PPDS (aka: Philips Professional Displays) announced the appointments of experienced #AVtweeps Robert Luther and Brandon Wilkinson to its leadership team in North America. Robert and Brandon add over 50 years of combined experience and expertise – including sales, project management and engineering — working at AV manufacturers, distributors and resellers.

Reporting to Bruce Wyrwitzke, director of sales at PPDS for North America, their skill sets will play an “invaluable role in pushing forward with the next wave of growth for the company in North America, including indoor and outdoor LED across all markets as a core ambition.”

Joining PPDS in a new, dedicated role, Robert Luther has been named as director of dvLED sales and support. Based in Detroit, Michigan, PPDS says Luther is one of the AV industry’s most dynamic sales professionals, kicking off his career as a production assistant for NFL’s Buffalo Bills in 2011. For the last five years, Robert’s career has been devoted almost exclusively to dvLED, gaining a 360-degree view of the industry, most recently holding the position of Product Manager for LED at Ross Video, and prior to that as business development manager dvLED at PPDS’ distribution partner, Exertis.

Luther’s responsibilities will include working with PPDS sales and product management teams to develop dvLED go-to-market strategies, identifying new sales opportunities for dvLED across North America and developing relationships with both existing and new channel partners to support projects from concept to completion, ensuring “seamless installations and user experiences.”

Beyond the boundaries of North America, Luther will also help shape the roadmap for future Philips dvLED products and solutions, working closely with partners and customers to understand and gather feedback on additional and US-specific product requirements and relaying these to the global product management team.

Oklahoma-based Brandon Wilkinson has been named as the company’s new field application engineer. An industry veteran, PPDS says Wilkinson brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to PPDS, having begun his AV career back in 1993 with AV integrator Ford AV.

In subsequent years, Wilkinson has owned and worked for a range of ProAV and commercial AV businesses, holding senior sales, operational and management positions. Over the past five years, he has held the role of Pre and Post Sales Engineer, specializing in sales, project planning and integration of AV solutions into different market verticals, including monitors and displays, projectors, speakers, interactive touch screens mounts and more.

This wealth of experience sets him in good stead in his new role as Field Application Engineer at PPDS. Brandon will support customers and PPDS sales teams across North America — virtually and in person — with a main focus on digital signage.

Commenting on these new appointments, Bruce Wyrwitzke said: “We are exceptionally proud of the team we have built here at PPDS North America. Together we have a strong nucleus of talent and experience to take this business to the next level. Robert and Brandon each recognize the incredible opportunities available with PPDS and, I’m happy to say, they have all hit the ground running. We have some big growth opportunities, and with our best-in-class solutions, together with the industry’s finest talent on board, the future looks bright.”