Dyson recently launched its second-ever headphone, the Dyson OnTrac, globally. businessline caught up with Mark Heard, engineering manager at Dyson, to know more about how and why the brand has journeyed from vacuum cleaners towards styling products, and now headphones. Mark, who’s has been with the British company, for more than a decade now also talks about what helps the new headphones stand out, and how they see their premium products making an impact on the common Indian consumer. Edited excerpts:
What makes the Dyson OnTrac stand out from the rest?
With the Dyson OnTrac, we wanted to leverage our lab-based understanding of the audio space and build headphones that stand apart from the rest. For the past 30 years, we’ve been trying to remove unwanted noise from vacuum cleaners, and now we’re trying to harness that knowledge. To stand apart visually, both the outer cap and cushions of the headphones can be swapped out, offering nearly 2,000 different variations of colour and finish.
Having the batteries outside of the ear cups also gives us more run time, 55 hours in this case, without compromising on comfort.
Your first headphone, the Dyson Zone, was a very unique product. It had an inbuilt air-filtration system. What were your learnings from launching it in India?
The Dyson Zone was a technically challenging product from an engineering standpoint point. Putting a motor that’s spinning at almost 9,000 RPM next to your ear and then trying to deliver high levels of both ANC and audio was an engineering feat. It took us almost four-and-a-half years to develop.
We’d had great feedback about the ANC and the audio profile from our owners of Zone. What it has helped us to do is capitalise on that learning and channel that back into the OnTrac.
Is there a particular reason why you don’t have a customisable equaliser in the OnTrac app?
At the moment, we want to offer a neutral profile. So, we have three presets. Luckily, we have the ability to push over-the-air updates with the OnTrac. So, we’re looking at a range of different functions that we might release in the future.
What drove the idea of incorporating a joystick-type button on the headphone?
We look at user functionality a lot, and found the joystick to be quite intuitive. It comes with a form that a lot of people are familiar with and it also minimises the number of touch points needed. If you were to split all of those functions into separate buttons, it ends up being quite a cluttered product. So, the joystick gives tactile feedback while also maximising the amount of functions that you can perform.
Is there a specific demographic for whom this product is targeted?
Not really. It’s a product for all consumers and that’s what the customisation really brings out. It’s a product for all ages.
In India, Dyson products are aspirational. It’s a very price-sensitive market as well. Is that a concern?
We see our products as a huge value add. For example, when the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer first launched, we got similar questions about the price. But we see more people buying it and more competitors coming into that space! So yes, it is an aspirational price point but I see us continuing to grow as the market develops. At the end of the day, people look for functionality and finish as we offer, and you can get that only by journeying towards that price point.