Yamaha Corporation of America has promoted ten-year company veteran Bob Goedken to general manager, AV Division.
In his new position, Goedken will be responsible for leading the sales and marketing efforts for Yamaha AV products in the U.S., including promotion, distribution, support and product strategy initiatives. He will report directly to Tom Sumner, senior vice president, Yamaha Corporation of America.
As assistant general manager, his most recent position at the company, Bob was a key part of the team that grew the division for two consecutive years, even as the consumer electronics and audio industries experienced overall declines. Previous to that, as national sales manager at Yamaha Electronics Corporation (which became a division of YCA in 2012), he successfully led the company through several major distribution channel changes that challenged the entire consumer electronics industry.
“Bob’s steadfast and innovative leadership has been instrumental in Yamaha’s sales and marketing success during periods of great upheaval in the home theater and consumer electronics arenas,” said Sumner. “I am confident that he will help Yamaha reach new heights in these key product areas.”
“I’m excited about the new position and tackling its challenges,“ said Goedken. “We have an outstanding team, unparalleled products and great business partnerships that poise Yamaha AV Division for success in the years to come.”
Bob earned his BA in management from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, and his MBA from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. He began his career as a marketing representative with Xerox, later moving to software startup Profitstar, where as senior vice president of sales and marketing he helped take that company to the top market position in its category.
