Conference 7.286::digital

    I saw it, but I didn't get it...
    

    To MTV'ish. My Brother-in-law and I were watching the game. When the ad
    came on, I said "Oh yeah, the Digital ad." He thought it was a NYNEX
    (his company) ad. I said, "No. I've seen it in a meeting. It's
    Digital." He was a little surprised at that, but had no other real
    reaction.
    
    PJ

I was not impressed with the ad. I agree with .2 -- it was too loud,
too fast, too MTV-like. IMHO, it was the wrong ad to the right audience.
I like the fact that we are entering the TV advertising market, but I
thought the reason was to get us some more name recognition. This ad
did not even get close: who is going to understand "Digital 15, Grim 
Reaper 0" except those of us struggling to keep the company alive?
I believe most people who viewed the ad came away from the ad (if they
were able to keep up with it at all) without any greater understanding 
of Digital or the products and services we sell.

I would have much preferred a more "gentle" ad which lets people know 
who we are and what we do. How about an ad centered around the theme of 
"Our name is Digital Equipment Corporation, but our friends call us DEC" 
or something to that effect?


Trying to recover from too much turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie in 
Albany, NY..

Tom

      I missed the first ad but saw the second one ("Generation Gap").  
      Except that I find the text "signs" of our ads a bit hard to
      read, I liked it ... including the MTV approach.

      Much of the advertising in the electronic media revolves around 
      "guild by association."  (Yes, I meant the word that refers to 
      gold.)  The point is not so much telling people what you're up to 
      as having your name stick in your head.  Does anyone really 
      believe that drinking beer will make you young, beautiful, and 
      sexy?

      We want people in CompUSA and/or Sam's Club to see our nameplate
      on our PCs and ask the salespeople about them.  In some cases, it 
      doesn't even matter whether the name is connected with the right 
      product until point of sale.  Well over half the people who I've 
      asked guess wrong about which battery the Energizer Rabbit is 
      selling ... but, he's always pictured with the correct ones in 
      the stores.

      Terry

    
     So what, big deal, who cares.... we digital are on TV. A media for the 
    masses. IT IS A START. Repeat after me, it's a start. Cut the whining
    about the message. The message is, digital is on TV. Cut the whining
    about the tone. The tone is, digital is loud, and making noise. Cut
    the whining about the understanding, the understanding is, it is a
    start.
    
    Digital is advertising on TV. I say nice job, good move, let us see
    more.
    
    A pretty picture, it is. 
    
    -Mike Z.

    I saw both of the ads (thank goodness for VCRs and fast-forward).
    I liked them both, but thought the music used in the DVN preview was
    better (more attention-getting).
    
    					Steve

    
      I liked the "generation gap" idea. 
    
      I thought the music was OK for the theme. 
    
      I don't think the general public "got" the grim reaper idea. The 
    contracts we've won isn't a bad way to promote business though. 
    I'm glad we left the "hell has our number" theme off the Thanksgiving
    ad schedule. We don't want to give anyone indigestion trying to figure
    that one out.
    
      I've got about three ideas that I think are better than some of the
    stuff they came up with. If they use this I want a check sent to my home
    address, or a job offer from the advertising company.
    
      Show the Alpha chip itself. The general public can understand this 
    because Intel has been bombarding them with "flying" Pentium ads. 
    The you say "Because it's based on the Alpha chip - It's very fast" You 
    could ad specs that the public could comprehend. Then you do a nice
    transition into a shot of an Alpha system (better yet a whole group 
    of them like on one of our catalogs - 150's on up to 1000's) Then you 
    zoom into the Digital logo on one of the newer systems and follow 
    with "And because it's from Digital you can count on it to run your
    business". 
      I like this because it shows the hardware, pushes the speed
    advantage, and has logo identity (yes the ad they ran did do that).
    FWIW - I don't mind if they keep the Lenny Kravitz music!
    
    							-John R-

    I say it's about time we did stuff like this.
    
    My only criticism is that the 'digital' logo is black - not the
    standard burgundy color. 
    
    Ken....
    

    I just watched the ads again - the music was the same as from the DVN.
    I don't know why I thought otherwise.
    
    Here's what they looked like...
    
    [First ad, "Grim Reaper"]
    
    Start Lenny Kravitz music.  Solarized, multicolor, fade in from white,
    shows text as if it was written on Dymo Labelwriter tape (same concept
    used in print ads).  Each line is a new cut.  No voiceover.
    
    	SOME OF THE CONTRACTS WE'VE WON LATELY
    	NAVISTAR
    	US WEST
    	AUTOLOGIC
    	QUAKER OATS
    	CATERPILLAR INC.
    	AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE
    	DUNKIN' DONUTS
    	CHICAGO STOCK EXCHANGE
    	BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
    	BANK OF BOSTON
    	FIRST DATA CORP., HEALTH SYSTEMS
    	STAPLES INC.
    	UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
    	GREATER HARRIS COUNT 911 EMERGENCY NETWORK
    	ROCKWELL
    
    	TODAY'S SCORE
    	(hold, fade to white)
    	(brief image of Grim Reaper)
    	DIGITAL 15, GRIM REAPER 0
    
    	Digital logo appears with various effects
    
    [Second ad, "Alpha", starts as before]
    
    	THE ALPHA CHIP
    	WE'RE ON OUR SECOND GENERATION OF 64 BIT CHIPS
    	MOST COMPETITORS
    	HAVEN'T COMPLETED THEIR FIRST
    	(hold)
    	THERE HASN'T BEEN A GENERATION GAP THIS BIG
    	SINCE THE 60'S
    	(image of 60's dress girls go-go dancing)
    	(Digital logo appears with various effects)
    
    					Steve

    I wasn't whining in .2, I was just giving an oppinion. I've been
    waiting for years to see DIGITAL ads in places other then trade
    journals and PBS. Just not my style. I did see the tape of the ads and
    how they came together with the firm that produced them. They will be
    attention getters. Maybe they'll help. It's a wait and see thing for
    me as I'm not involved in the sales/marketing/customer service end
    directly. 
    
    PJ

    Well... sitting in Florida with a whole bunch of people who are
    interested in buying PC's (just found that out over dinner) but who
    thought Digital makes CD players and watches... the ads did not do a
    thing.  Who was the audience for the ads?  Not corporate America, not
    introductory PC buyers... the only idea I have is gearing the ads
    towards the "Internet" crowd.  It seems like you had to have an "inside
    understanding" to get anything out of the ads.  Questions I received:
    "What do you sell?", "You must be like Sega or Nintendo", "You're in
    the music business?"
    
    I kinda liked them only because I have a slight clue about what Digital
    provides.  :-)  I didn't know anything about the contents before seeing
    them and I was really surprized but the energy and approach taken.  But
    I didn't see a message... unless it was sublimintal.  :-)
    
    The thing that pointed out the quality of the ads to me was how
    Microsoft had an ad following ours and the people in the room said...
    "at least we can tell that they make computer software".  But, then
    again, Microsoft has name recongnition where I am and Digital does not.
    
    Nice try... hope they get better...
    
    Don
    
    P.S. Anyone want to fill in a naive person with the grim reaper
         analogy?  Is it Digital's state of health being paradied?  Didn't
         really get it.

    The grim reaper ad pokes fun at the widespread notion that Digital
    is about to go out of business.  The ads you saw are mainly "image"
    ads - to give us an image since we certainly don't have one at present.
    If they get people to talk about Digital, they'll have done their
    job.
    
    				Steve

    The image that I got is that we're having a seisure.  :-)
    
    Actually... I guess they'll get people talking.  I'm not in the
    marketing field so I'll leave it up to the "experts".   I hope that
    Beavis and Butthead want to buy a PC.  :-)

Can anyone post the schedule of when these ads will appear on TV?

Thanks,

/Mario

    See recent replies in 3452 as well as "Digital Today" and probably
    VTX IR and LiveWire.
    
    					Steve

    
    	They were ads - no better or no worse than the rest of the junk
    Corporate America puts on the tube. Would have preferred we were
    selling something though, even if it was saying "buy our PCs". Sorry,
    nobody at our house (10 adults, 6 children) had much of a response -
    but it was a great football game for three full quarters!
    
    		the Greyhawk

      
    
      RE:  .. the last few replies.
    
      EXACTLY! The GP (General Puplic) doesn't know who we are, or that
    we are striving to stay in business. Maybe, at the least, we will create
    some name recognition. 
    
      BTW - I saw the ads today during the Nebraska/Oklahoma game on 
    ABC tv. More sedate and very mainstream, but let's give both approaches
    a chance. Time will tell, but I hope we don't stop advertising. We used 
    to sell on name alone, but that doesn't wash anymore!
      
     
    Let's show the consumer market the difference between "value" and "cheap"!
    
    								-JR-
    

    re.: <<< Note 3528.9 by QUARK::LIONEL "Free advice is worth every cent" >>>
    
    Thank you for posting a description for the ad for those who don't work
    in US.
    
    Sorry, what is "Grim Reaper"?
    �AA

Perhaps a leap of faith, but I assume that the ad firm has plans for
product-related material once this "notice us" stuff has run its
course.

Personally, I think IBM was always very smart to provide timing at
athletic events and I especially liked the "You Make the Call" spots
they provided during football games.

Pete

    re.18
    
    The Grim Reaper is a morbid looking death figure who represents the
    person or thing that takes life from the living.  TGR carries a large
    scythe which represents the instrument of death in the reaping life
    from us.
    
    I do not know the origin of TGR.

    
    
    I thought the grim reaper ad was a morale booster for employees...gave
    me a shot in the arm (ok, a VERY SMALL shot in the arm)....might affect
    customers who HAVE heard of us, in the same way. It was catchy and BOLD! 
    Folks who have never heard of us still have no idea WHO we are or WHAT
    those 15 big name companies are buying from us, but at least they know 
    that we're still putting up a fight...whoEVER we are!
    I didn't like the generation gap commercial too much. Can't put my
    finger on why not....maybe I was waiting to be pumped up
    again....instead I see some fuzzy dancing girls.....that one missed
    it. Too abstract. 
    
    Was nice to see 'digital' on tv at all though....I always got bummed
    out watching IBM and Microsoft ads while dec stock dropped thru the
    floor and no one up top seemed to want to break the advertising taboo!
    

    I showed the ads to my wife - she liked the Grim Reaper ad but said
    that the "Generation Gap" ad sent her the wrong message - that Digital
    wanted to be identfied with the "airheads of the Woodstock generation".
    I see her point.
    
    					Steve

    > I do not know the origin of TGR.
	
    	The grim reaper was used in Australian AIDS Compain in 1985, to
    great affect. 
    

I saw the Grim Reaper ad just before 60 Minutes on WHDH Boston (channel 7). 
I'm not sure it's a good idea to let folks who have never heard of us know that
we were in trouble.  But I must say, the colors and sound sure caught my
attention and was thrilled to see the ad before a highly-rated show.

Paul

I saw a few ads over the holiday, and I think that they all lacked the
following:

- URL for our WWW server(s)
- email address for more info

I also didn't see a phone #, but I don't know if I saw all of the ads,
so I'll leave that out :^)

Once we have our new WWW home page, maybe our next ad(s) can include
it, maybe even showing it in action on one (or more) of our boxes?

/harley

    How are people going to write it down before the ad goes off the
    air?  No, the ads are not intended to make people pick up the phone
    and call us (or e-mail us or whatever) - they're intended to make
    people think more positively of Digital.
    
    					Steve

    I saw several ads this weekend.  I like the one about "speed" (and
    the loud, fast music goes well with it) and the generation gap one is 
    ok.  Grim reaper is too far-fetched for me.  And I'm just waiting for
    the reaction to the "hell has our phone number" ad, when that one runs.
    
    Generally, I think we need to focus more on what makes us special
    and what our products are.  Some of the ads seem very defensive to
    me, like we've got a chip on our shoulder or we're trying to prove
    *something* (it's not clear *what*...) to someone... (Digital 12, 
    Grim Reaper 0...hahawegotcha.. but no one cares).
    
    On another note, the veryveryvvery best ad I saw all weekend was for
    RC cola (the two fishing boats filled with teams of competing fishermen, 
    one with Pepsi as the bait, the other with Coke; people swimming like 
    big tunas jumping out of the water, going after the bait, then shown 
    hanging like dead fish back at the dock; message is that there *is* 
    another cola choice, you don't have to take the same "bait" all the
    time... this description doesn't do the ad justice, but I laughed right 
    out loud when I saw it and I definately remember the product being 
    promoted).  
    
    Best computer ads... Lotus (for their Notes/Changing Faces ad) and 
    Microsoft's most recent crop.

    
    I saw the ads too......seemed to me that they were aimed at 
    our competetion and NOT Customers.  May be old fashoned, but 
    I thought we could do a LOT better......like how bout:
    
    We're DIGITAL. We don't make watches, we don't make CD's
    but what we do make, makes sense!  Go through a product line
    or two, and then share a vision with the 'CUSTOMERS'!!!
    
    And if we use ONE ACRONYM, then fire the person doing the
    advertisement. If anyone say the ad about digital 15 grim reaper
    0 commercial, it would ONLY Make sense to our direct competetion
    in the area....(US west and a couple others were ours from the
    Video business) and no one I spoke with knew what the commercials
    were about, let alone if they were successful.  Personally, I was
    insulted, but that's another story.
    
    Come on folks, it's a good start, we are 'thinking TV and advertising'.
    now lets start thinking smarter.  Seems that the generation that the
    ads are targeted for don't know that it's for them, and if it were
    they couldn't afford a PC from us anyhow.
    
    p/t
    

    Yes, this is a start and I'm glad of that. I do believe that the
    ad campaign will get more detailed on what it is we are trying to
    sell as it progresses. I hope so anyway.
    
    I was more impressed with the new Microsoft adds though.
    
    I agree we need to have our url, phone number and email address
    somewhere in the ads. Perhaps in one of the corners throughout each
    ad.
    
    BTW - I'm not overly impressed with the new home page. I can't vote
    on any of them as they are all basically the same.
    
    Jim C.

re .26

>    How are people going to write it down before the ad goes off the
>    air?  No, the ads are not intended to make people pick up the phone
>    and call us (or e-mail us or whatever) - they're intended to make
>    people think more positively of Digital.
>    

That's whay I suggested that the URL/email stuff be included in the
next wave of ads.

/harley

    I did not see the Alpha Generation logo in any of the Digital
    Advertisements, but the Intel inside logo was shown. Why ?
    
    Jay
    

    Two thoughts...
    
    I think that someone before mentioned doing something about putting up
    Alpha vs. Pentium.  Something like having the Pentium chip racing along
    at xxx mhz... then looking to the rear and seeing a small speck gaining
    quickly, then the Alpha chip passing (at xxx+ mhz) and then moving into
    a small speck in front of the Pentium... and then the Pentium trying to
    speed up and blowing its engine.  :-)  Add color, sounds, all that fun
    stuff.
    
    how about Digital sponsoring an Infomercial?  I personally hate the
    things but they seem to work.  Our points are difficult to make in
    15-30 second  flashes... maybe 10 minutes+ would help.  Stressing our
    openess, Internetworking, processing power, world-wide support, etc...
    using flashy and interesting demonstrations.
    
    I love the fact that we're doing advertising.  I've only seen the
    MTV-like ads and am looking forward to seeing follow up ads which will
    (hopefully) add some substance/message to what has been shown.
    
    Don

    Following is the actual message sent to Corporate communications, who 
    were responsible for Promoting Alpha Generation logo. However the idea
    was shot down since the Corp Communication felt that this will upset 
    Intel Inside folks ( PC Group) and PDP, VAx teams ???!!!
    
    Are we really serious about Alpha Generation Logo ?? Nahh ;-(
    
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
From:	MROA::SRINIVASAN   "Jay" 14-JUL-1994 12:55:11.33
To : XXXXXXXXXXX
CC:	SRINIVASAN
Subj:	AlphaGeneration Logo in PBS's Nightly business report

I mentioned the following yesterday, in the AlphaGeneration meeting. 

Last week while I was preparing the AlphaGeneration presentations for CpOEM 
sales meeting, my nine year old daughter saw me playing with the 
AlphaGeneration logo in my PC. On seeing me putting AlphaGeneration logo in
all my slides, she asked me few questions on AlphaGeneration logo etc. 
I think she got interested in the logo, since she has been trying to peel 
the Intel Inside sticker from my Pentium at home.

I explained to her briefly what the logo is etc etc. Apparently all she got 
registered in her mind was this is something like INTEL INSIDE and the 
Intel's commercial on TV. 

I did not pay much attention to her interest at that time. However this week
I was watching the PBS Nightly Business Report, and when the Digital logo came 
up as a sponsor, she asked me why there is no AlphaGeneration logo with the 
Digital logo. I was stunned by her comments, particularly since we never 
discussed this in any of our meetings. 

I mentioned this incident to the AlphaGeneration team yesterday and they were 
equally surprised as to why we have not thought about this till now.As you 
know PBS's NBR reaches millions of home every day and Digital logo is shown 
twice ( In the beginning of the broadcast and at the end of the broadcast ) . 
Today we have the PUTTING IMAGINATION TO WORK message. My suggestion is that 
we should replace this message with AlphaGeneration message and logo.

XXXXX and XXXX took the action item to make sure this happens before the 
next meeting ! Finally we have some way to communicate our message on a daily 
basis through mass media without spending any additional money !!! I am sure 
this will create lot of awareness/interest in the market place.

You may want to follow up with them to make sure this happens.

Best Regards,

Jay Srinivasan.
    
  

    
    Heres another idea......what about having a pentium chip strapped
    down on a slab of granite, and an alpha being swung back and forth
    lowering as it goes, and then slicing into the pentium cracking it
    open?  
    
    Kinda like the 'Pit and the Pentium'????????
    
    Well, it's better than the grim reaper!
    
    chet

    I saw one of the ads this weekend and was only modestly impressed. If
    this is going to work at all we need to continue to hammer the audience
    with Digital ads much past the holiday season. You can only recognize
    what you have already seen ...

    During the same timewindow I saw several Intel ads, and one IBM ad. I
    can't say that they were very good either. But as they have been
    broadcasting their's for much longer, they only have to do positive
    light subliminal name re-inforcement. I hope that we can be in the same
    position as them, with respect to recognition, by Christmas of 95.

    Curiously enough, one Digital thing that caught me more this weekend
    was seeing the large plastic feature sheet attached to one of our
    printers at Lechemere. The other ones just had the boring standard
    Lechemere 3x5" product facts glued to the side or to the shelf. It
    really made our's stand out from the others. Ship sets of those for all
    our consumer models to our retailers if we aren't already doing it.

    >Per

      I think Digital should have gotten the rights to the 
      Roadrunner.  Zoom down on a cartoon version of various
      semiconductor chip lines.  Show the Roadrunner and have
      him blaze by and then stop and have them give his 'zoological
      name' (alpha something).  Then show Wyle E Coyote chasing
      him.  Slow him down and he's 'adversarious rectus' or something
      like that.
    
      Basically show the roadrunner running along the chip lines
      and totally outrunning the coyote.   Show the coyote stop and
      be stooped over in exhaustion.  Have the roadrunner stop, do
      his "beep, beep, beep!" and then run off.
    
      Then say something like, "Digital Alpha...blowing away the
      competition!"
    
      I have other Warner Brothers related ideas all centering on the
      common theme of the roadrunner representing the alpha chip.
    
      WE need to imprint in the minds of the market an image that is
      just seared into their conscioussness and that evokes the ideas
      of success, unmatched speed/performance, and a sort of happy
      feeling.  All of which I think the roadrunner gives.
    
                                                  Tony

    I thought we could have known when the ad would have been on instead of
    having to watch over 2 hours of a football game and then miss the
    beginning of the ad since there was no voice over. I did not know the Ad 
    was on untill I looked up and saw flashing words that  didn't make any
    sense followed by the black and white digital.  I would  have been
    paying attention if I heard "digital", it would have been a first! 
    
    What exactly are we selling?  I didn't see any product on the screen.
    Do folks that are not our customers know what we sell?
    
    Didn't we pay a fortune to change colors from blue to burgandy?
    

    
    re: Previous notes, a couple of points.
    
    The logo is properly used in either a burgundy or black implementation.
    The background of the ad lent itself to use of the black
    implementation.
    
    We are running 25 to 30 spots per Sunday - with as many as 4 spots per
    show. 
    
    The music is original music - it is NOT the music used in the DVN
    broadcast, which was a prototype implementation.
    
    re: Intel Vs. Alpha.
    
