By Rebecca Engmann*

Denmark's premiere supplier of DVD solutions, plasma and TFT Displays, DVB solutions, and multimedia product distributions lives by a simple rule: keep it simple - and preferably in the family.

"KiSS stands for Keep It Simple Solutions, and the philosophy really is simple," says co-founder and sales director Martin Manniche. "When we started ten years ago, we were distributing multimedia upgrade kits - things like sound cards, CDR, and DVD-drives for PC's - and our biggest competition was a company called Creative Labs, which was then the biggest in the world. So we were going up against this giant on the US market, and our idea was simply to produce installations very quickly."

What's KiSS' recipe for simple success? Fast product turnaround helps. KiSS has just launched three new DVD players - the DP-1500, DP-1504 and DP-1508, billed as an elegantly-designed wireless connection to both Internet and hard disk. The new machines make it easier to download and view movies directly from the Internet, and to store films and digital camera photos on the hard disk. All three designs are compatible to the video compression software DivX and take up no more space than a telephone book.

The network connection enables users to hook up to the Internet directly from the DVD players, accessing a virtually limitless selection of online radio stations.

A big break with MPEG4

The company has also taken its philosophy to heart in terms of marketing. "It's also important to put a focus on selling, and to choose certain markets for concentration, which we've done particularly well in France, where KISS products are ranked number 1,2,4,7 and 9th in terms of most-sold DVD players in the 140 euro-and-up price class," Manniche explains.

KiSS’ breakthrough came largely as the result of its reputation for quick results - and an auspicious dinner. Two years ago, KiSS used its expertise in the field of videochip software R&D to address the challenge of handling MPEG4-format technology. Hoping to find a partner to provide the technology for the MPEG4 DVD player, Martin Manniche approached the CEO of US-based Sigma Designs at a fateful dinner.

"We wanted to produce this new software, and he said that every company in the world was working on the same thing. All we wanted was for them to give us a try. So we made a bet: we had three months to finish the software, in exchange for seven months of exclusivity on the world market. As it happened, we got it done in three months - and we actually got more exclusivity on the international market because it took our closest competitor a year to develop the same technology," Manniche told.

Today, Sigma has become an even closer associate of KiSS. Manniche explained that Sigma was attracted by KiSS' strong R&D profile, and the fact that the Danish company could work fast. The average company spends USD 10-40 million on chip production, he said, and they want a return on that investment as quickly as possible. And where Sigma has made use of KiSS' 25 R&D staff members, KISS has availed itself of Sigma's staff of 150 engineers. Together, they have developed an LCD television, plasma TV, DVD records, network players, at a rate of 14 new products per year - one each month.

Marriage made in heaven

But there's another aspect to KiSS that's sensational. At the heart of the company are the two brothers, Martin Manniche and Peter Wilmar Christensen. Manniche explains that he actually started the company with Peter's wife Anne-Marie. Four and a half months later, Peter jumped onboard as CEO. After five years in business, Martin Manniche's wife Milla Maniche moved also to KISS after several years at IBM. Today, all four own equal shares in the company.

"We all work hard for what we do. When you're part of a company in rapid growth, you're always interested in taking it to the next level. All of us have different strong points, but when you're family, you have confidence in each other - you know you can trust each other one thousand percent. We each know how the other thinks - and just like in a marriage, this familiarity helps you get a lot done. Ultimately, it's about respect and providing areas of responsibility that let a person show what they can do," he said.

This article was originally published by Øresund IT Magasine (nr. 4 - 2004). You can download the magazine in PDF format on Publications.

*Rebecca Engmann is an American journalist living in Copenhagen.