech industry who joined Sonos’ board of directors in 2017 has rolled up his sleeves, taking on the interim CEO role at struggling US sound Company Sonos, after the dumping of Patrick Spence whose tenure at the Company has been more about managing disasters thsan deliver growth of late.

Conrad has been described as an expert at handling Companies facing failure.

The big question now is whether Sonos can ever recover from what has often been described as “terrible decisions” made by management under Spence’s watch, with Sonos board members now appearing to be desperate to hose down the issues created by current management especially in the marketing , communications and product development areas of the business.

The US Santa Barbara based sound Company, are well known for their past arrogance, with a ‘Their way or no way attitude.”

ChannelNews found out years ago, that Sonos management believed that CE and audio trade media Companies were there to promote Sonos and should not be writing stories that they deemed “negative” stories.

I was once told bluntly” and in no uncertain terms that ‘We control the Sonos narrative and when we want to make announcements, not you”.

It came after ChannelNews broke a global story on a new Sonos product ahead of their official launch.

“Get it down or else we will black ban you we were told”.

We refused, so the PR agency along with Sonos management black banned us, a move that has not stopped us breaking stories about the Company since that 2018 confrontation.

Phillipa Thomas former Sonos PR Manager Australia, now Head of Communication & Advocacy, Global Growth Markets

On one occasion Phillipa Thomas the then PR manager for Sonos Australia abused me personally for breaking the story that Sonos global marketing management had dumped Interrepublic PR Agency Weber Shandwick in Australia, an agency personally appointed by Thomas who use to work at Porter Novelli.

Thomas who is now Head of Communication & Advocacy, Global Growth Markets at Sonos, Inc claimed at the time that we had no right to break the story referring to Webber Shandwick staff in Australia as “Her friends”.

She then went on to claim that my story and the decision by Sonos global management to replace the locally appointed PR agency was “upsetting for her and the staff at Webber Shandwick”.

We pointed out that we are in the “News” business and that includes reporting all news whether good bad or indifferent.

This is the same executive who in 2018 wrote on social media “I invest heavily in the wine and coffee market and this year I date lots.”

Today staff at Sonos Australia got an email from Tom Conrad claiming, “I’ve heard from many of you about your own frustrations about how far we’ve drifted from our shared ideals,” he said.

“There’s a tremendous amount of work in front of us, including what I’m sure will be some very challenging moments, decisions, and trade-offs, but I’m energized by the passion I see all around me for doing right by our customers and getting back to the innovation that is at the heart of Sonos’ incredible history.”

Sonos board chair Julius Genachowski also put out a statement claiming , “Tom’s mandate is to improve the Sonos core experience for our customers, while optimizing our business to drive innovation and financial performance,” and he noted that Conrad has left his job as CEO of Zero Longevity Science to give his full attention to Sonos.

There is also speculation that the appointment of Conrad, could become more permanent.

Unlike Spence Conrad has a depth of experience that could actually turn the Company around.

He told Sonos staff that ‘Nearly 18 years ago, in May of 2007, I stepped onto the stage at SFMOMA to launch Pandora for Sonos to an audience of tech journalists. I was 37 years old, and my love of Sonos was in its earliest days. Over the decade that immediately followed, and through many ups and downs, we built Pandora into a streaming phenomenon. In those same years Sonos became the most beloved way to enjoy music throughout my home and millions of others.

Eight years ago, I was honoured to be asked to join the Sonos board. Five months ago, as the team worked through the app recovery, I was lucky enough to get to know a wider swath of you personally – and to see firsthand your dedication to setting things right.

Last week, I was asked to step in as interim CEO.

“Perhaps the most important thing for you to know today is that I’m here because I love this company, this product family and this brand”.

In a gushing promotion of Sonos products, he said “”For nearly two decades, I’ve listened to music throughout my home on Sonos every day. In the last decade, I’ve binged every streaming phenomenon with dazzling surround from our Sonos soundbars. In recent years and when I was traveling, it was a Sonos Roam that made its way into my backpack. These days, every night I’m careful not to wake my sleeping family by watching audio-swapped television on my Sonos Ace”.

There was no mention of whether any other current management at Sonos will be replaced especially in the development and product marketing divisions that allowed a faulty product to be widely distributed to Sono’s product owners.

He went on to say” It’s also true that when it doesn’t work, our customers are taken out of the moment and are right to feel that we’ve let them down. I think we’ll all agree that this year we’ve let far too many people down. As we’ve seen, getting some important things right (Arc Ultra and Ace are remarkable products!) is just not enough when our customers’ alarms don’t go off, their kids can’t hear their playlist during breakfast, their surrounds don’t fire, or they can’t pause the music in time to answer the buzzing doorbell.

“I’m here to get us back on track. But is getting back on track enough?”

“I think the answer is clearly no. Getting back to basics is necessary, but clearly not enough to unlock the future we all envision for Sonos. So as delighted as I’ll be when every Sonos customer, I meet tells me “You work at Sonos!? I love my Sonos!” what really gets me up in the morning is the idea that we can expand the Sonos platform well beyond “out loud audio at home.”

He added “I’ve heard from many of you about your own frustrations about how far we’ve drifted from our shared ideals. There’s a tremendous amount of work in front of us, including what I’m sure will be some very challenging moments, decisions, and trade-offs, but I’m energized by the passion I see all around me for doing right by our customers and getting back to the innovation that is at the heart of Sonos’ incredible history.

While I’m here today as “interim” CEO, please make no mistake: I’m here to move us forward. This is not a time for Sonos to be stuck in limbo. I’ve relocated to Santa Barbara and my family will join me here shortly. I’m in the office today and for as long as the job is mine. I’m counting on your help in making today the first day in our collective future. I’ll greet you all live tomorrow (see calendars for the meeting invite). It will be recorded and shared with those who aren’t able to attend. I’ll also be visiting our offices outside of California in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to meet all of you and start building towards a new chapter for Sonos”.

There is speculation that Sonos is looking to get into the video streaming market with their own OS and streaming box with the Company looking to stream both audio and video content with subscription revenue being a key revenue generator for the brand going forward.



You may also like
Sonos To Be ‘Scrappier’ Despite Struggle To Get Back As New Problems Identified
Future For Sonos Emerges Despite 10% Revenue Slump Shares Climb 7.9%
BREAKING NEWS: Sonos Sacks 200 Questions Now Over OZ Subsidary Operation
Sonos Set To Try & Take On Hubbl With Seriously Overpriced Streaming Box
Sonos Shipping First Speakers Requiring Professional Installation

Popular Posts

Old Smart Devices Loom As Massive Security Risks
Latest News
/
/
JB Hi Fi Shares Surge Then Slump Despite Good January As Profit Takers Move In
Latest News
/
/
Woolworths Tightens Work From Home Rules
Latest News
/
/
Motorola Razr 50 Ultra
Motorola Razr 60 Ultra Expected To Feature Powerful Chipset
Latest News
/
/
Workplace intelligence by Wiley
Report Names 5 Top Workplace Challenges in 2025
Latest News
/
/

Digital Magazines

Recent Post

Old Smart Devices Loom As Massive Security Risks
Latest News
/
//
Comments are Off
Your smart lights, smart fridge, home router, smart TVs, thermostats, doorbells, and clever appliances will become a massive security threat...
Read More