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An update to the U Series of upright acoustic pianos has resulted in the new U1, U3, and U5 - proven designs that now sport a longer music rack, an improved back assembly and, on the U3, the addition of the floating soundboard support system that was previously found only on the U5. The improvements add to the instruments’ function and tone quality for a deeper, richer performance.

Finally, the C1 Centennial Edition grand piano marks the 100th anniversary of the first Yamaha grand piano with a unique slim rim design in polished ebony and champagne gold.

All these new instruments will be available later this year in Yamaha showrooms across the country.

The Spirit of “Kando”

n the musical products industry we are fortunate to have the privilege of selling and marketing products that bring joy and excitement to the people who use them. We have often observed users of our products who express themselves in an emotional manner in response to a particular sound, feature, design or technological advance. As a manufacturer, we are always inspired by such sentiments about our products and we want to continually search for new ways to maintain this excitement and enthusiasm among our customers.

We have an advantage that is unavailable to most producers of consumer goods. People can become passionate about our products.

We also face a fundamental disadvantage. People don’t really need our products. They must want them. To want something requires the presence of emotion. A need is, well, just a need.

Satisfying a need is a simple decision. If your refrigerator breaks down you have to replace it. But it is not likely that there is a high degree of emotion in the decision to buy it, nor is it likely that you will tell many of your friends about your new refrigerator and invite them to your home to see it.

Nonetheless, if you are in the market for, say, a digital piano and your refrigerator needs to be replaced the needed appliance will naturally come first. The digital piano will have to wait. And it’s possible that your desire may wane after temporarily spending most of your disposable income on something that you absolutely need.

"Satisfaction" is not Satisfactory

For our business to grow, we must do more than simply satisfy the needs of our customers – we must inspire them to want the things that we produce. And to do this we must know our customers in great depth – know who they are, how they think and what they feel.

In Japan, we have a word that describes how a customer may feel when he or she encounters a product or service of superb quality, beauty or performance. It is a concept called Kando (KAHN-doh). Like many foreign words, Kando has no precise equivalent in English, thus it cannot be easily translated with just one word. The word Kando captures a whole range of human emotions such as intense excitement, inspiration, deep satisfaction and appreciation that a person may feel about the quality and value of a product, a service or an experience. We might say that it is a feeling that is so emotionally moving that it "touches the soul." This is what we want every customer to feel when he or she encounters one of our products.

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