Boss Audio in Oxnard is getting into the health and wellness market.The company, which makes speakers, amplifiers and other audio and video equipment, launched a brand this fall called Njoie under which it will release a line of electric massagers aimed at office workers and casual athletes.The brand, pronounced “enjoy,” went to market in August with its first product: the NForce massage gun, a lightweight, handheld percussion gun used to relieve muscle tension and recover after a workout or injury.
The massager is priced at $99.99 and features an ergonomic handle, three vibration patterns and six interchangeable heads designed to target specific muscle groups on different parts of the body.
While those features aren’t revolutionary for a handheld massage gun, Boss Audio’s Vice President of e-Commerce Navid Farhand explained to the Business Journal Njoie is unique in that its products fill a glaring gap in the electric massager market.On one hand, he said, are high-end percussion massagers made for professional athletes. Those tend to be too expensive for casual users and, because they are meant to penetrate thick muscles into deep tissue, they vibrate at a frequency that can be too intense or even painful for the average Joe with an average build.
On the other end of the spectrum are myriad $20 products available online, which are typically assembled with cheap, recycled parts and churned out by the tens of thousands in factories overseas. Farhand said such products generally have short life spans and high breakage rates – “you get what you pay for.”He added there are tons of options for either extreme, but not many products in the middle.In fact, Vice President of Marketing Xin Hamilton said the idea to start Njoie came in 2019 when a group of Boss Audio employees who worked out together struggled to find a muscle massager that was both affordable and effective.The company formed a team with about 20 employees and enlisted help from chiropractors, physical therapists and trainers to design prototypes. They ultimately drew up a whole product line, including a higher-end NForce model designed for pro athletes and a series of massage chairs, all of which are slated for release this or next year.
As a subsidiary of an already-successful retailer, the Njoie team had a leg up over true startups in that its accounting, human resources, customer service and manufacturing infrastructure was already in place – advantages reflected in the pricing of its products, Hamilton said.
But all wasn’t breezy. Going to market in 2020 meant dealing with manufacturing delays during the worst days of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing restrictions on retail operations around the country limiting in-store placements. Luckily, Hamilton said, Boss Audio’s existing relationships have gotten the brand in conversations with ubiquitous retailers such as Walmart Inc. and Target Corp.
for when the retail market rebuilds to full strength.For now, Hamilton and her marketing staff are working to magnify interest among a young customer base.
“The market research we have seen shows people of a younger age are more health conscious. They spend more money and more time on recovery, making sure they are mentally and physically healthy,” she said, adding the pandemic has inspired a new wave of interest in the health and wellness industry.To capitalize on current trends, she’s using booming L.A. social media platform Tik Tok and video streaming platform Twitch, based in San Francisco and owned by Amazon.com Inc., to get in front of young consumers.
Farhand added Njoie wants to advertise a wide range of use cases, from skateboarders and motorsports athletes using it for muscular decompression to deskbound office workers and video game streamers seeking back or hand pain relief.
Boss Audio Launches Njoie Massager Brand
