One of the first big announcements to come out of the Nationwide Marketing Group‘s Primetime event in Dallas, TX this weekend is the rebranding of its Home Technology Specialists Nationwide (HTSN) custom integration division. The group will now be known as Oasys Residential Technology Group. The new name is coupled with a strategy that will see the group expand its reach to a wider portion of the custom integration industry.
“We believe there’s an opportunity to take what we’ve built and provide an even greater service to those businesses just starting out or those who have struggled to get their feet under them. It’s a segment of the industry, frankly, that has been ignored and underserved for too long,” says Andy Orozco, senior vice president of custom integration for Nationwide.
Members of the group enjoy free CEDIA membership and access to the Oasys Learning Academy, which includes the entire catalog of CEDIA education as well as vendor-specific product training. Oasys members have also leveraged Nationwide’s business and financial services programs to streamline their businesses, allowing them to remain focused on providing exceptional customer service. In addition, all Oasys and Nationwide events, including the Oasys Summit and PrimeTime, are free to attend and allow dealers to meet face-to-face with key vendor partners and tap into an unmatched peer-to-peer network to share best practices and more.
According to CEDIA’s most recent Integrated Home Market Analysis, there are roughly 11,000 integrator companies operating in the United States. Only a fraction of integrators participate in a buying organization, according to the association’s data. In particular, integrators with an average annual revenue of less than $2 million, which make up two-thirds of the industry, are exceedingly underrepresented in buying group membership.
“It’s likely that these businesses think joining a group is either not a viable financial option or they simply don’t understand the benefits of membership,” says Hank Alexander, director of Oasys.“That’s where we have the opportunity to extend our hand, work directly with them to identify where they need the most support and offer targeted services that can have the biggest impact on their business.”
First unveiled at PrimeTime in Dallas, the Oasys branding will continue to materialize over the coming weeks, leading up to the first-ever Oasys Summit in Nashville, May 15-17.
