You may have noticed that Valco ads aren't running on TV, during Spotify breaks, or on bus stop billboards. That's not an accident. It's a choice.
Advertising is expensive; headphones don't have to be
A big headphone company spends more on marketing than on the product itself. That's not an exaggeration — it's public information. When you buy €400 headphones from a big brand, you might be paying €80 for the headphones themselves and €320 for the fact that a celebrity wears them in an ad.
We decided to do it differently. At Valco, the product development budget is actually a product development budget. Jasse sits in the studio and tunes frequency responses until the result sounds right — not the way the marketing department wants it to sound. His ears are insured. The marketing department has no ears, because we don't have a marketing department.
14 people don't need billboards
Valco is a 14-person company. We don't have a 'global brand strategy' or an 'omnichannel marketing campaign.' We have headphones that work, and customers who tell their friends about them.
Word of mouth is our marketing engine. It's free and, best of all, credible. No one believes a TV ad where a beautiful person runs into the sunset with headphones on and smiles like they've found the meaning of life. Everyone believes a friend who says 'I bought these and they're damn good.'
Henri, our great leader, drives an Alfa Romeo that breaks down once a month. That tells you everything you need to know about budget priorities. The money goes where it matters: better drivers, better materials, our own service in Kajaani. Not to some C-list celebrity wearing our headphones around their neck in an Instagram photo.
So where does the money go?
Let's start with honesty: a surprising amount goes to coffee. Fourteen people drink a lot of coffee.
The rest breaks down roughly like this:
- Product development – Jasse and the team make every model better than the previous one. VMK25.2 looks the same on the outside as VMK25, but the internals have been completely revamped. Because we spend money on what's inside the headphones, not on what the ad campaign looks like.
- In-house service – We actually have people who repair headphones. Not an automatic 'throw it away and buy new ones' process.
- Kuolemantähti – Every purchase funds 0.000001 % of our Kuolemantähti. The project is moving forward slowly, but it's moving.
- Child support and beer – No further comment.
What if you want to grow?
We do. But we'd rather grow slowly and properly than quickly and stupidly. Our headphones sell to over 58 countries without a single TV commercial. That means someone has tried them and found them good — and told others about it.
If you're reading this, you're probably one of those people. Thank you for that. Thanks to you, Henri doesn't have to sell that Alfa. Though maybe he should.
