Conference 7.286::digital

    >> Digital will look like the John Wayne of the industry. 

    I take it that you're referring to `John Wayne Bobbitt' ??

From:   IN%"TOMK5RC@aol.com"
>
>A recent story from a QA person in a larger company renewed my
>interest in solutions available to those who get disgusted by
>quality systems failing due to human weaknesses.
>The story:
>The manufacturer orders metallic cabinets for outside storage of
>expensive equipment. The subcontractor's priming process lacks quality
>and cabinets arrive to the manufacturer with peeled paint and rust.
>The big boss orders the quality technician to paint over the
>defective areas. The technician proposes to return the defective
>cabinets to the sub because they do not meet specifications and will
>rust soon in the field. The biggest boss in the chain decides against
>it. He is good friend with the supplier of the cabinets.
>These are ISO 9000 registered organizations. They have been doing
>this for a long time. So far, audits have failed to register these
>events.
>In a way, the scenario is almost equivalent to an employee stealing
>from the company.
>Any experiences and suggestions in this area will be appreciated.
>stern!eric@wrapmation.com
>Eric Stern              CANADA H4V 2A4
>5386 West Broadway      Tel, Fax: (514) 483-6264
>Montreal, Quebec        Compuserve: 70741,1540

----------------------------------------Reply---------------------------------
-----------
Eric;

Imbedded in our humanity is the need to constantly improve the human
condition. To improve, we must change the existing norms or rules. The
side effect is that the same intellect we use to improve the system is often
applied to find ways around the system. There is an unwritten challenge
to find new ways to break the speed limit without getting caught or to not
pay taxes or to break a security code.

Compounding that innate drive is another phenomena that I call selective
programming. In every manager's career, they have, at least one time,
given an instruction that said  *IT HAS TO SHIP, NO MATTER WHAT.*
That programming stays with most employees throughout their careers
and is at the foundation of the type of problem you cite. There are no
three more dangerous words than NO MATTER WHAT (except maybe
control-alternate-delete). They are the justification for circumventing all
systems, just so that a promise is kept and face is saved. The good news
is that the folks who circumvent the system are, sooner or later, caught in
the act and brought to their knees by the other phrase every manager has
uttered at least once: *I TOLD YOU TO SHIP IT, BUT I NEVER SAID
COMPROMISE QUALITY.*

Please do not try to correlate this behavior to ISO9000. ISO9000 sets
minimal requirements for a quality management system, not for human
behavior. The internal audit process suggested by ISO9000 sets the
stage for continuously improving processes and systems, but it doesn't
guarantee that people will audit and be audited with total veracity.

ISO9000 assumes that the corporate quality policy motivates job holders
to behave in a responsible and responsive manner. If not, it is the fault of
senior management for not enforcing the quality policy. If these types of
behavior are not detected and reported, senior managers have a much
larger problem than worrying about their ISO9000 certification.

Tom Taormina                                 409-865-2727 (voice)
Productivity Resources                         409-865-9800 (fax)
P.O. Box 813
Bellville  TX  77418                      tomk5rc@aol.com (email)

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     I went to the "whatever it takes" ad campaign seminar yesterday up
    in MKO.  The video ads are great !!!  However, I do disagree with
    the notion that tv ad costs are too high.   I did blurt out during
    the presentation, that the video ads would be perfect for Monday Night
    Football.  Yes, yes, I know  six figure price tag for 30 seconds of 
    time......I still believe it's worth it !!!!
    
      12 YEARS after I saw the Charlie Chaplin on rollerskakes ad for IBM
    pushing their PC solutions,,,, it STILL sticks in my mind !!!!!
    
       Decision makers watch more than PBS's Nightly Business Report
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    
    Jack
    

    I was channel surfing last night, and came across a tennis match with
    Jimmy Connors and Johan Kriek (sp?). The tournament was listed as the
    "Digital P.C. Champions". There were burgundy digital logos all over
    the court. I think NESN was broadcasting it locally.
    
    Is Digital back to sponsoring sporting events?
    
    kjg

      ISO9000 does not guarantee good quality at all. It is a certification
    that you have a process in place, and that you follow it. If that process
    produces poor quality output, thats what you get. The audits are of the
    process and whether or not it is being followed. If the maker of the
    cabinets in .2 had a documented process for painting them, and that was
    followed, then the process was crap; but ISO9000 won't tell you that.
    
      It reminds me of something a site manager told me that a customer had
    said to him (this was a civil servant on an MOD site in UK); "I don't
    care if the thing works or not, as long as the paperwork is all done
    correctly." ISO9000 is about doing the paperwork correctly, not the
    job.
    
    Ken 

    HOw about...
    
    Whatever it takes,
    
    From whomever is left!
    
    ;^)			-OFWAMI-

    ISO9xxx guarantee the process not the product.

ISO900x CAN guarantee the product, if you have a process focus, a la Demming, and
have 6-sigma, or so process capability.  I've seen very poor quality coming from
ISO900x registered processes, and also ultra high quality.  Depends on what you
say you're going to do with your ISO900x registration.

I'm excited about the ad campaign.  Its about time Digital try to create some
awareness through advertising.  Mindshare makes sales more likely, because the
sales folks don't have to spend the first 25% of the sales cycle explaining that
Digital is in the IT business, not the watch business.

    My point was not to start an ISO 9000 rathole, but to share with you
    the warning about the dangers of a "no matter what" directive, which
    sounds rather too much like "whatever it takes" 8^(

    yes please, enough about iso9000 rathole !!!!!!!
    
      but, doesn't anybody out there agree with the idea of very
    aggressive tv ad campaign ???  Or anything regarding reply .3 ???
    
    hello ??
    

Re: .10

Read my second paragraph in .8.  I AM excited, and as a Product Manager believe
my product forecasts will increase due to general and targetted advertising!!! 

While not the tag line of "Xerox, The Document Company," I heard the line
"whatever it takes" regarding their service organization in a radio commercial
yesterday.  The commercial went something like:

	We run a small hospital in the hills in the middle of nowhere and
	we need our copier to keep up with the paperwork.  So, when our
	Xerox machine broke, Joe drove 175 miles in the snow and hiked
	through knee-deep mud to get it working.  He said he would do
	whatever it takes...

I have this feeling like I did with the IMAGINE ads and the "Don't worry, we're
planning a comeback" ads.  Deja Vu all over again.

BobW

    re: .10 
    
    these are the type of things that cabletron have been doing for years
    only they do it without the add's....they play hardball with
    competitors and have even been taken to task by some in the business
    world because they are too "un-polished"....
    
    but ya know what...they realized a long time ago that it's a dog eat
    dog world out there and they do "whatever it takes" to get the business
    
    
    take a look at their track record and I'd say it works very well...

	Have to rty something new. You say "Digital" and people
either laugh or run, or you have to start running.

	Let's change the company name altogether, we did it
with the storage business "Avastor", they are doing a lot better
than the rest of us right now.

	OK, I'll bite.

	Could you ellaborate by explaining Darwin's theory
as it relates to Digital evolution, grown and "the loop" ??

    
    Why not have a chorus bellowing as follows?:
    
    (to the tune of "Wherever We Go, Whatever We Do?):
    
    Wherever we go
    Whatever it Takes
    We're go-ing to be there TOMORROW!
    Through thick or through thin
    All out or all in
    We're still gonna be there TOMORROW!
    We're big on client/server
    We've got that desperate fervour
    If you're a market observer
    Perse(r)ver!
    We'll show you how we'll beat the Dow!
    
    Wherever we go
    Whatever it takes
    We're go-ing to be there TOMORROW!
    TOMORROW! Whatever it Takes!
    
    

    
    Ahhhhh, YES!   Another singer.
    
    Notes, when will you be multimedia?

    "Whatever It Takes" - Translation - We're desparate!
    
    I have to disagree with my friend from Aimhi.  I found the commercials
    to be nothing but a segment of obnoxious noise.  The music was not
    music at all, it was loud guitar music that would cause any sane
    individual to shut their TV off.  Iwas told they were appealing to
    younger decisionmakers.  Well I'm sorry but I don't know any 16 year
    old MIS Managers.  Let's look at the logos.
    
    1. You Don't Spend $1.3 Billion on R&D if you're not planning to stick
    around!  
    
    Remeber COD 1 and the poor victims of that program.  Furthermore, it
    doesn't catch me.
    
    2. Hell Has Our Phone Number...
    
    This is juvenile at best.  Furthermore, it is what's called, shock
    humor and it really makes people wonder if this is serious.
    
    3. Whatever It Takes - I addressed this one above.  We're desparate.
    
    4. What four letter word comes to mind when you think of Digital?
       Right...UNIX
    
    Bzzzt.  No, the answer is still OPENVMS.  OSF is starting to catch on. 
    The line is cute...but again, it lacks class and is juvenille at best.
    
    5. Great minds don't think alike.  But they should think together.
    
    Well, this one is at least edifying to both Digital and the customer.
    The others are mediocre and insulting.  
    
    Believe me, I don't make this entry lightly.  I think somebody has to
    go on a limb and state the truth.  I think Digital should get their
    money back from this advertising agency!!
    
    -Jack

    re -1.....
    
    how can you argue with that!   
    
    Just thought of another acronym    T F S O 
    
    
    The  Facts  Sound   Ominous!
    
    
    p/t
    

    I you had a player on your team that did "Whatever it takes" to catch
    the ball, did "Whatever it takes" to run downfield and score, you would
    feel pretty good about passing the ball to that person and feel as
    comfortable as possible that if there was a chance to score it would
    happen.  You would trust that player not to stop for a chat with a
    linebacker (or whatever) on the way downfield so you would trust the
    person.  If you've got the trust you can let a "do whatever it takes"
    person just go ahead.
    
    Now, if you had a computer company on your team that did "whatever it
    takes" .....
    
    I saw a game the other day where there were 3 receivers and the
    commentator said "so and so is the oldest slowest of the three but
    watch this, he'll get the ball because everyone knows that no matter
    what he'll get downfield".  So and so got the ball and did his job.
    
    The sad thing is that we are not (and not seen to be) a "do what it
    takes" company.  IBM is and always has been, they may not have the
    technology, they may not have the pizazz of some of us younger folks
    but they have the trust of their customers.  The VP of one of my
    customers has told me many times that IBM succeeds because they put
    complete customer satisfaction before technology.
    
    Thats why if we do a "do what it takes" campaign, our senior customers
    will take notice .... we've got to walk the walk as well as talk the
    talk though.  Imagine a Digital with our technology and a REAL focus on
    customers, thats the one we all really want to see.
     
    

    I'm sorry...but what I saw was Marketing slides that I've seen over and
    over and over and over..........................................
    
    Also, let's be honest with ourselves.  Were those Advertising slogans
    the VERY BEST we were able to get?  

    I believe that Robert Palmer is an excellent speaker. I agree with 
    the note 3452.24. I want to heard him just like Lee for Chrysler
    stand up in front of everyone on TV and say those words, we will
    be here, we will do whatever it takes, we will.....
    
    I think the best thing this company can do is use the media with
    the best "speaker" for our company which is Palmer to say "I
    believe and I'll be there for you " NO discussion on technology or the
    fine points of what technology can do for you" We need customers
    to believe in us as a company. I would use the Chrylser approach, it
    was very effective.
    
    Do you remember the Miracle on the 34th street movie, I believe, I 
    believe, and it happened.  

    re: .27  Not to throw cold water on you, but I think that this
    approach works fine for a car company but wouldn't be as effective
    for a computer company.  Just about everyone watches television,
    and just about everyone buys cars.  Not so with computer, and
    even less so with larger than PC computers.

    Whats wrong with:  "We HAVE what it takes!"
    
    Let's be positive!

    It also might not be a good idea to use Palmer for our public person
    because, unlike Chrysler under Iacocca, Bob's tenure is purported to be
    hanging quarter by quarter.

    I have removed the slogans from this reply, that was formally reply #.24

  Even though this is an internal use only notes conf.,  there's concern
 of indirect public consumption before the slogans/ads hit the street.    
    

      btw.... I was disappointed when they stated having a "spokesperson"
    was considered, then ruled out.   oh well.  
    
     Lee Iacocca ( spell? )  was awesome for Chrysler back in the early
    80's !!!!!
    

  Jack

Who says we cannot do like Wendy's and show commercials with our eternal
Founder? Computers are becomming commodity like hamburgers. Whats the
difference between comparing bacon burgers and CPUs?

>Per

    .32
    
    Not a bad idea.  I've noticed that Kentucky Fried Chicken has brought
    back Col. Sanders even though he hasn't owned the company for decades
    (in fact, is that the real Col. or an imposter?).  I think KO has
    always been admired in the industry, and probably has a lot more name
    recognition than BP (and, he's already been fired, so no danger there.)
    

    
    Not only is he back, he's back from the dead...

Re: .33

The real Harlan Sanders is dead - what you see on the ads is an actor.