    DIGITAL sells both implementations as systems, and the marketing 
    positioning reflects that as complementary positioning.  However, 
    without naming names we are clearly positioning Alpha as the
    performance leader.
                                       

      >  EXACTLY! The GP (General Puplic) doesn't know who we are, or that
      >  we are striving to stay in business. Maybe, at the least, we will
    
      Oh yes they do !!!   I've had countless people over the past two
    years say to me; "You work for DIGITAL huh ?  Is your job safe ?  I
    heard they're on the skids." ........etc.....etc....
      
      The Grim Reaper ad is a good one.
    
    

    I wasn't going to say it, but I am disappointed.  I saw an adv sunday
    at 9:36PM  I didn't know it was a digital adv until I saw the logo in
    the end. the music was awful, and I haven't the slightest idea what was 
    being sold.  Kinda like the old Infinity advs, only they kept you 
    guessing in a pleasent way.  the dec adv makes you want to change the 
    channel to get rid of the noise.     Confussion was the word left in my 
    mind after the adv.  and disappointment.

    
    Re .34:
    
    Another idea for an ad -- admittedly a lot more arcane than "The Pit
    and the Pentium" (ouch!).
    
    Problem:
    
      4195835 - ((4195835/3145727)*3145727) = ?
    
    Solution:
    
      AlphaGeneration processor:              0
      inexpensive handheld calculator:        0
      IntelInside (Pentium) processor:      256
    
    Message:
    
      Alpha blazes past Pentium --  and gets the right answers to boot!
    

    Or how about
    
    
    Digital...
    	Where 4195835 - ((4195835/3145727)*3145727) ALWAYS equals zero!
    

	I too was one of many to see the TV advertisements this weekend. Yes
	they were hard hitting and caught my attention. We can all give
	our comments on what was good and what was bad but that won't change
	a thing.

	The most important point is that we are on TV advertising, screaming
	that we want to be heard. The adds don't complain that we're being
	picked upon but that we have something positive to say.

	I too would have changed the way the adds look. My hope is that as
	this evolves the adds might become more polished.

	One thing I hope to see, in response to (*.35) about Christmas.
	In "USA TODAY" one of the cover stories in the financial section is
	about the rush to buy PCs for Christmas. They say that 40% of PCs
	will be sold during the holiday season. Since we now have a generic
	product line in places like "SAMS CLUB", let's show this product in
	some of the adds. I hope we don't wait until after the Christmas
	rush to begin to advertise these products nationally.

        One final note. I would have rather seen the logo at the end as a
	fine line that rubber band snaps back to the Digital logo, with a
	a  voice over explaining, "Snapping Back", rather than a logo out
	of control.
    
    	-Bruce-

    
    Re .43:
    
    Yes.
    
    Some details in a Boston Globe business section article some time over
    the long Thanksgiving weekend. (Sorry I can't be more specific -- the
    weekend is one big blur...)
    

    
    Regarding .43.....YES! Intel this weekend just acknowledged a bug in
    the pentium chips that causes celestial mechanics problems. JPL is
    illuding to be loosing faith in Intel as a result of it. And the
    average PC geek running multimedia will never notice. Returns will
    be looked at one at a time and only ffolks that need the new chip will
    be credited.
    
    The news article stated that if you were measuring the distance to
    the sun, you would be less than a foot off......Now multiply that
    by the distance across the galaxy and now you begin to understand
    why the heavy scientific  community was upset!
    
    chet

    I saw two different ads during the movie last night.  One was on the
    Alpha and the other Internet.  I thought they were new ads for the
    rock radio station in town.  There is a local (Philadelphia) radio
    station that has similar types of ads.  
        
    Not impressed at all...but hope they work.
        
    cheryl
     
    

    It was *great* to see Digital ads on TV. It has taken many years
    but we've finally did it. Horray!
    
    Re: as one other noter pointed out, at this point in time, our Intel
    and Alpha chip based systems complement each other. We're targeting
    Intel-based for the client and Alpha for the server.
    
    While not wanting to hurt sales on Pentiums, there is nothing to
    prevent us from loudly advertising the speed of the Alpha (1 BIP) -
    so fast we're in the Guinness book of records.
    
    I'd still like to see either an "Alpha Generation" sticker on every
    Alpha, or perhaps a "Warning: Alpha On Board" sticker with a speedy
    looking font (akin to those yellow diamond-shaped "Baby On Board"
    signs you see in car windows).
    
    /George
                                  

    Commercial:

    Two "hot rods" setting on race track revinng engines.  Drivers looking
    at each other and snarling.  One hot rod painted PENTIUM, one painted
    PowerPC.  

    Narrator: "We here today to settle once and for all the dispute 
    between Pentium and PowerPc.  Who has the fastest, most powerful
    computer chip... etc, etc."

    Starting light flashes down and turns green and...
    EEEEEEOOOOWWWWWWWWHHOOOOOMMMMM.  Something blasts through between
    the two cars.  Screen fills with smoke.  Smoke clears to reveal
    the two hot rods setting at the starting line with engines dead.
    Flaming tire tracks lead off into the distance.  Driver's faces are 
    covered with smoke and soot.  One driver looks to the other and says, 
    "WHAT was THAT"!

    DIGITAL logo and 1-800-DITIGAL flash on the screen and announcer 
    says, "Ask us.  Digital Equipment Corporation".

    fred();

    
    That was a GREAT one Fred.   
    
    Say, how do we go about changing careers?   
    
    chet

FWIW... I saw both the ads and I liked them. My significant other works for a 
design agency which specializes in image type advertizing and she thought that 
the ads were very well designed, worked well to get peoples attention, and left
you with a question needing an answer: "What was/is that?"  

Also, it seems that many of the replies were looking for more info in the ads, 
E-mail, URL, phone #'s, products, etc.  Doesn't it make more sense to approach 
it on a step by step basis: ie image, company profile, then specific products??

I think the general public would get more from a campaign that took a minimalist 
approach on each step.

Michael

    re: trash Pentium commercials
    
    That's a great idea for somebody like Apple to compare PowerPC to
    Pentium, but for us:
    
    x86 business:     makes profit for Digital, 23% of revenue.
    Alphas business:  loses millions for Digital, 19% of revenue.
    
    ...perhaps not the wisest thing to do?
    kb
    

    When I saw the DVN of the new ads, I thought ... I just don't know.
    
    But, since the Dallas game [and later the OU/Nebraska game] I've talked
    to friends and family who saw them and were extremely enthusiastic
    about them. They liked the brashness, they liked the humour, they liked
    the 'cutting edge' feel for the Digital ads. A couple folks even asked
    why the PC ads weren't as slick? [those were the quieter, more refined
    ads running during the OU game]
    
    My husband [development manager for a start-up] knew _immediately_ that
    the Digital ads were ours because of the Dymo-label format he'd seen in
    the press. He thinks the ads are fabulous and will build name
    recognition. He also believes that these grabby Digital ads make the
    PC ads more impactful. [bzzzz. buzzword detector]
    
      Annie
    
    

    
    Just a question that I was curious about -
    
    What does the score of
    
    Digital 	15
    Grim Reaper  0
    
    represent?  Is there a significance to the number 15?  
    Why not 14 or 16?  If the ad is trying to play to the football
    audience by flashing a score, why not have a more common football
    score, like 14 - 0 or 17-0?   During football games, most of the ads
    have some football content, just as during a hockey game the ads tend
    towards hockey.  Why not ours?
    
    
    Mike

    re: Trash Pentium commercials.
    
    Nothing at all wrong with Pentium.  Something seriously wrong with Intel.
    
    In glass houses department....
    
    About 12 years ago I experienced a similar problem with a VAX 11/780
    with an FPU that was going south.  It would toss precision of
    operations only once in millions and millions of floating point
    operations.  Not a problem for a spreadsheet.  Big problem for
    non-linear finite element analysis.
    
    The good news that I long ago learned *NOT* to trust such complex
    systems of hardware and software.  Every night that I ran a set of
    new analysis, I would resubmit one large problem with a known answer.
    When that came back different one night, I knew something was up.
    Of course, not everyone was so suspicious, so it took me about two
    weeks to convince others that there was a problem.  (Instead of
    trusting the regression test that I was running giving a bad answer,
    folks insisted that I must have changed *something* to get the wrong
    answer.  It was only when a "DIR" spit out a floating point divide
    by zero that folks *really* believed me.)
    
    								-mr. bill

    There were fifteen 'wins' in the list of companies doing business
    during that ad.  That's how I took it.
    
    But the real question, is, according to the late TFSO's, what was
    that grim reaper number again?
    
    I know I'm missing the point, but so aren't a lot of folks who don't
    understand and aren't told the meaning until 'they' have to go in and
    clean up the mess!
    
    chet

    
        [Moved from topic 3306 - sorry, didn't see thin one until later]
    
        Didn't watch football on Thursday (sorry to be unAmerican), but 
        saw two of the new commercials on Sunday.  In a word: dreadful.
        No words to draw attention, poor images with brief superimposed 
        text (apparently companies we're doing business with) that washed 
        out to a white screen, ending with a two-line "scorecard" of 
            "mumble 15 (or was it 17?)"
            "Grim reaper 0"
        and finally a 1-2 second Digital logo materializing out of the fog.
    
        So what was all that supposed to mean?
        I didn't get a clue as to what we made, so the commercial must be 
        aimed at the multitudes who know exactly what Digital does!
    
        Sure did not make me proud to be a Digital citizen.  How come we 
        can make such superb newspaper ads and such awful TV commercials?
    
        Peter
    

    Anyone see Apple's 1/2 hour infomercial on Sunday?  I thought it was
    pretty good.  Basically showed how the whole family got into using it.
    
    At the end they told people how to contact the nearest Apple retailer,
    etc.  I bet it helps them sell.  If people watched it, they learned
    what they might actually do with a computer.
    
    Ken

    Saw several of the ads during football games Sunday (FOX football
    coverage). I had seen the ads in the DVN so looked up when I heard the
    music.
    
    I liked the ads during the DVN and I like the ads now. At first I was
    concerned that we didn't mention company or product names until the end
    (didn't see the PC commercial), but then started watching the other
    commercials and in most cases they don't give product/company name
    until the end of the ad, either. 
    
    I assume these ads are for NAME RECOGNITION and will get people talking
    about Digital. Now that Digital products are showing up in CompUSA and
    other shop ads, having seen the name on TV will help (IMHO). The next
    wave of ads can give more product info. But, we need people to
    recognize the Digital name first.
    
    Of course, my best measurement for success will be if my Mom or Dad
    says - "hey, we saw your commercial on TV" and it really is us and not
    a digital watch, digital clock, etc.... :^)
    
    Good work to those responsible and lets keep those ads out there in TV
    land!
    
    janetb.
    
    ps - I like the race care ad mentioned in a previous note... maybe you
    guys should be in another field!

    The ads were okay, but not great.
    
    How about a voice talking about Digital, maybe along with the music.
    
    The present ads kind of reminded me of the PC ads on nebulous
    networks that had no pizazz.
    
    Needs more pizazz with a VOICE.
    
    Let's wake up to the 90's....
    
    
    

    By the looks of this string of notes, at least the ads are
    controversial .. so perhaps the name will stick in the minds
    of the viewers.

    >Per

    A voiceover will be used as it makes sense in the TV advertisements.
    
    

    I liked the ads (could have done without the grim reaper reference at
    the end!) and I'm *thrilled* that we are *finally* advertising on TV.
    
    But then, I'm probably the target audience because I'm *hooked* on
    football on TV!
    
    
    Maryann

    
    There are two questions ( well, actually three.. :-)) that need
    answering:
    
    1. Exactly what was the target audience for our ads?
       { Retail Buyers? Corporate Buyers? Our competition? First time
         buyers? IT Managers?  }
    
    2. What did we provide in our ads? 
       { Entertainment? A message? A safe, secure 'partner' to buy from
         or do business with? }
    
    3. Which 'digital' was that? { To answer this question, open a
       metropolitan phonebook and search for 'digital' mumble-fritz. }
     
    Personally, if those were my commercials that I did for my 8th grade
    audi-visual project, then I'd be very proud! 
    
    jc
    p.s. Would you want to do business with someone competing against 
         the grim reaper? ( Other than your doctor? :-)) 

    I like the ads, especially the one about the election in California.
    We should have put up our URL in that one for sure.
    
    Next up (here we go again) we need to take that rocking attitude
    towards a stock car.  Hows this for a commercial?
    
    Normal Ford Thunderbird going 55mph.  Says Intel on the side of it.
    Suddenly get's blown away by Digitals Alpha Thunderbird doing 180mph
    and the camera picks up on the stock car.
    
    "Hows this for a speed comparison?"  Lenny music would probably work in
    this add too, or it can turn on as soon as the stock car shows up. 
    While the street car is driving they can have some sort of um-pah-pah
    music or something.  :^)
    
    Microsofts new deal is cool too.  Hey, 83 days until the Daytona 500.
    Hope to see us there.

    I caught the end of one when my brother turned on a football game for
    the score late Thursday.  I don't know which ad it was, because I only
    noticed when the logo was appearing on the screen.  I was thrilled to
    see the Speed ad during Earth2!  I liked it.  I'm happy to see Digital
    ads on television, and I'm pleased that this is strictly a
    name-recognition set of ads.  We need that first.
    
    I agree with the person who said, "at least everyone is talking about
    them."  I think that's the point!
    
    Lately, I don't remove my badge from my purse the minute I get to my
    car.  A short time ago, I did, because everywhere I went, people would
    say, "Oh you work at Digital?  Are you okay?  Are you going to lose
    your job?"  Even the clerks at Walmart!  And even a kid in my nephew's
    6th grade class!  Now I don't feel so awkward about answering that
    question.  I say, "Well, we're not done downsizing, but things are
    beginning to turn around.  I hope I can be part of it!"
    
    I can't wait to see more ads, even it *I* hate them.  (BTW, do the
    folks in this file realize how young the average MIS manager is
    these days?)
    
    
    Susan
    

Everyone who keeps asking/saying "What are they selling?" "Where's the phone 
number?" "I don't know what the products are!"

These are image ads (not ad's, adds or add's).  Their purpose is instill the 
name "Digital" in the viewers' minds and attach something to that image.  
Namely that "Digital" has recently done business with some well-known companies/
organizations lately, and, contrary to what some people may have heard, we're 
alive and competitive.  Also, that we have a fast something-or-other - oh yeah -
computer chips and workstations.

re: .65
I can't imagine anyone running to the phone book to look up Digital* to see
what company the ad may have been for.  Have you ever done that for any
commercial
you saw on TV? 

The ads are meant to be somewhat more subtle than that.  The purpose is just to 
sort of leave a Digital logo-shaped "footprint" in the viewer's memory and some 
positive or valuable association, "fast," with the Alpha ad; "tough," with the 
Grim Reaper ad; "hip," with the California Election/Internet ad, etc.

The audience is people who watch the Sunday morning news programs and NFL 
football: 1) educated, business people and those who are likely to buy and/or
influence a buying decision, 2) home PC buyers (a much larger group).

Just my opinion,

Bruce

    Re: .26-
    
    >How are people going to write it down before the ad goes off the
    >air?  No, the ads are not intended to make people pick up the phone
    >and call us (or e-mail us or whatever) - they're intended to make
    >people think more positively of Digital.
    
    	How many technoids have the commercial on video tape? If truely 
    interested they will play it back finding NO phone nor Internet info.
    This is bad...
    
    	We should be "introducing ourselves" in the network TV forum rather 
    than pretending to be known. Example: The following text is voice while
    images flow through computer evolution from paper tape to CD-ROM..
    
    	"Digital largely invented network computing. We are well known in
    the commercial market as the leader in mixed vendor interoperation 
    across diverse protocol and hardware platforms.
    
    	Digital introduced and enhanced 32 bit VAX/11 systems to provide
    migration options to 16 bit PDP11 customers. This legacy continues with
    the highest performance 64 bit technology available- ALPHA. ALPHA runs
    Windows NT, OSF-1, and OPENVMS.
    
    	Digital provides leading edge hardware and software technology for
    PC, server, and mainframe environments. Call us."
    
    Phil
    
    	

This is all personal suspicion, but I think that the purpose of this
wave of ads is simply name recognition. I *hope* there's a plan to
follow with informational ads.

Remember when "Hair" first came out? The first TV ad was a long-haired
guy's face -- no accompanying sound. You looked at that face for 30 or
60 seconds, waiting for him to say something or for some sound at all.
You sat and stared until the silent spot ended. You had no idea what
it was for, but you never forgot it (at least I didn't).

I trust these ad people know what they're doing. Without trust, what
is there?

Pete

    come on Pete, that last statememt was uncalled for!
    
    Many of the folks at Digital have NO MORE CHEEKS to turn!
    
    But as far as the ad being name recognition only, I concur
    that it is it's sole purpose. Maybe it'll work, maybe not.
    It is a start at advertising that's been missing. But go through
    this file and tally the votes for appearence. 
    
    I'll give em a shot, but trust em?  That's another story.
    
    chet

    The adds during football on Sunday were pretty pathetic in my opinion.
    A kindergarten kid could have done a better job. I think our marketing
    department oughta fire whoever paid for them!
    
    Why not try something just a little more aggressive, like...
    
    With Alpha, our numbers add up! (unlike Pentium)
    
    get real will ya?!?! 

    many of the previous replies have said "it's a good start" in one way
    or another... 
    
    seems to me that Digital has a recent history of many "good starts" ... 
    only to reverse direction MUCH too soon to accurately measure results.
    
    I hope this isn't another instant replay.
    
    t.

    Well, at first I thought ... "Why put in a phone number. Any
    semi-alert business person or consumer would know to call
    800-555-1212 and ask for Digital's 800 number."
    
    So, I tried it. They gave me 800-354-9000. That's the number used to
    log service calls, and it has no menu options that say anything
    about sales.

    
    It's the same ol story time after time.
    
    Why don't we advertise?
    
    Why don't we advertise?
    
    and then when we do, it's complain complain complain.
    
    Get over it.
    
    Sheesh!
    
    Bob

    Just to add another opinion here:  I saw the Generation Gap ad on
    'This Week With David Brinkley' and then again during one of the
    football games (think it was Fox).  I like the GG idea, and I think
    the tone of the ad fits in well with a football broadcast, but I'm
    not so sure it works for the Sunday morning news audience - even for
    members of the audience that watch football games.  I agree with
    the 'nice to see our name on the tube at least' sentiment voiced in
    many preceding replies ('got to be in it to win it', etc.).

My first impression was "Oh great what are we trying to convay now". But after
reading thru hear and hearing all the different opinions. I have changed my
view. First most of us seem to remember the jist of the commercial. Great that's
all the ads are intended to do. Get our attention. After each play we pick
up and additional kernel of info from the ad.

Last night while watching Monday night football I tried to concentrate on the
commercials. Watch one, ok nice message by Nynex, next ad, next ad, next ad,
back to football, couldn't remember one Ad I just saw except the Beer 
commercial with Black Sabbath and skiiers.

So next time we hear Lenny Kravitz we'll take notice that's it's a Digital ad.

In 30 sec's you need a quick hit, not all sort of numbers and WWW pages to 
clutter the Ad.


Mike

    Not being an Advertisizing expert, I will decline to offer advice
    on what the ads should look like.  However, I will comment on my
    general perceptions.
    
    1) I was hoping for an ad in the same class as the Energizer Bunny,
       or Intel Inside.  This is probably an unrealistic expectation, 
       but it is probably safe to say that our ads are not in the same
       league.
    
    2) I think that recent ads I have seen for the IBM Aptiva and HP
       Printers are better done and more memorable than our ads.
    
    3) Given that the companies in 2) are some of our competitors, I
       believe that we could do a lot better in our ad campaign.
    
    4) Given that I am 40 something, maybe I am just not in the target
       audience for these ads....to which I would respond that really
       good ads, such as the Energizer Bunny and Intel Inside, manage
       to appeal to most age groups that use their product.
    
    I will say that I am very encouraged to see our ads running on TV
    and I am taking a "wait and see" attitude.  I would like to see the
    ad campaign run its course before I make my final judgement.  At
    this point in time, I am a little disappointed and see room for
    improvement.
    
    my 1� (rightsized from 2�) :-)
                        

    I was stoked by the ads, though I only saw the Grim Reaper and the
    Generation Gap.  I think it's exactly the type of add we need to run
    for the next few months.  Sure, we can sneak in a few ads with content
    about our PCs - later, once the name recognition thing has been
    established.  But we don't just sell hardware, we have to get name
    recognition for our consulting/systems integration, client/server
    products, messaging, etc.
    
