DEI Holdings, Inc. has appointed Blair Tripodi as chief marketing officer of its Polk, Definitive Technology, and BOOM Movement business units.
Tripodi will lead the marketing efforts for the company’s audio businesses, elevating the brands’ visibility in both the U.S. and international markets.
“Blair is quite simply a brilliant marketer with a proven track record of turning successful brands into extraordinary ones,” said Kevin Duffy, president of DEI Holdings. “His appointment is the latest step in our plan to accelerate the growth of the company by building on the inherent strengths of our core audio brands while expanding our reach into personal audio products such as headphones and wireless speakers.”
Tripodi had been at Under Armour Inc. for the last six years, most recently serving as managing director of Under Armour Europe. During his tenure with Under Armour, Tripodi grew it from a virtual unknown in Europe to a market leader on the continent, leading all efforts relating to advertising, PR, social media and sponsorships, including relationships with the English Premier League, International Rugby, Top 14 Rugby, and German Bundesliga Football. He is cited with opening over 35 new markets for the brand in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Prior to joining Under Armour, Tripodi drove brand development for performance-oriented institutions including the United States Olympic Committee and NIKE Inc. Tripodi earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario and a post-graduate degree in marketing from George Brown College. He will be based at the company’s headquarters in Vista, CA.
All marketing for Directed, DEI’s business unit principally focused on automotive security and remote start, will continue to be led by Mike Simmons, president of Directed, and Jim Jardin, vice president of marketing for Directed.
“The opportunity to build upon the success of Polk, Definitive Technology, and BOOM is staggering,” said Tripodi. “DEI’s distinct brands have substantially differentiated market positions that appeal to a broad set of distribution channels and consumers. With the addition of the new DEI Global Design Center, there is an opportunity for new and evolving design direction and myriad ways to tell the brands’ stories.”
“I feel that we can focus on new approaches in our marketing mix because the family of brands we are developing are special with a unique opportunity to tell a great story to the consumer,” added Tripodi. “We are going to be very creative in our planning and leverage the heritage and history of our brands in Baltimore and the new dynamism of the opportunity at BOOM.”