				Steve

    
    re .33
    
    And besides being dead, he hated the food at Kentucky Fried Chicken! 
    He said that, after he sold the restaurant chain, the gravy "tasted
    like paste" and the chicken "was awful".
    
    IBM is using Seinfeld, by the way.  Maybe we could use Kramer? 
    Personally, I'd vote for Mercedes Ruehl...
    
    							Tex

  Like many others, I am uncomfortable with the text in the "whatever it takes"
ad on page 5 of DT, which will be read by the public next week. 
  "You must set yourself on fire". The first thing that came to mind is the
many people who have committed suicide (or tried to) over the last 25 years
by setting themselves on fire. NOT the image that Digital wants to project.
  "Believe you can't be beat and you won't be beat". I wish it were that 
simple. It isn't.
  "... we will not compete unfairly..."  I'm glad they put that in, because
without it, this ad implies that we WILL bend the rules and sacrifice ethics
to beat the competition.
  One more thing that disturbs me is that this ad could be interpreted to mean
that management plans to create a pressure cooker environment for employees. 
Not a big issue for customers, but if management actually begins treating em-
ployees the way this ad implies, it is bad news for the people under those
managers.

My basenote was based solely on my gut reaction to the text of the wriiten 
ad that will make its first appearance in the WSJ on Oct. 25.  I had not
seen nor have yet seen any TV directed ads.  I agree that a Digital ad
need not be technical.  It could be humorous, suggestive, indirect, whatever.
But the sample of the writeup printed in Digital Today was far from being humorous
or positive.  It was full of shocks, yes, but with no trace of humor. It projected 
an image of a DESPERATE company, hiding its weakness behind repellent MACHO
words, using such an infantile approach that would delight noboby but the competition.

A bad ad will kill the best efforts of the best minds.

That was and is my major concern. And .20 hit the nail right on the head!

armen 

 re: ads, Lee I. and BP

 Lee didn't give the impression of being a short timer by 
accepting  and giving out huge pay raises (take the money and run).
 You knew that he was in it for the long haul!

 Lee didn't set the "do as I say, not as I do" mode of management.
  He was very visible at the helm. 

 He was visible, creditable and he could communicate!

>    (in fact, is that the real Col. or an imposter?).  I think KO has

(a) an imposter
(b) old footage

The real Col. Sanders is dead.

    
    In an earlier group, 
    ( PMF, with Thomas 'is-this-really-him-or-his-TECO-editor', Newton )
    our manager was fond of using that phrase WIT. It became a standing
    joke for a few of us and upon departure I received my own, personal,
    unused T-shirt with large, lettered 'WHATEVER IT TAKES' on the front.
    
    Needless to say, whenever I wore that T-shirt I had to explain the 
    phrase to the readers. I have stopped wearing that shirt in public.
    
    jc 
    p.s. Tom, is that you or are the cats dancing on the keyboard? :-)

    i agree with a previous noter...i think we should get kramer to do our
    commercials. seemd to do well with the ones for pepsi.
    

You want market share? Start an ad campaign with a bunch of 14-year-old
cyberpunks surfing the Internet via their Digital PC's and network servers,
Digital SEAL secured against hackers, as they talk to everyone from the White
House to researchers holed up in Antarctica to the guys working on the next Star
Wars series at Industrial Light and Magic, while playing networked virtual
reality games. Make some really cool ads with lots of special effects and
motion. Now THAT's a commodity market with money to burn. Get the kids clamoring
for them and their parents will buy, initially for their kids, then for
themselves at work. Why do you think companies market to kids? My 4-year-old son
wants *everything* he sees advertised on TV; he is a marketer's dream consumer.
Out of all of that, I am bound to get him some of it.

    re .36

    >IBM is using Seinfeld, by the way.  Maybe we could use Kramer? 

    Nit. IBM is using Paul Reiser. We could use Helen Hunt. Or maybe
    the woman who plays Ursula.

    Lisa

	Oooops - meant this for the "new CEO" note.  

	Sorry - new at this. . .
			          .
				    .
				     .  
				     *

    
    re. -1	sounds good to me!

    howabout Elvira?

    OR Cyndy Crawford saying only the best can satisfy me... Digital
    
    Richard

"whatever it takes" reminds me of DECnet node 31.82 ..

that's ATFAB - 'AnyThing For A Buck'

(should I cross-post this in the acronyms topic?)

    
    You have to give someone credit for finally putting together a
    hard-hitting campaign. Unfortunately, in my opinion, based at least 
    on the copy in Digital Today, it's awful. It just sounds sort of
    cheap - what I'd expect a Data General or Wang to put in print.
    
    I was flying back from a meeting yesterday on US Air and there were
    ads for those stupid inspirational posters in the USair magazine.
    You could have taken these posters, condensed them into one page
    and then you'd have our ad.
    
    Sorry, but I was REALLY hoping for better!
    
    /ljj
    

I looked at the sample in "Digital Today".  The first thing that struck
me was that the "WHATEVER IT TAKES" graphic was done on a Dymo Labelwriter,
hardly the image I'd want of a modern computer supplier.

As for the ad text itself - well - it's all fluff.  However, it sort of
reminds me of the Avis "We Try Harder" campaign.  If it can be followed up
with concrete examples of HOW we try harder, rather than running this one ad
umpty-zillion times, then maybe we'll have something.

Supposedly the TV ads will be shown in a DVN broadcast on Monday.  I hope
to be able to see those.

					Steve

    RE:3452.49 howabout Elvira?
    
    She is out on Maternity leave. Really.

    
    	Then she would be absolutely, totally perfect. Really. 
    
    		the Greyhawk

    My 2 cents worth,                         
    
    Relative to what the ad is trying to project, isn't this what we 
    should be doing anyways????? I'm sure our competitors are! 
    
    Also hope the typo in the sentence with the expression "to the nth  
    degree to win your business" is really to the "9th" degree.
    
    Overall, I say give things a chance, I am sure this ad is just the 
    beginning of a long needed overhaul of our marketing and advertising
    strategy. Rome wasn't built in a day folks. Digital's journey
    through the business jungle has just been made easier now that we
    have found the machette!!  
    
    Phil

    I can see a Saturday Night Live skit coming out of this campaign.
    
    Or prehaps Letterman will capitalize on it first

    
    "Good Morning"
    
    	What if I read my newspaper in the evening?
    
    "Want to be here tomorrow?"
    
    	No, it's Saturday and I have better things to do!
    
    "Set yourself on fire."
    
    	Now, this is encouraging, we're getting out of the computer
    	business and into the arson business.  Lots of money to be made in
    	the arson business (especially in Lawrence).
    
    	If Beavis and Butthead reviewed this ad, I know what they'd say,
    	heh, heh, heh, heh, heh.
    

"nth degree" is not a typo.

		Steve

This latest "Whatever it Takes" marketing announcement is very
bizarre.  The style is similar to those hyped-up Nike and Reebok ads. 

> Digital - Advertisement
>	{Digital Today, 17-Oct-94, p. 5}
>   			WHATEVER IT TAKES
>...
>   Whatever it takes does not mean that we will compare unfairly or bend the
>   rules; that ethics and integrity will be sacrificed on the altar of
>   profits.
>...

Due to the length, wordiness, and negative, the paragraph above reads
like we actually will be sacrificing ethics and integrity.

>...
>   Here's a little something we learned.  Success is not the result of
> spontaneous combustion.  You must set yourself on fire.
>...

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion" ??? This was a 
headline in a recent edition of the Weekly World. <hum the twilight zone
theme in the background>

>...
>If they have the bigger hammer, you have the sharper nail.
>...

Another one of those under-utilized metaphors. :v)

>Believe you can't be beat and you won't be beat; that
> there is plenty of room at the top.  

You mean "beaten", not "beat".

Who is writing these ads for Digital???

    It's better than "This ain't no sippin' tea..." but I'm afraid it's not
    what I would want to hear from my next computer company.  It sounds too
    much like "I don't know what you want, but I'll get it for you."
    

    
    
    Given some of the deadwood of this Corporation, 
    setting oneself on fire may not be such a bad idea after all.
    
    
    jc
     

This is all part of a new style of "image advertising" (hey, I heard this on
NPR, so I *know* what I'm talking about ;^)). The idea is just to get the
company name out in front of people so it becomes more familiar in general, as
well as try to associate some directed images about the company with the name.
For example, Hitachi's ads: we make 20,000 products that do all kinds of stuff.
Now, it won't make you run out and buy a Hitachi hooverdexter, but at least the
name Hitachi is rolling around in your brain. So maybe when a Hitachi product
does come up against someone else's, you say, hmm, I've heard of them. 

It's all mind games. Just because you've seen their ad and remember their name
is no rational basis for a decision to choose them, but they're hoping that
little ounce of extra familiarity will sway you. These days you see a lot of ads
for big companies that leave you wondering what the heck they are talking about,
but you've seen the name and (they hope) been left with some vaguely positive
impression of the company, and that's what counts. Then they save the more
direct, product-specific advertising for later, when they are competing in a
specific area (buy our XE1000 for your office, you know us, we're the guys who
make 20,000 products).

So we're trying to build the image of the company that will whatever is
necessary to get the job done (don't worry about what the job *is* for now).
Hopefully the image is not "We're desperate, so we'll do whatever it takes to
stay afloat"...

Setting ourselves on fire is certainly more original than shooting ourselves in
the foot.

    RE Who's been writing these ads...	
    
    Jim and Joe Bob's garage, real estate, and Ad agency...
    motto: "we work cheap"
    
    Sorry, I'm a liitle disappointed in the quality (or lack therof) in
    these ads. 
    
    We can do better than this......

    I remember reading about 25 or 30 years ago about one of the Craig
    Breedlove (?) types who was trying to set world speed records out on
    the Bonneville salt flats. He apparently hit some infinitesmal object
    (an ant? a shadow?) at 450 mph (or whatever) and went spinning down the
    salt flats out of control.  When his crew caught up with the wreckage,
    he apparently recovered enough to say--just before passing out--"For my
    next act, I will set myself on fire!"
    
    I hope we aren't in the same position, saying the same thing. :^)

    I prefer the title of the old Who song: "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere".

    "Whatever It Takes" smacks of desperation.

    Methinks a burning Buddhist circa 70s, Saigon, would be appropo as a
    spokesperson?

    
    I don't so much mind the "Whatever It Takes" slogan. 
    
    I'd just like to know when everyone in this company will have this
    attitude.
    
    Let's see if we can do "whatever it takes" the first time someone tries
    to do something that requires cross-business unit or cross-geographical
    support...

    Actually, I kinda like it.  It reminds me of the "No Fear" brand of
    T-shirts, etc. that I see all over the place.  I get the feeling of
    being on the cutting edge, willing to take some risks for the rewards
    of being 1st!
    
    But yes, I agree with .69, that there are too many empire-building
    managers trying to cover their own butts to actually make it happen
    outside of small engineering teams.  However, inside my team, we
    have done things in the past year that would make the Law Department's
    hair stand on end (if they have any).  My customers are very happy!
    
    				-John

    
    	
    			WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE
    

re: .69

Don,

>    I'd just like to know when everyone in this company will have this
>    attitude.

When they stop getting beat up for having that attitude:-(

Bob

    T-shirts?  Did I hear T-shirts?  I want a T-shirt that says "Whatever
    It Takes".  Who can find me one?

    "Whatever it takes" should be the name of a new soap opera about
    Digital, much like Dynasty...what better advertising but one hour
    prime-time every week with sex, murder, extortion, payola, indecent
    proposals...
    
    Well, let's talk Digital Management for a moment :-)

Speaking of Jimmy Hoffa, maybe we could get him as a spokesperson...

- paul

    
    
    Possible Conundrum>> "Do The Right Thing" || "Whatever It Takes"
    
    jc 

If you read the accompanying article in Digital Today, it tells of how the
ad agency took a sample ad and made three versions of it - all with identical
text and graphics, the only difference being the company whose logo appeared
at the bottom.  When Digital was the company, the people who read the ad had
a much lower opinion of the ad than when another company's logo appeared.

The ad shown is likely just this sort - ANY company could have put their
logo underneath.  So far, there's nothing to differentiate Digital.

					Steve

    
    re: -.1
    
    Precisely! You'd think the better exercise would be to create three
    different ads with "Digital" and then see which ad produced the most
    favorable opinion of our company.
    
    I don't know, maybe I'm off base here, but everyone I know who's seen
    that ad has ended up on the floor laughing by the time they were at the
    end. 
    
    I've said it before, there's SO much good you could tell about this
    company, it's history, technology and people, and we end up with this.
    
    I'm usually a pretty positive sorta person when it comes to this
    company, but frankly, these ads are just plain stupid.

    Re: -.1 & -.2
    
    Someone better tell whoever hired this advertising agency, we're being
    taken. If I read -.2 right, they put the same slogan with different
    company logos with them and we picked the one's we liked.
    
