Interview: Max Noach from SSL
We had the pleasure of meeting Max already a couple of times during fairs in Brazil at the SSL booth, he was so kind to do an interview with us about his work at SSL and his point of view on the Brazilian market.
BB: Tell us who you are Max
Max Noach: “I am a Dutch citizen, born in Belgium and educated in French. I spent 10 years living in the UK when I first joined SSL in 1992, and have been living in Brazil for 10 years now.”
BB: What is your occupation
Max: “I am the Area Sales Manager LatAm for Solid State Logic”.
BB: How long do you work for SSL
Max: “I worked from 1992 to 2002 in various sales roles, and rejoined the company in February 2013”.
BB:How long do you work in the South America region
Max: “Since December 1992 - coming close to 21 years now”.
BB: How long does SSL exist, and how long in Brazil
Max: “SSL was founded in 1969 in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, England, UK. The first SL 4000 G console was installed in Rio de Janeiro in 1989 (that commissioning engineer, Niall Feldman, still works for SSL and is now Director of New Products) and we pro-actively started working in Brazil in 1993”.
BB: Which product is most popular in Brazil
Max: “Difficult question to answer. Over the years, we have produced a wide range of products for a variety of applications. If we were to consider sheer unit numbers, I guess that Matrix and X-Rack win the trophy. If we were to look at turnover, Duality is the winner. These numbers might be superseded in the near future with the introduction of Live, our newest console for live sound applications”.
BB: Did you see a growth in audio/video related material in Brazil
Max: “Sure! With the advent and expansion of cable TV, digital terrestrial TV and web-streaming, we have witnessed sustained and continuos growth in this sector of the industry”.
BB: Which section in the audio/video market is strongest for SSL in Brazil
Max: “Our company and solutions traditionally attend to the upper tier of the market, i.e. large shows, complex sport events, mobile units requiring high capacity and quality audio”.
BB: We saw you at the AES and Broadcast&Cable, which other fairs in South America people and businesses can find SSL
Max: “We have attended local trade-fairs in Chile over the past 2-3 years. We are looking at exhibiting at ExpoMusic in 2014, Caper in Argentina, and a show in Colombia. We regularly organize workshops and roadshows with our local partners”.
BB: How is business and sales different from Europe & USA in Brazil
Max: “To state the obvious, custom duties and taxes, as well as the exchange-rate instability make it difficult for anyone to plan anything here. Also, the political and economical situation is very different in Brazil from more traditional markets such as the USA or the EU. This influences not just SSL's business, but nearly all sectors of the economy, making forecasts and planning almost "black science".
BB: Is the english language still a problem in communication
Max: “Yes and no. Yes if one considers the average fluency in English of the people we deal with on a day to day basis. No, because companies in South America require that their top managers possess a decent command of English. At SSL, we beg to be different: I'm fluent in both English and Portuguese, and my Spanish is up to a decent standard (I won't mention Dutch or French, only relevant in a couple of countries in South America)”.
BB: Are you partnering with other foreign companies here in Brazil
Max: “No. Our partners in Brazil are all established in Brazil”.
BB: How do you see the broadcast market in 2014 due to world cup
Max: “We see opportunities of course. Not just in the Broadcast market, but also in the Live sound market thanks to the many parallel events that will happen during the World Cup”.
BB: Which company is your biggest opponent in Brazil
Max: “I wouldn't say “opponent”. We have competitors, of course, as any company would. They tend to vary according to the projects and the markets - I couldn't per se qualify one as the “biggest” either”.
BB: Any surprising challenges in Brazil
Max: “As you may well know and have experienced yourself, Brazil is a territory with many challenges. After our 20+ years experience in the country, anything hardly surprises us anymore. And when it does, it tends to be in a positive way”.
BB: Are there new upcoming products you can tell us about
Max: “We just revealed two new broadcast products at IBC: the first Madi-Dante Bridge designed for Broadcast applications and the LMS-16, a revolutionary high-capacity loudness monitor that works together with our products or that can integrate as a stand-alone unit in broadcast installations.
SSL has a life-long history not revealing upcoming products before they are ready to be demonstrated and ready to ship. But we are having good news for you all.
There is close to a week left before the AES in New York and SSL will have 5 new products, yes, 5! Each of them worth the travel.
For Musical Production, we will have the Matrix2 and Sigma
For Live Sound, the Live, seen first time at the fairs in America
For Broadcast, our new Madi-Dante bridge, and the LMS 16, Loudness multichannel monitor.
Besides this, we will have the Duality ProStation, the C1- HD with V4, an AWS 948, Nucleus and of course our range of Converters and effects/processors at our stand.”
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mentioned:
SSL
AES
Expo Music
Caper
Broadcast & Cable
IBC