In the wake of yesterday's news that Broadview Security will be acquired by ADT/Tyco, the folks at Smith & Wesson Security Services (operated by NYMPC) sent out a guerilla marketing message trying to call forth doubts in the heads of some Broadview affiliated dealers. The message is consistent with S&W's previous message questioning GE's sale to UTC, in which they also touted a possible shakeout in GE's dealer program and the loss of that strong brand in the marketplace.
In our in-depth article on ADT's purchase of Broadview Security, Wayne Wahrsager of Smith & Wesson did say that the merger gives ADT an even bigger lead in the alarm business, and he added that the merger could be good for the industry in that it eliminates one of the big brands in the industry, possibly allowing for other firms to fill that space (presumably S&W would have been one of those brands, and today's email message certainly confirms that thinking).
There's no doubt that Broadview's Bob Allen and ADT's John Koch are going to work diligently to keep their dealer channel happy; in fact, that was one of their chief messages in a conference call with the security industry trade press yesterday afternoon. Nonetheless, S&W is trying to question that. Take a long at their very strong message below, and add your comments to either the original article or to this blog post on whether you think this is good the industry (or good for you as a Broadview customer, if you're a customer reading this).
-Geoff
