Head Monster Noel Lee was on his usual ebullient form today at the company's CES press conference, announcing a string of new headphone ranges and rolling out the red carpet for a number of celebrity endorsements.
There were appearances by Verdine White from Earth Wind and Fire, Mariah Carey's husband Nick Cannon – just out of hospital after a kidney op and beamed to us by Skype – and US rapper Xzibit.
So why all the hoopla? Well given the success of its Beats by Dr Dre and Lady Gaga headphones, Monster (it's dropped the word 'cable' from its name) has obviously decided that fashion and celebrity endorsement are the way forward. Its aim is to double or even treble its headphone sales in 2012.
To that end, Monster unveiled no fewer than six new ranges:
• Gratitude, inspired by Earth Wind and Fire
• iSport in-ears for sporty types
• The NCreedible nErgy ($69) and nTune ($129) in-ears in partnership with Nick Cannon, designed to appeal to the youth market
• A tie-up with fashion chain Diesel to produce the Vektr headphones with a 'youthful, edgy, high-performance sound'
• The Diamond Tears model in a tie-up with Korean record label JYP
• And the Inspiration range, with a selection of different magnetic headbands to change the look to suit your personality
You can see the choice of different headbands for the Inspiration range pictured here on the right.
Monster has also formed a new division, Monster Digital, selling SD memory cards, solid state and hybrid drives.
And Monster Power made a big song and dance about its new People Power app that allows you to control devices around your home via the web to help cut your electricity bill.