    Well, while watching TV last night, I saw two of 'our' no 'maybe
    someone elses' ads. One was for Norwest Bank in Milwaukee, WI.
    
    "Norwest Bank"
    To the 'Nth' degree
    
    The other one I don't remember (which mifght say something) but it was
    an ad that ended "Whatever it takes".
    
    I should call Norwest Bank and ask who their advertising agent is. I
    think this agent takes his ads, adds the company logos to them, and
    sells them to whoever will buy.
    
    Tom
    

The point of the exercise alluded to in .77 (show three groups of people the 
same ad, but with a different company logo; the Digital one rated worst) is that
Digital is perceived negatively (or, perhaps, just not positively).

So the objective of the new ad campaign, at least the first phase, is improve
Digital's image (or perhaps more appropriately, *give* Digital an image).

I'm reminded of the 'The Fountainhead,' by Ayn Rand.  Toward the end of the of
the story, the protagonist, formerly a young maverick, has risen to the 
pinnacle of the architecture world.  His critic, once respected and feared 
in art and architecture circles but now a relative nothing, is consumed by not 
knowing what the maverick "thinks of" the critic.

After years of not even speaking to the critic, the maverick finally tells him,
"I *don't* think of you."  The critic is devastated.

Similarly, many buyers, especially in the low-end and PC markets, *don't think
of us* when considering vendors for their computing needs.  The exercise 
described in .77 "proves" this.  The aim of the ads is to change that poor, or
missing, perception.

Bruce

    
    	And I'm not entirely sure this "original" ad is going to.
    
    	Would prefer something that .78 alluded to. History, technology
    staying power, engineering/manufacturing skills the envy of all, etc.
    
    	Stating we wish we were Buddist monks in downtown Saigon, or
    macho drill instructors at Basic Training, just doesn't cut it for
    most Americans regardless of status, position, or intelligence.
    
    		the Greyhawk

    Last week, in Washington D.C., I heard a HP add using the "whatever it
    takes" phrase.
    
    WHO APPROVES these things!
    
    t.

    There's something vaguely unsavory about the ad. 

    Anyone care to suggest an internal "whatever it takes" suggestion
    box, sonthing that would be reviewed by the SLT and formally
    answered?  Something similar to the old delta ideas conference
    but taken a little more seriously?
    
    Let's get them comments?  Also, anyone else out there have any
    suggestions as to "what it will take?"  I got a bunch
    
    chet

    Whatever it takes... Except refusing a pay rise.
    
    Like, I suspect, 95% of the public faced with it, I gave up about two
    paragraphs into the advert. Subsequently I only bothered to read it
    because it was causing all this "fuss". Leaving aside the grammatical
    errors, it was a load of waffle, saying nothing. Typically Digital I
    suppose.
    
    Laurie$mole_feeder.

    Regarding "Whatever it Takes" audience testing (Same message with
    different logos on the bottom and "Digital got low scores.")
    
    I guess my thoughts on this are:
    
    The fact that Digital didn't score well is, in my mind, a warning 
    concerning current customer perception. My guess is that customers
    reading the phrase "whatever it takes" did not associate that with
    Digital. They didn't believe it. Their belief system says that as a
    company we do not do whatever it takes. 
    
    Ries & Trout, authors of numerous books on marketing, espouse the
    theory that what consumers believe about your company and its products
    are NOT changed by advertising. They offer evidence of many companies who
    have spent many millions of dollars trying, only to fail. 
    
    As an example, they would recommend against any car rental company
    making the claim that they are better than Hertz if research showed
    that Herz is #1 in people's minds. Hertz currently occupies a space in
    people's minds. Using advertising to move Hertz out of that space and
    replace their name with yours is foolhardy. It won't work.
    
    The AVIS - "We're #2 -- We try harder" promotion was very successful
    because AVIS made no attempt to change anybody's mind about who was #1.
    They admitted they were not #1, but then looked for a way to turn that
    into a positive image which made sense to a consumer.
    
    I think Ries & Trout's experiences relate directly to the "Anything it
    Takes" theme. If I understand the customer reactions correctly (which I
    may not), it looks to me like we're fixin' to spend a lot of money to
    try to change people's beliefs. Sounds like customers already have a
    view of who they think of when it comes to "whatever it takes" and it
    isn't Digital. 
    
    If so, we should find another claim which aligns itself with people's
    beliefs about our company, and which we can exploit as a positive
    identifier. 
    
    /se
    

    
    "If your competition does 50 push-ups, you do 51. If they go the extra
    mile, you go the extra 10. If they are fast, be faster. If they are
    smart, be brilliant. If they have the bigger hammer, you have the
    sharper nail."
    
    I can't get past that paragraph without appending, in my best Sean
    Connery imitation: "If they do that [two stiffened fingers thrust
    toward your eyes], you do this [flattened hand held straight out from
    your nose]."
    

    "If your competition does 50 push-ups, you do 51. If they go the extra
    mile, you go the extra 10. If they are fast, be faster. If they are
    smart, be brilliant. If they have the bigger hammer, you have the
    sharper nail."
    
    When your conpetition has been doing 50 push-ups for quite awhile, and
    the best you've been able to do is 12, it's a bit of a stretch to think
    that words alone will make the difference.
    
    I think there is a fine line between being perceived as aggressive or
    as being a bully.
    
    I'm not sure this ad makes the distinction.
    
    This ad reminds me of the little boy who shouts "my dad's gonna beat up
    your dad!"
    
    tony

re: .87

I don't believe the test referred to (same ad three different logos) used the
"Whatever it takes." tag line.

Bruce

I didn't think the ad in Digital Yesterday was too bad.  I didn't get visions
of monks burning themselves to death, etc.  The part about not losing our
ethics, was the one part I didn't like.  It reminded me too much of our previous
marketing where we apologized for saying anything.

Bob

    Personally, I think we could have gotten any three medium-bright high
    school grads interested in advertising together for an hour and done
    better.
    
    I agree with -.1, we're apologizing because, already, it's an unclear
    campaign.  I have the ad we ran in USA Today where it talks about the
    outstanding success of our Alpha and PC lines then says "(But don't
    worry...we're planning a comeback)".  Informative, clear, humorous, and
    reassuring.
    
    The Digital Yesterday ad was none of the above.  Bill the Cat says
    "Phhhhhbbbffftt!  Acckk!  Barf!".
    
    								Tex

I just saw the DVN which introduced the TV ads.  I can say this - they'll
get people's attention!  They are completely outrageous, which is apparently
the point.  Music by Lenny Kravitz, eye-popping video, minimalistic
copy that makes you want to find out just what the hell is going on.  (Oh,
one of the tag lines is "HELL HAS OUR NUMBER" - in an ad that depicts various
natural disasters.  I'm still trying to figure that one out, but I bet a lot
of people will want to do the same.)

The overall theme is "Mission Critical Attitude".  It's different and it
might just work.  Definitely NOT your usual Digital-type ad.

				Steve

    Concerning the "HELL HAS OUR NUMBER" phrase... The person
    in the video asks (with fires ablazing) who do you call
    when you have emergencies.  (Everyone in the cafeteria shouted
    "Ghostbusters", but the answer was supposed to be Digital.)
    Get it?  Even hell has our phone number.  Just don't forget
    the area code.
    
    The other slogans in the video were the ever popular
    	"Digital 12 - Grim Reaper 0"
    
    and "Supercomputers - 97% off sale" which was pretty good.
    
    There was one about "6000 applications in 2 years" - concerning
    Alpha apps. And there was one bizarre one about doing something
    4 billion times faster than your competitor.  I don't know how
    the 4 billion figure came up, other than being 2^32 - 64 bits
    as opposed to 32 bits???
    
    Oh well, another day in Digital :v)
    George
                  

The "6000 applications" was actually "0-6000 applications in 2 years".

Yes, the "4 billion times better" refers to Alpha's 64-bit addressing.

Then there was "What four letter word comes to mind when you think of Digital?
That's right.... UNIX"

				Steve

	My cut on it? Well, I like Lenny Kravitz. :-) And I do have to
	admit that I liked the "Hell has our phone number" advert.

	It'll be interesting to see what the reaction is by the public.
	(Provided we actually have commercials on something other than
	Discovery Channel)

							mike

    Remember ..... there's no traffic on "that extra mile".

>        admit that I liked the "Hell has our phone number" advert.

Well, that's good-bye to sales in heartland America!

dave (who once incurred the wrath of some nutcase
   by daring to release some software containg a "daemon")
 

re: .98

So it was YOOOUUUUUUU who did that!

Bob

Yeah, I must admit that crossed my mind.  But I think that it will offend
fewer people than it attracts.

					Steve

>Then there was "What four letter word comes to mind when you think of Digital?
>That's right.... UNIX"
    
    This one I wonder about.  It's a loaded question.
    
    And I agree that the "hell" slogan may offend many and could potentially
    do more harm than good.  It's borderline that's for sure.
    
    /George

    What the hell... we've got nothing to lose at this point.
    
    Anything that get's customers commenting gives us sales people an
    opportunity to engage them on how our products and services can indeed
    help them out of their personal hell's they have cooking, and yes they 
    all have them just like we do.
    
    This is advertising 101, back to the basics of blocking and tackling
    and we can use whatever boost we can get.  I hope they run the things
    on all the major events on T.V., afterall, the only sport
    being played professionally in season now is NFL Football so why not a few
    spots on Monday night football, ( I just saw a new FED EX ad so this
    stuff does register). 
    
    Ad's are the bait to get folks to listen.  It's up to all of us to show
    them the best mousetraps in the world.
    
    		Maverick

    
    	The 4 billion refers to the difference between 32 and 64
    	bit compute capacity.
    
    	From last week's Digital Today;
    
    	"Digital's 64-bit Alpha AXP architecture provides more than
    	4 billion times (4,294,967,296) the data addressing capacity
    	of 32-bit architectures.
    
    	Consider the following simple analogy for perspective: If the
    	addressing capacity of 8-bit computing equaled an area the size
    	of a business card, 16 bits would represent the area of a desktop,
    	32 bits a city block, and 64-bit computing would represent
    	approximately twice the size of the Earth's entire land surface".
    
    	Tom
    

	There it was, 4 letters UNIX, but something else was missing.
	VMS, how are these ads going to re-assure our "LARGE INSTALLED"
	base of VMS customers that we're still serious about VMS? 
	They're not! I'm hearing from all over, our VMS customers 
	expressing concerns about our "lack of commitment" to VMS. We've
	raised this issue to the highest levels inside this corporation,
	only to have these concerns fall on "DEAF EARS". And now we seem
	to be confirming their suspicions, yeap, Digital is abandoning us,
	they're not going to market VMS, its going the way of RSX. 

	I've seen Corporate VP's come down to one of our largest customer
	sites for a visit, this customer is a large VMS customer. Guess
	what the VP talked to them about, UNIX! Needless to say, the customer
	was very, very upset!

	I don't disagree with the
	fact that we need to have a UNIX offering, and I agree that OSF 
	is truly a superior UNIX product. But, I think that we're seeing 
	a scr#wup of the biggest kind, when it comes to supporting/keeping
	our installed base of VMS customers. Here we are pushing UNIX and
	NT. I read somewhere that NT was projected to have approx 1/2 million
	licenses sold by the end of this year. That's nothing, when you 
	compare it to Windows and OS/2 (10 million+). What percentage of
	those sales have been ALPHA based?  Has MicroSoft even committed
	to having all of their products run on our platform. Or are they
	being smart, waiting to see if the market for NT ever develops.
	I've heard that HP has NT running on their platform, but do you
	hear HP pushing NT, no. They're taking a wait and see attitude.
	
	Has anyone ever thought
	that perhaps our drop off in sales of VMS may be due to the fact 
	that we have our "CUSTOMERS SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS" for the last 
	two (make that three) years about our commitment to this product
	(VMS)!!!!!! 

	I hope that I'm wrong, but it appears that "we're cutting off our
	legs (VMS)" at the beginning of a long journey. 

	Rick C. 
    

      <<< Note 3452.104 by GLDOA::CUTLER "Car Topin' On The Cumberland" >>>
                        -< 4 Letter Word, not 3 (VMS) >-

	Someone just reminded me, that perhaps we didn't see all the
	ads and maybe, just maybe there may be some that contain VMS
	references. I hope that this is the case (fingers crossed).



	Rick C. 
    

Well in the UK, our current 2100 Server ads are bragging about all
the usual good stuff (64bit, UNIX, NT etc) plus a nice throw-away
line of ...

"Not to mention the Digital ability to run the robust open production
systems environment, capable of full Client-Server operation: OpenVMS"

... so we ain't scrappin' VMS just yet!

mb

    
    ref:104	It is possible to carry different messages to different
    groups of customers.  Example: The Ford Explorer.  Ads in Backpacking
    and Hunting and Fishing magazines show it as an off road sports vehicle. 
    Ads in Construction magazines show it as a truck.  Ads in other
    magazines show it as the suburban second car.
    
