Question
What does Sonic's focus on "Style that stands out" really mean in terms of hearing instruments?
Answer
Great question. The 4S Foundation is the center of all we do at Sonic and stands for: Sound that's natural;Speech understanding in noise;Simplicity in everything we do;and Style that stands out.
Oftentimes people think of style as a visual element, and we certainly plan to continue our focus on style in terms of hearing instrument form factors and designs. When hearing devices look more like consumer electronics, it is easier for clinicians to move patients away from thinking in terms of the traditional stereotypes, i.e., big, beige and bulky. At Sonic, that's something that we've tried very hard to do since our inception straight through to our latest product release, Flip, and it will continue.
Another form of style is in the way that we work with our customers. For example, one of the things that is very important to us at Sonic is a concept we call "straight talk." We don't talk about our features in terms of techno babble. We want clinicians to understand the features we offer, and how they work. We try to make things very simple for people and that's a style choice. We could choose to have a style that's confusing and uses super-polished elaborate techno babble, but we don't. That's just not who we are and that's not our style. We want to maintain our friendly, approachable style so that when you talk to Sonic you simply get the information you need in a straightforward manner.
Another part of our style that stands out comes from our history as an American company. Now Sonic is part of a larger group based in Denmark, but we are still very agile, very can-do, and very energetic. We've been very careful to hire people into Sonic that have that same spirit and attitude, whether they're based in the U.S. or overseas. To be part of Sonic, you must have that friendly nature and that "roll-up your sleeves and pitch in" type of attitude, no matter what your role. With an honest approachable style, it's easy for customers to have an honest dialogue with us about what's working and what's not working and so we can partner together and create a better outcome for the patient. Because in the end, that's the whole point of why we all do what we do.
I hope that answers your question. For more information, please visit us at www.sonici.com or give us a call at (888) 423-7834. You may also visit the Sonic web channel on AudiologyOnline.
Kathy Landon joined Sonic Innovations in 2000. During her tenure with Sonic Innovations, Ms. Landon has been integral to the company's software and hardware product development efforts, and has most recently spearheaded Sonic's new marketing strategies and initiatives. Before joining Sonic Innovations, Ms. Landon held a number of software and product development positions, having come to the company from Network Multimedia, Inc., a spin-off company of Novell, Inc.
