From five names to one, Speco Technologies emerges

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. - With five different names to identify itself, it could get a little confusing at times for CSI, Speco, Provideo, Emco, Components Specialties Inc. and the customers the company did business with. Now, the company has taken on a unified name - Speco Technologies - an approach that is expected to result in a stronger name in the market. “The biggest challenge is as we grow, we want to maximize our advertising and our brand recognition,” said Peter Botelho, vice president of marketing and the person behind the concept of adopting a new name. “As the markets we serve start to converge more and more, we want to build that brand equity.” Over 45 years, Speco Technologies took on new names to identify the different products it carried. For example, Provideo represented the company’s line of cameras, while CSI / Speco identified the company’s sound equipment, such as in wall speakers. The problem, said Todd Keller, executive vice president of Speco Technologies, was that there was little, if any, association that the company’s various product lines came from one company. “We were successful in marketing individual brands,” he said. “Now it’s time to market a one-brand approach.” Company officials plan to phase-in the new name, promoting it alongside the company’s existing well-known name. A new website was also set to launch shortly after press time, www.specotech.com. But the new name is not the only change at Speco Technologies. Since Botelho joined the company earlier this year, he has been instrumental in a number of other projects such as unifying the company’s customer service group so that all product orders are handled by a single department, not based on the individual brand bought by a customer. He also helped to better align the company’s project management team, so that the products Speco Technologies brings to market are what their customers want. All these changes are expected to play an important role in the company’s continued growth. Since returning to privatization in 2001 after being a public company under the name Component Specialties Inc., the company has recorded steady growth. Keller said between 2001 and 2002, Speco Technologies’ sales saw a 40 percent increase, while a 30 percent increase was recorded between 2002 and 2003. The next step, said Keller, is to look at acquisitions both on the technology side and acquiring an entire company. “Right now we feel the timing is right,’ he said, as a number of security companies are facing business challenges, while Speco Technologies is poised for growth.