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One of three co-founders of Re-Sauce, CEO Gordon Dutch knows a thing or two about Pro AV. A former co-owner of Peerless-AV, he’s delivered display solutions and more to various vertical markets across the world. Now, he’s helping manufacturers navigate the challenging path of international expansion. Dutch spoke with SCN about the business of supporting Pro AV businesses.
SCN: You launched Re-Sauce about three years ago. How did your Pro AV journey lead you here?
Gordon Dutch: After a brief career in law and then music, I moved into Car Audio in 1990 and built up a chain of high-end retail stores. Four years later, I opened BBG Distribution, which grew into one of the leading AV distributors in the U.K. In 2009, I merged with Peerless and became one of the owners of Peerless-AV, joining their Global Board and maintaining personal responsibility for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.
During my time there, we won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise—only around 7,000 U.K. businesses have received this honor over the last 60 years. And personally, I was inducted into Installation magazine’s Global Hall of Fame in 2017 with its Outstanding Contribution Award. In 2021, I stepped down, sold my shares, and launched Re-Sauce.
SCN: How is Re-Sauce different from your previous Pro AV endeavors?
GD: Re-Sauce is a business and sales consultancy. I founded the company with Lee Baker, former COO of Midwich Group, and Ian Sempers, former owner of Medium (which he sold to Exertis). Between us, we have built, run, merged, sold, and even floated a number of successful and significant AV businesses.
When the pandemic caused so many issues in the market—from supply chain disruption to lost sales—we felt a consultancy business could really help brands who were struggling. Over time, Re-Sauce expanded into a full-service digital marketing and public relations agency.
SCN: How is Re-Sauce different from other agencies?
GD: We are a sales and business consultancy first, and we are purely dedicated to Pro AV, IT, and UC. In fact, the only reason we moved into marketing and PR was at the request of our clients.
When we engage with a business, the first area we consider is their current go-to market, including the channels/verticals they serve and in what territories. My old company, BBG, mainly distributed American brands, so I have a 30-year history of making those brands successful in Europe.
By adding the marketing and PR, we effectively became a one-stop shop for any U.S. brand or global brand looking to become successful in Europe. Our experience allows clients to avoid making expensive mistakes over here in Europe, and ensures we hugely accelerate their growth and maximize their ROI. And it’s not just a one-way street: We also help European brands break into the U.S. market.
SCN: So, Re-Sauce isn’t just a U.K. company?
Unlike most other agencies, we don’t cut and paste.
GD: Not at all. As my role for Peerless involved building the brand pretty much everywhere outside the U.S. (and often inside it), I travelled extensively in Europe and all over the world. During that time, not only did I build up an amazing level of contacts, but I had to deal with all sorts of distributors, systems integrators, VARs consultants, press, and marketing agencies. As soon as Re-Sauce launched, I re-engaged with many of those contacts. Today, Re-Sauce has an office close to London, as well as a translation hub in Dusseldorf, and satellite PR offices in Munich, Paris, and Madrid. We also have partner agencies in the Middle East, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. I cover the U.S. personally and we sometimes partner with specialist U.S. agencies for certain key verticals.
SCN: What’s the secret to Re-Sauce’s success?
GD: Unlike most other agencies, we don’t cut and paste. Normally, we undertake a thorough review of the business and come back with a detailed report on areas where we can assist them. For example, we might introduce them to local distributors, systems integrators, VARs, and consultants.
We know which verticals and which territories have been successful for these distributors and SIs. Our contacts are normally at owner or board level, which accelerates a new brand’s progress.
Once we have assisted with that process, we are able to provide advice on all sorts of areas—from channel and vertical marketing to other forms of lead generation—and, of course, we provide all the services you would expect from a modern digital marketing business, with a special focus on global websites.
SCN: Why should a U.S. business consider building a global website for European markets?
GD: Before you launch anything, there are many specific requirements that you need to follow to be successful in Europe. At the very least you need to be aware of GDPR, which stands for General Data Protection Regulation. That was launched about six years ago by the EU as well as the U.K. to stop data and personal contact information from being exploited by unscrupulous companies. It also crosses into all sorts of areas that are critical to a brand’s ability to communicate with their overseas clients. Navigating GDPR is a key part of any global website—and happens to be one of our specialties.
The other reasons are down to local languages and local SEO. When developing the Peerless-AV website and brand, we put in a lot of work around what key global languages were required. We also needed to find companies that translated not just into the local language, but had a full understanding of AV, so the translations were 100% accurate. Poor translation reflects badly on a brand and leads to a lower level of engagement in local markets, because they feel you aren’t prioritizing them. SEO changes by market as well, so it’s really important to know the terms and vocabulary used for AV in those local markets.
SCN: Does Re-Sauce have any success stories to share?
GD: One of our first projects was with HYPERVSN, a holographic brand backed by Sir Richard Branson and Mark Cuban. That was pretty much a dream project, and we were involved in everything from their go-to market analysis and organizing their global launch of a new line, to sales introductions, customer service, and even their website and PR. After that, we worked with DTEN, then more recently with PlexusAV and many other brands. We also work with several clients on projects we can’t publicize under NDA, but you can see some of our “public” success stories at www.re-sauce.net.