    I don't understand why so many people are bitter about Intel and
    Pentium PCs and want hot rod ads where we blow them away in drag races.
    
    Understand, they are not our competion - we are.  We have been a victim
    of our own poor marketing for years.  And these adds are the beginning 
    of the end.
    
    If there must be a competitor, make it HP, Sun, IBM, EDS, Anderson
    Consulting.
    
    Marketing:  Keep up the good work!

	Good, bad, or indifferent, the Digital ads are making you talk.
	They are also making customers and potential customers talk. Most
	are saying "What's up? I thought they were dead?"

	These ads are at least bringing our name to the table. Be glad
	for that. I think that's the intention.

	Please oh advertising guru's just follow thru with more..

							mike

    
    I'd like to be clear that while we are using scintillating rock music,
    it is NOT Lenny Kravitz - it is music composed for DIGITAL by a music
    house in New York that we see as having more legs and build potential
    than any of the other music DDBN reviewed, including the Kravitz "Do
    you wanna go my way?", that was explored and ultimately not used.
    
    This campaign has been designed to integrate with the print ads that
    have been running for about 5 weeks in newspapers, IT trades, and
    business magazines.
    
    Stay tuned for new spots Sunday.
    
    

re: .81
"music... that we see as having more legs and build potential"

Bill, what's this mean?

Bruce

    
    What do you know, Terry Shannon (aka Charlie Matco I) liked them.
    
    								-mr. bill

    
    Re .82:
    
    I was going to ask the same question.
    
    Then it dawned on me (of course, I may be the slowest person in this
    conference) that AKOCOA::TROY has been adding a unique -- and, it would
    seem, well informed and familiar -- perspective to advertising discussions
    in this conference for some time. So I decided to learn more about this
    individual.
    
    
      $ ELF FIND BILL TROY
    
      Common Name:   BILL TROY
      Search Surname:  TROY,  Troy  Search Given Name:  BILL,  WILLIAM,
      WILLIAM FIDELIS,  Bill,  William  Generation:  III  DTN:  223-1018,
      244-6219  Telephone:  508-264-6219  Intrnl Mail Addr:  AKO2-2/C11
      Location:  AKO  Node:  AKOCOA  Username:  TROY
      Org Unit:  WW BRAND COMMUNICATIONS,  Advertising,  Communications
      Position:  Advertising Strategy Mgr.
    
    
    Zounds! A *manager* in this conference, keeping us well informed on
    advertising plans and issues, gracefully suffering the slings and arrows
    of the unwashed, and perhaps even (dare we hope?)... listening!
    
    That is more astounding than all the Digital ads broadcast on commercial
    stations this past weekend!
    
    Thank you, Bill, and welcome to the ranks of the few, the proud...
    
        ...the electronically communicating managers.
    
    
    ----------------------
    
    Which of course brings me to a much more interesting question:
    
    Are you open to some of the damn good ad ideas that appear periodically
    in this forum, and can you do something with them, or are we still
    participating in group mental self-abuse?
    

    I think the ads so far are great as a first step because they:
    
    	o  Get your attention
    	o  Are memorable
    	o  Get discussed ... "did you see (the great/that wierd) ad
    	   on TV from Digital? I thought it (was terriffic/sucked)."
    	o  Give a rapid-fire set of information in defined categories,
    	   like:
    
    		-- these are some of our customers
    		-- this is what we can do/projects we won
    	o  Then they give the name of the company and go away
    
    	(sort of like ... "time is money, thank you for your time.")
    	  only a lot less conservative fer shure.
    
    I would look for this type of awareness/brand recognition campaign to
    continue long enough to have an impact and then begin to get more
    specific - either thru TV or print media. 
    
    This way the recognition of the name Digital (even if you don't like
    the music or can't see the sense in the TV ads) gets linked up with
    something positive and very specific in a magazine or newspaper you
    read which you CAN relate to and are driven to act on. The TV ads are
    not designed, IMHO, to make anybody do anything. Follow on campaigns
    should have action as a key goal.
    
    /se
    
    
    

Re: .85

Have you not been aware of the already-started print ad campaign which supports
the TV ads?

				Steve

    
    	Well, my turn.
    
    	Having now seen all three ads several things (stuff?) come to mind.
    
    	1) They are memorable. Be they bad (the Grim Reaper is strictly an
    	   industry insider's ad) or good (the Generation Gap), they do
    	   reach out and grab you - one way or the other.
    
    	2) They are different. My old Marketing Prof in grad school once
           said this was the *only* criteria for a successful
           name-recognition mass-media campaign.
    
    	3) And they are a start.
    
    
    		Go marketing folks, keep the heat on, don't let 'em fold
    your cards, and stay the course - you get the drift.
    
    	
    			the Greyhawk

    
    re: .84 - Thanks. Since Advertising is a favorite topic for people, it
    seemed natural to see varying points of view.  The notes file has pros
    and cons, but it is one way people receive information; when there are
    points that can be quickly made to clarify what is going on - it is
    also very timely. We do see the WWW, DIGITAL Today, Reader's Choice
    memos, Livewire as the best places to get reliable information - 
    we have used extensively to communicate about the campaign (except WWW
    until now - stay tuned).  
    
    Time is very scarce with a lot of advertising copy reviews etc so I
    will drop in and make a comment as I can.
    
    Regarding suggestions for copy.  Frankly, we hired a world class agency
    DDB Needham for developing copy based on business briefings, competitive
    intelligence, recent wins, etc.  We can work from ideas and detailed
    backup information, but writing copy isn't a DIGITAL forte.  
    
    re: .82 What I meant was that the music is malleable - we can lengthen
    it,  have it build in the sense of more and deeper instrumentation to
    serve as an exclamation point, etc. 
    
    Bill

>>    re: .82 What I meant was that the music is malleable - we can lengthen
>>    it,  have it build in the sense of more and deeper instrumentation to
>>    serve as an exclamation point, etc. 
    
Are you saying that this music will be used as our musical trademark, a la
"We're the one for you New England -- NYNEX" or similar frequently repeated
jingles?

--RS

    
    I think we will use the music for Trade shows, sales meetings, etc. 
    For example, we plan to run the commercials as the lead in for some
    DVN's before air time.  Such uses mean we might need to remix the
    music, lengthen it, etc.
    
    We are NOT talking jingles, but hopefully the music will signal 
    "here comes DIGITAL" as we proceed for this wave of TV.
    
     

    I agree with previous responses regarding the success of the ads.
    This is the first time I can remember when folks were talking about
    Digital doing advertizing that actually gets attention.  Even NPR did 
    an editorial this morning about it -- and that didn't cost Digital a
    dime!  
    
    Frankly, when it comes to advertizing, I don't care *what* folks say so
    long as they are talking about Digital.  I am also very impressed that
    someone who actually has something to do with the advertizing is
    participating in notes and reasonably discussing some of the behind the
    scenes decisions and such.  Bravo!
    
    All I can add is basically to keep it up (if we can).  Even the whining 
    in notes indicates that the campaign is successful by my measure.  If 
    nothing else, we can probably all agree that whereas before there were 
    only a few folks asking, "Who the h*** is Digital?" ... now there are
    apparently *lots* of folks asking, "Who the h*** is Digital?"  I think
    that's good ...
    
    Steve

    was it Mae West that originated the saying that goes something like:
    
    I don't CARE what people are saying about me... as long as they are
    TALKING about me!
    
    

    RE: .86
    
    Yes I am aware of some of the current print ads that have already
    started running. My point was (as someone previously noted) we 
    need to keep up the TV spots long enough for it to have an impact.
    
    In the past I've seen us run TV ads for a time but we stop
    them before they have a chance to make any substantial impact on
    recognition or awareness. I'd like to see these ads (and/or follow
    ons) run long enough to make a difference in recognition and awareness
    and then be sure that there is a matching print campaign (or new TV
    campaign) at that time.
    
    That doesn't make the current print campaign a waste. In fact, I think
    it's good that we are running those ads now.

From what Bill Troy has been saying, the TV ads will continue and even
increase.

				Steve

re: .17

>    a chance. Time will tell, but I hope we don't stop advertising. We used 

Problem is, I understand, that this is a 100 day campaign, starting from the 
print ads of a few weeks ago.  We're well into what I fear may be a '1-shot'
all or nothing campaign.  What we need is SUSTAINED VISIBILITY, not a flash
in the pan.

    
    IF the issue is television presence in the U.S. there will be a
    continued presence including PC marketing.  I will not share details
    here.
    
    There are a number of product campaigns being launched with DDB needham
    very soon.  We plan to roll out the Corp Campaign more strongly
    internationally also.  the 100 day campaign idea is not the plan today
    - it has evolved. Stay tuned. Stay positive. Don't dismiss the
    integration of print and tv that is happening. 

I was also a tad disappointed to get my PC World today and find no Digital
ads at all - not even a 1-pager with a phone number.  For someone that
sees an ad on TV and decides to look up Digital in a magazine they get -
only to find nothing - this could be a bit of a turn-off...  (If Digital
never advertised there, it might be different, but we have in the past -
and now when people might be "reminded" to take a look...  FWIW - this
isn't just "idle curiosity" either - I'm actually thinking about potentially
upgrading or buying a new system.)

    Just to echo numerous other replies, These ads are great AS LONG AS WE
    FOLLOW UP WITH SOME REAL CONTENT LATER. Good, bad, or indifferent its
    refreshing to finally see our logo on mainstream TV. In fact, one ad
    that wasn't mentioned was one of the those "Brought to you by ..."
    variety that was run after a TV timeout during one of the college
    games, (I forget which one). These ads get our name in front of the
    audience after the typical bathroom and/or frig visits during timeouts.
    
    As far as the music is concerned, I thought it was outstanding. In
    fact, I felt the music may have actually carried the ads. You have to
    admit it catches your attention whether you love or hate it.
    
    If we wanted an ice-breaker, these ads fit the bill. To make them truly
    successful, we need some good, substantial follow up advertising.
    
    Just my .02,
    Russ 

    I, too, find it pleasurable that Bill (Troy) is taking the effort
    to give us insights into the marketing campaign. I also conjecture that
    we could give Bill and his Band of Merry Needham a little more
    credit in assuming that they really do know the Basics of 
    Advertising 101:
    
    - Build Awareness (Hey, that's Digital, I've heard of those guys)
    - Build Content (Hey, that's Digital, they make computers)
    - Build Followup (Hey, that's Digital, they make damn fine computers,
      think i'll buy a couple, now lemme see where did I put that CALL DIGITAL
      number..oh yeah that's 8 0 0 C A L L D I G I T A L...(or whatever)
    
    Up to now it seems as if we're (Digital) finally working with someone who
    demonstrably has followed Advertising 101...and as such we're fully
    focussed on achieving phase 1.
    
    re roelof

    Remember the WANG adv flood.  did them a heep of good.
    maybe they failed because of the lack of that crazy music.
    

RE: .100

	Oh please Ed... Ever the cynic. Wang croaked because it had 

	1. Lousy management (yea, worse than ours! Fred Wang, a manager??)

	2. No product (other than its imaging stuff)

	3. No plan to migrate all the Wang word processor customers. No
	   follow-ons.

	4. Spending too much on things like twin towers and country clubs.

							mike

    Oh please Mike...  I am disappointed that people who present a
    different viewpoint get labeled as cynic, or worse yet whinners here in
    this notesfile.  It's a great way to discourage discussion.
    
    I agree that I may be harse in my review of the adv on tv.  But I
    haven't heard anyone yet explain why dec employees buy gateway, have HP
    printers and the like.  If we can not sell a PC to OURSELVES, why do we
    expect anyone else to buy.  all the slick name recognition in the world
    won't help if we don't have the right product at the right cost.
    but maybe we aren't selling PCs.  what are we selling?
    If we are going to debate the adv, we need information at the beinging.
    If this note was only to praise the adv, pardon my replies.
    
    -whinning off
    ed

    
    Somewhere back there someone mentioned the Energizer Bunny ads.  I sat
    beside a Duracell battery engineer one time on a flight and we got
    talking about the Bunny campaign, and he said Duracell got a free ride
    from the early part of that campaign because a lot of people mistakenly
    associated the ads with Duracell rather than Energizer.  I.e., they
    remembered the Bunny but not whose Bunny it was.
    
    len.
     

    
    re: .103
    
    Hmmm... I get it! Maybe people will see those ads for IBM, KPMG,
    Apple and HP and think they're for Digital!
    

Digital does have good PC products at good prices.  But Digital makes it
very difficult to buy one, as I have recently discovered.

I think the current ad campaign is fine - I'm looking forward to its
expansion and tie-ins to more product-specific advertising.

				Steve

    
    Why don't I buy a Digital PC..
    
    Let's see..
    
    I made today my third phonecall to get a PC catalog..yes..the third
    phonecall in 6 months..the last was about 6 weeks ago..still waiting..
    
    Today, I was lucky to talk to the same guy I talked to last time, and I
    asked him whatever happened to the catalog he was supposed to send
    me..? and oh yes..the fax for the new packages that wasn't in the
    catalog at the time (they are now I guess)..
    
    I told him that Digital doesn't seem to be too eager to sell PC's, and
    if I don't get the information I will be buying a PC from someone else,
    as I plan to buy it by christmas.
    
    He told me after I mentioned that I was an employee, that sometimes
    they don't send the catalog to the employee..oh well..given that I
    didn't call in as an employee and gave my home address and phone
    number, I didn't appreciate the preferencial treatment..
    
    So who was wondering why??
    
    Nisreen

Yes, they do send catalogs to employees.  I got one and they keep sending
me new editions.  However, once you get into the order process you'll find
that they treat you no different from any other customer - that is to say,
abysmally.

				Steve

    re .106, YES!
    
    there aren't no fancy advs gonna fix that.  and in the unlikely even
    that those advs do bring people in to buy more watches, we're not
    ready.
    
    when I was buying my PC, I looked at DEC first.  Tried expressing my
    concerns to EPP.  bought outside.
    
    we got name recognition inside [I hope, but was it DEC or digital?]
    we got desire, yet employees buy outside.
    If we can't sell to our employees, if our VPs buy the competition,
    why or how can an adv cause a stranger to buy dec?

    
    
    oh yes..I forgot..the salesperson (from 1-800-dontbother) told me to go
    to BJ's..! (at this point I don't know if he wanted me to go there for
    the catalog or the PC) who cares..I'll probably end up buying Gateway
    anyway..
    

    We don't sell PCs at BJ's. We sell them at CompUSA and Sam's Club.
    
    Either the salesperson is clueless or you misunderstood him/her.
    
    Mark.

    In regard to the logo changing colors.
    
    Last night was the first time I noticed a new blipvert for digitgal
    sponsering the nightly business report.
    
    Instead of the static burgandy logo, the new one was a black one, that
    did a little dance around the screen, before standing still.  There
    also was a new voice over, but I didn't pay enough attention to it to
    remember what the man said.
    
    
    If the black is the new color, I like it.  I always thought
    burgendy/purple stunk.

re: .111
�    Instead of the static burgandy logo, the new one was a black one, that
�    did a little dance around the screen, before standing still.

This sounds like a description of the way the logo's used at the end of each of
the new TV ads.

    If the black is the new color, I like it.  I always thought
    burgendy/purple stunk.

from VTX IR

          Date                                               Document
         Posted   Title/Description                             ID
      14-Jul-94  USING OUR LOGO...BUILDING BRAND EQUITY        CS0011


    ... The updated logo has white
    letters on burgundy blocks, not a stencil. The consistent use
    of burgundy blocks with white letters will help us to achieve
    much more impact and visibility across a wide range of
    applications: print, video, slides, product and packaging.

    In one- or two-color printing, where burgundy is not
    possible, black blocks with white letters can be used.

    In black and white treatments only, white blocks on a black
    background can be used.

Is there a plan for getting the ads onto the various European TV
stations (Eurosport, NBC Super Channel) or into the individual
European countries?

The German version of the "We're making a comeback" print ad looked
very good, I thought.

Steve

New logo colors? We haven't run out of envelopes with the blue one yet .. I
guess we'll get a batch of burgundy when we do :-)

>Per

    
    	I, too, saw the NBR "new" logo, but the voiceover escaped me.
    Anybody have the text, or did the announcer just make it up as he went
    along?
    
    		the Greyhawk

    this afternoon there was some sort of football game on the TV that I
    was staring at.  They were tossing the pigskin around when they
    interrupted the game.  then, this cool ad came on.  bunch of people
    doing fast stuff (I spend a little time racing motorcycles so I
    generally get excited about things like this).  'must be a beer add' I
    thought.  nope.  'perhaps it is an add for some new red car'.  nada. 
    'hummm, maybe a new honda motorcycle add'.  sorry.  then the words
    start flashing over the screen.  for a split second I figured it was
    jaia (just another intel add).  wrong-o.  I'm really impressed!  I just
    wished the digital logo was on the screen for a little longer.
    
     - norm (new oracle 'hire')

    OK - I'm converted! 
    
    After a dubious start with the whacked-out prancers in the "generation" 
    ad (a loser, imho), this series has developed content that doesn't leave
    the viewer wondering "who the heck is Digital?" I'm truly enthusiastic!
    
    "speed", "internet", and most of all the "hell has our number" ads defy
    the viewer to leave the tube and head to the 'fridge...excellent! Heck,
    with that signature music, these ads should wake the near-dead to watch!
    
    And the voice-over on the "hell" ad provides real, honest-to-goodness 
    content that even a layperson can understand. Major progress here!
    
             I only wish we could afford to run them more often.
    
    Am I right that there are at least two versions of the "hell" ad? I
    could swear the scenes of destruction and the way our logo comes into
    view are different...
    
    One nit I did note: somewhere around halftime in the 1PM (EST) ABC 
    game (Patriots/Browns) one of those "brought to you by's" came up. We had 
    our logo on the screen for a few seconds, but all it got from the 
    announcer was "Digital"; while all of the other sponsors - both before 
    and after - got at least a full sentence with their corporate "message".
    
    Do we have one of those snappy one-liners that we could pay a few more
    $$ to have read by the announcer? I mean, it would have been *great* to
    hear a play-by-play guy say something like: "Digital. Hell Has Our Number!"
    
    Anyway...Good stuff. Keep it up. And don't *ever* change that music! ;^)
    
    /dave

    I too noticed the missing one-liner!  I'm a TV sports fanatic so I
    heard and saw this "brought to you by digital" at least 3 times over
    the week-end and each time the announcer reading the copy didn't seem
    to know how to read ours because it wasn't the same as the others!  One
    guy even made it sound like a question:  brought to you by digital? 
    (you could just hear the - am I missing part of my script? in his
    voice!)
    
    I also agree about the music; we were getting dressed to go out and
    heard the music - we knew it was a digital ad; I can also recognize the
    graphics when I see it in a soundless window (I told you I was a
    fanactic!  I do watch 2 events at once sometimes!  B-)   )  
    
    I think it is a good campaign and it's being seen by the people who
    used to ask why we never advertise 'cause they watch these TV events
    also!
    
    Maryann

    Re:  .111 & .117
    
    The new voiceover of the sponsorship "ad" for the NBR on
    PBS is:
    
    "Digital.  
    
    "Doing whatever it takes, to make information work for people...
    
    ..and not the other way around."
    
    Good message.
    
    Too bad the signature music isn't running too, to reinforce the visual
    of the logo twisting and bending into shape.  Ah, but that would probably 
    be too much for the button-down folks at NBR...
    
    Hummm... another thought just came to mind:  How about packaging the 
    guitar/feedback snarl with the SFX logo into the start-up program 
    software that would play/display everytime you boot a multi-media PC 
    or workstation?  (Apple Macs play a cute little piece of music
    everytime you start one.)
    
    That Kravitz-like (..actually sounds more like Hendrix to me, but I'm
    old..)  music, and flying logo, would sure wake me up every morning!
      
    What'dya think Bill?  
    
    TT.                             
    

    re: Voiceover
    
    We are limited in what messages and tone we can use with the NBR - this
    includes that all the sponsors must use the same person at NBR.
    
    The "Hell Has Our Phone Number" voice actually took a good deal of
    tryouts to get it right.  He is NOT a well known personality - but we
    thought he read very well as a newscaster style voice.
    It bears repeating that some of the ads will have voiceovers, some not,
    we are not using a spokesperson model for advertising.
    
