Harman Professional has announced a new leadership team for AKG’s professional business, naming Karam Kaul as director of marketing and Eric Boyer as vice president of worldwide sales, working with Bryan Bradley, general manager of Harman Professional’s loudspeaker business unit who was appointed to lead AKG in July 2014.
Boyer and Kaul will both be based out of Harman Professional’s Northridge, CA headquarters and will work closely with the AKG team in Vienna, Austria. The AKG home base in Vienna will be managed by Martin Thaler, head of AKG Austria GmbH.
“AKG is a storied brand with strong appreciation in the marketplace but also considerable untapped potential,” Bradley states. “With Eric and Karam in these critical leadership positions, I’m confident that AKG will realize its vast market potential and provide customers and channel partners with the products and programs that make them successful.
“Similarly, I’m pleased to have an operations professional of Martin Thaler’s caliber to be our site leader in Vienna — which continues to be the cradle of AKG innovation and R&D.”
Boyer was previously director of marketing and global business development at Beijing Pacific Budee Technology Development Co. in Beijing, China, and prior to that director of business development at Burl Audio in Santa Cruz, CA. He also previously served as VP of operations at Audio Agent, led marketing for PreSonus, and was director of marketing and later VP of manufacturing at Blue Microphones. He is a Pro Tools-certified producer/engineer and a voting member of the Recording Academy, as well as a member-at-large of the Audio Engineering Society.
Kaul joins AKG from Guitar Center, where he held various cross-functional positions, most recently as the director of marketing for Guitarcenter.com. Previously, he also held roles as director of business development for Tech Merchandising and director of training for the Tech Division.
“Im very excited to take on the global marketing role at AKG,” Kaul says. “I look forward to learning everything about this incredible brand, to meeting as many customers and team members as I can and then putting the right plan in place to grow this brand. In doing so, we’ll tap the passion and commitment within these walls to put winning products in the hands of our customers and dealers.”
Boyer adds, “AKG has phenomenal technology, great people and a culture of commitment to the professional audio and MI communities. Our long-standing tradition of innovation and engineering excellence continues to push the boundaries of transducer design and manufacturing.
“Since 1947 when Dr. Görike and Mr. Pless founded the company in Vienna, AKG has racked up numerous patents, awards, and industry accolades and remains a fixture in live sound production, installed sound, studio recording, and broadcasting,” Boyer continues. “I look forward to working with Bryan and Karam and the entire AKG and Harman Professional organizations in growing this business into the market leader it’s destined to be.”
