HTI Sonar Marketing Director eInterview

Posted by Tom Blue on October 27, 2009 under Companies, Profiles | Be the First to Comment

Below is our most recent eInterview with Caroline Mercado, HTI Sonar’s Marketing Director.

1. What do you do? 2 sentences max  HTI is the world’s leader in scientific acoustic tag systems and portable, digital echo sounder technology, training, and consulting for fisheries research. We help fisheries researchers track fish behavior in high-resolution 2D and 3D with remote access and with real-time capability.  We work with researchers all over the globe doing amazing environmental studies.

2. Who are your competitors? (just the names)  Biosonic and Lotek offer similar equipment, however, there aren’t any true apple-to-apple competitors.  Because the variables are broad enough, often the best tool for a study is based on study objectives and potentially even long-term goals.

3. What makes you different than your competitors? HTI provides the most advanced tools, meaning the highest-resolution (fine-scale) 2D and 3D tag positions and the best resolution digital echo sounder data available.  Additionally, both technologies offer data that can be viewed in real-time and remotely accessed from anywhere in the world!  Not having to go to a receiver that’s in the middle of a large river or lake, or even out to sea is important.  For us, the savings is more than time, or budget dollars, it’s fisheries data.  And with smart phone technology, our biologists are watching their acoustic tag data real-time using iPhones.  And if they aren’t viewing it, they still have peace of mind knowing they’ll get a “phone call” from the receiver if there is any power loss or interruption.  Some project sites experience fierce weather and electrical activity.  Knowing we’ll get a status call or text from deployed HTI gear is certainly helpful during data acquisition.  OK, one last difference which many people don’t know, you can track 500 acoustic tags at a time, not 10’s of tags.

4. What are your or your ceo’s biggest challenges? One of our biggest challenges is teaching researchers how to optimize equipment settings for different aquatic environments.  Because HTI’s systems are extremely versatile, it can be a catch 22.  Versatility and flexibility don’t usually equate to plug-and-play scientific research tools.  So, we’re working on ways to improve this online so that say a researcher in say, Antarctica will be able to immediately access assistance to optimize his/her settings when in the field.

5. Which marketing tactic/strategy has produced the most leads/revenue for your company?  E.G. A PR Campaign, Please be specific as our users want to know how to grow their own business. I can’t say enough about contributing to professional organizations, such as the American Fisheries Society and its local chapters.  We see the collective works and are inspired.  We hope to inspire others with our work.  Also, increasing involvement in conferences has continued to push HTI’s acoustic tag and hydroacoustic technologies farther.  We’re fisheries biologists, too and we learn a lot from what other biologists are doing.  Lastly, we keep informed via online newsletters and sites.  It’s truly immediate gratification to get updates from new research as it happens from around world.  We try to hold up our part of the deal by keeping people up-to-date and involved with quarterly publications.  Ultimately, the key is collaboration.

6. How long have you been in business? HTI has been in business for 22 years and the managing owners, who are also senior scientists, average 25-30 years of experience.

7. How many employees do you have? Staff of 35 and 4 managing owners.

8. What are your revenue estimates for 2009? Is that an increase from 2008? I can’t estimate yet but, already it’s been a steady increase.  I’d attribute it to a broader awareness of the technology and how it provides a clearer picture of the secret lives of fish, such as salmon.  This awareness is helping us improve our understanding of aquatic ecosystems and to make better fisheries management decisions.  It’s beyond cool.