Twenty years after its foundation in 2006, Singapore-based EXPO AV Pte has formed a strategic partnership with Martin Audio to help elevate the brand in Southeast Asia.
The two brands have enjoyed a long trading association. Gerard Rodrigues’ company made its first Martin Audio purchase — W8LM and W3 — a year after start-up, “all of which sounded awesome”, he reported. They later invested in MLA “which was a gamechanger”.
The aim of EXPO AV was always to grow into a full production rental staging company focusing on the MICE segment (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions), and in 2008 the company expanded further with the opening of DK Studios, specialising in design and content production.
“We are a strong supporter and believer in the Martin Audio brand and philosophy,” Rodrigues continued.
“We have always been attracted to the quality of the sound and the Martin Audio tradition, and throughout its history it has always maintained a belief in great-sounding loudspeakers. We run almost the entire Martin Audio family within our inventory — from Wavefront Precision to FlexPoint.”
Another key driver was the relationship with Dave McKinney, founder of Generation AV, the Asia Pacific representative for Martin Audio.
“Dave and I got together a few years ago and were already speaking about our next line-array purchase, after MLA. The trust and relationship were great and so it made the decision much easier.”
As preferred AV partners to venues such as the Singapore Expo, D’Marquee @ NTUC Downtown East and another brand new one (still under wraps), EXPO AV recently made its biggest investment in Martin Audio to date, placing a massive order late last year headed by a 36-box WPC, and including multiples of SHX218, SX218 and SXH118 (flown) subs, as well as eight XE300 monitors, and a strong showing for all the larger FlexPoint models (FP6, FP8 and FP12).
“Making the WPC purchase was almost a no-brainer,” Gerard Rodrigues said. “The Wavefront series always delivered best-in-class audio quality and once Dave and his team went through all the details it made our decision to purchase WPC much easier.”
The investment quickly proved its worth. “It’s been out constantly since we took delivery — covering all events which have taken place in the larger venues here in Singapore. During this time, we invited customers / system integrators to take a listen … and they have loved it.”
And EXPO AV’s active promotion of all things Martin Audio is still in its infancy.
“We have a very strong marketing team that manages the various social media platforms. We arrange a product showcase every fortnight to inform customers and potential customers as well as regional partners of our new products. We’ve also invested in advanced photographic equipment to capture equipment and shows, all of which are shared with Generation AV and Martin Audio through tags.”
Finally, he says the support from both the manufacturer and Generation AV has been exemplary — particularly regarding effective deployment of the DISPLAY prediction software.
In summary, Gerard Rodrigues is satisfied that the wide array of Martin Audio products now in their inventory will further increase their perception of being serious players.
“Many sound engineers that we work with have only good things to say about the system and we are starting to see an upward trend of new users adopting the brand — not because of heavy marketing, but for the quality it produces. Our customers are happy with the brand, and therefore so are we.”