    We are looking at a line for the 5 second intro piece.  Due to how the
    media is bought - it varies around the country whether there is a
    promotional - "Brought to you by DIGITAL" opportunity. 
    
    Bill

re: .117

I too am a convert to the AD PROGRAM.  As the basenote writer to the topic "Whatever
it takes," while I still maintain my reservations about the print ads, especially the texts,
I find the TV commercials strategic and refreshing.


I have seen only two TV commercials.  The very first one, and another one on Dec. 4.  The
first commercial by design, the other by accident (Sorry, but I only watch the Superbowl).

As I was preparing to turn the TV off and leave my house, I was struck as fast as 
lightning by that now familiar music (hope this is not wishful thinking) resounding in my ear.
My finger froze on the remote.

                      HEYYYY.......THAT'S THE DIGITAL COMMERCIAL!!!

I was really exhilarated. What a difference the medium makes!

My most important comments?

1.  "Don't touch that music," (as previous noter)

2.  Keep them messages flashing....

3.  Keep the logo on for one more second, even at the expense of the rest, (a previous noter)

4.  The mix of recognizable music and unexpected message is a bombshell. Add some humor, maybe?

Keep it going.  It's great!!!

armen

    Not to be a bore, but these new ads are REAL good. Not just compared to
    former Digital ads -- they stand up well to *anything* on the tube.
    
      John

RE: .123

	Hey Bill,

	How about providing something other than a "\\nodename\service"
	format to connect too? Gateways and Pathworks being what they are, it's
	easier to FTP, DECnet copy, or connect via the Web to get the
	files.

							mike

    
    Frankly, I am not aware of the service with these 4 ads - I really hope
    these are the right 4 ads.  Does anyone know who put these on the
    network to verify? Also, I am working with the Internet Business Group
    to put these ads up on the WWW.  
    
    We have worked very hard to get these ads right - bootleg
    implementations should not be going on without clear authorization, and
    that should be happening through the Advertising department.
    Strategically, the ads themselves change and we need to ensure that our
    message integration is tight.
    
    Your help is needed to keep the campaign vibrant, clear, and timely.
    
    
    
     

    One comment:
    
      Great, keep it up!
    
    One suggest:
    
      More!

    Is there any analysis (typically done) or available as to the effects
    on, opinions about or perceptions of the public about the ads?
    
    What did Adweek ad other industry publications have to say?
    
    I'm sure we'd all like to hear what John Q. and Mary Public think about
    the ads.
    
    Bruce

    
    Baseline research on attitudes has been conducted - followup will take
    place early in Q3.  
    
    BT
    

    
    While coming in on rte 128 yesterday I was listening to KISS 108,
    not my regular station. Anyway one of the announcers asked the other
    if they had seen the new digital ads. Being a music person, the music
    caught his attention. His next comment was that he was impressed, and
    said he felt sure digital was coming back in a big way.
    
      Hey, any chance to get the ads on the radio in some form ?
    

    
    Radio was explored and certainly is a weapon in the arsenal. It tends
    to be used for tactical marketing - for example - getting prospects to
    a local seminar, offering a local deal/special price, etc., although
    there are examples of image advertising, like the Cigna Healthcare
    campaign.  
    
    We keep it top of mind - more so than in the past. But right now we are
    concentrating in the other media.
    
    BT
    

    I am ecstatic that:
    
    1. We are advertising
    2. The ads are HOT (I love 'em)
    3. Someone from the Advertising group is reading this note
    4. It's an on going campaign, with proper attention being paid to
    tuning it.
           
    Congratulations and keep up the good work!
    
    Ken B.
    

    Hi,
    
    Does anyone know if the new ads are to be shown in other 
    countries besides the USA ? In Ireland, for example, 
    Microsoft and IBM (Warp) have new ads on the TV, but as
    of yet there's no sign of Digital's new campaign,
    
    Jim.

We had a brief discussion of the TV ads at the DFW LUG meeting last night.
Most people liked the ads, some didn't, but EVERYONE thought it was great we
were advertising on TV and to keep it up, or do more if possible.

Bob

    
    I like the ads also, did from the beginning!
    
    But, I feel our time is running out with the competition catching up,
    like PowerPC.  It seems 95 is the year we have to make an impact.
    We also need to get our performance numbers way up on NT.
    
    Trend watch.  It seems that service is coming back in vogue?
    More attention in PC rags, TV program focusing on it (48 hours).
    
    Mike M.

    
    Not to worry - a battery of service ads and messages are being
    developed.
    
    

I was looking in on the "VAX Forum" on CompuServe last night and one
customer called out the "Hell Has Our Phone Number" ad as his favorite.
The reaction there has been very positive.

				Steve

    I've seen a couple of new Digital ads on the Asian Business Review
    program and generally on CNN International. The only one that really
    stuck in my mind focussed on our PC line, with big letters across the
    screen "LPv+" which I thought was totally meaningless. How is someone
    supposed to know whether it means a PC model or a food additive? I
    like the new model "branding" like Celebris, but I don't see it used
    much in our advertising.
    
    Notwithstanding, it was still good to see a Digital ad in the first
    place ...
    
    Geoff
    

    LPv+?  We've dropped that line.
    
    			Steve

    Not in Singapore (and several other Asia/Pacific countries). 
    Localization sometimes delays the introduction of new products
    overseas.
    
    Mark.

Reading so much about the ads and even having US based customers telling us
how good they are, I would love to see one for real. I.e. in AVI format, so
that I can play it back on my PC.

Surely there must DECies with video cards "out there". Anyone willing capture
one and put it on the net ? 

million thanks !

Max_who's_frustrated_in_Geneva

    re: .141
    
    Actually, that's not such a bad idea at all!  And since I work in the
    Video Interactive Information Services group, I'll poke around and
    see what can be made available on our servers. There may be something
    already being planned, but if not, I'll plant the seed. It will be
    in MPEG format. So, through Mosaic it should be possible!  The tough
    part will be to get the videos onto MPEG format. We have a means, but
    it takes time.  Stay tuned.
    
    chet 

    If I had to guess, I'd surmise that those who put Richard Seltzer's and
    Berthold Langer's award-winning "Glimpse of the Future" video into .AVI
    and .MPG format are ALREADY working on this...  and planning to make
    'em available on our Corporate Web server outside the firewall... :-)
                                                                     

re: .144, understand, but this is a totally US centric view, yet I believe that
we are a global company generating 50% of our revenue outside the US. 

There is also a fair chance that some ads now running in the US will never be 
seen outside anglo-saxon countries, simply because they can't be x-lated or 
because of cultural differences, i.e. the "Grim Reaper". Real shame for those
of us who understand cultural differences but live outside the US.

What's the real exposure of putting up the ads on the net, compared with the
benefits which could be reaped *OUTSIDE THE US* ? In any case, anyone with a
video board (and a seat in the US !) can capture these ads - DECies, customers
and competitors alike.

    re: "hell has our number" TV commercial
    
    My husband and I (who are both with Digital) caught this commercial
    last night and loved it.  The funny thing is that when I had
    read about the commercial I didn't think I would like it!
    
    I usually completely ignore commercials-(this time I got up to
    do some work in the kitchen) but the music definitely caught my
    attention, and the fast images kept my attention, until I realized
    that it was "our" commercial.  After so many years it is great to
    see our name put across in such a "catchy" way.  Sorry the folks
    outside the U.S. can't see it because it was a morale booster for 
    us!
    
    -Elizabeth
    
    

    My customer saw "Hell" this weekend (I'm still waiting to see my first
    commercial; I guess that's the drawback of not being a diehard football
    fan).
    
    His reaction: very negative.
    
    "What does this mean?  You're the company from hell?"
    "Digital must have a death wish!"
    "Non-customers will have no idea what Digital is or what they sell!"
    "I want to call your 800 number and ask 'May I speak to the devil?'"
    
    FWIW
    
    -- Russ

    RE: -1

    	I've been with DEC for over twenty years and after watching that
    hell commercial I had the same reaction as your customer.  It's good
    that they finally are doing commercials I just wish they had done
    something that looked a little more professional rather than something
    that looks like a high school kid put it together in his kitchen. 
    Although it appears that some folks like the TV ads I think the
    majority of the people are wondering where DEC's head is.  Well if
    nothing else at least people will see our name on the airways.

    Joe 

RE:          <<< Note 3528.148 by STRATA::JOERILEY "Legalize Freedom" >>>
    
�    majority of the people are wondering where DEC's head is.  Well if
    
    Sometimes, I'm certain that I know where it is... ;^)
    
    Cheers, Laurie.

    
    Sorry if this has already been mentioned but...
    
    Why is there NO mention of Digital in any of the UK Lottery 
    advertising which is on billboards,posters in every town and 
    most importantly television at least twice an hour every day ???
    
    Surely there is no better example of number crunching anywhere else
    in Europe. The only place I have seen anything about Digitals 
    involvment in the lottery is in Digital Today.
    
    Gordon... 

    Everyone I know thinks (thought! ;^)) that the kit crunching these
    enormous numbers/volumes of data was ICL because ICL provide the POS
    kit. WHY AREN'T WE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THIS?
    
    To explain to our colonial cousins, last week's UK lottery had 61.5
    million participants. Within 30 minutes of closing the tills, the total
    take and prize money were known. Within 2 hours of the draw, the total
    number of winners was known, and the fact that there was one winner of
    18 million pounds (about $27m). That takes some serious kit, and the
    world should know it's ours, not ICL's.
    
    Laurie.

    Why should Camelot give us a boost.  We're only a kit supplier -
    whereas I think you'll find that ICL is one of the partners in Camelot.

    re .151 That's pretty interesting. I don't know whose system they use,
    but I was amazed while watching the Texas State Lottery drawing the
    other night. They had about 15 million participants, yet they were able
    to announce, within 5 seconds or so of the last number drawn, that
    there had been no winner. Must be one hell of a database engine,
    running on one hell of a fast system!

    Harry

>    there had been no winner. Must be one hell of a database engine,
>    running on one hell of a fast system!
> 

Or else they knew the result ahead of time :-)

    It wouldn't be hard to quickly know how many winnding tickets are sold
    even with modest computing resources.
    
    ed

    
    While channel flipping the other night, an ad came on that with 
    rapidly changing, solarized images of race cars. Emblazened on the
    screen were black bands with text at odd angles - looking a lot like
    dymo tape - and talking about fast cars...  And in the background 
    was wild guitar music (Lenny Kravitz-like...). Neat Digital Ad I
    thought.
    
    Except at the end there was a GM logo, and a dymo-label saying
    something about Mr. Goodwrench.
    
    Perhaps AKOCOA::TROY may want to check with DDB Needham about this!
    
    /ljj
    

RE:  <<< Note 3528.152 by WELSWS::HILLN "It's OK, it'll be dark by nightfall" >>>

�    Why should Camelot give us a boost.  We're only a kit supplier -
�    whereas I think you'll find that ICL is one of the partners in Camelot.

    A fair question, and the answer, of course, is that they shouldn't. 
    WE SHOULD!
    
    Laurie.

Just read the "Hell Has Our Phone Number" add in Digital Today.  Next to the last paragraph
reads:

   We'll demonstrate in detail a capability for which Digital is justifiably reknowned.

There is no "reknowned" in the English language.  At least not yet.  If the add wanted
to say the obvious, then the word should have spelled "renowned."

If the idea was to emphasize a new image for Digital which is being propagated, and Digital
is being known again after having been forgotten, then one could have used "reknown."

But "reknowned?"....And in an add?  Quick, somebady to the rescue.  %7^;-)

armen

re Note 3528.158 by LANDO::BAGHDOYAN:

> There is no "reknowned" in the English language.  At least not yet.  If the add wanted
> to say the obvious, then the word should have spelled "renowned."
  
        Well, the DECspell product is being retired, with no
        replacement.

        Bob
        (who may just stop writing notes and sending Email if I have
        no spelling checker!)

The word "reknowned" can only be found in ignoramus centric
dictionaries.

--

But seriously - I presume we employ professionals to
write our adverts.  I'd say that since words and images
are the tools-in-trade of the advertising professional, then
they damn well ought to know how to use them properly.
A spelling error in an advert is a glaring bug.

--

Btw (tee hee) ..

> 
> There is no "reknowned" in the English language.  At least not yet.  If the add wanted
> to say the obvious, then the word should have spelled "renowned."
> 

There is no noun "add" in the English language.  At least not yet.
If you wanted to abbreviate "advertisement", then the word should
have been spelled "ad".

But that's ok as long as you're not getting paid a fat fee for these notes.

    The semiconductor group recently ran a full page ad in PC Week and
    other places that compared, in huge letters, their new Tulip to 3COM's
    Etherlink II, an obsolete networking card from 3COM.  In the small
    print was a reference to Etherlink III (3COM's current card) as being
    a trademark of 3COM.  I inquired... sure enuf, the huge letters
    should have said "III" instead of "II".
    
    On the other hand, probably only 1% of the intended readers would have
    noticed the bug, while maybe 20% noticed the ad.  I'd rather have
    bugs in ads than no ads at all.  kb 

I've been seeing spelling and grammatical errors with increasing frequency
in printed ads.  "Get your's today!" shouts a Computer City ad.  Another
store advertises "calandars".  I agree that a professionally produced ad
printed in a major newspaper should not have invented spelling.

					Steve

    Frankly - the "hell" ad that was in the DIGITAL Today was NOT the
    advertisement running in the newspapers and magazines - an older 
    version was run that had the last two sentences completely changed - 
    including the infamous 'reknowned'.  I am checking into why this happend 
    but it did not go out externally.  We are redoubling our efforts to 
    ensure that only the final copy is printed in DIGITAL Today.
    
    While we are getting these ads out quickly, we do check these for
    spelling and grammar.
    
    

    
    We will check with DDBN.  There are a few companies using dymo tape here 
    and there - we hardly have the exclusive rights to it.  And the more
    one is looking for it - the more you see it.
    
    

    re .161 (Etherlink II)
    
    Actually, I noticed the comparison to the II immediately; I said to
    myself "Well, if you can't beat an Etherlink II with ANYTHING
    reasonably modern, you better hang it up.." (I have an etherlink III in
    the PC I'm typing this on, so I have some reference point) Actually,
    with SMC and 3Com continuously in each other's faces in all the LAN
    trade rags, I suspect a *LOT* of people got a pretty bad impression
    from that ad.. people have been seeing Etherlink III in (large) print a
    lot...
    
    I did not notice the fine print on the bottom.. 
    
    ...tom

    re: .163 TROY
    
    Thank you for your participation, quick responses, and factual
    insights.  It is real goodness.
    
    OBTW, As I understand it, there are 7 'market areas' in the US.  Each
    with its own style/approach that works best.  With TV addressing all
    the markets, you can expect to see ads that you like/dislike.  Trying
    to generate a nation wide TV ad that appeals to the entire audience
    must be very diificult.
    
    So far, I have liked all the ads.  Enjoyed anything being on TV even
    more.
    
    IMHO
    
    rww

    re: .163
    
    thanks for your response. be advised the goodwrench advertisement
    not only uses "dymo typeface", but has exactly the same pacing, music,
    er... "look and feel" as our ads. 
    
    
    /ljj
    
    

    re: "look alike" ads
    
    There's nothing new to this - I think it falls into the "guerilla
    advertising" category. Nissan coyly exploited Lexus ads (like the "ball
    bearing" test, "stacked champagne glass" test, etc) for nearly a full 
    year, much to Toyata's dismay. 
    
    If GM's agency actually copied our look & feel, I s'pose we could feel
    flattered...
    

re.150:

>    Why is there NO mention of Digital in any of the UK Lottery 
>    advertising which is on billboards,posters in every town and 
>    most importantly television at least twice an hour every day ???

Because Digital is a supplier to Camelot, the consortium who run the 
lottery, and not a member. We therefore have no influence whatsoever over 
their advertising. In fact, Camelot have played down Digital's role, 
because one of the members is ICL.
    
>    Surely there is no better example of number crunching anywhere else
>    in Europe. The only place I have seen anything about Digitals 
>    involvment in the lottery is in Digital Today.
    
I think you'll have to look harder in future Gordon, we've had coverage in 
the national press and computer press. If you contact the UK press office, 
I'm sure they could tell you exactly what coverage we've achieved todate.

Dave.

    
    	Dave, you might have mentioned DIGITAL's wonderfull stealth
    marketing plans about many of our products, not just the Camelot part. 
    
    	In fact, as you are undoubtedly aware, it wouldn't have mattered at
    all which consortium had won the contract for the lottery, it would have
    had DIGITAL hardware, for the simple reason that the only software to
    do the job ONLY runs on VAXs
    
    	I still don't understand why "the man in the street," like me,
    doesn't know (apart from being a DIGITAL employee at the moment!) that the
    the main number crunching etc. is ALL done on DIGITAL VAXs and VMS.
    
    				Malcolm.

re.170:

Generally speaking, "the man in the street" does not care which computer does
it. I expect that's why the tabloids have not bothered covering this aspect of
the lottery.

Dave.

    So Dave, you're saying that along with all the other newspaper ads
    directed at whom, the man in the street?, one trumpeting our part in
    the highly-visible, widely-talked-about UK lottery is inappropriate?
    
    In my opinion, it's a wasted opportunity by our talented
    stealth-marketeers. Or is it like the Intel farce, a case of the
    possibility of upsetting a "partner" being more important than
    customers?
    
    Laurie.

re.172:

What I am saying is that most people don't care what computers run the lottery.
Those that do, read the broadsheets, which have published articles featuring the
Digital VAX computers used.

Dave.

    
    This might not be related to the note however, I must say that I've
    seen a few of the ads, when they were on I asked different people
    when the ad was over, if they got anything out of them...all didn't
    have a clue what we were trying to say.
    
    The ads I've seen all were silent, just music...and words...anyone
    know if we are going to show the product with a person taking about
    it?
    
    

    I was surprised to find myself liking the ads.  The music also got
    me out of the kitchen and I suffered thru a second football game
    (SF killing our Atlanta Falcons) just to see how many times the ads
    would run.
    
    The hell ad ran 4 times (I think); there was another ad that ran
    once, i.e. race cars, trains etc. things showing speed and there was
    mention of the world's fastest microprocessor.  I liked the ad showing
    the references to speed, but why didn't we mention Alpha when talking
    about fastest microprocessor?  Or better yet, why didn't we have Alpha
    painted on the side of the train and race car?
    
    I must admit the first time I saw the hell ad I held my breath until
    I made sure 1-800-DEC-SALE didn't flash across the screen at the end :-)
               

        <<< Note 3528.174 by MKOTS1::PAPPALARDO "PCBU Mfg/Logistics" >>>
    
    
    
    >>>The ads I've seen all were silent, just music...and words...anyone
                                  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    >>>know if we are going to show the product with a person taking about
    >>>it?
    
    
    				Malcolm.

    
    re:76
    
    
    The ads were not descriptive at all....people who do not work in the
    industry really didn't understand who or what Digital is and what
    we were trying to show.  The ads have no "WOWs" no "Electric"
    
    So, to make it simple...the ads "Stink".....
    
    

    
    
    BTW:  I would love to be part of the design team that creates the ads..
    
         As a nobody..Joe-shmooo...bet we can capture the publics
    interest..
    

    
    re .172:
    
    Dave, this string is talking about TV advertising, the reason I
    asked the question was that it seemed (and still seems) a wasted 
    opportunity for getting DIGITAL mentioned on TV on a VERY regular 
    basis. What you seem to be saying  is that the average man on the
    street (like myself) isn't interested so why should the company spend 
    the money on the advertising. That seems very defeatist to me and
    also seems very arrogant. 
    
    
       

re.179:

Television advertising is very expensive and primarily used for getting messages
to the masses rather than a more targeted audience. Firstly, we do not have that
kind of money in the UK, and even if we did, we would have to question the
benefits versus our more focused campaigns. 

Regarding the "average man in the street" comments. You are not that average
person. You are in the computer industry, which is not the largest industry.
Most people do not work for computer companies, do not have IT jobs in other
industries, and are not responsible for influencing, specifying, or purchasing
our products. Thus they are not interested in either our IT focused messages or
our business focused messages. The only exception to this is the home market
but that's not applicable in the UK yet (no Starion 'til late '95). 

So we are not defeatist or arrogant, we have very little money to spend, so we
use it focused and measured ways to gain new business.

Dave.