    When we advertise in UNIX TODAY we should push UNIX.  In DIGITAL REVIEW
    we push VMS with mention of UNIX.  The VP that came to a worried VMS
    account and pushed UNIX was either poorly prepared by the sales rep or
    refused to listen.  Someone didn't do their homework. 
    We can't "give the corporate message" because in this company, there
    isn't, and shouldn't be, just one.  We should to talk to the
    specific interests and concerns of the customer by matching the message 
    to the audience.  Its hard to do in advertising, but it's
    possible through proper placement of *product* ads.
    
    Other thoughts:
    "Mission critical attitude" is pretty good.  Better than "what ever it
    takes".  
    
    The text of the "what ever it takes" ad could apply equally well to a
    plumbing and heating company.  It is too wordy and doesn't speak about
    our strengths.
    
    I like the aggressive, we're-great-and-in-your-face attitude.  It is
    such a relief from the Two-overweight-middle-aged-guys-in-front-of-a- 
    computer ads. And, maybe, "imagine", (which is "THINK" warmed over)
    will quietly disappear.
    
    Nobody in our room liked yesterday's DVN video.  We wanted content. 
    Things like; What do our customers believe about us?, How did focus
    groups in Europe respond?, how will the campaign develop?  A
    communications campaign is more than a bunch of good tag lines. 
    
    
    

    	The part I liked best was when they showed the sequence of natural
    disaster clips, followed by the Digital logo. It reminded me of that
    bar room scene in "The Naked Gun" where the camera scans the wall with
    pictures of natural disasters (while singing the blues), ending with a
    large portrait of Governor Dukakis. So what struck *this* viewer was
    that "Digital" was the last in a series of disasters...especially the
    way they had the Digital logo spinning and spiraling around like it was
    out of control.
    	I'm all for an aggressive TV ad campaign, and maybe this was just
    so aggressive and unlike anything we've done previously that it struck
    me as very bizarre and had me cringing. I suspect some people will
    think we've gone off the deep end, and others will be laughing at us.
    But what do I know?

>	They're not! I'm hearing from all over, our VMS customers 
>	expressing concerns about our "lack of commitment" to VMS. We've
>	raised this issue to the highest levels inside this corporation,
>	only to have these concerns fall on "DEAF EARS". And now we seem
>	to be confirming their suspicions, yeap, Digital is abandoning us,
>	they're not going to market VMS, its going the way of RSX. 

>	Has anyone ever thought
>	that perhaps our drop off in sales of VMS may be due to the fact 
>	that we have our "CUSTOMERS SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS" for the last 
>	two (make that three) years about our commitment to this product
>	(VMS)!!!!!! 

>	I hope that I'm wrong, but it appears that "we're cutting off our
>	legs (VMS)" at the beginning of a long journey. 

At the OPENVMS partners meeting in september, two pie charts were displayed with
VMS customer reponses to the following questsions:
Are you being pressured to move off VMS?
Who is pushing you to move off VMS?
13% of the VMS customers said that DIGITAL is forcing them off VMS!!!!!!

The good news was that top management (Enrico spoke) realize that VMS is paying
our paychecks and that we have been our own worst enemy. The problem is that
we still have a lot of DIGITAL people out there that either don't understand 
how important VMS is to Digital or feel that the only way to push OSF-1 and NT 
is to put down VMS. If it continues Digital WILL NOT SURVIVE.

The good news is the the drastic drop off in VMS sales has leveled off and 
large investments are once again being made in VMS to continue its high 
availability, bet your business, open benifits into the future.

Dan Buckley, OPENVMS partner

	I think it will at least have people going "What they hell are
	they up too?"

	Good or bad, they'll ask.

							mike

    Well, the stock is down this morning ($29) ... wonder if it is in
    response to the ads ... :-(

      I thought the TV ad with the hard driving Lenny Kravitz music and 
    the disasters flashing on the screen was excellent. This ad should make
    people turn their heads and WANT to look, and listen to what Digital 
    has to say. It grabs your attention ... (unlike the "portly-
    old-man-talking-to-a-computer-at-restaurant-table" ads of a couple 
    of years ago). I like the  "Hell has our phone number" line  ...
    It is as catchy as "Where's the Beef ?" 
    
    Suggestion ... get General Schwartzcoff to do the voice-over. 

    What exactly does "Hell has our phone number" *mean*?

    re: OpenVMS.
    
    The second ad will include OpenVMS in a general advertisement on being
    an Open company.  As the ads get more focussed on a particular
    business, we will not 'carry the mail' for all businesses in every ad.
    
    You will see the campaign take increasingly vertical slices on DIGITAL
    and its successes.
    
    You have seen about 7 of about 20-25 implementations currently in
    development. 
    
    
    

    Could someone please expand on the "Digital 12, Grim Reaper 0" theme
    also?
    
    Thx.
    
    -j

    I confess, I did not go through all 113 replies. But I do want to post
    my thoughts on "what ever it takes."  I have known a lot of people
    during my almost eight years with the company that have done "what ever
    it takes" day in and day out.  I like to believe I have also done "what
    ever it takes" to keep my customers happy.  Unfortunately, all those
    people are gone - either TFSO'd or left on their own.  I too have
    decided to leave in search of other challenges and opportunities.  For
    at least the last six months or so I have been trying to figure out
    what Digital means when it says, publicly, that it is the leader in
    client-server computing.  Now the question becomes how will Digital
    deliver on the "what ever it takes" promise.
    
    Folks, the field organization is just about gone.  Who is going to do
    "what ever it takes" to win customers???  Digital's socalled partners? 
    I can just imagine (no pun intended) the phone conversation taking
    place between someone who reads the add and calls the 1-800 number for
    more information, "...yes, I would like more info on how Digital can do
    'what ever it takes' to solve my problem ..."  Response: "Yes sir, my I
    have your zip code? .... Yes, sir, the phone number for the Digital
    distributor nearest you is ...."
    
    This company still doesn't know what the marketing philosophy is, and
    never will until the Board of Directors hires someone to run the
    company that does have a true marketing philosophy.  Putting these
    kinds of messages out without any strategy on how in the world you are
    going to deliver is ludicrous.  If the company had a strategy to
    actually deliver, it would be fine.  But consider:
    
    o direct sales is being reduced to just the 500 largest global accounts
    
    o sales support practically doesn't exist anymore
    
    o DCS has been torn apart
    
    o field service has been downsized to the point where people don't
      understand how they're supposed to meet contractual agreements
      outstanding
    
    o the CSC has been downsized to the point where it can take several
      days to return a customer phone call.  YES, a customer told me it
      took three days to get a response on an outstanding PATHWORKS
      question.
    
    Folks, when you make a statement you have to be prepared to deliver!
    
    Well, I'm out'a here
    
    It's been real,
    
    amd

The 12-0 referred to a dozen large corporate "wins" (with the names of the
companies flashed onscreen) for Digital in recent months.  This, along with
the "Contrary to what you may have heard, Digital is open for business"
ad strike back at the perception that Digital is dying.  Past due, I say!

GO, GO, GO!  This campaign may give us additional free coverage, like Infiniti,
Saturn and Tasters Choice got.

Did anyone write down the VTX IR order code for the DVN tape?  I didn't, but
found it wasn't listed in the "What's new" section.  I want to get a copy.

					Steve

    DVN: Digital's Mission Critical Attitude
    
    Available through VTX IR - item VI562D

    re: .111
    
    The entire stock market was down, according to the news reports.  The
    NYSE and Nasdaq were both down, overall.  It seems unlikely that it had
    anything to do with our ad campaign.  --S

    
    	Just a comment -
    
    	Walked into the CEOs office of a VAR I'm recruiting today. He had
    the WSJ ad laid out on his conference desk and noted "Interesting ad,
    have you bought your begging bowl with you?". With a wink and grand
    nod, I said, "Only if your checkbook is out." He laughed, and we
    started our meeting.
    
    	I do not know what this means. But the ad seems to have gotten one
    CEOs attention. I just hope we don't screw this up by setting grand
    expectations with minisule delivery.
    
    
    		the Greyhawk

    I would hope that the "Hell has our phone number" adds would be
    seriously reconsidered.
    
    I do not think that many people can honestly say that this will
    associate Digital with a positive attitude.  It will be "hard-hitting"
    and have a high amount of "impact", but not the type we want. Although 
    many people (within and without) have associated Digital with hell [insert 
    1/2 of a smiley face here] I don't think this is what we are trying to 
    portray.
    
    When I try to "imagine" what this slogan might mean, I conjure up
    images of far side cartoons with the big "D"'s meddling in some poor
    MIS worker-bees' system's procurement.
    
    A very significant fact is that this will be received with a high
    degree of negativity among many customers.  I cannot help but apply 
    Bob Palmer's label of "unintended consequences" to the reaction this
    particular add will generate.
    
    -- Kevin Phillips

    From the looks of it, Digital went to a real ad firm to do these
    commercials, yes?  They don't seem like the kind of stuff (and I'm
    being polite here) that we'd ever think of internally with all the 
    tree-hugging going on around here.
    
    So if these were in fact done by a professional ad firm, I'm willing to
    give them the benefit of the doubt over what will and won't work in the
    marketplace.
    
    				-John
    

Yes, DDB Needham Worldwide is a "real ad firm".  They're a descendant of
Doyle Dane and Bernbach, a company my aunt used to work for and which
created many fine, memorable and intelligent ads.  (My aunt was responsible
for such things like "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee" and the 1960s ad for
Ocean Spray Cranapple Juice showing William Tell shooting a cranberry from
his son's head.)

I must say that I do have some reservations about the "Hell has our number"
ad.  I'd be interested in seeing comments from MARCOM.

					Steve

    re:120
    
    Greyhawk, you are an animal.  Man if we could do ad's like you can
    think up killer responses to tough CEO questions, we'd be in the best
    shape one could ever hope to be in.
    
    So, sounds like we have an opportunity here to get out amongst them as
    they say and put forth our wares and convice the people with the money
    to give it to us and we can give them very fast, high quality
    multi-dimensional operating systems technology.  Sounds simple huh?
    
    Well, it should be and it can be if we just clearly focus on delivering
    worlds best value, the fastest, and the least expensive ahead of everyone
    else.  Tom Peters had a fairly good saying, "In the 90's you must
    hurry slowly" meaning you have to be fast to get to where the action is
    but you must take care in doing the very best job once you are there
    in front of the customer.  It's like TOGPUN folks, if you loose sight
    of your competitor, you lose the fight.  
    
    So, now that we are the "Whatever it takes" company, we can make a
    difference by showing up to win, getting engaged with the customer, and
    the competition and putting them on the ropes for once.  
    
    If Hell has our number, then I'm ready to answer the phone.
    
    Mav 

    
    re: .120  What a great response to a customer.  We literally have spoken
    about this campaign as a 'door opener'.  Anyway, the customer research
    on the campaign continues to be very positive - some of the ads ARE
    edgy by design - but they break through the clutter - we will not
    outspend the competition, we must be different and I think DDBN will be
    successful in not letting DIGITAL homogenize the ads too much. 
    
    

>Yes, DDB Needham Worldwide is a "real ad firm".  They're a descendant of
>Doyle Dane and Bernbach, a company my aunt used to work for and which
>created many fine, memorable and intelligent ads.  (My aunt was responsible
>for such things like "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee" and the 1960s ad for
>Ocean Spray Cranapple Juice showing William Tell shooting a cranberry from
>his son's head.)
    
    Ummm, Steve?  Maybe it's time to see if your Aunt has Corporate's phone
    number?  I personally think things have gone downhill since she left!
    
    							Tex

    My aunt has long since retired from the business.  From what I saw
    yesterday, I don't think she needs to return...
    
    				Steve

    Advertising does not have to sell your product(or company) for you 
    or even paint the perfect picture. All it needs to do is put your
    product(or company) in the mind of the target audience.  I have no
    doubt from what I have seen, the new campaign will do this. 

    -Bruce

	We would probably increase our market share by changing
	our slogan to

	"We set our managers on fire!"

	-Bruce
	(interpret as you so desire)

>================================================================================
>Note 3452.113                  "Whatever it takes"                    113 of 129
>TNPUBS::JONG "Steve"                                   1 line  25-OCT-1994 10:32
>                              -< I don't get it >-
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>    What exactly does "Hell has our number" *mean*?
    
     Maybe our next PC offering will be the 'Celebris 666'? 8*) 8*)
    
    Ken

    I wonder if Monty Hall is available?

    
    Was it stated in the DVN, or anywhere, exactly when and where (in the
    US), these television ads will play...
    
    
    thanks,
    /ljj
    

No, it wasn't.  But I believe they'll start sometime next month.

				Steve

So when and where do they show up on TV (so I can have the VCR cranked up). 
If it's anything like our last Digital TV ad campaign, you get one chance to 
see 'em, then they're never on again...

