The
creative and business force behind Ambience
Medical is Chip
Davis, a Grammy Award winning composer and
musician – and one of the most successful
innovators, entrepreneurs and product marketers
in business today.
The story of his multi-million dollar company,
which began with the formation of an independent
record
label over 30 years ago, has been chronicled
in publications as Time magazine, American Profile,
Billboard and
Inc.,
the magazine of growth companies.
Davis revolutionized the music industry when his innovative
style of instrumental music created a whole new music
genre classified as New Age. He is also credited with
single-handedly transforming the Christmas music season
into the huge industry it is today. And along the way
he has selectively diversified into other related products,
bringing his lifestyle brand to consumers through a
wide array of distribution channels.
A classically trained musician, Davis’ first
foray into commercial music began in the advertising
industry. A jingle that he co-wrote for Old Home Bread
won a Clio, the highest award in advertising for excellence.
A record resulted (Old Home Fillerup and Keep on Truckin’ Café by
C.W. McCall and the Old Home Band), followed by an
album. The song “Convoy”, from the group’s
second album, went gold and spawned the CB radio
craze and a major movie starring Kris Kristofferson.
At
the same time Davis was also experimenting with
music that he called “18th century classical
rock”, combining classical music with current
rhythms, instruments and electronic technology.
He called the music Fresh Aire and named his
band Mannheim
Steamroller. When major companies in the industry
failed to produce his music, Davis started his
own American Gramaphone label out of Omaha, Nebraska
in 1974, releasing his first Fresh Aire album. Ten years later Davis released his first Christmas
album. Today, Mannheim Steamroller has sold over
25 million holiday albums, making them the #1 selling
Christmas artist of all time. The group is also one
of the top 50 best-selling artists of all times,
with American Gramaphone becoming one of the largest
and most influential record labels in the industry. Davis’ original business model has exponentially
expanded to include Mannheim Steamroller offerings
for other holidays along with selective products
that are complementary to the company’s
lifestyle focus on family, caring and warmth. Included
in his product offerings are food items (ranging
from his original cinnamon
hot chocolate
developed for the Christmas season to a spray-on
barbeque sauce), comfortable and casual clothing,
holiday books and personal comfort items like
lotions and candles. Davis calls it “connect-the-dots
marketing”. It is a strategy that has resulted
in a significant business empire as he continues
to anticipate and serve the demographics of his
consumer base. That same strategy has also served Davis well in
collaborating with other major companies and their
marketing efforts. He teamed with Walt Disney on
an album of classic Disney songs, worked with NBC
on a noted Christmas broadcast, benefited the National
Parks System through a fund-raising tour for Yellowstone
and has formed marketing alliances with Fortune 500
companies. Such efforts further reinforced the marketing
impact of his organization and the strength of his
distinctive brand. As
Davis embarked on creating his new Ambience series,
he
instinctively began exploring the full potential
of the distinctive compositions. Realizing that his
new combination of music and sounds of nature could
alter spatial perceptions, he envisioned the value
of applications beyond normal listening pleasure.
The result is Ambience Medical with its far-reaching
implications for the treatment and care of individual
patients within a medical setting – extending
the positive impact fostered by Davis, his business
enterprise and lifestyle brand.
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