Kensington Recruits New Partners

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Chris Franey, a Channelweb.com 2008 Top 25 Channel Executive who took the helm of the Kensington computer accessories business in December, spoke with Channelweb.com's Steven Burke about Kensington's strategy to recruit new partners.

Franey, who previously led a channel resurgence at IT products giant Samsung, said he sees an accessories boom that is resulting in double-digit sales growth for a number of solution providers and retailers.

As the new president of the Computer Products Group of ACCO Brands, which markets a wide variety of computer accessories under the Kensington brand, Franey says he sees big opportunities even in the midst of the economic downturn. Below are excerpts from the interview.

Will you look at adding retailers and solution providers?

We are aggressively recruiting partners at all levels across all product lines. We will do it in a way that grows the pie vs. a share shift. We will bring value to our channel partners. There is great opportunity. Attach is where the growth is.

So you are going to put together a channel program that will make it more profitable for VARs or retailers to do more of the attach?

There is huge double-digit growth in certain categories. We want to help the channel understand where the opportunities are and then give them the tools necessary to go capitalize on that. And then support them in their efforts to get it done.

What is your call to action for the channel for 2009 as you take the helm of Kensington?

With the diverse product set Kensington has with over 400 different products, it is all about opportunity and about educating the various partners on what we bring to the table and how we can help them grow.

Security obviously is something that Kensington has done for a long time. We are very innovative. We invented the Micro Slot. Power is also obviously a huge growth category for us.

It is all about the attach. Every channel partner I have talked to is talking about minimum double-digit growth in the attach business. I am not talking about 11 percent growth. I am talking about 20-plus percent in the various categories. So this is an exciting time.

It is difficult to sell high ASP (Average Selling Price) items (right now). So a lot of people are delaying upgrades of a laptop or monitor or whatever. But they are willing to invest in accessories that will make their lives easier and simpler.

So when it comes to power, ask yourself how many different devices do you carry around? So what if you had one device that worked for power? You'd want to be able to power your USB and recharge your USB at the same time and have it work with multiple devices in multiple places. That's a great growth category. Double-digit growth [is] easy. And it can work in the car or a plane. Not a problem. Products for iPhone and iPod are killer.

We have a Bluetooth adapter that is universal, wireless and has swappable batteries and works with any phone. It clips to a visor and works with multiple cell devices. Up to three different devices can be connected to this. So if you are in a car and have two different cell phones, you can switch between the two. A lot of times I carry this around instead of a Jawbone (Bluetooth headset).

Talk about Kensington's product depth at over 400 products?

That is the one thing that attracted me to Kensington in terms of what they bring to the table. Relative to B2B and B2C, Kensington is not as well-known as it should be. So there is plenty of opportunity. The company has been around for a while. It has a really good, strong brand. When you say Kensington, people know Kensington. Maybe they are not as familiar with it today as yesterday, but that will change. I have a strong talented parade of people here and a great culture. That is what attracted me to the company.

Next: Top Three Priorities For 2009

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