Unifying Brands, Technologies, and Cultures at WS Audiology: CEO Eric Bernard Sees Breakaway Opportunities

It was a short honeymoon. The marriage of Widex and Sivantos in 2019 produced the world's third-largest hearing aid company, but the newly appointed CEO had barely settled into his office when he had to deal with some unexpected challenges.

Just a few weeks after Eric Bernard took the helm, the newly merged company was hit by a cyber-attack. Then, a few months later, Covid arrived. All of it added to his central challenge of unifying two companies with different products and cultures.

Four years later, WS Audiology has emerged with 12,000 employees around the world and a roster of brands, including Widex, Signia, Rexton, and HearUSA. It now operates in 125 countries and boasts annual revenues of over $2 billion.

In many ways, Eric Bernard is a global CEO for a global company. He was born in France and is a graduate of the ESSEC Business School near Paris. He holds a master’s degree in Applied Mathematics.

He began his career working for Christian Dior and then spent over 25 years at Essilor, the world’s largest maker of prescription eyeglasses. During his time at Essilor, he was posted in the United States, and spent a total of seven years in Tokyo where he learned Japanese to go alongside his native French, some Russian he learned in college, and his impeccable English.

Today, Bernard is a man on a mission. He points out that only about 30% of the people who could benefit from prescription hearing aids have them. That, he says, represents not only an opportunity for his company but also for improving people’s lives.

He spoke with HearingTracker from his office at WSA headquarters in Lynge, Denmark.

You are, of course, a very busy man with a lot of responsibilities and stress. I thought we’d start this interview off with a little fun: what do you like to do when you have time for yourself and what types of activities do you gravitate toward?

Bernard: It’s true that as CEO you're always under stress one way or the other. So, I do a few things for fun and relaxation. First, I try to spend as much time as possible with my family. I have been away from my native France for 30 years and worked all over the world, so time with my family is really important.

I also try to exercise by running or cycling 5 to 6 times a week—as much for my mind as for my body. A fast runner I'm not! But exercise is critical.

And I play the piano. I improvise; I'm not a great player but I can improvise playing jazz. That's something that I have enjoyed over the years, and I can tell you that it lends me some unique insights into the value of hearing; if I were to lose my hearing, I wouldn't be happy!

Modern hearing aids are very complex devices. What are the skills, components, and services required to produce them?

Bernard: Let me begin by saying that we have more than 1,000 employees working in research and development across the three sites in Denmark, Germany, and Singapore. And, of course, you start at the core, which is sound processing and the entire sound experience, including hearing in noise. But this is just where everything starts. Then you have—not in any specific order—design, rechargeability, connectivity, making things smaller, apps and user controls, and fitting software.

I think the critical evolution of our industry is the migration from designing the hardware, then adding software to that hardware, to now looking at building a full holistic system. In that way, it’s a little like a musical piece where all the notes and movements need to come together.

You can no longer think of the different elements in isolation. Another parallel is the automotive industry which has gone through similar changes to build vehicles that suit people’s unique lifestyles. We must think very differently from how we used to think 10 or 15 years ago.

How would you describe your style of leadership?

Bernard: I like to keep things simple. To have a successful company, you need to have a very clear strategy and great people. If you have a clear strategy without great people to execute the plan, it doesn't work. Or if you have great people but with no compass, that doesn't work either.

I also care very much about the diversity around me. If you look at our leadership team, you will find multiple nationalities. Having a diversity of voices in this increasingly complex world is critical. The best teams are made up of people with unique skills and perspectives who really want to contribute, make a difference, and succeed.

As a leader, what I value very much is courage. I try to surround myself with people who are not afraid of telling me no or that I'm wrong.

Hearing aids can have a very powerful and positive impact. Some of the feedback you get from your customers must be extremely gratifying to you personally.

Bernard: Yes, at virtually every social occasion or party I have been to, if I am asked what I do, someone will invariably share their story about hearing loss.

For instance, a few months ago I was at a dinner party, and an acquaintance told me his hearing loss was becoming a problem at work. He’s a top executive at a very large healthcare firm and an Iron Man athlete—in fact, he competes at the world level. But he has lost a lot of hearing in his left ear. I asked why he didn’t get a hearing aid. He said, “I’m too young for that and I don’t want to look old.”

We are trying to break that stigma, in part, by innovating particularly in design to make devices more stylish—and even including some “healthable” features in our hearing aids and app, like step counting, activity tracking, and wear time. He’s now wearing one of our hearing aids.  He likes how it looks and even his kids think it’s pretty cool.

Most importantly, he now hears well. It’s just that he had put himself in a box by associating hearing aids with looking and feeling old.

Another example: A friend of mine is a 60-year-old business owner who had hearing aids but they weren’t working for her. I connected her with an audiologist and he set her up with our hearing aids.

A few weeks ago she told me, “Eric, I can hear everything. I can hear the birds. Your product has changed my life.”

We do change lives. That’s the reality. That’s why I never stop advocating for what we do.

The social stigma associated with hearing aids is one barrier to adoption. What are the others you are trying to overcome?

Bernard: Access. Product solutions can be expensive. We need to increase affordability. We are working hard to provide access to hearing aids at more affordable prices.

Also, the user experience is sometimes not optimal and can be quite complicated. We’re on a mission to change that and overcome all the barriers that make people reluctant to use hearing aids.

And it's more of a mission than a business in many ways: we’re seeking to break down the communication barriers with friends and family, improve people’s overall health, and help people to get the most out of life.