Re: .134

>So when and where do they show up on TV (so I can have the VCR cranked up). 
>If it's anything like our last Digital TV ad campaign, you get one chance to 
>see 'em, then they're never on again...

I can believe this.  I have only ever seen 1 Digital TV spot - it was one of
the "silent" ones that aired several months ago.  Definitely did not leave
a lasting (or any, for that matter) impression.  I've seen literally hundreds
of IBM, HP, and Intel ads over the years.  All were very impressive, and often
repeated.  The latest Intel ad with a Pentium flying into a PC and landing in a
ZIF socket is *excellent*.

I'm skeptical, but I hope this latest campaign does well.  It would be great
to see one of the ads as well (on TV *not* DVN).

Bob

I heard yesterday that those in the know believe that the targets for these ads
watch TV on Sunday, so the plan is that folks watching Sunday TV (e.g. Meet the
Press, football, etc.) will be unable to miss these ads.

We'll find out in early November.

    
    As we get closer to the actual run dates, we will publish specifics on
    both print and tv schedules.  We do this to ensure that we are past
    close dates for booking space and having materials to the media
    outlets, and not to put ourselves at any competitive disadvantage by
    publishing specifics when competitors can react to them, estimate our
    media spending, etc.  
    
    We will be getting the word out beforehand to ensure that sales people, 
    support, resellers, and other employees can direct their customers and 
    prospects attention to the ads, and/or use them as leverage in 
    planning sales calls and other customer activities.
    
    But we will publish rolling windows, not the full media plan in one
    fell swoop.
    
    I suggest Monday viewing of LIVEWIRE and DIGITAL Today as 2 primary
    sources for media specifics.  More to follow from the rollout team.
    
    
    

    Bill Troy,
    
    I am glad that you are responding to the questions and skepticism
    in these notes.  I think we all want this campaign to be wildly
    successful and will do whatever it takes to support it and its
    continuing rollout.  I hope that the skeptics get on board and
    talk it up or provide helpful suggestions.  Your providing the
    facts and details that people are asking for will help 
    everyone make this campaign a success.  Thanks.

    
       Well I read the Wall St. Journal where we opened up our new
    advertising campaign.
    
       I was very impressed, almost drawn to the AT&T ad, IBM and Toshiba
    were nice too, but Digital's ad was one of the worst I've ever seen,
    it didn't even make me want to read about "Whatever it takes", except
    that I knew it was Digital's ad and should give it a read.
    
       I hope the ads get better or otherwise people will be cruising
    by them.
    
          Mark

    Will this happen worldwide or is it USA only ?
    
    
    Question_from_a_european_employee_who_would_like_to_see_the_
     company_he_works_for_on_TV

It's worldwide - I got a Readers Choice announcement about it the other day
(didn't save it, though.)  I recall that some areas will have a delayed
or staged rollout of the campaign to make sure that the field people are
ready for it.

					Steve

    Yesterday I attended the Windows 95 Awarness Seminar at the Westin
    Copley Hotel in Boston.  It was put on by Microsoft (of course) and
    also sponsored by Compaq.  There was an HP guy there who did a bang up
    job demonstrating parts of HP OpenView for Windows on the Win95 system.
    
    Not one mention of Digital or of Pathworks ... not that I expected any.  
    
    Wonder why DEC misses these sort of opportunities where our products
    are put in front of real live people (tens of hundreds of them at a
    time)...?
    
    tony

    A few weeks ago, Microsoft invited the POLYCENTER group to show the
    Windows NT NetView product at a NT seminar.  Over 1200 people saw Jeff
    Snover do a bang up job, and this week, the product is talked about on
    the front page of PC Week.  There was only a bit of notice, meaning
    that Jeff and others "did what it took" to get in the demo.
    
    HP OpenView for Windows is the most popular SNMP manager on the market
    today.  With Win95, the market for managers on that OS is going to
    really heat up.
    
    bill

Sounds like we missed an opportunity with the Windows 95 seminar but we did OK
the BACKOFFICE rollout.  Bill Gassman deserves a lot of credit for that.  We 
were invited to participate in the Vendors booth but Bill made the contact and 
took the steps that got us on the main show.  That is a great example of how 
one person can go the extra mile and make things happen.  

Jeffrey

From:	ZEKE::JPS "NetView/Windows Technical Leader  06-Oct-1994 0940"  6-OCT-1994 10:05:51.16
To:	@nt-mgt
CC:	
Subj:	NT-MGT: PNV/NT IS A 'HIT' AT MS EVENT!

Yesterday was a good day for PNV/Windows and POLYCENTER AssetWorks (PAW).  We 
demo'd them at Microsoft's rollout of BACKOFFICE.  This was the largest regional 
event that Microsoft has ever had. We were invited to do a technology demo of 
PNV/NT and things went pretty good. Quite a few people told me that PNV was the 
best demo "by far".  

The real credit for this success goes to the PNV/Windows developers.  They 
produced the prototype that everyone is drooling over and are working very hard 
to make it a reality.

We didn't have a chance to demo PAW in the main show but I was able to talk 
about it and we demo'd it in our booth.  It was, as always, very popular.  PAW 
is a great product - it has a very simple story and people know immediately if 
they want it or not.

Jeffrey
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:	ZEKE::HARGREAVES "POLYCENTER NETVIEW - PRODUCT MANAGER  05-Oct-1994 
1915"    5-OCT-1994 19:22:19.14
To:	@NSM.DIS
CC:	HARGREAVES
Subj:	*GOOD NEWS* - PNV/NT IS A 'HIT' AT MS EVENT!


       ***SNOVER HITS GRAND-SLAM FOR POLYCENTER NETVIEW & ASSETWORKS***

I just want to give folks a brief update of the Microsoft event we attended 
today at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston.  The keynote speaker at this event
was Microsoft's Executive Vice President, Steve Ballmer, who shared his vision 
of Microsoft's business computing strategy and hyped their newest versions of
MS Windows NT Server, MS Windows NT Workstation, MS SNA Server, & MS SQL Server.

At the conclusion of Mr. Ballmer's presentation, the Microsoft Partners 
participated on-stage (using two 20' big-screen projectors) to share realtime
Windows/NT applications and demos with an audience of approximately 1200 folks! 

The highlight of the Microsoft partners presentation (in my opinion) began when
our Windows/NT technical leader, Jeffrey Snover, demo'd POLYCENTER Manager on
NetView on Windows/NT and POLYCENTER AssetWORKS on Windows/NT..!  Jeffrey's
presentation was interactive with the Microsoft representatives (live-on-stage)
who asked a 'barrage' of questions like "how does POLYCENTER Manager on NetView
manage an SNMP, heterogeneous, multivendor network?"  What is the value of SMS
integration in the PNV/NT environment?  How does the UI for POLYCENTER NetView
improve user productivity and allow users to manage the network and NOT have to
worry about managing Windows?  And why does PNV/NT minimize training costs? 
And why is PNV/NT considered 'Industrial Strength' network management?  and so
on.....!

While addressing questions from the Microsoft representatives, Jeffrey was
simultaneously 'clicking' his way through the IP Map and various Tool Bars
giving illustrations of how POLYCENTER NetView addresses network management
issues and resolves problems or at least provides critical information
necessary to resolve the problems.  What made this event so exciting was the
fact that he did it with 1200-people watching just a few feet away, and his
presentation was FLAWLESS!

Following the MS Partner's event, we gave product demonstrations using
equipment that we brought from our office and hauled up the freight elevator
the evening before.  The Digital booth was literally jammed with folks eager to
see a demo of the products and to congratulate Jeffrey on his GREAT presenta-
tion... honestly.  Ken Seiden was demoing POLYCENTER AssetWORKS and Jeffrey & I
demo'd PNV/NT.  The crowd was so thick -  at times they were standing 5-deep to
watch the product demo's and to get literature that we brought with us.  This 
event generated a tremendous amount of interest in our products...!  

Other Digital folks who were instrumental in making this happen but couldn't 
attend due to other commitments were Peg Sullivan and Bill Gassman.  I'm sure
you'll be hearing more about this event from other Digital folks who were 
present.  Kudos to JPS for hitting this homerun for POLYCENTER...

John Hargreaves 

BTW, HP was not on the agenda, nor in the demo area either!

    re .144
    
    There's a request in the October 17th issue of Digital Today for
    stories on employees who go "above and beyond"; they can be sent to
    SUCCESS @OGO or to STOWOA::SUCCESS.
    
    /dlw

I think I've come up with an interpretation for "Hell has our phone number".

Digital is accessible and (presumably) will service places even as reputedly
problematic as...hell.

(The devil made me say that)

(Got to admit...for subliminal recall it works).

    Which ( who's) phone number does "hell" have? Is it an outside ring
    or a DTN ?

    
                                WHATEVER IT TAKES.
                                    -----------------
    Having the opportunity to digest the WHATEVER IT TAKES presentation I
    attended last week I put together some ideas and tid bits of what it
    means to me. Also I feel that Digital, even though our profit
    performance hasn't been the best, is still working toward whatever it
    takes to become the great company it is. My opinion, any other company
    would have ran scared and closed up shop long ago.
    I'm also happy to see that we selected a proven and dedicated
    advertisement agency such as DDB Needham as they will help articulate
    our long term vision and commitment to quality products and customer
    satisfaction. In the end we Digital will become its own success story.
    
    
    
    WHATEVER IT TAKES. We will continue to develop the worlds' fastest
                       and today's only true 64 bit AXP processor chip.
                       Whatever it takes means it will only get faster
                       and faster and faster...
    
    
    WHATEVER IT TAKES. We will ensure you that our Digital Equipment
                       platforms / architecture will be an open one,
                       supporting today's powerful multitasking operating
                       systems namely; Windows NT, OpenVMS, and a true
                       64 bit UNIX (DEC OSF/1 ).
    
    
    WHATEVER IT TAKES. To build quality products that is backed by an
                       extensive warranty and a professional support
                       team and service organization that is vendor
                       neutral and dedicated to customer satisfaction as
                       our Multivendor Customer Service (MCS) team is
                       unprecedented.
    
    
    WHATEVER IT TAKES. Our goal to integrate the office or business
                       application use intensively in the information
                       systems network environment that require the
                       secure blend and control on a growing world wide
                       network, what ever it take our; PATHWORKS,
    TEAMLINKS,
                       LINKWORKS, ACCESSWORKS/DB INTERGRATOR, DBI GATEWAYS,
                       is your choice to tighten up and better utilize your
                       Network Operating System capabilities.
    
    
    WHATEVER IT TAKES. Our supply and demand strategy is in place to become
                       a leading price for performance vendor when desktop
                       PCs or ALPHA workstations become a business tool of
                       choice.
    
    
    WHATEVER IT TAKES. Our tangible network gear, DEChubs, printers, and
                       terminals are all built around around industry
                       standards and we will continue to do whatever it
                       takes to keep it that way.
    
    WHATEVER IT TAKES. We can and we will do...
    
    
    
                                                    G.W.
    
    
    

     >   WHATEVER IT TAKES. To build quality products that is backed by an
     >                      extensive warranty and a professional support
     >                      team and service organization that is vendor
     >                      neutral and dedicated to customer satisfaction as
     >                      our Multivendor Customer Service (MCS) team is
     >                      unprecedented.
    
    Even as we "restructure" MVS???
    
    sigh.....well the ad in WSJ, though IMHO rather bland is better than
    nothing...	
    
    Robert
    

    Well, let's apply "whatever it takes", which sounds so great on paper, 
    to this customer satisfaction problem, which comes from a close friend 
    in Information Systems in a major Boston-area university.  

    As a reader and sometime contributor to this notesfile, I'm certainly 
    aware of the difficulties of delivering to customers, so it's not a 
    slam against the many folks trying to do their best under more than 
    difficult circumstances.  Still, what will "whatever it takes" mean 
    in this context?


    The message, which I've edited to delete non-relevant comments and names,
    follows:



  I just got this as part of a message from a faculty member who has ordered
  some equipment from DEC:

  >We got the disk drive and the backup tape.  We want that installed before
  >moving on to add the 9-track tape drive, which I hope to do by the
  >end of the calendar year....
  >(I must report, however, that my experience in ordering this equipment
  >from DEC has demonstrated to me how/why they're in such trouble.  Six weeks
  >to deliver a SCSI cable?????  ....
                                  ....   These are not people who live in 
  >a competitive world.)



    A further message, on request, with more information from the faculty 
    member:


  When the unit finally arrived, it came without a SCSI cable, which, of 
  course, it needs.  Now, I imagine I could have gone to a mailorder 
  concern to get the right cable, but I wanted to go through DEC just in
  case.  We called the DECDirect number.  First, I get a representative
  who tells me what I want.  (OK experience there.)  Second, when it's
  clear I want to buy the cable, he transfers me to someone else who 
  actually takes the order.  Again OK experience, except that I've never
  encountered the necessity to talk to two people to buy a part from a
  computer company. (And the necessity to  wait in a queue twice...)
  At the end of ordering and paying for the cable, the fellow says, "that
  will take six weeks."  When I say, "what if I have you express mail
  it to me," he says, "five of those weeks are us finding the part in
  the warehouse and getting it to the shipping department." Overnight
  shipment will only cut it to 5 1/2 weeks....

