MacDonald, Freudenberg Join L-Acoustics US Team

Michael MacDonald, former head of marketing at JBL, has been named as sales and marketing consultant of L-Acoustics US. “Michael's 20-plus years of diverse pro audio experiences have given him a tremendous amount of insight into this industry, particularly with regard to the loudspeaker market,” says L-Acoustics CEO and general manager Jeffrey Cox. “We've also worked together successfully in the past, so when the opportunity recently arose to work with him again, I jumped at it.”

MacDonald, who recently started Pilot Business Strategies, Inc., a firm designed to help large and mid-sized firms develop breakout strategies, had consulted for Cox during the early stages of L-Acoustics US, when it was known as Cox Audio Engineering. L-Acoustics is the France-based company that created the V-DOSC speaker system developed by Dr. Christian Heil.

“As we move into our second decade of business, strategy and infrastructure are critical,” notes Cox. “Michael's mandate is to develop the platform that will allow us to grow at a similar rate to the one we've enjoyed throughout the past 10 years and, at the same time, allow us to better service our customers.”

MacDonald says, “I have frequently found that businesses — particularly those that market technical products — tend to narrowly focus on the internal technical issues that revolve around the application of the product. With L-Acoustics US, I am able to look in from the outside and objectively work with a business leader like Jeffrey. Together, we believe that we can infuse clarity and focus that might otherwise easily be blurred by the hectic day-to-day world that we all have to compete in.”

In related news, Paul Freudenberg has been named to the newly created position of sales and marketing director. The announcement came from Cox, to whom Freudenberg reports.

Freudenberg will spearhead all sales and marketing activities for the Oxnard, CA-based manufacturing and distribution facility. In addition to directing the company's North American rep network and regularly interfacing with consultants, contractors, dealers, and end users in a sales capacity, he is also called upon to oversee advertising and PR, trade show activities, literature production, and all other marketing-related duties.

“We are delighted to have someone of Paul's caliber in this new position,” says Cox. “His collective experience with sales management, DSP, and high-performance sound system design is an asset we value greatly and we anticipate that he will be pivotal in our continuing growth and expansion into the touring sound and installation marketplaces.”

Prior to his appointment, Freudenberg most recently ran his own consultation venture, Prime Contact, in addition to authoring columns and articles for several pro audio industry publications. Before that, he spent more than seven years with BSS Audio, culminating with his role as sales and marketing director. Freudenberg's tenure with Harman also previously included product training stints for AKG, dbx, and JBL.