    Dave,
    
    You still seem to be missing the point. Digital UK advertised
    extensively in the quality UK press. The ads were pretty good, and most
    welcome. Many of those ads will have been read (or ignored) by the man
    in the street, but that didn't stop Digital UK running them. The logic
    being, I suppose, that enough people in the bizz will read them to make
    it worthwhile. Why, therefore, is it not a good idea to run an ad
    telling these people that the kit running the lottery isn't ICL, but
    Digital?
    
    As far as TV is concerned, I agree that such specific targets are
    perhaps best addressed by more cost-effective means, but people in the
    bizz watch TV too you know... Ask Intel.
    
    Additionally, there have been several TV programmes about the lottery,
    and the technology behind it. Where is Digital? Not mentioned as far as
    I can see. Our marketing people should be banging on the door of the TV
    companies ensuring we get proper credit. Why, for instance, aren't we
    featured on "How do they do that?", in a feature on how quickly the
    lottery results are compiled? The BBC is hardly going to come to us.
    
    Laurie.

    "How do they do that?" did feature the lottery.
    
    But they looked at the time it took to read your ticket, 
    encrypt, transmit, store on shadowed disks on two separate
    systems, calculate the checksums etc., transmit and print 
    the receipt -- all in 5 seconds.
    
    No mention of any manufacturers names though.

RE:  <<< Note 3528.182 by WELSWS::HILLN "It's OK, it'll be dark by nightfall" >>>
                                -< Actually... >-

�    "How do they do that?" did feature the lottery.
    
    I must've missed that one.
    
�    No mention of any manufacturers names though.
    
    Exactly. Why not? And it's not because it's banned on the Beeb, it
    ain't.

    Cheers, Laurie.

re.181:

> Why, therefore, is it not a good idea to run an ad telling these people that
> the kit running the lottery isn't ICL, but Digital?

It is a good idea to tell people and UK PR have got us quite a bit of exposure.
I doubt you will see any advertising though because this all controlled by
Corporate and Europe and nolonger the UK.

> Additionally, there have been several TV programmes about the lottery,
> and the technology behind it. Where is Digital?

We can tell the tv companies all about our involvement in the lottery but we
can't make them pass on the information. 

Dave.

    Here in Italy Digital started doing radio advert in the state-owned
    radio station.
    
    Those adverts are not marvellous, but we started doing something for the
    large audience.
    
    Waiting for the TV ads... 
    �AA

    
    	Just wanted to say I like the TV ads. I was critical of past ads where
    there was no voiceover or music. I think these will work as long as you
    let the jingle sink in over a long period of time.
    
    Regards,
                                         
    	Jim K

If the marketeers are considering running the ads in Europe (or for
that matter worldwide), they might consider CNN International.  It
is available in a decent number of homes via cable, but more usefully,
a healthy percentage of the hotels most frequented by businessmen
offer it on their in-house TV systems.  I suspect the ads could reach
a decent number of decision-makers for relatively little money.

Steve

    11 Digital PC ads will run during this weekend's NCAA Bowl Games.
    
    Mark.

    re: .187
    	Cable TV has been tried in this area, but in general makes a loss
    and the companies go bankrupt. However, I would guess that around 1 in
    3 of the more well-to-do houses has a satellite dish. We have two fixed
    dishes, but others have a steerable dish. CNN is available on what is
    probably the second most popular satellite to point a dish at. The most
    popular carries only French and Spanish language programmes. The
    satellite that carries CNN also carries a fair number of German
    channels, so possibly a fair number of German speakers *could* watch
    CNN, though whether they do I am not sure.
    
    	CNN would be a reasonable choice, and would reach a fair number of
    English speaking ex-pats. TF1 would probably be best if you wanted to
    reach French speaking decision makers, but the ads would almost
    certainly have to be completely redesigned for the French culture.

    I just saw some DIGITAL commercials *actully* showing some of our
    hardware - "the PC that fits in a manilla envelope" and a Desktop.
    
    Maybe now people will realize that we make computers and definitely
    a step in the right commercial direction. I was impressed!
    
    Bruce
                                                        

    Caught the last three quarters of the Orange Bowl...  Really like the
    two Digital ads I saw there!  Good stuff!!!
    
    
    tony

    i would agree. the latest adds are really pretty good. we're learning.

My wife saw the ads and was very impressed.  Her comment was that the
ads were very nicely done, showed off a nice product, and surprised her
because she didn't expect such quality advertising from Digital.

Another very nice job by the PCBU.  Innovative work in an excellent setting...

-- Ken Moreau

    I liked the new laptop ad's.  Finally showing the product instead of an 
    image.  I'm a call screener in Colorado Springs and in the past hour I
    have taken 4 calls calls from potential customer asking about the laptop 
    that can fit into an envalope(sp)                                    
    

    Just to save a phone call, what are we telling customers the lead time
    is for shipping the Hi-note laptop?  

    re .194  >first ad to show the product
    I was real glad to finally see what we sell in on of our ads too.
    For a manufacturer, that's the first rule in advertising.  Infinity
    car ads were interesting and potentially mold-breaking, but didn't
    translate into sales.  KB

    .195
    You mean someone actually wants DELIVERY on a Hi-Note?
    
    :-)

    
    	From Today's USA Today Sports Section reviewing the weekend
    	sports on tv...
    
    	"AD Notes: A Digital ad, hyping computer services that work
    	in trying times, has the most creative tagline we've seen
    	in awhile - "Hell has our number"
    
    	Tom
    

	Everytime the Digital ads come on TV,  I crank up the volume
	and my son comes running into the room to hear it.  He wants
	more!
	
	He's 2.
	
	Garry

    Great, but how many 2 year olds have the money to buy an Alpha?
    
    				-John

I like it; play lots of ads with hot music and graphics (attention
grabbers) then start showing real ads with what we really sell.

Now we can take those orders and put them in our envelopes.

	re: .195

	mid-December, lead times for the HiNote & HiNote Ultra were
	25 to 35 days.........

	_kelley

   
   >   Great, but how many 2 year olds have the money to buy an Alpha?
    
None, but if you were to ask how many seem to have direct on-line access
    to Daddy's wallet, well... 

    	At first, I thought the ads were no good. After seeing them on TV,
    coupled with the full page ads in the Boston Globe, I have to admit
    that the whole campaign has merit. The campaign strategy seems to
    working quite well!
    
    	bc 
    
    	

    Our partners are seeing the ads.  Here's a postcript to a request for
    product information...
    
"P.S. To the DECies, I'm glad Hell has your phone numbers; maybe they won't call
me so much..."

    I heard on the radio today that this year's Superbowl ads will run $1M
    per 30 second spot.
    
    Haven't seen/heard whether Digital has bought advertising time or not.
    
    This year's Superbowl is scheduled for Sunday, January 29th for those
    outside of the U.S., and typically has a very large TV audience.
    
    kjg

    Re: -1
    >This year's Superbowl is scheduled for Sunday, January 29th for those
    >outside of the U.S., and typically has a very large TV audience.
    
    And on just what day is held in the U.S.?
    
    
    Robin 

Superbowl advertising is too expensive for us right now.

				Steve

    RE: .208
    
    That's too bad. The Superbowl usually has a very high viewer rating.
    
    I bet IBM, Compaq, etc have ads.
    
    Kevin

    
    re: -1 
    
    Sorry to disagree Steve. It's probably more a choice of where we ( well
    not 'we', but 'THEY' ) choose to spend the dollars. 
    
    We choose to spend millions reorganizing, moving people from site to
    site, more VP's, etc. 
    
    jc

    re: last couple
    
    True the Superbowl is very expensive, but from what I understand,
    advertising during the Superbowl is one of the cheapest as far as
    cost per viewer.
    

Maybe we should branch away from sports - I know we do the Sunday talk
shows (I don't watch those either, but I suppose I'm not a typical viewer).

I know, let's advertise during the OJ trial! :-)

				Steve

    re: .212
    
    So, like, "hell has our phone number" and if OJ fries ...
    
    Steve

    I'd like to know what brand of laptop Judge Ito is using?  :-)

    IBM

    re .215
    
    I thought I read that it was a Toshiba Satellite.

    Re:  Last few entries about advertising during the `Superbowel' 
    	 (..sorry, couldn't resist..)
    
    Bill Troy may wish to share the decision not to participate, but here's 
    a few interesting tidbits from this week's "Advertising Age."
    
    -- The article did not have a definitive list of every advertiser, but
    IBM, Compaq, Microsoft, H-P,  et. al. were NOT mentioned..and it was a 
    good-sized article.
     
    -- 30-second spots are $1M each - a 5.2% increase over 1994
    -- 60 "units" are being sold by ABC
    -- 2 remained unfilled as of late last week
    -- Last year's SB scored a 45.5 audience rating
    -- Cars will have a big share of the units allotted:
    		American Honda - introducing new "Odyssey" minivan
    		Ford - unveiling redesidned Lincoln Continental
    		Chrysler - launching Dodge "Stratus" midsize sedan
    		American Isuzu - kickoff of new upscale "Trooper Limited"
    -- Other advertisers mentioned:
    		McDonalds - already running spots that will run through and
    			    beyond the SB featuring a host of comedians
    		Anheuser-Busch - Bud Bowl # whatever
    		Miller - with Jimmy Johnson 
    		Comedy Central - also with Jimmy Johnson  (..sheezz..)
     		Coke (natch)
    		Club Med
    		Sony Music Entertainment
    		Blockbuster Entertainment
    		Frito-Lay Doritos - with a "Raiders of the Lost
    			Ark"-inspired halftime show being produced by
    			Walt Disney Co., and featuring................
    			..............................................
    			........Tony Bennett	 
    
    	...must be they wanted to be sure everyone could take a l-o-n-g
       potty-break without guilt..   8^)
    
    Will keep looking for a "final" list of advertisers.
    

    RE: .216 and .216
    
    The IBM logo is kind of hard to miss, even if it is upside down.

    If I'm not mistaken, the Super Bowl is 7up's only television
    advertisement of the year.  This has nothing to do with Digital, of
    course, but I just thought I'd throw that in here.  :-)
    
    					Steve

>                     <<< Note 3528.219 by PCBUOA::MORGAN >>>
>                               -< One other... >-
>
>    If I'm not mistaken, the Super Bowl is 7up's only television
>    advertisement of the year.  This has nothing to do with Digital, of
>    course, but I just thought I'd throw that in here.  :-)

7-Up?  The UnCola? Geoffrey Holder "Never had it, never will?"
The little red dot guys cavorting on and off the label?
They're all over the dial, all year long!

SuperBowl advertising is a waste unless you just want to reinforce 
a VERY well known name (Coke) or break SIGNIFICANT new ground
(the original Macintosh ad).  Everything in between is just
to say you did it.  You may get a 45 rating, but who's really watching?

- tom]

    I would have to agree with those about why we're NOT advertising in the
    SB.  It seems a likely follow-on to those advertisement during the
    regular season and the playoffs.  
    
    A new commercial would be extremely timely.  What about airing the one
    commercial that didn't get to the finals with the PCBU?  Mostly male
    audience, it should go over pretty well.

    
    Just wondering....did we run any commercials last weekend? 
    I've been normally seeing 3-4 a weekend, but nothing last weekend.
    
    					Ed
    

    
> >    If I'm not mistaken, the Super Bowl is 7up's only television
> >    advertisement of the year.
> 
> They're all over the dial, all year long!
    
    Yup, but there is a company that does or used to do this - Master (the 
    padlock company).
    
    - Sean

    I haven't watch the OJ stuff much, but I recall seeing a Toshiba
    Satellite on Judge Ito's bench via TV last month..
    
    ...tom

    it was being entered into evidence, there was blood stain on it.
    
    :-)
    
    ed

>    it was being entered into evidence, there was blood stain on it.

If it was a Digital computer, Shapiro would claim it was a burgundy stain.

    
    re: TV placement - we are on hiatus in US for a while on tv - still doing
    print ads.  This was part of the plan going back 7 months to DDBN's
    initial recommendation to DIGITAL and we are executing against the
    plan.  TV is being beamed to the Far East in January and February 
    (Star TV, CNN International are 2 networks) to reach the PACRIM, so the
    U.S. side is quiet now as it rolls out elsewhere.
    
    Regarding sports - while it may seem we are only doing sports - there
    has been significant news programming, and some placement on scifi tv
    shows (like Earth 2), and movies. The plan is based on what the target
    audiences and when they watch, which did lead us to Sunday tv all day.
    
    Super Bowl is one of those topics where everyone has an opinion on
    being there or not.  You do end up betting that your 1 or 2 spots are
    not key bathroom time, or in the second half of a lousy game.  This
    does differ from many lower rated games where you can buy 4 or 6 spots
    and get the message out a couple of times to the target audience with
    more certitude. The agency certainly is not prejudiced against the
    Super Bowl - as they are now the Anheuser Busch lead agency and are the
    agency behind the Bud Bowl this year. But they did not recommend the
    Super Bowl as part of the initial flight of TV and we went with that plan.
    
    No reason Super Bowl would not be in our future media buy plans.
    
    Bill
    

    
    Re .227:
    
    So when will TV ads show up again?
    

    *If* we have a bad Q2 earnings report next week, perhaps it's best
    not to be doing much advertising anyhow... kind of like how airlines
    pull their ads after a crash.  (or change them: US Air dropped the
    latter part of "On time.  On the nose" after Pittsburgh's nose dive)
    On the other hand, ads are even more visible after a good earnings
    report. kb

    >If we have a bad Q2 earnings report
    
    we just change the ad to "the INVESTORS have our number"

    
    RE 227:
    
    Bill, thank you very much for the update. Others have said this, but
    I'd like to too - It sure is nice having someone from upper management
    telling is little folks not only what's going on, but why it's going
    on!!
    					Thanks again,
    
    					Ed

    re: .142
    
     Any luck getting MPEG CD roms done off our our ads ?
    We need for PC Adv MM offering demo to mgmt. I can take white or.mpg
    but not green book at this time.
    
     JRogich
    

    I'm still seeing the ads on CNN Headline news
    
    ed

RE:  Last few discussing efficacy of advertising during Super Bowl
     given the significant cost factor.

There is a certain company who in previous years has had a single
ad on television ALL year.  That ad was done during the Super Bowl
and only done ONCE.  One ad, once per year.  And yet I venture a
guess that a significant number of your REMEMBER the ad and buy the
product:

The ad:  a bullet blasting through a lock and the lock still
         remains locked.

The company:  MasterLock.

.../ken

re .227:

>   plan.  TV is being beamed to the Far East in January and February 
>   (Star TV, CNN International are 2 networks) to reach the PACRIM, so the

Does this means the CNN ads will be visible only in the PacRim?  If we
ever "do" Europe, I'd be grateful for a schedule.

And Bill, I'd like to echo .231 (I think it was) and many others who have
expressed thanks to you for taking the time to participate in this
notesfile.  Not only is it good to hear the reasoning behind a set
of decisions, but it is wonderful for morale to have the feeling of
being listened to by decision-makers (whether we in fact are or not).

Maybe I'm naive, but it seems to me if I were in a position of worldwide
management responsibility, I would want to know what employees are
thinking (at the very least), and I probably would take advantage of
the opportunity to influence that thinking by addressing their concerns.
But maybe I'm naive.

Steve

Re: .234

Never saw the MasterLock ad, but then, I don't watch football at all.

Re: ads

Today's Boston Globe has the latest of John Carroll's "Ad Hoc" columns in
which he puts down the Digital ads as too annoying.  (Several other ad
campaigns also get shots taken at - he likes IBM's latest with "nuns".)

				Steve

    
    I am glad that my periodic 'drop ins' are useful. Thanks. 

    re: .227 I was just in the PacRim last week and sure enough saw the ads
    twice while watching CNN International. I believe I was in Malaysia at
    the time. It was funny because I had just been talking to a colleague
    earlier that days telling him about the ads and saying how they really
    should be shown on CNN International or Star TV...guess I must have
    been psychic or something ;*)
    
    Debbie
    

    The whole suite of current TV ads was shown to a packed amphitheatre of
    Digital employees and partners in Brussels on Friday as part of the
    Work Group Systems and Electronic Commerce symposium.
    
    Very impressive!  Can't wait for world-wide rollout.
    
    The speaker made a throw-away comment "this is the new face of Digital, -
    this is what you can achieve driven by the harwdare business"
    
    "Damn - we're in the software business........"
    
    He then proceeded to show the preview of the next-in-series with
    same music and rapid image collage - this time some in-ya-face 
    SOFTWARE marketing.   Great stuff!
    
    /Chris.
    
    P.S. Guess the software product ?

    re: TV ads
    
    Glad to hear the Asia broadcasts were seen - they are running into
    March.
    
    European TV is being explored as part of a larger rollout of the Brand
    campaign in Europe, which will include local language implementations
    of the print ads - the full plan is being developed right now.   
    
    U.S. TV - we are sharing a NCAA buy with the PC group - the Brand
    campaign ads will be on NCAA BBall this weekend Sat and Sun.  More
    details on Livewire in next day or so.

    Give mit ze eenformation!!
    
    :-)
    

I'd guess LinkWorks.

		Steve

    
    
    I saw a GREAT...?? Digital Commercial on TV the other night, it goes
    like this...
    
    Blank screen
    
    Some big band music... followed by (so fast that I could bearly 
    read it):
    
    
    Digital HiNote... best notebook in the industry....
    
    
    Screen goes blank again... followed by:
    
    
    And some people though that we made VCR's (??)
    
    
    Question:
    
    Who in the WORLD designs our TV commercials...!?!?
    How about taking 20 seconds to SHOW THE PUBLIC a PICTURE of what me
    make....
    
    There is NO WONDER why no one knows what me make....!!!!!
    
    Sigh....
    

    You dont understand,
    
    TV Stations have started charging based on the information content
    contained in ads. If we put any information in them they would be far
    too expensive for this company to put on.
    
    

    Re: .238:
    
    Yup, I saw ads while in Hong Kong on Star's coverage of the Aussie Open.
    
    Mark.

>    European TV is being explored as part of a larger rollout of the Brand
>    campaign in Europe, which will include local language implementations
>    of the print ads - the full plan is being developed right now.   
    
    This should be interesting, seeing as the former MD of Territory A (UK
    and Ireland) and now ABU manager for Europe is dead against TV
    adverts. The messages we have been receiving is that both he and UK
    marketing seem to feel TV ads are expensive, unfocused, "need a
    sustained campaign" and are a bad investment. The all time classic
    excuse for not advertising on TV is that 'by advertising we may create
    an demand for our products which (oh my gosh) we might have trouble
    satisfying'.
    
    Angus

    I guess LinkWorks. ;^)
    
    Cheers, Laurie_in_Brussels.

    I just finished driving to work, during which drive I was listening to
    US National Public Radio.  I tuned into a piece about the future of
    advertising media, including CD-ROM, multimedia in general, and via the
    Internet/Web.  And who should be interviewed on the latter topic, and
    sounding properly pundit-ish and analytical, but our own Director of
    Advertising, Bill Troy.  Not only does he make himself available for
    interactions in THIS medium, he takes questions from the press!  BRAVO.
    

>     <<< Note 3528.248 by LJSRV2::KALIKOW "TeleCommuter on the InfoBahn" >>>
>           -< Speaking of VISIBILITY, Kudos to DIGITAL's Bill Troy! >-
>
>    I just finished driving to work, during which drive I was listening to
>    US National Public Radio.  I tuned into a piece about the future of
>    advertising media, including CD-ROM, multimedia in general, and via the
>    Internet/Web.  And who should be interviewed on the latter topic, and
>    sounding properly pundit-ish and analytical, but our own Director of
>    Advertising, Bill Troy.  Not only does he make himself available for
>    interactions in THIS medium, he takes questions from the press!  BRAVO.

What you heard was a locally produced (Boston's WBUR) segment.
Such segments sometimes do make it to "US National Public Radio,"
of which WBUR is an apparently important contributing member,
but you ain't heard it there yet.

But Dan, if anybody had asked, I would have sent them to you!

- tom]

    RE: .243  I liked the "VCR" ad and so did my wife.
    
    This just goes to show you that no single advertisement is liked
    by every single viewer.
    
    				-John

re .240

� U.S. TV - we are sharing a NCAA buy with the PC group - the Brand campaign ads
� will be on NCAA BBall this weekend Sat and Sun.  More details on Livewire in
� next day or so.

Don't we want to sell things to people who don't watch sports?

Paul

>> � U.S. TV - we are sharing a NCAA buy with the PC group - the Brand campaign ads
>> � will be on NCAA BBall this weekend Sat and Sun.  More details on Livewire in
>> � next day or so.
>> 
>> Don't we want to sell things to people who don't watch sports?