  Now we have the cable.  So, we've just looked at hooking up the box.  It
  turns out that (1) we weren't given a manual for the disk drive, (2) the
  manuals for the expansion box and the tape drive illustrate different
  DIP-switch configurations than actually occur on the back of the 
  devices.  So, we'll see if Robert can figure it out....  I have a feeling
  it's going to take us a while just to have all the right stuff just to
  start installing the devices. 

    Am I the only one who thinks "mission-critical" is far from
    the right sort of message for our customers?  Does anyone
    else see the space shuttle blowing up when they hear that
    phrase?  It may be too much "truth in advertising" to reveal
    how close this company is to disaster.  And customers certainly
    don't want to be in the mission-critical phase with their
    computer systems.  "Mission-critical" may be a motivational
    phrase for Digital employees, especially marketing.  But our
    message to customers should assure them that we provide reliable
    equipment, support, service, etc.  The right kind up up-front
    knowledge and support will prevent most customer crises.
    
    I like better the idea expressed early on this thread: we should
    sell our strong points.  We know about world-wide networking,
    we know how to make databases and interfaces that give everyone
    with a computer access to information from all over the world
    instantly.  Sell us on our strenghts, please, not on the basis
    of our current corporate forecast.
    

 >     			"Mission-critical" may be a motivational
 >     phrase for Digital employees, especially marketing.  But our
 >     message to customers should assure them that we provide reliable
 >     equipment, support, service, etc.  The right kind up up-front
 >     knowledge and support will prevent most customer crises.
    
    
    That's what the phrase "mission-critical" means. Equipment,
    services, etc. that you (the customer) can use in your
    mission-critical applications, where you absolutely must have
    reliable support.

    "mission-critical" is a popular term nowadays in "MIS" circles. I think
    I even heard Tom Peters use the term in this context the last time I
    saw him speak..
    
    More and more companies are moving from using computers as a "handy
    tool" to a place where computing is a strategic advantage. This moves
    the information systems from the periphery of the business to the
    center of the dartboard. In this case, the "mission" isn't getting to
    the moon and back, it's survial and prosperity.
    
    Heck, I've even delivered impromptu speeches to my wife's accounts
    about "mission critical systems" and the paradigm shift needed to get
    from traditional MIS to the ability to do true mission-critical
    systems.   And I'm a technogeek.
    
    ...tom

    BP previewed the new Digital TV commercials at today's DVN in LKG. He
    said these or ones like them would be airing soon during NFL games and
    other Sunday time slots.

    They are a departure, to say the least. Digital meets MTV. BP commented
    that he had trouble appreciating the music at his age. It ain't
    easy-listening, that's for sure! Everyone seemd to like the ads. They
    have a gritty look to them, with (according to BP) Lenny Kravitz guitar
    jam in the background. The messages are simple and direct, punctuated by
    the soundtrack, ending with very nifty animation of the Digital logo,
    not just floating around, but stretching past the lens with exaggerated
    perspective and video distortion to settle into a normal view. Very 
    dynamic in sight and sound. They kind of remind me of some of the video
    game ads.

    They are definitely attention-getting, and mention specific products.
    The only one I found a little questionable was a longer one showing
    scenes of disasters (storm, fires, quakes), touting the mission-critical
    focus. It ends with the line "Hell has our phone number". That got quite
    a surprised laugh from the audience, along with applause, but may be
    considered by some to be in poor taste, and could be interpreted to mean
    if you want trouble, call us.

re Note 3452.150 by KELVIN::SCHMIDT:

>   At the end of ordering and paying for the cable, the fellow says, "that
>   will take six weeks."  When I say, "what if I have you express mail
>   it to me," he says, "five of those weeks are us finding the part in
>   the warehouse and getting it to the shipping department." Overnight
>   shipment will only cut it to 5 1/2 weeks....

        I just ordered three SCSI cables from DECdirect (for internal
        use, so the mechanism may be entirely different) and the good
        news is that they arrived in a couple of days.


        The bad news is that none of the three BC09D-03 cables
        worked.  :-{

        Bob

I just hope we don't abuse "mission critical" by overusing it, as in:
"VP Fred Blortz said, 'Our recently announced DECfluff V1.9 exemplifies
our Mission Critical Attitude by keeping your monitor screen free of
dust and lint in those Mission Critical Business Situations where you
demand a Mission Critically Clean Screen!'"

What's the market for perceived Mission Critical stuff vs. just plain
high quality stuff?
							- paul

    I was floored by the ads, myself.  I have the vivid image of KO sitting
    down after Thanksgiving dinner to watch the Lions game and falling out
    of his La-Z-Boy, prostrate, when they come on the air.
    
    Have you seen the Sega Genesis ads where some teen, blown away after
    trying a Sega game, shouts "SEGA!"?  Well, that's the same idea.  It
    doesn't show this image, but perhaps we'll see some white-collar
    professional sitting down at an Alpha machine, getting blown away by
    its speed and power, and turning to the camera, hair spiked, glasses
    askew, smoke coming off eyebrows and eyes a-whirl, shouting "DIGITAL!"

    Hate to say it, but I'm not impressed with the ads. While the
    production quality is high, I wasnt sure of what I was watching.
    
    	What is the target market of the ads? If you didn't know what
    Digital made, would you ater watching the ads?
    
    ed

    
    	Why is it that after previewing the ads, the only phrase that comes
    to mind is:
    
    		COWABUNGA, DUDES
    
    			the Greyhawk

    
    BEFORE:
    
    "What company do you work for?"
    
    "Digital", I proudly reply.
    
    "Who?", they respond.
    
    "You know, DEC. We make computers."
    
    "Oh."
    
    AFTER:
    
    "What company do you work for?"
    
    "Digital."
    
    "Wow! I saw some bizarre ads on TV for you guys! What's that all
    about?"
    
    "[ fill in the positive message of your choice ]".
    
           

    I hope someone's got 1-800-DEC-HELL lined up to go
    with the adverts...
    

    I haven't seen the ad(s) yet, but based on what people are reporting in
    here, all I can say is IT'S ABOUT TIME!
    
    If they put 'digital' into the public mind, for better or for worse, 
    that's all that matters.
    
    Ken....

The new ad campaign is just what the doctor ordered!  After all, we are
being ignored by many who feel we are merely sitting on the periphery of the
industry, when in fact we are a major player with many of the best products
(which are used by some of the most important customers) in the world.  The
"Mission Critical" message is nothing more than a fact of life with our
customers, the same ones whom we referred to in the past as "24x7."  We
have been delivering the products and service to support these customers
for at least two decades, - a personal observation - so why not emphasize it?
As Carly Simon would say, "Nobody does it better."
 

Oh, I think "Hell Has Our Phone Number" has a nice ring to it.


bill

      OO
       '
     \_/  

  |                    <<< Note 3452.161 by MU::PORTER >>>
  |
  |  I hope someone's got 1-800-DEC-HELL lined up to go
  |  with the adverts...
    
    Well, for internal callers, there is a DTN phone number 
    for Hel in note 3456.3.
    
    Rich
    [I once mailed a postcard to Digital from Hell (Norway). I didn't
    notice any signs with Digital's phone number.  I assume that someone
    from DDB Needham has corrected that.  Come to think of it, maybe the
    Trondheim field service number _is_ in Hell's phone book..]
    

They still use 11/750's for the administration of new residents.


;-)

P.S. The way this world going they should have very large VMScluster!!

 
re: "They still use 11/750's for the administration of new residents."
    
    oh... I hadn't heard they'd upgraded from the 11/725's
    
    ;*}

    It may be difficult to accept, but part of the reason for the
    NEED for a wake-up kind of ad is that there is a whole generation
    of users for whom Digital is a non-player.  I visited the
    Brown Univ. Computing center and others in the past 10
    years and these college kids all grew up on Apple, Sun and
    Compaq, they are adept at Windows, Unix, Apple and Dos but
    don't think of Digital and VMS and they don't naturally connect 
    Digital and state of the art PC's, workstations and Unix.
    
    We will have to wake this generation of users up to Digital's
    capability and that we are a player in PC's, workstations,
    NT, Unix and EXCITE them with 64 bit technology.
    
    I am for any ad campaign that:
    
    1. wakes people up
    2. changes their perception of Digital
    3. gets sustained support from all parts of Digital so that
       we look like we have our internal act together
    4. gets noticed by the press and analysts as well as purchasers
    
    So lets put on the Lenny Kravitz tapes and get going!!!!!!!!!!

    
    Hey out there, did anyone catch the IBM advertisement during the 
    (if you want to call it a football game) between the Pats and the
    Dolphins?
    
    The one that starts out you have to call someone for support.
    and 52 % of the people that call DON'T get through....with the 'other'
    service organizations, and that 99% of the time you get a person
    at IBM.......Looks like they are getting ready to position themselves
    to clean some more clocks........  I don't remember the entire script
    but I DO REMEMBER (and this is what advertisement is all about) that
    IBM Guarantees a person on the phone to help you 99% of the time.
    
    Take heed.............
    
    chet

    It appears than BANK ONE, a nation-wide bank holding company, is using
    "WHATEVER IT TAKES" as their theme in their current media advertising
    campaign.
    
    Note that our campaign is really MISSION CRITIAL ATTIDTUDE, not
    WHATEVER IT TAKES, altho that was the tag line of the 1st print ad in
    the WSJ.  Of course, that's what might stick in people's minds.

    
    And I noticed while looking thru the Help Wanteds in Sunday's Boston
    Globe that someone else is using the term "Mission Critical something_
    or_other" in their ad. 

    re: .171
    or they have the same add agency!! {;^)

From what I can see, neither "Whatever it takes" nor "Mission Critical
Attitude" is a recurring tag line in the ads, so it doesn't matter whether
or not other companies use it.

					Steve

From:	NAME: Corporate Advertising         
	FUNC:                                 
	TEL:                                  <ADVERTISING AT A1 at SALES at MRO>
To:	See Below


  	Over the next two weeks, ads supporting Digital's aggressive 
  new advertising and marketing campaign will appear in several key 
  publications.  A schedule of when and where the ads will be published 
  appears below.  This schedule will be updated every two weeks through 
  the end of December:
  
  Wall Street Journal (global editions)... Nov. 1, 2, 8, 10, 16 and 17
  
  Boston Globe............................ Nov. 2, 9, and 16
  
  Washington Post......................... Nov. 2, 9, and 16
  
  San Jose Mercury News................... Nov. 2, 9, and 16
  
  New York Times.......................... Nov. 2, 9, and 16.
  
  			
  More information on the new Corporate Advertising Campaign can
  be found in the Integrated Repository (VTX IR).   Choose main menu
  item 3 (search by keyterm) and enter the keywords "Whatever It Takes". 

    
    did anyone do the ASCII sums on the phrase to assure it doesn't
    turn out to have a hidden message or be all "6"'s or something
    like that?

I noticed that Bank One even has the little "sm" next to the "Whatever It 
Takes" slogan (Service Mark), like they have some kind of exclusive rights
to the slogan... Can we get in trouble for this ??? 


Arlan

I doubt it - we're not using it as a service mark, just the headline copy
in a single ad.

				Steve

    I was really disappointed that I was unable to sell my Next Generation
    add campaign to Bill Johnson when he was the VP of marketing a couple
    of years back. I suggested that we call Alpha and the new Pathworks the
    Next Generation of computing and use members of the Star Trek in our
    adds, maybe having Cdr. Data claim the Alpha as his great grandfather.
    
    I understand that IBM used the concept with Patrick Stewart when they
    introduced OS/2 Version 3. 
    
    Anyone want to guess where Bill Johnson is now working ?
    
    I love it when people quote me, it adds so much to the conversation.
    
    Steve

    >I understand that IBM used the concept with Patrick Stewart when they
    >introduced OS/2 Version 3. 
    
    Well, it was a Star Trek theme, but Patrick Stewart wasn't on the
    stage. The captain of the 'new' new Star Trek (Kate Mul-mumble) show
    was there though. The presentation was AWESOME!!!
    
    Harry
    

	Kate Mulgrew.. Former Mrs. Columbo.

							mike

    
    Hmmm, last I heard Bill Johnson was working for IBM.  Coincidence, I
    think not!
    
    :-)
    

    The "HELL HAS OUR NUMBER" TV spot displays an 800 number.
    I believe it's the actual Mission Critical Team, correct?
    
    This spot will run during the Super Bowl, across the America's.
    Anyone with ANY marketing/advertising/television smarts will tell
    you that when a TV commercial airs, displaying a telephone number,
    ESPECIALLY A TOLL FREE telephone number, between 1 and 3 percent
    of the viewing audience picks up the phone and calls it, if only
    as a lark.
    
