Studio: Brand Research (X-Mini)

Here is the online research I did for my Design Issue 2 brands:

X-MINI

Background research:

X- Mini is a company founded in Singapore with the intention of bringing the latest wave of multimedia products to the global market. Its main objective is to create multimedia devices that will lead as major trends in lifestyle technology. X-Mini pushes the boundaries of technologies in order to become a global brand synonymous with future innovations.

X-Mini products consist of: X-Mini II Capsule Speaker, X-Mini v1.1 Capsule Speaker, X-Mini MAX II Capsule Speaker, X-Mini MAX v1.1 Capsule Speaker, X-Mini Happy Capsule Speaker, X-Mini RAVE Capsule Speaker, X-Mini Hello Kitty Capsule Speaker, and X-Mini KAI Capsule Speaker.

Advertising problems:

(1) People tend to trust exported brands more than local brand (X-Mini is a local brand).
(2) Not many people know about X-Mini, as there is no solid ads or campaigns existing so far yet.

Possible competitors:

(1) Audio-Technica

(Source)

Audio-Technica was established in 1962. It is a company that deals with anything related to design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of problem-solving audio equipment. It is famous for its phonograph cartridges, and nowadays it creates high-performance microphones, headphones, wireless systems, mixers and other home and professional electronic products. 

Audio-Technica has worn many awards, and their products were also selected for major broadcast music events such as "the GRAMMY Awards and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies and sport events like World Cup Soccer, the Super Bowl, the Commonwealth Games, Summer Games in Athens (2004), Sydney(2000), Atlanta (1996) and Winter Games in Torino (2006) and Salt Lake City (2002)". 

The brand is well spread through out the world, its operating companies are also available in Europe, Singapore and Hongkong.  The timeline of the company can be found in their official website.

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(2) Creative


(Source)

Creative was founded in Singapore 1981, and it started with a vision that believes that multimedia would revolutionize the way people interact with their PCs. It is famous because of its Sound Blaster sound cards. Right now Creative are working on marketing cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, high performance earphone products and portable media devices. Its global corporate headquarters is located in Singapore, and regional headquarters at US (Milpitas, California), Europe (Dublin, Ireland) and Asia (Singapore). 

Since the success of Sound Blaster sound cards and setting the de-facto standard for PC audio in 1989, Creative has been the leading brand expanding in exciting lifestyle PDE market, especially in audio technology with a user base of 400 million. 

Creative was awarded the Consumer Electronics Show "Best of CES" for four consecutive years from 2003-2006, for a variety of their products. They also won the prestigious German-based reddot awards for outstanding and innovative product industrial designs. With the launch of Xtreme Fidelity (X-Fi) audio platform, they gained the "Best of What's New in Home Entertainment" award by Popular Science in 2006 for bringing outstanding audio quality for MP3 music. 

Creative's mission is "to expand its leadership role in the lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment market, using groundbreaking technology and leading-edge designs for not just the technically-savvy consumers, but for everyone who enjoys entertainment." It is listed on the main board of Singapore Exchange (SGX) since June 1994.

The company's timeline is available in their official website.

Sources:

(1) http://www.x-mini.com

(2) http://www.audio-technica.com.sg

(3) http://sg.creative.com