Actually, this is a campaign by the professional sports organizations to force
people to watch sports on TV if they want to see Digital advertisements.

:-)

(I haven't seen any Digital TV ads yet; theoretically they've been on Star Trek
Deep Space Nine, but I haven't noticed the Digital logo whizzing by when I fast
forwarded the tape.  :-)

    
    re; Sports buy.  Actually our primary sports buy is College sports for
    Q3.  We buy sports, news, sci fi and movies because the business and IT
    decisionmakers watch those programs.  

	There were folks in this and the Marketing notesfile that have
	been saying for years that business and IT decisionmakers watch
	sci-fi. I'm glad we finally believe it.

	Not all people who watch Star Trek are 16 year old boys who still
	live in their Mom's basement and have never kissed a girl. (to
	paraphrase a particular SNL skit)

						mike

    This was brought home by an ad run during the premiere episode of Star
    Trek:Voyager in the Boston market by D.E. Shaw, Inc -- a financial
    services company from NYC.  They are expanding into the Boston area and
    need a pile of IT people.  The ST:V premiere was serendipitous.  They
    ran a text-only ad, no actors, and (I think) no music.  And the only
    contact information at the end was an E-mail address.  As
    their VP in charge of the expansion pointed out in a note to me when I
    inquired, "What better way to put our message in front of every
    technically savvy person in greater Boston than by buying time in the
    premiere episode of a Star Trek series?"  They got a huge pile of
    responses.  Too bad we weren't there as well.  Or were we?  (See
    postscript for why I'm unsure.)
    
    John
    
    p.s. I say "I think" because I watched the episode on a friend's
    wall-sized projection TV system direct from the United Paramount
    Network satellite feed, and the local ads inserted by the local
    affiliate station (WSBK-TV38, Boston) were obviously not present.  The
    screen was dark during the intervals allowed for local ad insertion.
    
    The national ads took up only about 50% of the available ad time; the
    rest were inane promos for equally inane UPN programming.

	Anyone else catch the "new" tv advert on security systems.  Bordering
	on bad taste IMHO, but whatever works I guess.  That one should draw
	some attention...

	

    re .-1
    
    If Inmate xx-yyyyy-zz was really in prison due to our security features
    I could buy it, otherwise it seemed to be rather a dumb thing to say.
    
    A bit of nice timing tho, showing it during "Carriers" on the Discovery
    Channel. 
    
    .mike.

Re .256 "  They could of least said what prison he was in...."

They did - the "mug shot" gave the prison as Leavenworth, Kansas (which I
thought was a military prison)

I noticed the ad because of the music - and then I recognized the style,
and kept watching, because I knew it was one of our ads.

    I assumed we were refering to Kevin Mitnik (sp?)
    
    Mark

    
     Also aired on "60 minutes" this past Sunday.
    
     So where are the rest of the ads @?
    
    -Mike Z.
    
    Vacation time for sale... interested?

    I think Leavenworth is a federal pen but used to be a military pen.

    We are developing several new spots - "security" is the first.
    
    The person is an actor hired for the photograph - the reference to
    Leavenworth was done as it is the most known of the Federal prisons.  
    
    It is the TV companion to a DIGITAL print ad entitled" "Riding Shotgun
    on the Information Highway" that first appeared in the Wall Street
    Journal last Thursday, which discusses DIGITAL Firewall Services. 
    
    As Information Security is a very hot topic, DIGITAL has very strong
    offerings, and no one else is talking about it - it is an excellent
    opportunity for DIGITAL to claim some ground. IMHO - we need to do more
    of this type of marketing.
    
    We continue to advertise in the U.S., but not at the same intrusive
    levels of Q2, in order to build our image overseas.   
    
    Bill
    
    

    The adv drew a collective "that's stupid!" from everyone sitting by the
    TV where I was.  It was during CNN headline news.  Followed closely by
    a very nice IBM adv.  sigh.   I know who should be in prison.
    

    
    	Saw it also during both 60 Minutes and Carriers. Thought it was
    OK, but then I'm very jaded by advertising and figured it was not
    a real somebody. Like Pepsi ads.
    
    	The music is the big attention getter. Even my three-year-old
    now associates the music with Daddy, work, and TV. She dropped her
    toys and ran into the living room to watch. Now if we could just
    get her a job as head of MIS at a Fortune 500 company....
    
    		the Greyhawk

The military prison is on Ft. Leavenworth Kansas. U.S. Army

There is also a very large Federal prison in Leavenworth Kansas.

They are within a few miles of each other.  

    	Actually, I heard a rumor that the real intent of this advertising
    campaign was to get attention and annoy people. Once we have their
    attention, the tone and style of the messages will change to better
    explain our company, products, and services. Maybe this was wishful
    thinking on someone's part, but I like the idea and it seems to be
    working! I know the ads annoy the hell out of me when I see them!
    When your 8 and 10 year old kids are laughing at the ads (at them - not
    with them), then you know something is wrong.

    I also saw the "security" add on CNN, right after they did a story
    about "bandits" on the information highway/
    
    Ad was annoying. But it couldn't have followed a better new item though.

    Side question : still no news about TV Advert in Europe ?
    
    Living in Belgium ( center of Europe ), I've still seen none so far.
    Although I can see a lot of excellent IBM adverts.
    
    Are we simply forgotten ...
    
    Philippe

    re: Security advertisement: a couple of points.
    
    1.  We are getting responses to the ad saying "I had no idea you
    provided this type of service" from large customers and prospects.
    2.  We occasionally have our inside jokes, but the number was
    especially created to NOT be a legitimate prison number - resemblance
    to a part number is wholely coincidental.
    3.  We carefully targetted security ad placements to key audiences -
    for example the Government area with the Discovery Channel's "Carriers
    - Fortress at Sea" show.  
    
    Re: Europe. COuntry level plans are being finalised right now.  TV is
    part of that plan.  SHould start seeing ads in last few days of March,
    first few days of April.
    
    BT  

    
    
    
    RE: .270
    
    BT,
    
    I must say that it's great having you participate in this discussion
    and addressing some of the questions that your coworkers have.
    
    
    
    I thought the commercials were pretty catchy.  My only question was, do
    we have the name recognition so as people know what business we're in. 
    If we do, great (I have doubts about this).  If we don't, perhaps we
    need to throw a few ads in that show we are a full service computer
    vendor.
    
    
    Mike 

    Just a little clarification. I happen to service equipment at Ft
    Leavenworth. Among other things, Ft Leavenworth is home to the US
    Detention Barricks (USDB) a.k.a. The Stockade. The USDB houses military
    offenders only. The Federal Penitentary a.k.a "The Big House" is
    located on an adjoining federal property. It is no coincidence that the
    penitentary is bordered on three sides by Ft Leavenworth. Just to
    complicate matters further, the Kansas State Correctional Facility is
    located a few miles away in Lansing. Lansing and Leavenworth have grown
    into each other and are indistinguishable save the city limit signs. I
    guess you could say the whole area is based on a "captive economy". 

    The whole set of advertisments were shown to about 200 German
    Digitals at a Cebit kick off meeting. Were definitely well
    recieved. My guess is that these advertisments would go down
    well at least in Norther Europe where English is reasonably
    well understood.
    
    re roelof

    
    	RE .270
    
    	FWIW - I liked the secutiy add.
    
>    3.  We carefully targetted security ad placements to key audiences -
>    for example the Government area with the Discovery Channel's "Carriers
>    - Fortress at Sea" show.  
    
     From Today's Globe:
    
    "The ratings ship can in for the Disovery Channel last Sunday.
     The cable channel drew its best ratings ever with its two-hour
     special on aircraft carriers "Carrier: Fortress at Sea." The
     show earned a 4.0 rating, which translates to about 2.6 million
     households nationally."
    
    Looks like someone made an excellent decision!!
    
    					Ed
    
    

    I happened to be half-listening to a very late showing of the
    "Carriers" program while catching up on my email, when "that music"
    came on. Behold: new Digital ad!
    
    Trying to place myself in the mindset of a non-Digit is not easy, but
    in that context I found this particular ad as typically cryptic of the
    entire series (with the exception of the "Speed" ad)...
    
    On the one hand, the series must have some positive effect: it's quite 
    obvious to me that I've been successfully programmed (as in Pavlov) to 
    immediately recognize the music and associate it with Digital - and I
    suspect this to be a nearly universal response by now...
    
    On the other hand, I still wonder if MIS personnel with big-ticket 
    signature authority actually "get it" and respond by considering
    Digital in their future...

	I found it quite amusing that right after a segment on Science and
	Technology Week on CNN Sunday that dealt with Kevin Mitnick
	and the security of the Internet and how Shimumora (sp?) tracked
	him down, there was an ad by Digital for Network Security.

	I still think the actor in the ad looks alot like KM.

	Good job.

							mike

    
    I think that I responded to some of the above comments last week, but
    here is a quick reprise.
    
    in Security, we are dealing with a hot topic, which exactly lends
    itself to the news buy we are doing on CNN.  We have the opportunity
    each week to adjust which ad runs on which show - we therefore have
    ensured that "Security" is the primary ad we are running on news
    programs.
    
    The Discovery Channel has excellent viewership demographics, coupled
    with the fact that the shows on that channel add audiences who do not
    watch other shows, for example A&E or News, so we are reaching new
    audiences.
    
    We thought the quality of the Carriers show would be high - the good news
    for the company is that we bought the show based on a viewer rating
    projected to be about 1% or so of the audience - it actually did a 4.0%
    of the audience - which of course is a bargain for DIGITAL.  Discovery 
    Channel also did promotion work on radio, etc. to help build audience.
    Based on the Government and Technical influencer audience we expected,
    we ran "Speed" and "Security". 
    
    As for the TV ad content - it's important to remember that there is a
    text rich complementary print campaign ongoing - our latest print ad is
    called "Riding SHotgun on the Information Highway" - which brings
    forward more details than a 30 second spot can do.
    
    BT

re .275

>    I happened to be half-listening to a very late showing of the
>    "Carriers" program while catching up on my email, when "that music"
>    came on. Behold: new Digital ad!
>    
>    Trying to place myself in the mindset of a non-Digit is not easy, but
>    in that context I found this particular ad as typically cryptic of the
>    entire series (with the exception of the "Speed" ad)...

	I agree.  The speed ad is the best.  And as I mentioned in another
	thread, I'd like to see a tie-in with motor racing.  It would be
	great to see the Digital logo on a race car:  Formula One, Indy Car,
	NASCAR or Top Fuel Dragster.    

	I also wish we'd advertise during prime-time on the top rated 
	network shows (Roseanne, Home Improvement, etc in the US) with the
	speed ad (and the race car tie-in).  Why do we continue to be obtuse?

			SQ

|   It would be great to see the Digital logo on a race car:  Formula One,
|   Indy Car, NASCAR or Top Fuel Dragster.
    
    Granted, paid for long ago.  But in one of the world's most visited
    museums, MOMA in NYC, at the top of the escallator is a Ferrari F1
    car from just a few seasons ago.  The Digital logo (old style) is rather
    prominent.  (And the Goodyear tyres have "for competition only
    not for street use" embossed into the sidewalls.)
    
    A few years ago, we even had some of our hardware in the Industrial
    Design collection.  I'm sure it's still there, but in the warehouse
    instead of out for current display.
    
    								-mr. bill

	NASCAR would probably get the most bang for the buck in racing in
	the USA.

						mike

    	RE .278
    
>	I also wish we'd advertise during prime-time on the top rated 
>	network shows (Roseanne, Home Improvement, etc in the US) with the
>	speed ad (and the race car tie-in).  Why do we continue to be obtuse?
    
    Gee...I'm certainly no expert but it seems to me that we're
    advertising on exactly the right kind of shows. Why spend big
    bugs for Roseanne and Home Improvement? Sure the shows are popular,
    but are they popular with the people who will be buying our
    equipment? Now if we were selling beer...
    
    I think we're much better off with 10 adds on This Week With
    David Brinkley than one on Roseanne. 
    
    Keep up the good work. 
    
    					Ed
    
    

  Just a few data points:

    o IBM reached our family last week with a direct-mail piece
      promoting their Aptiva line.

    o H/P reached me last week with a TV advert promoting their
      low-end inkjet printers

    o Digital did not reach us in any way.

  ( o Neither ad was babe-oriented, although the H/P ad did
      involve a youngster abusing the printer. )


  I stand by my contention that IBM, H/P, and Apple (from previous
  exposure) want me as a customer; Digital does not. My business
  goes where its wanted.


                                   Atlant

  (The last Digital ad I saw was the one where the Digital exec-
  utive gets hauled off to jail for misappropriating company in-
  formation. He *MUST* have been a Digital executive 'cause he
  was wearing a Digital part number! :-)

  Seriously: Speaking just for me, that ad would motivate me to
  cross Digital off "the approved vendor list". Between having
  an unclear message, no product pointers, and no way indicated
  to call Digital and follow up on the message even if it *DID*
  interest me, which it didn't, that ad was a zero in my book.

                                   Atlant )

    re:- 3528.126 (dated 6-DEC-1994:-)
    
    For the benefit of Europe! What happened to the proposed WWW MPEG
    files of these adverts. I thought they were on their way? Or have I
    missed something?
    
    Thanks; Phil.L�
                                           

    
    There was no plan to place the ads on WWW - we have them digitized for
    conference and trade show use.   
    
    Bill
    
    

    A clarification on my note on WWW, having just read my December note.
    
    There was an exploration of tv ads on the Web.  For business and
    technical reasons, we are not doing it.  Business - we need to keep
    close control on the ads due to the claims we make and maintain an 
    ability to recall them.
     
    Technical - speed of the WWW and its dependence on any combination of network, 
    server and client slowness.  We are keeping an eye open to improved
    demand creation approachs for the Internet. 

re .281
    
>    Gee...I'm certainly no expert but it seems to me that we're
>    advertising on exactly the right kind of shows. Why spend big
>    bugs for Roseanne and Home Improvement? Sure the shows are popular,
>    but are they popular with the people who will be buying our
>    equipment? Now if we were selling beer...
>    
>    I think we're much better off with 10 adds on This Week With
>    David Brinkley than one on Roseanne. 

	This reminds me of an English professor I once had.  He published
	a revised edition of Huck Finn but used the author's real name 
	instead of paying royalties for the use of Mark Twain.  He couldn't
	see spending the big bucks for the name.  He sold about 6 copies.
	As someone in the class pointed out, keeping 100% of $0.00 is still
	$0.00.

	Why do you assume that the decision-makers aren't watching the
	popular shows?  Isn't it possible that they are?  And isn't it
	possible that the people who influence them are watching?  They 
	might even be beer-drinkers (at least on the left coast).

	Wall St Journal/David Brinkely/SciFi shows are all good.  I just
	don't think we should limit ourselves.  I love it when I see print
	ads in Newsweek, TV Guide, local newspaper....  Now if we could
	just spice up the ads a lot!

			SQ
    

    Hey SuzieQ, you related to Tony?  Beer and Coke don't mix too well with
    our equipment, especially when you spill 'em into the keyboards.  I
    don't know much about advertising, though.  :-)
    
    Mark

	Mark,

	Yes, Tony is my better half (was it the last name? :-) )  I haven't
	had any recent experience with liquids in a keyboard, but I do 
	remember an old LA120 that took a cup of coffee and is still going
	for all I know, well, except for the "r" key.  Hmmmm - takes a 
	licking and keeps on ticking -- awww -- guess someone else already
	thought of that one!!!

		SQ

    Folks - without getting to specifics, we are outspent in advertising by
    our major competitors.  We therefore must be focused and disciplined to
    reach key targets in the most efficient manner possible.  This
    unfortunately means we must pass on many advertising opportunities,
    especially many prime time shows.  It is all a matter of reaching our
    target audiences as many times as we can afford, at the most important
    times of the week our audiences watch.  
    
    Am I sick of seeing the somewhat ubitiquous IBM nuns on prime tine
    shows, - you betcha.    

    I did see a full pager in "Gas and Turbine Power Monthly".  Seriously,
    folks, I'm not making this up.  It's an airline industry mag, geared
    towards who's building what plane, some historical articles, some
    scientific articles...and a big Digital ad that said something like
    "When you need to be x times faster than your competition...you need
    Digital!".
    
    Pretty damn neat ad, well-suited (just like Pamela Anderson :^]) for
    the target market.
    
    					Tex
    		

    Re .287

    .290 pretty well says it all. But...

>	Why do you assume that the decision-makers aren't watching the
>	popular shows?  Isn't it possible that they are?  

    Of course it is. I'm sure decision-makers are watching these shows.
    However the important thing is what percentage of the people are
    watching these shows. Here's how it might work:

    Suppose Brinkley has 1/10 the viewers of Roseanne. This would mean
    it might cost 10 times more to advertise on Roseanne than Brinkley.
    So...in cost per person reached it would not matter whether we
    advertise once on Roseanne or 10 times on Brinkley. However, I
    would bet that if you look at what percentage of the viewers of
    each show are decision makers, things change quite a bit. Perhaps
    1/2 of the people watching Brinkley are decision makers, and only
    1/10 of the people watching Roseanne are. This means that
    in dollars per decision maker (who are the people we are trying
    to reach) advertising on Roseanne just isn't worth as much as
    advertising on Brinkley.

    I also wish we did not have to limit ourselves, but as we do,
    I think the people making the choices are doing an excellent job.
    
    Hope this clarifies what I was trying to say.

    					Ed

Although you are against putting the TV ads on WWW, how about a scanned
copy of the print ads?

Chuck

    
    RE: .290
    
    The figures below from Adscope was in a Swedish computer magazine.
    They must be totally wrong then?
    
    /Kjell
    
    Global advertising, 1994
    
    		MUSD	Change
    IBM		81.7	 -0.12%
    Digital     45.4     42.50%
    Microsoft   45.0      3.75%
    Compaq	41.6	 10.55%
    Dell	28.2	 -1.72%
    Gateway2000 26.5	 13.45%
    AT&T	25.0	-18.66%
    Lotus	22.6	 -5.32%
    Apple	22.5	  5.32%
    H-P		21.7	 66.63%
    Intel	17.5	 68.90%
    NEC		16.4	 26.54%
    Source: Adscope

   
>    There was an exploration of tv ads on the Web.  For business and
>    technical reasons, we are not doing it.  Business - we need to keep
>    close control on the ads due to the claims we make and maintain an 
>    ability to recall them.
 
    Hmmm, do you intend to recall all video tapes from anyone who might
    have taped the advertisments? And come to think of it what about all those
    print advertisments that are no longer politically correct...I hope
    that you have a BIG garage :-)
        
 >   Technical - speed of the WWW and its dependence on any combination of network, 
 >   server and client slowness.  We are keeping an eye open to improved
 >   demand creation approachs for the Internet. 
    
    This argument comes up quite often with people who don't use MPEG
    via WWW. Extending this argument and we would not put any JPEG or GIF
    images on the WWW because some people (like me) only have 16 colour
    video and can't display the images in their true glory.               
    
    There are just too many MPEG sites successfully operating on the Web
    to take this argument seriously. Standard practice is to indicate
    the minimum specifications you need as a client machine to display
    properly.
    
    With respect to having a slow network server...well, that is an issue.
    On the other hand it is self-regulating..fully loaded is fully loaded.
    
    Hopefully this isn't a case of what we call in Dutch "koud water vrees"
    (cold water fear).
    
    re roelof

    I can *maybe* understand the stated reasons for NOT putting MPEG
    adverts on the commercial Web.
    BUT,
    How about providing the adverts from one of our INTERNAL Web Pages?
    Phil.L�

    
    While we do not have all the 1994 advertising numbers from overseas
    yet, the U.S. data and first indications in most major countries
    outside the U.S. is that we are being way outspent.  In any individual
    country, your mileage may differ (e.g., Sweden).
    
    Bill

Two arguments in favor of putting the ads on the net:

1) It's cheap

2) The people who access them are likely to actually look at them.

--RS

    Heard a Digital ad touting our inkjet printer line on the radio (during
    the NCAA b'ball coverage). Digital and an ACTUAL PRODUCT mentioned in
    the same breath - repatedly! Nearly drove off the highway! 
    
    Got home, flipped on the tube, and lo and behold, a Digital TV ad for the
    HiNote Ultra! A superb ad, easy for any viewer to understand what makes
    the HiNote a neat product (sliding the Ultra out of an interoffice
    mailer was a great touch). Good voice over, too.
    