    That's 1 to 3 million people calling the Mission Critical line at
    the same time!!!  I sure would hate to be working the phone lines
    that day.   Worse yet, I wouldn't want to be a Mission Critical
    Customer with a 'real' problem and experience busy circuits for
    4 or 5 hours on Super Bowl Sunday...
    
    At a minimim, the 800 number should be a Sales number for the Services 
    Menu people.  I hope someone corrects this before it's too late.

    
    We are NOT running the ad on the Superbowl - at $1M per 30 second spot.
    We are running it during sports programming between Thanksgiving and
    New Year's on a schedule that is being communicated shortly.  
    
    We will ensure that the "hell" ad is properly handled at 800-digital
    and routed to the restart team. 
    
    All the ads use the general U.S. DIGITAL 800 number and training has taken
    place of the workforce there.
                                                 

    Calls from hell is what we do.
    
    Cheers,

 U.S. News                                                   LIVE WIRE
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Guaranteed Overnight Delivery selects Alpha ...             Date: 10-Nov-1994
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               Guaranteed Overnight Delivery selects Alpha system 
 
         Guaranteed Overnight Delivery (G.O.D.) of Kearney, N.J. has 
   selected Digital's 64-bit AlphaServer computer to run its entire 
   information systems operation, including accounting, tracking, shipment 
   entry and operations.
         G.O.D. selected the Alpha system based on a critical business need 
   for improved performance and flexibility for future expansion.
         "We're a guaranteed overnight delivery business and we move freight 
   overnight faster than anyone else.  Immediate order processing, efficient 
   scheduling, accurate routing, and real-time access to information are our 
   lifeblood," said Mike Irwin, chief information officer, G.O.D.  "We chose 
   the only computer system that's as fast as we are.
         "G.O.D.'s revenues grew over 40 percent last year with a minimum 
   30 percent annual revenue growth rate planned over the next five years. 
   We have a very clear picture of our future and what we need to get there," 
   he added.
         The configuration will initially support 60 concurrent PCs running 
   Digital's PATHWORKS software.  G.O.D. will facilitate porting of their 
   bill-of-entry application to the AlphaServer 2100 4/200 system running 
   the DEC OSF/1 operating system with tools from Unidata Software of Denver.
         G.O.D. specializes in overnight delivery to the Northeast corridor 
   with next-day delivery to the Midwest and Southeast.

    "We chose the only computer system that's as fast as we are."
    
    Good G.O.D., quick, somebody give all our ad agency folks paper and
    pencil and ship 'em out to this guy. He produces great ad copy like
    it grows on trees...

>>                 -< Hell may have our #, But G.O.D. has Aplha >-

I'm sure G.O.D. has our phone number, too.

Well, it what the sales force has been asking for...

G.O.D. is on our side...now lets sell something!!!


Al

    Go tell it to Jack Chalker. :-) (Maybe an obscure science fiction
    reference. :-) )
    
    I remember when we needed some DEMON-AA's ruched into our site for EOQ
    commits. We used G.O.D. to deliver the DEMONs. :-)
    
    PJ

> G.O.D. is on our side...
    
    ... and Hell has our phone number!
    
    seems like we can't lose!!   
    
    8^)
    

INFORMATIONWEEK - November 7, 1994

Digital Takes Aim At IBM

Readies Alpha servers, new marketing strategy for midrange market
----------------------------------------------------------------

IBM had better look over its shoulder.  Digital Equipment Corp. 
on Nov.3 will unleash a slew of Alpha AXP systems boasting 
aggressive marketing and sales programs that are aimed directly 
at IBM's mid-range market.

New models in the AlphaServer 2100 line, for instance, include 
low-end uniprocessor and dual processor systems, called 
DemiSable, that will likely be priced below $15,000.  Other 
AlphaServer products include the high-powered SuperSable, with 
one to four 275-MHz Alpha chips.

Leader Of The Pack
------------------

AlphaServer 2100 has been a relatively strong seller.  The line 
has spearheaded Digital's 6% product revenue rise for its first 
quarter of fiscal 1995, which ended Oct. 1, says Terry Shannon, 
an analyst at Illuminata, a Hollis, N.H., research firm.  Shannon 
estimates Digital has shipped about 6,000 AlphaServer 2100 
systems since the line's introduction in April, and says the 
company may ship 10,000 units by year's end.  "That's probably 
better than Digital expected," he says.

A surprise to Digital perhaps, but not to some users.  "These 
systems are lightning-fast," says Matt Lombardi, VP of 
information technology at Toys R Us Inc., which has purchased a 
"couple dozen" 2100 systems running all three operating systems 
supported by Digital: OSF/1, Microsoft's Windows NT, and 
Digital's OpenVMS.  The Paramus, N.J., toy retailer plans to 
purchase "hundreds" of the DemiSable systems, Lombardi says.

To support the systems, Digital will expand its sales channels 
and target new resellers, sources say.  Those plans include a 
program to convince IBM AS/400 resellers to switch to selling the 
AlphaServer 2100 platform.

Digital has a shot at attracting AS/400 customers, particularly 
users looking to move to a operating platform such as Microsoft's 
Windows NT or a version of Unix.  "We use the AS/400," says 
Lombardi, "but it's a dinosaur."

- Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, INFORMATIONWEEK

    
    	The two or three customers to whom I have sent details about Multia
    (Alpha/166MHz) have said or written, - This is JUST what we need!
    
    	So let's trumpet this one too!  Multia Multi-Client Desktop.
    
    	If anyone would like details, please mail me as:
    
    			Malcolm Powell @REO
    
    and I'll send you some information.  It'll be about 20 printed pages.
    
    				Malcolm.

    
     The Multia runs Windows, right? Is this done through SoftWindows or  
    does NT do this for you?  If it's SoftWindows, is that included in the
    package?
    
    Mike

    re .194: The Multia runs Windows NT. Intel emulation is part of Windows
    NT for Alpha - so you can run Intel 286 Windows applications (but not
    very fast).

re Note 3452.195 by BHAJEE::JAERVINEN:

>     re .194: The Multia runs Windows NT. Intel emulation is part of Windows
>     NT for Alpha - so you can run Intel 286 Windows applications (but not
>     very fast).
  
        I must admit, I couldn't tell what a "Multia" is (or what a
        "super-client" might mean) from reading the Digital Today
        copy.  It almost sounded like some sort of windowing
        terminal.

        Or is it a Super-VAXmate???

        Bob

    There's a fair amount of discussion on Multia in VAXAXP::ALPHANOTES
    

>>Note 3452.192                  "Whatever it takes"                    192 of 197
>>MIMS::SANDERS_J                                      52 lines  10-NOV-1994 15:39
>>                          -< INFORMATIONWEEK ARTICLE >-
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>INFORMATIONWEEK - November 7, 1994

>>Digital Takes Aim At IBM

>>Readies Alpha servers, new marketing strategy for midrange market
>>----------------------------------------------------------------

>>IBM had better look over its shoulder.  Digital Equipment Corp. 
>>on Nov.3 will unleash a slew of Alpha AXP systems boasting 
>>aggressive marketing and sales programs that are aimed directly 
>>at IBM's mid-range market.

>>New models in the AlphaServer 2100 line, for instance, include 
>>low-end uniprocessor and dual processor systems, called 
>>DemiSable, that will likely be priced below $15,000.  Other 
    
    
    Does anybody have the internal part numbers for the DemiSable and
    the corresponding model number?
    
    Thanks, Dom

    
    	Re.196
    
    	Multia Multi-Client Desktop is MUCH more than a VAXmate!  I'm
    sending you off line some information.
    
    	Re.197
    
    	Thanks for the pointer.  There is also a dedicated Multia
    Conference: ONTIME::MULTIA, but this is more of a technical conference.
    
    				Malcolm.

    Re: .198
    
    VTX SALES_UPDATE_US and look at the recent issues.
    
    			Steve

re Note 3452.199 by SUBURB::POWELLM:

>     	Multia Multi-Client Desktop is MUCH more than a VAXmate!  I'm
>     sending you off line some information.
  
        Well, of course, the VAXmate came out eight years ago!

        On the other hand, if one set out today to design a product
        to fit a niche in today's market that was similar to the
        niche VAXmate was designed to fill, I think it would look a
        lot like Multia.

        Bob

    re .200
    
    Hi Steve, I tried the sales update and used keyword search and typed in
    DEMISABLE and SABLE and neither referenced or found any articles about
    this product...
    
    Dom
    

Sales Update Issues                                               Sales Update
 
 List of Articles for  Volume 26, Issue #8                        Screen 1 of 5

       Date        Title                                              Volume
             
   1   25-OCT-94   Next Generation AlphaStation and AlphaServer       26,#8
                    Systems - SUAG
   2   25-OCT-94   Next Generation of AlphaStation and AlphaServer    26,#8
                    Systems
   3   25-OCT-94   Selling Opportunities and the AlphaStation and     26,#8
                    AlphaServer Products
   4   25-OCT-94   AlphaStation 200 Family of 64-bit Desktop          26,#8
                    Workstations
   5   25-OCT-94   AlphaStation 400 4/233 -- 64-bit Computing in      26,#8
                    PCI/ISA Based Workstation
   6   25-OCT-94   PCI Graphics Accelerators for AlphaStation         26,#8
                    Systems
     
Items 1-3 are what you want.  The AlphaServer 1000 (mikasa) and AlphaServer
2000 (demi-sable) are both covered.  Mikasa, demi-sable and sable are internal
"placeholder" names, and you won't see them mentioned in any official 
literature.

Bruce

   I was at McDonalds in Billerica Mass. the other day and when I looked
   to the right of the main counter, lo and behold there was a sign with
   their motto emblazoned with the words -

                   "Whatever It Takes".  

   Looks to be copy written in the lower lefthand corner too.

   Did our "New" advertising agency plagiarize ?  Did MickeyD's buy us or
   we them ?  Maybe we are the McDonalds of the Computer Industry ? 

   McDigital ! I'll have a McSable with 50GB of McStorageWorks !

   Has anyone else seen this sign in a McDonalds ?
   

re:.185

You know, the more I see of life the more I realize I should'a made that
left turn at Albequerque...

Did anyone else have trouble figuring out what exactly a Multia was based
on the press release/LiveWire?  I *think* after rereading several times
that it's a Windows NT PC with some fancy add-on software, but at first i
was getting the impression that it was some kind of windowing terminal.
Was it more self-evident to others?

- paul

    Think of Multia as a place to finally put the LCA 21066 Alpha chip.
    The chip doesn't have enough performance to compete with Pentium,
    so it can't go into general purpose desktop computer.  The chip
    isn't cheap enough, so it can't be used as a general purpose
    microcontroller.  A windows terminal's CPU and cost requirements
    fall somewhere in the middle, so it was a good choice.  Since
    Alpha's only 2nd source, Mitsubishi, got conned into making LCA,
    it was also in Digital's best interests to show the chip can be
    used for *something*, else risk losing the 2nd source.
    .02 kb

    I've even had a presentation on Multia and am not quite sure what it
    is.  It sure sounds like a reincarnation of the old diskless
    workstation concept but the presentor got offended when I suggest that. 
    Sure would appreciate it if someone could explain it in words I can
    understand.  What is the market?  Who's going to buy it and what will
    they use it for?
    
    - Dave

    I'd suggest checking out the Multia note in VAXAXP::ALPHANOTES
    which has a lot more info of the type you're looking for.
    
    				Steve

I'll say a little here about multia, but I don't have time to go into all the
details.

The official name is multia multiclient desktop. (I wonder how much we paid for
this name) It is a box, about the size of a VT520 system box, containing an
Alpha-based NT system, with a hard disk and optional floppy, and 2 PCMCIA slots.
Also included are a video controller and Ethernet board.

In addition to NT, we supply our own software which allows the desktops (we're
not supposed to call them terminals) to be configured remotely, from any
desktop. Configuration can be locked, so that a system manager can configure the
desktops and not have users change settings. This includes the ability to
prevent a user from running applications not set up by the system manager. The
next version will include an X11 R6 server optimized for the hardware. (This has
been announced already.) The central management software allows the multia
software to be upgraded over the network, controlled by one multia.

Also included are a terminal emulator (which supports serial line and TELNET)
and Mosaic.

These are being shown at Comdex. There is a nice demo in which the user has to
connect to different systems to solve a murder mystery.

One reason multia is getting so much publicity is that product management and
marketing has been talking to industry consultants to have articles written
about it.

Re: .210

>One reason multia is getting so much publicity is that product management and
>marketing has been talking to industry consultants to have articles written
>about it.

Well, this is an important part of "Whatever it takes".  I hope we do a lot
more of this!  Our competitors already do.

				Steve

	FWIW, Multia won one of the Byte magazine Best of Show awards at 
	Comdex.

