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James DiPaolo

Name: James DiPaolo
Age: 35
Job Title: Director of Marketing
Company: Andover Audio
Years in the Industry: 10
Education: B.A. (Financial Economics), Columbia University

Dealerscope’s 40 Under 40 Honoree 2021

Describe your current role.
My core role at Andover Audio is Director of Marketing, where I oversee digital strategy (web/social/ads), print/public relations, creative content production, customer service, and more.

Much like the team members at Andover Audio, I serve in multiple capacities — one of which is industrial designer: collaborating with the Director of Engineering and the team on our products. The goal there is creating and championing the most elegant expressions of our technologies, so they are not only intuitive and fun to use, but they also balance high-grade performance with optimal integration within home/apartment settings.

We launched Andover Audio — a previously unknown brand in the consumer product space — at the 2019 Rocky Mountain Audio Show.

There, we first demonstrated our innovative Model-One Record Player System — a fully integrated record-playing music system — and SpinBase Turntable Speaker System.

My main focus has been taking the brand concept to reality: generating interest, recognition, and awards for our innovative products. This has helped establish the brand, despite the pandemic/inflationary challenges faced by our industry.

What has made me successful is my creative drive, while being surrounded by team members who are top in their field. Without them, Andover’s rapid ascension in the marketplace wouldn’t have been as great.

What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?

  • Successfully launching and growing a new consumer brand from scratch during tumultuous times.
  • Serving as Industrial Designer and product conceptualist, guiding the look and feel of our products.
  • Designing the website through which our direct sales are made.
  • Designing the logo for Andover Audio, and serving as graphic designer for advertisements (digital/print), product packaging, and more.
  • Establishing and maintaining our professional customer service.

What do you like best about your job?
Working with the most talented individuals in the industry with creative freedom.

What technology are you most excited about at the moment?
High-res content becoming more mainstream (by Apple, Amazon, and high-res streaming services) will improve the sonic quality of the music people listen to. This should raise the bar of what customers expect sonically — which is reassuring after 20-plus years of MP3s, which have lowered these standards.

I’m also interested in how old technology and media intersects with the new, i.e., turntables and the latest digital/streaming technologies.

Who in the CE or technology industry do you look up to, and why?
Teenage Engineering for their unique and creative approach to designing products. Also Braun back in the days of Dieter Rams (and his fellow designers), who created the standard to which we compare even the latest consumer product designs.

What career advice would you give to people just getting started in the CE or technology industry?
Find what you’re interested in, and develop the skill set to support that in a professional way.

What, in your opinion, is necessary for the CE/technology industry to thrive in the next five years?
Keep a balance between the latest.