    I was stunned! Yeah, it's the PCBU, and they sell to a different market
    than the SBU, but the ad had *Digital* and a *real piece of hardware*
    together!
    
    Great stuff! It's very nice to see an ad that people (other than Digits) 
    can understand...
    
    [Too bad we probably won't see any revenue gains though - from everything 
    I've read the entire Ultra build capacity through the end of the FY95 was 
    sold out a month ago!]

    Re: -.1
    
    Now that there are product specific ads, people will remember that the
    product was made by Digital.  The company name is no longer a mystery,
    thanks to the name recognision campaign that has been going on.
    
    On another note, I personally think this whole advertising thread is a
    plot.  Oz I haven't seen anything since the 'Desk 'n Tree' ad.  And I
    think that was only published internally.
    
    Later,
    
    Bill

    
    re .-2
    
    If the Notebook is sold out till end of fiscal year.
    
    THEN why are we advertising a product that we cannot sell to people
    whom seen the ad ... Iwould think hearing we are sold out is not good
    business practive.   
    
    Comments ?  Am I missing something here ???
    
    

    
    Hay, I'd like to just see us get the message out that Digital does
    WORKSTATIONS!  A lot of people still associate us with the glass house.
    
    

    I just heard that with Jorden back playing basketball McDonalds,
    Nike, and all his sponsors Jumped over 2 Billion (yes billion with
    a B) Dollars in the combined value of their stocks last week because
    of rumors of his return...
    
    Just think if we had a controvertial figure as a spokesman for 
    Digital Equipment... And on TV no less;-)
    
    Nah,  We don't need any increase in stock value...

    
    Maybe you'ld suggest OJ? He's in the news alot, on TV almost everyday,
    everyone has heard of him, he is definitely controversial, a former
    TV pitchman, and he's killing 'em in LA...
    
    		the Greyhawk

    
         Why controversial?  Jordan doesn't fit that description.
    
                                  Greg

    OJ is sponsored already by SONY and IBM - just watch a few minutes of
    that garbage and you see those names all the time.  On second thought,
    don't watch - it's a joke.
    
    Chuck (a.k.a. silver hairline)
    

    OJ who???
    
    Wouldn't it be better if we had someone well known on a global basis,
    rather than a US-parochial celebrity? 

    you suggesting the Pope?

    Wasn't there a press release saying Microsoft had bought the RC church,
    with its management?

    then when OJ shows his swollen knees or finger or whatever he could
    pull up his sleeve a little and make sure that his digital watch
    gets into the picture and everyone would think of DEC?  :-)
    
    ed

Well, he is a hacker.

      re 309
    
    > Wasn't there a press release saying Microsoft had bought the RC church,
    > with its management?
    
    Pearly Gates?
    

    As a (semi) positive comment that will have absolutely no impact on
    anyone, anywhere --
    
    My husband is a heavy equipment mechanic, and therefore, not a likely
    target for our advertising.  However, he was watching the Sunday night
    movie this week (3/19) on NBC, and caught the "Speed" commercial.  I, 
    of course, was out of the room at the time, and missed it (again!!!).  
    As a mech, his one complaint with most computer company commercials
    (including the latest series of foreign language commercials from IBM,
    which seem quite popular and effective), is that they are so filled
    with industry buzzwords and technological terms that they don't seem to
    be *selling* anything he can communicate with.
    
    Anyway, hubby was *very* impressed with the "Speed" commercial.  He said,
    and I quote, "I just saw the most terrific commercial for Digital!  Now
    that's a commercial even a gearhead like me can understand!!"  So, two
    points to Troy & his co-workers for a commercial that speaks to the
    masses, not just those into techno-speak!
    
    M.
    

    
    re: Non techno speak
    
    Thanks to your husband for his kind words.

    Bill,
    I'ld like to take another crack at breaking a lance for getting
    these ads out onto the Internet.
    
    As I see it:
    
    * the ads are such that there is no spoken text, do not rely on
    detail or subtlety and have outrageously great music making them
    ideal MPEG candidates. Almost as if they were specially designed
    for this medium.
    
    * By being the first company to do this (and up to today nobody
    else has) we would generate a newsworthy item and as a result
    get free advertising about the ads themselves. This has _got_
    to be an adman's dream, surely?
    
    * This can only strenghten Digital's renewal image _and_ Digital's
    savvy in the Internet space.
    
    * Your target audience is just around 2 million well educated computer
    literate males aged 25-35 who work (or will work) for many companies 
    which are (or could be) prime Digital customers.
    
    * Your costs are practically zilch. Convert the files, put 'em on
    the external web and ftp servers. Throw out a couple of news
    bulletins...and let the Internet do some of your work for you :-)
    
    re roelof

    re: .315
    
    I absolutely agree.  Also, I think that internet hackers are basically
    the same audience that did PC hacking during the last decade.  They are
    young, savvy and enthusiastic about the technology.  I think they will
    affect our current and future markets in a fashion similar to how they
    affected the PC market.
    
    Steve

    RE: .310

    Hey Ed, maybe we can get OJ to drive a tractor-trailer rig with the
    |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| logo on the side (again) ... 8^)

    Ron

Hi,

Re the thread about putting TV adds on the Web


I have just found a Web page with all the IBM TV adds!

Check it out on:-

 http://www.europe.ibm.com/getdoc/psmemea/technical/movies.html


(I hope I typed that correctly 8>)) )

If IBM can do it why cant Digital ?????

regards

Patrick

    
    Thanks for the path for the IBM ads.  Doing it technically, which any
    media company, computer company, experienced MAC user, etc. can do is
    different than it making sense to do business wise.  It is being
    evaluated in a context of new media.  This is being worked as part of a
    new media discussion and its role in advertising.
    
    BT  
    
    

    Just scanning through this topic and I made my way up to the
    superbowl discussion and big bucks.  Thought I'd do my duty to
    comment (again/still) on an effective advertising medium.
    
    Winston Cup stock car racing.  ~$2 million for 1 year.
    Races 31 times, on (mainly) National TV for up to 4.5 hours
    per race.  Includes show car(s) which show up wherever we want
    (comdex/decus/ALF :^)) however many times we want per year.
    Transported all over the country in a huge Digital billboard.
    Winston Cup racing is the most popular tv viewership of motorsport.
    TBS set a new viewership record (for ANYTHING) with their Richmond
    race.  These events continuously set the attendance records for ANY 
    sporting event in several states (New Hampshire, Tennessee, Deleware,
    and others).  Race fans have a proven brand loyalty to sponsors
    of Winston Cup racing.  55% of viewers are female (contrary to the
    red neck beer swillin bozos some folks think).  The series visits
    almost every major metropolitain area in the country.
    
    Combine this effort with a coordinated campaign which passes out
    hat's, pins, shirts, and other doo-dads and we get major exposure
    all year.
    
    I live in a small town (Dawsonville Georgia).  The home town and
    shop location of Bill Elliott.  He drives a Red ford (yeck) with
    a Big yellow "M" on it.  Recently a new commercial has started 
    running where Bills "blowing through town" and he knocks down the
    "Welcome to Dawsonville" sign.  If you live in Seattle, Washington
    or Augusta Maine, you might have seen it.  The exposure to our
    town is massive.  Heck, we get traffic problems when motorhome driving
    tourists roll into town and get lost (or stuck).  Oh ya, lots of
    fans who follow this sport have big bucks.  I wish I could afford
    $80,000 for a custom coach to follow this series all over the country,
    but I have to settle on my Suburban.  
    
    Regards,
    MadMike
    

  What, and compete with Apple's nifty "PowerMac" car?

                                   Atlant


  Disclaimer: I have no idea what class that car races in.  All I
  know is that I've seen it in lots of Apple Adverts so far.

    Therein is the key:
    
    > All I know is that I've seen it in lots of Apple Adverts so far.
    
    It's on CBS, ABC, ESPN, TBS, TNN, international satellite, in the
    trade papers, in the mainstream newspapers (except boston, at the
    moment), on the radio, all over the place.  It's essentially one
    big digital commercial for a year, and it's seen all over the place,
    by billions of people.
    
    I don't have the viewership numbers handy of the Daytona 500, but
    it's VERY big.  And that's just ONE race.  A little quick math:
    car leads 10 laps (who cares where it finishes at the moment).  A
    lap at speed at daytona takes about 46 seconds.  That's what,
    7.6 minutes @ $400,000 tv time per minute (we'll be cheap and give
    the airtime away).  Of the time while leading, the camera is focused
    on our car for 4 minutes.  That's a $1.6M "commercial".  And we
    paid $2M for the whole season.  
    
    Think of the positive moral (sure, some folks think this deal stinks)
    but "hey... there's our car... kicking butt... go man go..."  Digital
    could get active at New Hampshire International Speedway.  Send some
    folks to the race to hang out with "our" team because they sold
    lots of stuff this year.  
    
    They're building new tracks specifically for this class of racing
    in Los Angeles and Dallas/Ft. Worth.  New Hampshire was added a
    couple years ago.  
    
    You want to talk branding?  Try and get my wife to buy something
    other than Tide to wash our cloths.  
    
    MadMike

    I have to second (again) MadMike's [.-1] entry, (you really live in
    Dawsonville?) If we want the entire U.S. to know that "DEC" and
    "Digital" are the one and same, a couple million to sponsor an WC and a
    Busch team would do it.
    
    Going along with the "female" aspect of WC fans, I am now driving a
    Ford Thunderbird, mainly because my wife (a violently anti-Ford fan in
    the past) likes the #6 car. A spot on one of the 'news' shows asked a
    woman (at the races) if she'd switch from "Tide" to a product proven to
    be better and cheaper, to which she replied "Hell No!" She follows
    D.Waltrip and supports "his" sponsor. May not be the best, but if it's
    good enough for her driver, it's good enough for her.
    
    .mike.

    Notes Collision? Gee Mike, maybe that was your wife they interviewed?
    
    .mike.

    NASCAR fan nit:
    
    A spot on one of the 'news' shows asked a
    woman (at the races) if she'd switch from "Tide" to a product proven to
    be better and cheaper, to which she replied "Hell No!" She follows
    D.Waltrip and supports "his" sponsor. May not be the best, but if it's
    good enough for her driver, it's good enough for her.
    
    ---
    
    Don't know how to break it to your wife, but Ricky Rudd drives the Tide
    car.  DW is in the Western Auto car.  (Must be a female trend for Mark
    Martin, my wife also likes the #6 Valvoline car too.  Now, if they can
    just WIN SOME RACES!)
    
    
    Rob

    Although I'm not a big WC fan, my brother is and I have to agree with
    the last few. He regularly spouts statistics refering to WC racing as
    being the most highly watched sport in the world, etc. He also happens
    to race the same type of stock cars as they do in WC, albeit on a dirt
    track (and no where NEAR the price tag). So, if we want to start small
    I'm sure he'd love to have Digital sponsor him! Besides, he's been a
    faithful Digital PC owner for over 10 years (still has his Rainbow to
    run his business and keep his race results on!)
    
    Debbie
    

    Note that Digital doesn't have to fully sponsor a Winston Cup car.
    I'd settle for a nice Digital or Alpha logo on the quarter panel.
    Or even one fo the small signs on the dashboard that you can see 
    from the in-car cameras.
    
    				-John (a big WC fan)
    

RE .325

  Martin might win one if he quit driving a Ford!!!

RE: .328

	Don't tell that to my WC-lovin roommate! :)

	I also have to agree with the previous noters. I think $2million
	for a team could reap some serious airtime that DEC..er..digital
	doesn't have the resources to spend on today. $2million is
	tossed around this company like it's nothing in many places to
	this day. Tossing it in the direction of a WC team and/or a 
	Bush team would be great. And get lots of "digital" logo's
	where the in-car and other cameras can see them! (Suspension-Cam
	being my favourite)

	I'll bet Bob Palmer would like to park his Porsche for a ride
	in a WC car. :)

							mike

    See what I mean?  Ya, me and ~7000 other folks live in Dawsonville
    in the North Georgia mountains.
    
    I think the market we're trying to reach needs to be addressed
    at the Busch level (one step under Winston Cup) at least.  It needs to 
    be a National effort, busch is still too regional, and the average
    follower may not keep up with what's going on.
    
    So the "ideal" series is Winston Cup. 
    
    Next, we need to control the whole car, or be what's known as the
    primary sponsor (get the hood & quarter panel).  An associate 
    sponsorship would be the equivalent of sticking the little "dec"
    decal on the front of Bobby Rahals indy car.  We spend the
    bucks, it's "our" car and does what we want when we want it to be
    done.
    
    To control a car, and make it COMPETITVE, which the digital car
    MUST be, would take a minimum of $2M and CAREFULL team selection.
    Some teams (not mentioning any names) spend upwards of $6M.  A bare
    bones effort is $1M.  We need carefull selection because it is getting
    increasingly difficult to make the field of a race.  We MUST make the
    field at each event too.  Slapping on a decal and spending big bucks
    is the wrong approach too.  It must be researched properly (hell, that's
    assuming SOMEONE is listening).
    
    To round out the package a parallel marketing effort needs to be
    done in conjunction with the car.  I've heard many sponsors spend
    3 times what the cost of car sponsorship costs to promote their
    product, but I'm not a marketing guy.  I know what sells when I see
    it though.  Unfortunantly, my neighbor is currently selling A WHOLE
    BUNCH OF HAMBURGERS at the moment, so he can't help us, but I am
    hooked into the scene if someone wishes to follow up on any of the
    stuff discussed here.
                                                
    Regards,
    MadMike                                                               
    Who now shops at Lowes, as opposed to the "other" place...

    re: Note 3528.326 by JUMP4::JOY 
    
    You mean he drives an ARCA car?  They run primarily in the midwest,
    but hit some of the major NASCAR tracks too.  (Daytona, Talladega,
    Atlanta).
    
    Various information on NASCAR (and stock car racing in general)
    is available via the NASCAR notes file.  I happen to moderate the
    conference. (imagine that?!)  :^)
    
    

    
    	gee, if you want attention...try WRESTLING, now thats the ticket!

        re .330
        
    >> To round out the package a parallel marketing effort needs to be
    >> done in conjunction with the car.  I've heard many sponsors spend
        
        I must be getting tired earlier these days; my first pass over
        these lines had me wondering why we need to work on parallel
        parking a race car.  ;^)

    -.330
    
    THAT was good!

    Besides, I like the sound of "The Digital car ran real good today."
    
    Sounds better than, say, "The Spam car ran real good."  (Yes, Spam
    does sponsor a car, I don't remember who drives it though...)
    
    Just don't sponsor someone like Dale Earnhardt, I don't think I could
    come up with the mental gymnastics to get my mind around accepting him
    as 'my' driver.  My head would explode.

    At least with dale driving the Digital car would get seen near the
    front of the pack alot.  He's always there like a bad penny, just ask
    any Ford driver.

    re .330
    
    Good call MadMike...
    
    Imagine the possibilities... Digital at NASCAR events... a tent full of
    Digital PC's running Papyrus's NASCAR RACING PC game.  Our driver in
    the tent racing against dozens of fans over a network (something
    Papyrus is working on for this program).  The press and fans would eat
    it up.
    
    We've already used the "speed" theme in some of our ads... lets take it
    a step further.
    
    It is well known in the advertising and racing industries that
    dollar-for-dollar return on investment for advertising in NASCAR is
    higher than in any other sport.  NASCAR fans are fanaticly loyal to car
    sponsors.
    
    Later...
    Steve
    
    

    Another option which may work is for Digital to sponsor the series
    as opposed to a specific car.
    
    We have the fastest stuff in the business, so... we reward the
    fastest lap in competition at each event.
    
    The "Digital Fastest Lap of the Race Award" or something like that.
    Each race would pay $5000 for quickest lap.  The person who wins
    this contest at the end of the season gets an extra $25000.
    In order to participate in the program (get the money), it would
    require each car to carry a digital decal (yup, add another to the
    fenders of each car).  If we did this, we'd be catered to by NASCAR
    itself as opposed to only one specific team.  We could also be
    the "Official Computer of NASCAR".  We could look into this as
    opposed to sponsoring one car.  Of course, we'd have to run some
    of our awesome tv adds during each event.  I really like the
    security commercial.  How tough?  Ask inmate #9214086412410-4
    in Levinworth.  :^)

    So, maybe I'm lost.  I've never heard of Bill Elliott,
    Dawsonville or most of this other stuff.

    As far as I can tell, this string says:

    	"I like auto racing, so digital should advertise there."

    Do you have any objective demographic information on the
    audience for these races?

    Just what are Bo and Luke Duke going to do with a PC?

    I could understand this, if we were selling chewing tobacco,
    beer, or maybe even auto accessories.

    Digital will no longer be in the front-row seat at the PBS
    broadcasts of the Boston Symphony televised concerts.  The
    concerts were in jeopardy after 12 years of our sponsorship
    until two other companies stepped in to fill the gap we 
    left in the land of culture.  

>   So, maybe I'm lost.  
    
    Yep, more ways than one.
    
>    Just what are Bo and Luke Duke going to do with a PC?

>    I could understand this, if we were selling chewing tobacco,
>    beer, or maybe even auto accessories.
    
    Wahl, most uv us who watch auto rasing ain't 2 smrt, but weed lahk 2 bi
    th' produkts uv th' sponsirs.  S'cuse me, I thank I spilt my Bud...
    
    Now, if'n we wuz sellin' jock-itch powder, I culd see th' footyball
    adverts doin' sum gud...  S'cuse me, I thank I swallered my plug...
    
    							Tex
    
    Companero, I've got some bad news for y'all.  Reconstruction's over,
    the carpetbaggers have either assimilated or left, and the economic
    powerhouses are cities like Dallas and Atlanta.  (And to show how
    wonderfully up the average Yankee is on this, I had to explain on my
    last trip that "No, we don't pick cotton by hand anymore".  The reply
    was, "Oh, since they invented the cotton gin?" :^])
    
    Now, if'n y'all wouldn't say "I don't see no sense in sponsorin'
    women's tennis unless we're sellin' feminine deoderant" in this
    notesfile, then drop the "Duke and Luke with a brew and a chew"
    crapola, please.  Argue your point without stereotypes or, if
    necessary, contract someone else to do it for you.
    
    								Tex

        rep .339
    
    >   I could understand this, if we were selling chewing tobacco,
    >   beer, or maybe even auto accessories.
    
       I love NASCAR and I do not drink beer chew tabacco and I buy more
    computer accessories the auto accessories.

��    <<< Note 3528.341 by DPDMAI::EYSTER "It ain't a car without fins..." >>>
��            -< sometimes enlightenment comes with gas and a match >-

��    women's tennis unless we're sellin' feminine deoderant" in this
��    notesfile, then drop the "Duke and Luke with a brew and a chew"
��    crapola, please.  Argue your point without stereotypes or, if
��    necessary, contract someone else to do it for you.

    Well, I checked my "Valuing Diversity Guide and Party Phrasebook"
    and as good ol' boys are white males, I'm free to bash them.

    But, don' ya go worryin' I ain't got no mind to load up
    the yu-haul and move to texaz, cuz I no they're ain't nothin'
    a texan hates more'n a yankee with a yu-haul.

    But, do stop back when you have some objective demographics
    on NASCAR viewers.

    	"You know you're a redneck when your lawn furniture
         used to be your living room furniture."
    					- Jeff Foxworthy

    Maybe this article will help clarify the makeup of Nascar audiences,
    and business reasons for getting involved.
    
    -Mark (another racing fan)
    
    
Path: mrnews.mro.dec.com!funlwb.stl.dec.com!jac.zko.dec.com!crl.dec.com!crl.dec.com!caen!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!gatech!psuvax1!news.cc.swarthmore.edu!netn
From: [email protected] (Russ Gould)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport.nascar
Subject: BGNN: The Business of Racing
Date: 18 Apr 1995 11:44:40 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
Lines: 122
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: oehs5.oehs.upenn.edu

With all the postings regarding sponsorship I found this article in my
local Sunday paper interesting and thought I would pass it along.


Sunday News, Lancaster, PA
April 16, 1995

The Business of Racing

Lancaster-based Burnham wins the checkered flag with its car, driver and
motorsports marketing strategy.

By Gil Smart  Sunday News Staff Writer

Four-speed transmission.  More than 500 horses revving at a red line
R.P.M. of 8,200.  A snazzy paint job.  And a top NASCAR driver.

What does it all add up to?

Burnham Corporation hopes the right answer is "profits."