	Windows NT Clusters won best Technology Demo also.

								mike

    
    Interesting reading on Multia in Digital Today, November 21, 1994.
    
    See in particular the Letters to the Editor on page 2.
    

    paraphrase ?
    
    Alan

From:	GRANIT::GRANIT::MRGATE::"MRMTS::SALES::A1::ADVERTISING" 20-NOV-1994 21:17:41.00
To:	@Distribution_List
CC:	
Subj:	TV Ads to Begin Nov. 24                                                1

From:	NAME: Corporate Advertising         
	FUNC:                                 
	TEL:                                  <ADVERTISING AT A1 at SALES at MRO>
To:     See Below

    From: Bill Troy @MLO, DTN 223-1018
    
    
    Digital begins TV ads next week
    
    	 Digital employees nationwide will get a sneak preview of 
    the company's new television ads during the Fox Network's 
    National Football Conference game on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24.
    
    	 Two 30-second "spots" will be broadcast during the game 
    between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys.  
    Kickoff is 1 p.m. Eastern time.
    
    	 The full schedule of TV ads begins Sunday, Nov. 27, and 
    continues on these additional Sundays: Dec. 4, Dec. 11, Dec. 18, 
    and Jan. 1.  
    
    	 The commercials will be seen nationally on certain 
    sports and news programs, like ESPN's "NFL Primetime," the 
    Fox NFL games, ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS' "Sunday 
    Morning," and NBC's "Sunday Today." In addition, ads will 
    appear on CNN and CNN Headline News. 
    
    	 Depending on where they live, Digital employees may see 
    the TV commercials on their local Sunday evening newscasts.  
    Ads are also slotted for certain entertainment programs, such 
    as "60 Minutes," the Sunday night movies on CBS and NBC, 
    "This Week with David Brinkley," "Star Trek," "Star Trek: 
    Deep Space Nine," and "Seaquest DSV."
    
    	 Following is the network TV advertising schedule for the 
    next two weeks. 


                            Corporate Advertising

                             Network TV Schedule



    Date     Day      Network      Program               Time (EST)  

   11/24   Thursday     FOX    NFL Game 1 Green Bay/Dallas  1-4 p.m.        

   11/27    Sunday      FOX       NFL Pre-Game              Noon-1 p.m.      
   11/27    Sunday      FOX       NFL Game 1                1-4 p.m.        
   11/27    Sunday      CBS       NCAA Basketball           2-4 p.m.        
   11/27    Sunday      ESPN      NFL Primetime             7-8 p.m.        

   12/4     Sunday      ABC       Good Morning America      8-9 a.m.        
   12/4     Sunday      NBC       Sunday Today              8-9 a.m.        
   12/4     Sunday      CBS       Sunday Morning            9-10:30 a.m.     
   12/4     Sunday      FOX       NFL Pre-Game              Noon-1 p.m.      
   12/4     Sunday      FOX       NFL Game 1                1-4 p.m.        
   12/4     Sunday      FOX       NFL Game 2                4-7 p.m.        
   12/4     Sunday      ABC       J.C. Penny Golf Classic   4-6 p.m.        
   12/4     Sunday      ABC       World News Tonight        6:30-7:30 p.m.    

Distribution:
This message was delivered to you utilizing the Readers Choice delivery 
services.  If you have questions regarding this message, please contact the 
author of the memo.



To Distribution List:

DENISE            TROMBLY           @ZKO,
BRIAN             TSAO              @ZKO,
PATRICIA          TSATSA            @ZKO,
HUI-LING          TSENG             @ZKO,
LISA              TUGAL             @ZKO,
ROBERTA           TULLIS            @ZKO,
RICHARD           TURMEL            @ZKO,
RONALD            UBERTI            @ZKO,
L                 USILTON           @ZKO,
MALA              VADODARIA         @ZKO,
MAYANK            VADODARIA         @ZKO,
CAROL             VAILLANCOURT      @ZKO,
DAVID             VALENTA           @ZKO,
DAVID             VALIN             @ZKO,
GERARD            VANDE-AAST        @ZKO,
GRANT             VANDYCK           @ZKO,
DENNIS            VANERON           @ZKO,
JAMES             VANGILDER         @ZKO,
JACOB             VANNOY            @ZKO,
WALTER            VANROGGEN         @ZKO,
NANCY             VARDARO           @ZKO,
MARY JANE         VAZQUEZ           @ZKO,
RUBEN             VEGA              @ZKO,
RAMASWAMY         VENKATESH         @ZKO,
ANTON H           VERHULST          @ZKO,
BRENDA            VEZINA            @ZKO,
GARETH            VINCENT           @ZKO,
BRADFORD          VINECOMBE         @ZKO,
ROBERT            VIVENEY           @ZKO,
STEPHEN           VIVIAN            @ZKO,
ANTHONY           VLATAS            @ZKO,
DIANE             VOELKER           @ZKO,
EDWARD            VOGEL             @ZKO,
CHRISTOPHER       VON-SUCK          @ZKO,
FREDERICK         VONA              @ZKO,
JAMES             VOTAVA            @ZKO,
WILLIAM           WALKER            @ZKO,
DAVID             WALL              @ZKO,
JONATHAN          WALLACE           @ZKO,
RAYMOND           WALLACE           @ZKO,
DAVID             WALRATH           @ZKO,
CHRISTOPHER       WALSH             @ZKO,
RONALD            WALSH             @ZKO,
COLIN H           WALTERS           @ZKO,
BEVAN             WANG              @ZKO,
CATHERINE         WARD              @ZKO,
GEOFFREY          WARD              @ZKO,
RODNEY            WARD              @ZKO,
ANNE              WARNER            @ZKO,
MARK              WARREN            @ZKO,
DAVID             WARRINER          @ZKO,
BRADLEY           WATERS            @ZKO,
HOWARD            WEBBER            @ZKO,
RALPH             WEBER             @ZKO,
DENNIS            WEED              @ZKO,
PATRICIA          WEIER             @ZKO,
JILL              WEINER            @ZKO,
PAUL              WEISS             @ZKO,
RENEE             WELCH             @ZKO,
SUSAN             WELCH             @ZKO,
ERIC              WERME             @ZKO,
LESLIE            WHARTON           @ZKO,
JOHN              WHATMOUGH         @ZKO,
STEVEN MICHAEL    WHEATLEY          @ZKO,
RICHARD           WHEELER           @ZKO,
STANLEY           WHITLOCK          @ZKO,
SANDRA            WHITMAN           @ZKO,
ERIC              WHITNEY           @ZKO,
ALVA              WHITWORTH         @ZKO,
BRIAN             WIBECAN           @ZKO,
CHERYL            WIECEK            @ZKO,
KENNETH           WIGGINS           @ZKO,
BRUCE             WILBER            @ZKO,
REBECCA           WILL              @ZKO,
RICHARD           WILLEY            @ZKO,
JOHN H            WILLIAMS          @ZKO,
JOHN P            WILLIAMS          @ZKO,
MARGARET          WILLIAMS          @ZKO,
RICHARD           WILLIAMS          @ZKO,
EVERETT CHESTER   WILSON            @ZKO,
GEOFFREY          WILSON            @ZKO,
LINDA SUE         WILSON            @ZKO,
PAUL              WINALSKI          @ZKO,
DAVID             WINCHELL          @ZKO,
JOAN              WINSLOW           @ZKO,
GAYN              WINTERS           @ZKO,
JAMES             WISER             @ZKO,
GEORGE            WISNOWSKI         @ZKO,
DENNIS            WIXON             @ZKO,
ALPHONSE          WOJTAS            @ZKO,
KATHRYN           WOLCOTT           @ZKO,
ROCHELLE          WOLCOTT           @ZKO,
DAVID             WONG              @ZKO,
RICHARD           WOOD              @ZKO,
JANET             WOODARD           @ZKO,
STEPHEN           WOODARD           @ZKO,
THOMAS            WOODBURN          @ZKO,
LARRY             WOODMAN           @ZKO,
ELINOR            WOODS             @ZKO,
FARRELL           WOODS             @ZKO

    
    
    	It should probably be noted that there is an error in the
    	previous message. The very first game in which our ads appear
    	(the Green Bay/Dallas game on Thanksgiving) has a kickoff
    	time of 4:00 (Eastern), not 1:00 as the memo states.
    
    

	FINALLY we put up commercials during Star Trek! :-)

	Seriously, this is excellent news.. I'm becoming less embarrassed
	to be a Deccie..er..Digital Employee.

	The good vibes I personally got from people at Comdex made me
	feel better than I've felt in a long time. The line I heard most
	was "It's good to see you guys making a comeback"

	I heard that one about 20-40 times.

	Buy that stock,

						mike

	OK! I get to watch the Cowboys beat the Pack with their third
	string quarterback, eat a Turkey dinner (hope its not Crow), and
	see a Digital commercial on a major network. Almost heaven, but 
	I have to be careful because Hell has our number. :-)

	I've seen some pieces of the commercial on the videotape going	
	around. Not sure how all the pieces will fit together, but it
	might be pretty good.

	- John

    
    There will be a total of 4 commercials on this weekend:
    
    on Thanksgiving Day 4:05 pm or so EST - DIGITAL 15 - Grimreaper 0
                                            Later: ALpha Chip
    
    On Sunday starting on the morning news shows, one or more of these
    commercials will run:
    
                                            DIGITAL 15 - Grim Reaper 0
                                            Alpha Chip
                                            "Speed" - Alpha product set
                                            "Internet"
                                          
    Note that we will be rotating these commericals throughout the day, 
    so that you may not see these in that order.
    
    Most US Cities will have our commercials on from 8 am to 11:30 pm,
    heavily on news (Broadcast and Cable), sports, sci fi shows, some 
    college basketball.
    
    Due to a combination on network and local buys, the exact shows each 
    city has with DIGITAL ads will differ.
    
    Have fun.
    
    More commercials are in the pipeline to be shown in following weeks.
    
    

    Any one able to explain, "Hell has our number..."?  I saw a "proof" of
    that commercial and got the impression it meant we would do business
    with the devil, or anyone else that had money.  I don't understand the
    intent of this commercial, what are we trying to tell customers?  We
    don't care who you are?

    
    Why don't you read the WSJ from Monday - it has a print copy of the ad.
    
    Simply - we get people out of hellish situations - floods, fires,
    bombings, etc.  and ge their systems up and running.

    
    I saw the ads in the football game on Thursday and liked them.
    Also, one this morning (Speed) during Meet The Press.
    
    I am disappointed in one thing, though ... why was the music
    changed?  I can't figure out if it's still the same song with
    some of the guitar removed or if it's completely different
    music.  I liked the hard-driving sound of the test commercials.
    
    Sue

    Was it changed?  It wasn't for the Thursday ads.
    
    				Steve

    re: last two
    
    It's definitely changed from what we saw in the DVN.  What we heard in
    the DVN was excerpts from "Are you gonna go my way" by Lenny Kravitz
    (probably spelled wrong).  All the ads I've seen this past Thursday and
    Sunday were definitely a different soundtrack.  I'm not sure it's even
    Mr. Kravitz.  Perhaps there were last-minute lawyer problems with using
    his music.  Too bad, because I liked the DVN soundtrack a lot better.
    
    	Steve

    
    We are using original music - and it is different from what we were
    using in the demo tape. 
    
    The music we are using builds better and has more legs - and we have
    been able to tweak a number of elements along the way to enhance the
    original music further. 
    
     

Hmm - it sounded the same to me.  I'll have to compare again. Is it still
Lenny Kravitz?

				Steve

    The music sounded the same -- my kids (teenagers) thought the
    commercials were great!  I liked them as well.
    
    

I don't watch much TV, so I didn't expect to see any of the ads.  I was walking
from the bedroom to the living room to put some pennies in the penny jar, when
I heard this screaming guitar.  I looked up at the TV and saw some dancing and
wondered "What's that about?" just as the Digital logo appeared on the screen.
Wow!  If we were trying to get attention, I believe we did just that!

Bob

    	Gee, that differs from my experience. The reactions in the room
    where I saw the ad ranged from speechless laughter to "What the hell
    was that?" I was more than a little embarrassed.
    	However, this can be a good thing in advertising too. As long as
    the ads get people talking and thinking about what they just saw, it
    doesn't matter if they're "good" or "bad."

    Hey - worked for Wang.

    A full page advertisement with the "Whatever It Takes" text 
    in English (you know, the advertisement...the one where we get to 
    incinerate ourselves) was in at least one of the major
    dailies (De Volkskrant) this morning. 
    
    re roelof

 Hi,
      Can anyone Give me the phone number or node name to 
 access the folks who set up or oversee our advertising?
 I came up with an inexpensive advertising campaign that
 although is one shot, could be backed by some air time
 and all of digital's employees world wide. I bet many of
 us would have fun too! 
       Please forgive the lack of details for now. I'd like
 to thank Roelof Vuurboom ( departing ) for inspiring the
 idea.
          Many Thanks!
              Paul