Seth Halstead

“Make it happen.”

These three words capture Seth Halstead's approach to marketing leadership. He believes in simplifying complicated work, setting clear priorities and turning ideas into measurable results.

As Director of Marketing at VOXX by Gentex Corporation, he puts this philosophy into practice across more than 20 brands spanning vehicle security, connectivity, driver awareness and in-car entertainment. Each serves different customer needs, making coordination essential.

Since joining VOXX, Halstead has focused on building a team that can manage these demands while making the company's offerings easier for dealers to understand.

Bringing Many Brands Under One Vision

Halstead's understanding of marketing comes from years in the automotive electronics industry. He began in customer service at American TV and Appliance in Madison, Wisconsin, before moving into retail sales, management, distribution and manufacturing.

Halstead next wanted an opportunity to lead a marketing department and put his ideas into practice. He found it at VOXX, where he took responsibility for marketing a portfolio of more than 20 brands. Each brand had its own products, customers and marketing needs, making it a demanding portfolio for one department to manage. Over the next 18 months, Halstead built a direct team of four and introduced processes to organize the work and manage competing priorities.

During his tenure, Gentex Corporation acquired VOXX International. The business now operates as VOXX by Gentex Corporation, a Gentex subsidiary. Years of earlier acquisitions had brought together established brands that largely maintained separate websites and identities. Halstead wanted to create a more consistent presence without losing what made each brand recognizable.

His team is developing a corporate website alongside individual brand sites with consistent design and messaging. But a unified online presence was only part of the work. Dealers also needed a simpler way to understand the products available across VOXX's portfolio.

Halstead and his team developed the Built for Real Life campaign to show how those products fit into customers' everyday lives. Vehicle security, remote start and connectivity come together under Built for Control, while driver awareness and convenience fall under Built for Confidence. The campaign also connects in-car entertainment with Built for the Journey and commercial and fleet solutions with Built for Productivity.

This approach helps dealers identify products for different customer needs without navigating every brand separately. Encouraging early feedback paved the way for an expanded rollout at the November 2026 SEMA Show.

Giving Dealers the Support They Need

Halstead's work reflects his belief that good marketing does more than present products clearly. It should also make life easier for the dealers who bring them to customers.

His team developed a centralized marketing hub where dealers can find product images, logos, social media assets, sell sheets and other promotional materials in one place. The team also produces a monthly B2B e-newsletter featuring 2-Minute Tuesday, a short video series presented by Halstead. Through these videos, he walks dealers through product launches, promotional programs, events and training opportunities.

He also stays in regular contact with internal sales staff and third-party representatives, so their observations help guide marketing decisions. Within his department, Monday. com helps organize incoming requests, set priorities and track projects across the portfolio. These efforts allow the team to respond to dealers' immediate needs while working toward stronger relationships, new customer acquisition and business growth.

“If you enjoy constant variety and a fast-moving environment, marketing is exactly where you belong.”

One important development on the horizon is VOXX's appointment as the exclusive U.S. aftermarket distributor for ALPINE, effective January 1, 2027. As the portfolio expands, the work Halstead has put into organizing the department and developing dealer resources will become increasingly valuable.

Keeping Pace with the Market

Halstead understands that frontline dealers offer invaluable, on-the-ground feedback that helps shape marketing strategies. He introduced an appbased reporting system through which sales representatives send store photographs, observations and dealer concerns directly to his team. Reports are reviewed regularly, sometimes several times a day, so questions and problems can be addressed quickly.

The team also listens to vehicle owners. Discussions on Reddit and other social platforms reveal what customers are asking and where product information could be clearer.

Halstead combines these insights with advertising attribution, website traffic, form submissions, conversions and social reach. Sales figures, field reports and new business relationships help him assess how marketing contributes to business results.

Halstead is also exploring how AI is changing the way customers discover products. For VIPER, VOXX's vehicle security and remote-start brand, he has introduced generative engine optimization alongside SEO, using relevant content to improve visibility in AI-generated answers.

The early results have been encouraging. Over six months, VIPER's website saw a sharp increase in AI-referred traffic, with ChatGPT accounting for more than 97 percent of those referrals, according to figures reviewed by Halstead.

For Halstead, these developments reinforce the need to keep learning and adjusting. Vehicle technology continues to evolve, advertising platforms change and customers discover products in new ways. His team must respond to these shifts while maintaining consistent messaging across websites, packaging, social media and trade shows.

Leading Through Constant Change

Halstead knows that effective leadership means deciding what deserves attention and when. He sets clear objectives, weighs competing priorities and directs his team's efforts where they can make the greatest difference.

He also recognizes the importance of balancing speed with quality. Accurate information and effective messaging matter, but spending too long perfecting one project can delay others. He encourages his team to deliver strong work within available deadlines and keep improving.

Respect, positivity and open communication are equally important. Halstead wants a collaborative environment where employees support one another as priorities change.

It is this constant movement that keeps Halstead enthusiastic about marketing.

“If you enjoy constant variety and a fast-moving environment, marketing is exactly where you belong,” says Halstead. That adaptability, coupled with his ability to simplify complex challenges and keep his team focused on shared goals, has shaped his leadership at VOXX by Gentex Corporation and earned him recognition as a Marketing Director of the Year 2026.