Conference 7.286::digital

    I saw a DIGITAL commercial on A&E last night - If I didn't know what
    DIGITAL did for a living - the commercial was not very informative
    but what do you expect for a 15 second spot.

    Maybe we should have BP dressed up like a Captn Kirk facsimile at the
    console of his spaceship DIGITAL punching commands into his Alpha AXP
    command post zooming thru space with an attractive blonde as his
    assistant.

	[I extracted this from LiveWire yesterday. It seemed like an
    	answer, if not to a prayer, then to something! At long last,
    	we will see Digital ads on TV. Check the bottom paragraph. -LKF]
    

    
From LiveWire - Worldwide News            
      PC ads to set stage for expanding markets
 
         Digital today rolls out a new advertising campaign for the 
   Personal Computer Business Unit, which will help the company continue 
   its move into the top tier of the PC market by 1995.  
         The aggressive new campaign supports record growth in the 
   company's PC sales -- Digital more than doubled its PC revenues in 
   1993 -- and an expanding product line.  It is the first ad campaign 
   from the PC unit's new agency, Young and Rubicam.
         Designed to extend Digital's positive identity among PC users, 
   the ads are intended to aid awareness of the Digital brand among both 
   mainstream corporate PC users and new targets in its expanding sales 
   channels market.

         The main theme stressed in the campaign, "Beyond the Box," 
   communicates the key differences that set Digital apart from the 
   competition and play on the company's heritage of engineering 
   excellence and superior quality and service.  According to Harry 
   Copperman, vice president for U.S. PC Sales and Marketing, "The 
   advertising builds a personality and attitude for Digital's PC 
   business, and at the same time showcases Digital's strength in product 
   reliability, service, support, networking and quality."
**         Print ads will appear in newspapers and business publications 
**   such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles 
**   Times, Forbes, Business Week, and U.S. News & World Report, as well as 
**   in key computer trade publications.  Television commercials will air 
**   on Cable News Network, the Arts & Entertainment Network, CNBC, TBS and 
**   the Sci-Fi Network.












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    Check out pages A6/A7 of today's WSJ:
    
    "We didn't sleep through the PC revolution.  We took notes."
    
    IMHO, pretty good ad.
    
    Chet

    
    
    Sounds similar to an add we did four years ago......
    
    	"Anyone entering the PC arena today should be committed....
    
    turn page
    
    	 .... We're Digital and we are committed"
    
    
    glad to see us getting back on track with punchy advertizing.
    
    Gary B
    
    glad to see us getting back on track in advertising.

    
    Hey, ADVERTISING!  That marketing department, what will they think of
    next...

    I don't have cable, so I guess I won't see them.
    
    Bob

>>    Check out pages A6/A7 of today's WSJ:
>>    
>>    "We didn't sleep through the PC revolution.  We took notes."

Same ad in PC Week (I think that was what I was looking at...) a week or so
ago.

bjm

>>    "We didn't sleep through the PC revolution.  We took notes."


	Ab ad for Lotus Notes perchance?

	Heather

    	Yeah, and we didn't sleep through the workstation revolution. We
    were taking notes about the PC revolution. I'm sure the people who know
    better are having a good snicker over this ad message. However, that
    can be a good thing if it draws their attention to the ad and to us.
    I noticed the stock jump up yesterday. Could Wall Street be reacting
    positively to this bold new step?

	I for one am glad that we're finally making a push in this area!
	Big positive, maybe people will start recognizing "Digital"!

	:)

	Rick C.

    Also saw several ads on the Discover channel last night.  Quite good
    IMHO.
    
    Phil H.

    
    
    
    Phil,
    
    Could you describe them?  

    
    I can't describe them. But I think I was watching Beyond 2000. The
    ad I think shows some PCs. Then I saw the DIGITAL Logo. 
      
       Also saw the WSJ ad, quite impressive. I like it INTEL is inside and
     we're beyond the box. Go gettem PC group ! 
    
    Totally caught me by suprise, and knocked me off my seat.
    
    I'm really impressed !
    

    
    We saw one on A&E I believe on Tuesday. I was quiet impressed and sort
    of in shock when I saw the ad, but it got my attention!
    
    Mary
    

I, too, was shocked to see our ads on A&E and Discover Channel.

They were funny and to the point!

first one (approximately):

	White block letters on black with colored logo

	"The way our PCs communicate, you'ld think
	 we invented networks...."

	"Wait a minute..."

	"We did!"  etc., etc.


second one (same style, oh my, a consistent format!!)


	Blah, blah about the XL series expandability (good stuff)


	"...so our XL PCs will grow with you...."

	"That's why we named them XL."  (even subtle humor!)

    Saw one or maybe two back-to-back on The Learning Channel last night.
    It was short, snappy and left an indelible blank on my mind as to
    the content. It's almost like the subliminal advertising that was
    used in cinemas way back.
    
    Targetting the "educational" channels is an interesting tactic.
    the ad was sandwiched in between two good programs, one of which
    ended with a segment on computers, showing an old Osborne luggable.
    
    C

    Saw them for the last two nights on TLC and Discover. I yelled
    "Alright" so loud my daughter came out of her room and asked what was
    wrong. 
    
    Its about D**n time....
    
    
    RM

    So who do we contact to send along our "attaboys?"
    
    					andrew

    Jesse Parker - PCBU Director of Product Management STOWOA::JPARKER
    Winnie Briney - PCBU Director of Marketing STOWOA::BRINEY.
    Harry Copperman - PCBU VP of Sales and Marketing  STOWOA::COPPERMAN
    
    They'd be glad to hear the response.
    
