Back in May last year, Sonos, the audio giant, released an update to its app that left many of its loyal customers quite disappointed, to say the least.
The audio giant had cultivated a cult following over the years, but that goodwill came crashing down when the new software took away features like sleep timers, alarms, and the ability to manage music queues. For many, core functions for their expensive speaker systems simply stopped working.
The fallout was immense and caused then-CEO Patrick Spence to issue an apology, calling it a dramatic misstep, a sharp reversal from his initial praise of the company"s "courage". He eventually left in January this year, with Tom Conrad, a tech veteran from Pandora and Snap, taking over as interim CEO.
Now, according to Bloomberg, the interim title is gone, and Conrad is officially Sonos"s new CEO. His main job now is to convince thousands of pissed-off customers not to walk away from the brand.
In a letter to Sonos employees, Conrad did the usual corporate schtick, talking about shifting the conversation from "what-we"ve-broken" to "what-we-can-become". This new direction includes a commitment to "do less better".
One casualty of this refocused strategy is the cancellation of a streaming video player, codenamed Pinewood, that would have competed with devices from Apple and Roku. He also noted that he wants to "return to the absolute focus on excellence and the customer-first principles".
Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Sonos board, gave Conrad a shoutout in a separate letter, saying his appointment followed "a comprehensive and competitive national search" with plenty of other candidates in the mix:
When Tom stepped in, customers, the media and many of you were appropriately questioning what had gone wrong and insisting on urgency and answers. Tom has done a masterful job leading our response, building on his keen knowledge of the company, his extensive experience as a product leader, and a heartfelt connection with our customers.
As for the depth of the damage caused by the botched update, Conrad claimed a customer told him months ago that the botched app had left his parents" 50th wedding anniversary without music to mark the occasion.