    Mark.

MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JAN 5 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment Corp. (DEC) has launched an aggressive new ad campaign
aimed at furthering a recent sales boom for its PC product lineup. 

Based on currently available sales figures, DEC officials project
that revenues from the company's PC products reached $1 billion for
the 1993 calendar year, doubling the $500 million in sales attained
for the PC line in calendar year 1992.

DEC has hired the New York ad agency Young and Rubicam for a
sweeping print and TV ad campaign intended to extend Digital's brand
identity among PC users and attract new sales partners in retail
channels.  

Targeted at the corporate enterprise market, the campaign includes
an aggressive buy in computer trade publications, as well as a
strong schedule of newspapers and business publications and the
first TV commercials ever to be aired for DEC's PC products.

A spokesperson for DEC attributed the recent sales growth to the
effects of a corporate reorganization last year, along with
intensified efforts toward high product quality, competitive
pricing, and channel sales.

The reorganization at Digital included the establishment of the
Personal Computer Business Unit, a new independent business 
unit within DEC. The autonomy of the unit allows for greater
flexibility in responding to marketplace needs, the spokesperson
told Newsbytes.

The main theme of the new ad campaign, "Beyond the Box," is
designed to play up the quality of DEC's PCs, along with such
"value added" advantages as service and support, extensibility to
larger systems, and the company's networking expertise. 

One objective of the campaign is to attract additional distributors
and value-added resellers (VARs), according to the spokesperson.  
The distribution ratio for DEC's PCs is currently 70 percent
direct/30 percent indirect. Digital is ultimately shooting for a
50/50 ratio, she said.  

Newspapers and business publications on the ad agenda include: 
the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles 
Times, Forbes, Business Week, and US News and World Report.  
The TV commercials for the DEC PCs are airing on such cable
networks as CNN, A&E, CNBC, TBS, and SCI-FI. The campaign 
begins this week.

DEC's projection of $1 billion in PC revenues for the 1993 calendar
year is based on $800 million in company PC sales for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1993, the spokesperson said. 

(Jacqueline Emigh/19940105/Reader Contact: Digital Equipment
Corp., 800-PCBYDEC; Press Contact: Terri Slater, DEC, 
508-496-9923)

    It may interest you all to know that there is an error with the pc
    journal ads. It does not come with the s3-928 video card like it
    states  for the price advertised. So the price advertised of $2599 is a
    compilation of the system and the video adaptor. It's very misleading.
    Thats OK. Were used to explaining misleading ads here in the center.
    But whats even more sad is that were being told by the marketing people on
    this to tell customers that it's a printing error and to refer them to
    the disclaimer on the bottom that reads as follows:
    
    "Digital believes that the information in this advertisement is
    accurate as of its publication date;  such information is subject to 
    change without notice. Digital is not responsible for any errors."
    
    Moe (who just noticed that stock dropped back down to 36)
    
    Way to go DEC!
    
    

    I even heard a summary of the commercials on NPR on the way home...
    
    When we start advertizing it really makes the news;-)
    
    Finally we see some TV advertizing.  Who cares what the ads say as
    long as they're on TV (and say something good;-)
    
    I'll sleep better tonight...
    
    John W...

>    	Yeah, and we didn't sleep through the workstation revolution. We
>    were taking notes about the PC revolution. I'm sure the people who know
>    better are having a good snicker over this ad message. However, that
>    can be a good thing if it draws their attention to the ad and to us.
>    I noticed the stock jump up yesterday. Could Wall Street be reacting
>    positively to this bold new step?
    
    	Yeah, but just think about it..those aren't the people we're
    	trying to reach. Hopefully the ads will help us to get better
    	name recognition among the masses.
    
    	I haven't seen the ads yet, but based on many of the replies here,
    	I'm optimistically looking forward to seeing them.
    
    	John

Was it my imagination, or did the ads say to call
	1-800-DIGITAL
instead of 
	1-800-PCBYDEC?

And if so, is this an error or a deliberate shift?

By the way, I was very pleased by the ads, and they seem
very cost effective, but since I tend to mentally tune out
the TV (video) during commercials, I wish they had
voice-overs instead of music.

   Gary

    Probably trying to get our "NAME" ingrained....
    
    I think deliberate shift.. 1-800-DIGITAL's menu now provides an option 
    to order "PC's" so why advertise the other one????  
    
    Maybe the "one-stop shopping" that our customers have been clammoring
    for over the years is on it's way.... who knows.... but I think it's
    great.
    
    Toodles.....JP
    

    	I've not seen these ads but hope that they translate the 800
    numbers into digits too. 
    
    	Personally, I'd rather have a number than a translation-to-number
    "cutsie" alpha string to deal with. If surveyed, I'd definitely be more
    responsive to a 800-number plainly printed after the hype.
    
    Phil

    Now if we can just get this movement to incorporate other areas of our
    product line! Alpha's, networks, Services - once the veiwer has caught
    on to the pc commercial and has learned to recognize Digital (probably
    for the 1st time), they can get excited about us as a supplier for
    their EXPANDED needs! Advertising! What a concept!

    Re: .27
    
    Just to offer the counter point .. I definitely prefer ALPHA phone
    numbers provided that they are ``easy to remember'' (e.g., DIGITAL,
    PINDROP, TRUEVOICE, FREEMONEY, etc.).
    
    George