The boiler and heating equipment manufacturer, based in Lancaster, PA, is
the primary sponsor of Avery Motorsports' Busch Grand National North #09
race car, driven by two-time NASCAR Winston Modified Tour Champion Mike
Stefanick of Coventry, RI.  The car and driver will compete in 20 races on
the Busch Grand National North Series this season, racing throughout the
northeastern US.

The team has already raced once - at the NASCAR Busch Grand National North
125 at Loudon, NH., on April 11, 1995 - and they won it.  And that excites
Burnham vice president of marketing Bob Coons, who helped coordinate the
company's racing program, for two reasons.

First, as a big NASCAR fan, he was thrilled to see his team win.  Second,
Burnham's car and logo was splashed across sports pages and evening
newscast across the country.  And you can't beat that kind of exposure.

"We've already had a ton of interest," says Coons.  "This is a really
exciting way to get our name out there."  Burnham's not interested in
getting its name out to the average guy on the street.  The company sells
nearly all of its products to wholesalers, plumbers and heating
contractors.  Among that group there are quite a few NASCAR fans, Coons
says.

But there are more and more NASCAR fans everywhere you look these days. 
And those fans have money and want to spend it on NASCAR sponsors. 
According to a recent study, 70 percent of NASCAR fans always or
frequently buy products from NASCAR sponsors.  Nearly half of those fans
work in "white collar" jobs, more than 40 percent earn more than $40,000 a
year.  Small wonder, then, that the companies are racing to market their
goods on NASCAR cars.

Burnham's not the only sponsor for the car; there are four associate
sponsors.  Amtrol, a Rhode Island indirect water heater and accessory
maker; Wirsbo, a Minnesota based radiant heater manufacturer; Taco, a
Rhode Island maker of hydronic components; and Honeywell, with plants and
offices worldwide, all have their company logos on the car.  But none as
prominently as Burnham.

Burnham got into motorsports last year, when it sponsored a two race pilot
program in the North series.  The response the company received was
tremendous, Coons says, and Burnham decided to go all the way this year.

There are a variety of marketing opportunities and racing series for
potential sponsors.  Burnham, assisted by Godfrey Advertising, selected
the Busch North Series because it's based in the area where the company
sells most, if not all, of its products -  the Northeast.

"The target market for the North series was perfect - Virginia to Maine,"
says Coons.  "It was where we wanted to be, and the investment was
relatively small."  How small was that investment?  Coons won't say, but
the figure is in the tens of thousands.

In addition to the car, emblazoned with the Burnham logo and painted the
company's red, white, and blue, there is racing gear for Stefanick and his
team; additional promotions and advertising based on the racing theme; and
hospitality events.  

At five of this year's 21 races, Burnham will set up a "hospitality tent"
where food, beverages and racing paraphernalia will be given away to
invited guest, mostly wholesalers and other customers.  Burnham pays half
the cost for the event, as well as the race ticket; wholesalers pay the
other half.  The hospitality tent in Loudon drew about 400 people, Coons
says.  At some events this year, they expect up to 1,000.

And if that doesn't sound expensive enough, a few weeks ago Burnham
decided to sponsor an entire race - the Burnham 150, which will run at
Watkins Glen International in New York on August 12, as part of the Bud at
the Glen NASCAR Winston Cup Weekend.  The 62 lap event will be televised
live on ESPN.

Coon says all of this is "surprisingly affordable" - Burnham isn't
spending any more than it usually does on advertising and promotions, it's
just redirected its advertising dollars.  And the exposure the company has
received would have cost much more had the company tried to buy
advertising space and air time instead of getting it free when Stefanick
does well in a race.

There has been a downside to Burnham's sponsorship - it takes time. 
Godfrey Advertising's John Vastyan, who works with Burnham on the
projects, estimates there are up to 50 people working on some aspect off
the program at Burnham and Godfrey.  And Coons, referring to the
hospitality events, adds that "Normally in the course of running a boiler
company you don't have to plan a party for 1,000 people."  

But Burnham considers the time and money will spent.  Coons expects
Stefanick to keep on winning, or at least remain competitive.  If Burnham
didn't think Stefanick could win, the company wouldn't have signed him to
a contract.  "We want to run with the best of them," Coons says.  "If we
weren't competitive, it would taint our image.  But Mike's a great
driver."

And his achievements, as well as the success of the company's motorsports
program, are more than have been anticipated.  "Has this translated into
additional boiler sales?  I don't have the figures to prove that yet.  But
the response to this has been way beyond our expectations.

-- 
-Russ Gould-

[email protected]

    re:last
    
    >>But, do stop back when you have some objective demographics 
    >>    on NASCAR viewers.
    
    
    You'll get your objective demographics if I know Mike(he's the one that
    started this NASCAR string). Because A) He is not going to tolerate
    stereotyping of the South, like a lot of us here; and B) Well, he is
    the moderator of the NASCAR notesfile, after all.
    
    kp
    
    

��                    <<< Note 3528.345 by MIMS::PICKETT_K >>>
��                             -< Plugged, fer sure >-

��    You'll get your objective demographics if I know Mike(he's the one that
��    started this NASCAR string). Because A) He is not going to tolerate
��    stereotyping of the South, like a lot of us here; and B) Well, he is
    It's good he has you to speak for him.

    I was poking fun at NASCAR viewers.  It's you defenders who
    equated NASCAR viewers with the South.  Hardly helps your
    claim of broad viewership.  

    Before you get your southern panties in too tight a wad,
    I think hockey probably has pretty poor demographics
    as well.   I didn't mention it because I haven't seen
    dozens of "I like hockey, so digital should advertise there"
    notes.

    I liked .344   I don't think we're quite in the HVAC business,
    but it was pretty convincing.

        NASCAR racing is becoming very high-tech.  Most racing teams use
        2-4 pc's, in their travel hauler.  Maybe as many as 6 more in the
        shop.  Computers are used for position updates and scoring.  I
        don't ever expect to see computers in cars, but I do expect
        someone to break into the single vendor, computer supply monopoly
        some day.  Let it be Digital.
        
        Dave Zaniewski

    I like hockey, but Digital shouldn't sponsor it.  
    
    'Cause we don't get much hockey down in the REAL south.
    
    
    Bill
    Sydney, Australia

    I like hockey, but the two events that draw the most paying customers
    up here in Michigan are the NASCAR races in Brooklyn.  
    
    To bill in Sydney you need soom hard water to play hockey,  I thought 
    your weather would be too mild.
    
    Dennis

    Here's some notes from the NASCAR notesfile...
    
    -Steve
    
                <<< VMSNET::DSA120:[NOTESFILES]NASCAR.NOTE;1 >>>
                               -< NASCAR RACING >-
================================================================================
Note 32.143                ESPN/ TV COVERAGE OF RACES                 143 of 152
CONSLT::OWEN "Stop Global Whining"                   57 lines   9-MAR-1995 12:20
                        -< Stats on Winston Cup Races >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport.nascar
From: [email protected] (Mark A. Breland)
Subject: Some interesting statistics...
Reply-To: [email protected]
Organization: MCC
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 21:56:02 GMT

...as culled from the Speedway Motorsports, Inc. stock prospectus.

Attendance at WC events:
------------------------

   1990       1991       1992       1993       1994
3,337,000  3,377,000  3,700,000  4,020,000  4,896,000


"typical" WC spectator demographics:
------------------------------------

38% are women
53% work in professional, managerial, or skilled labor positions
58% are married
65% own their own homes
78% use credit cards (explains those MBNA credit ambushes at every race)
$39,280 is the median annual family income


Costs:
------

Primary cost to sponsor a team starts at $1M,  associate sponsorship
starts at $250,000.  The average WC team spends $50,000 per race event,
or about $1.5M over an entire season.  (my guess is this does not include
costs to operate the garage shop and to build cars)


Combined CMS/AMS financial data:
--------------------------------

$65M total 1994 revenues (18% growth from 1993)
$44M total 1994 operating expenses (19% growth from 1993)
$10M total 1994 net income (11% growth from 1993)

Interesting, huh?

-- 
Mark A. Breland -- Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC)
Research Division
3500 West Balcones Center Drive                   | voice:    (512) 338-3509
Austin, Texas 78759-6509   USA              NB#51 | FAX:      (512) 338-3900



--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dark Night, Cool Breeze, Wet Dreams... 


                <<< VMSNET::DSA120:[NOTESFILES]NASCAR.NOTE;1 >>>
                               -< NASCAR RACING >-
================================================================================
Note 228.15                        channel 5??                          15 of 17
CONSLT::OWEN "Stop Global Whining"                   39 lines  20-MAR-1995 08:43
                      -< More fuel for the fire - Pt. I >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article: 20009
From: [email protected] (Bill Stoffel)
Subject: TV: Ratings for The Rock
Date: 15 Mar 1995 09:36:54 -0500
Organization: Annapolis Detachment, CARDEROCKDIV, NSWC
 
I thought some of you might find this interesting. - Bill
 
[Posted with the premission of The Nashville Network]
 
Nashville, Tenn. -- March 7, 1995-- Over 4.5 million people 
tuned in to TNN: The Nashville Network's live coverage of the 
NASCAR Winston Cup's Goodwrench 500 on Sunday, February 26, 
according to Nielsen Media Research.* The event drew the highest 
average household audience any TNN program has ever attracted in 
the network's 12-year history. The live, four-and-a-half hour 
special earned a 5.0 rating, making it the highest-rated 
motorsports program on cable during TNN's five-year involvement 
in telecasting live motorsports.
 
"Clearly the NASCAR Winston Cup Goodwrench 500 drew the 
largest number of households to date on TNN with over three 
million cable homes tuning in, representing over 4.5 million 
viewers," said David Hail, Sr. Vice President, Cable Networks, 
Gaylord Entertainment Company. "This is a major milestone for 
TNN and demonstrates the power of our motorsports programming 
and the loyalty of our viewers." Mr. Hall added that TNN will 
televise over 48 live NASCAR races in 1995-- more than any other 
network.
 
The Goodwrench 500 was held at North Carolina Motor Speedway 
in Rockingham, N.C. NASCAR Winston Cup driver Jeff Gordon 
captured his third Winston Cup victory edging out Bobby Labonte 
and seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. In addition, 
Gordon, the 1994 Brickyard 400 inaugural winner, received an 
extra $91,200 from Unocal 76 for winning a Winston Cup race from 
the pole position.
 
*Source: Nielsen Media Research Fastrak

>    I was poking fun at NASCAR viewers.  It's you defenders who
>    equated NASCAR viewers with the South.  Hardly helps your
>    claim of broad viewership.  
    
    Look, don't disguise your prejuidices here.  Bo and Luke were TV
    characters from backwater Hazzard County in the deep south, with a
    Confederate flag as a license plate.  If you had made the same
    reference to putting an ad in "Ebony" magazine only being valuable if
    we were "selling watermelons" to "Amos and Andy", I sincerely hope
    someone would have jumped down your throat...with cleats.
    
    If you're from Massachusetts and will be traveling in the South, it
    might behoove you to remember a few things:
    
    1.  Don't refer to your African-American colleagues as "boy".  I
        couldn't believe it when I actually saw a Bostonian do this at
    	a Digital site.  He, conversely, couldn't believe the swift and
    	immediate response this invoked.  The rest of us locals could.
    
    2.  Don't refer to your Native-American colleagues as "chief".  Equally
        insulting, and apt to illicit same response as #1.
    
    3.  Please keep your fried chicken and watermelon jokes to yourself,
        even though you might think they're hilarious.  The majority of
        Southern whites and blacks find them equally offensive, at best,
    	and you'll *not* have been the first person uttering them.
    
    4.  If you thought Hee-Haw was hilarious and Gomer Pyle typified the
        Southern male, keep that to yourself also.  This would apply to
        Bo & Luke stereotypes, too.
    
    5.  Cultures are different.  You can't learn the wonderful parts of one
    	or its people if you begin by maligning it and them.  Stereotypes
    	will prevent you from learning...anything.  And justifying them
    	with "Ah was jus' kiddin'" doesn't work.  Real humor doesn't tend
    	to rile your audience.
    
    An easy way to check and see if you're getting ready to utter a totally
    insensitive and prejuidiced remark is to swap out the
    ethnic/geographic/demographic population you're referring to with a
    random group like "Jews" or "Women" and see if it'll still be funny and
    well-received...as well as covered by P&P.  Chances are, you'll find
    you're an obnoxious bore instead of a comedian.
    
    								Tex
    
    
    Now, back to the topics at hand....

    
    Re: Sponsorships - my office alone gets about 10-12 solicitations a week
    for these events, probably 2-3 are auto racing.  We have done some
    **minor** auto racing sponsorships in the past, just like we have for
    yachts, football etc. ; in a events marketing/sponsorship market that
    is several billion dollars a year in size, there are always some out
    there.  Our past sponsorships have not had enough focus and commitment
    (tv media buying, integration with other activities for DIGITAL
    throughout the year, etc.) for them to really work for DIGITAL.  
    
    For example, our Canadian subsidiary sponsored several auto races along
    with Molson last summer, as I recall.  While Canada was able to host
    quality customer events at these races, they did not have the
    electronic media budget to leverage the race visibility to broader
    audience, and signage alone does not work.  But the venue was
    justifiable based on the customer hosting aspects. 
    
    We are looking at these type of activities for DIGITAL in consultation
    with DDB Needham - our lead advertising agency.  They have built a VERY
    active program for clients such as Anheuser Busch/Budweiser and 
    American Airlines aming others.  
    venues as part of overall communications spending.   

��    <<< Note 3528.351 by DPDMAI::EYSTER "It ain't a car without fins..." >>>

��    Look, don't disguise your prejuidices here.  Bo and Luke were TV
��    characters from backwater Hazzard County in the deep south, with a
��    Confederate flag as a license plate.  If you had made the same
    The Dukes drove around in a 'sports' car with the doors
    welded shut, and a number painted on the side.  To me,
    that presented an autoracing image.   More so, than say
    an appreciation of poetry.   I particularly appreciated
    the dukes, as they made fun of cops.

    So, Sr. Tex, back in .341, when you wrote:

��    Companero, I've got some bad news for y'all. Reconstruction's over,
��    the carpetbaggers have either assimilated or left, and the economic
��    powerhouses are cities like Dallas and Atlanta.  (And to show how
��    wonderfully up the average Yankee is on this, I had to explain on my
��    last trip that "No, we don't pick cotton by hand anymore". The reply
��    was, "Oh, since they invented the cotton gin?" :^])

    ...it seems to me you're imply that most Yankees are pretty
    stupid.  They don't even know what a cotton gin does.  So, as
    you would say: 
    	"don't disguise your prejuidices here"

    And, since you're so sure reconstruction is over, why don't
    you let us know just how many non-white NASCAR drivers there
    are.

    
    >And, since you're so sure reconstruction is over, why don't
    >you let us know just how many non-white NASCAR drivers there
    >are.
    
    
    	Who knows and who cares?  Maybe NASCAR isn't bounded by
    	"quota requirements".
    
    	[And that is NOT a flame, just the way it is.  I have a
    	 friend who is a federal employee who told me within the
    	 last couple weeks that his group is required to employ a
    	 certain number of minorities, which today means white
    	 males [8^)].]
    

    Please, let's stop already with the off color and back handed insults
    and stick to the topic ... this is getting (has gotten) old.

RE: 352

	Lets hope that DDB Needham likes to race then! :) Maybe if
	we got a DECcar on the circuit, DDB Needham would put their
	own name up on it too. :)

RE: Bo/Luke/TheSouthWillRiseAgain/DamnedYankees

	Enoughs enough. Take it to Soapbox.
							mike

    re: LEEL::LINDQUIST
    
    Sorry, while I was out RACING (imagine that) others have put in some
    good data about demographics.  As mentioned, this circuit physically
    visits almost every major market in the country, and it's seen in
    other countries via satellite (and I know someone in France is
    going to say "what?" (or ques-que-c'est NASCAR?) but those numbers
    are increasing too)  Remember, this particular market is geared towards
    the United States.  Formula 1 is world-wide, and can you say
    "$50Million budget?"  Digital can't I'm sure.  So this seris is where
    we'd want to be. And to the Gentleman from Oz, I'm sure he's heard of 
    the Thunderdome.  NASCAR races there too.  Except they drive 
    "backwards" down under.
    
    I may sound like I have an axe to grind, because "I like this stuff".
    But #1:  I do this anyways, so I don't GAS if Digital wants to benefit
    from it...  #2: I work for digital and I'd like for people (especially
    people who have lot's of $$$ and need computers and services) to know
    digital can provide it... no... we don't make watches.  #3. the
    advertising possibilities and exposure are obvious to ANYONE who's
    not in a coma.
    
    As for your tee-vee preferences, Stick to watching Roseanne, or America's 
    funniest home videos or something.  Hell, you'd prolly have a coronary
    if you stumbled across hee-haw.
    
    MadMike
    (who didn't always live in Jawga... I actually used to be a
    a... ah... ya.. ya- yan....er, yan...kee....)

    <---- Mike has some excellent points especially with the relative speed
    of Alpha chips.  We spend the bucks to have a Cobra and a vintage
    Corvette at PC Expo etc.  Why not get out on the track for some real,
    long term exposure, continuous exposure?   
    
    Brian

>    digital can provide it... no... we don't make watches.  #3. the
>    advertising possibilities and exposure are obvious to ANYONE who's
>    not in a coma.
    
    MadMike,

I've been too busy with a customer project to check Notes for a couple of
weeks.  After reading the last 30 or so entries, I'm not sure everyone DOES
get the point (fastest processor/fastest cars - duh).  I'm also at a total 
loss to explain the hostile reactions to advertising through motor racing.
It makes great sense to me.  I watch the Sequent car when NHRA broadcasts 
the top fuel dragsters and wish it said Digital instead.

To the rest of you who have made some wild assumptions about who follows 
motor racing, I think you'd be amazed at the wide variety of people in the
stands.  I want to see Digital become a household word like HP and Intel and
Apple.  To do that, we need to take advantage of all forms of advertising.
The Digital logo on the hood of a major race car would be dynamite, especially
if the on-board camera caught it.  Around and around for 500 miles at Daytona?
Yeah!

Troy, what say you?

			SQ

    
    Auto Racing will reviewed as part of any sponsorship mix. BTW, we
    prefer Bill to Troy.

    
    
    Good deal, Bill.  Keep us posted.  Hey there are a few of us DECCIES
    who are into auto racing, I'm sure there are others in other mjor
    corporations as well.
    
    
    Mike

    MadMike's been pushing Winston Cup, but don't forget about Indy
    cars :-)  The F1 conference has a large following out of the U.S.;
    IMO F1 would be a good place to advertise out of the states.
    
    Karen
    

>                      <<< Note 3528.360 by AKOCOA::TROY >>>
>                       -< "We're a first name company" >-
>
>    
>    Auto Racing will reviewed as part of any sponsorship mix. BTW, we
>    prefer Bill to Troy.

Cool, and I'll be sure to call you Bill in the future.  This happens to
people with two first names.  Before I married Tony, my last name was 
Carroll and some people got confused.

				SQ

    re: Note 3528.362 by SUFRNG::REESE_K
    
    > MadMike's been pushing Winston Cup, but don't forget about Indy
    > cars :-)  The F1 conference has a large following out of the U.S.;
    > IMO F1 would be a good place to advertise out of the states.
    
    Karen,
    
    Winston Cup provides the most bang for the buck.
    Indy cars is considered upper crust, their season is short, the
    cars are too expensive and the drivers are prima-donnas.  I think the
    average CART budget is $13M.  And there is not a whole lot of
    advertising space.  Plus, the "action" is somewhat lacking.
    Finally, their TV audience is "not much".
    
    F-1 is PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE.  IMO.  I never checked it out, but I
    hear budgets are upwards of $50M.  Scratch this.
    
    Which brings us back to Winston Cup.
    
    Someone else mentioned Sequent, and NHRA.  Hey... that's where I was
    (Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway).  I am a drag racer, but I 
    know that the tv exposure in NHRA is less than Winston Cup.  There
    can only be 16 cars in each of the 3 professional fields, and races
    (when the cars are moving/competing) last anywhere from 4.7 - 7.2
    seconds.  It's difficult to package this for TV which again....
    
    brings us back to Winston Cup.
    31 times a year
    for up to 4.5 hours
    plus show cars
    All over America
    large, loyal fan following, massive TV audience
    affordable, economical, fits with image (speed)
    
    I can see it now... someone will contract with IMSA and pay a bundle
    to sponsor a car on that series and it'll be a big waste of
    time/money... then my boss'll hear about this and kick my buns out
    of here for suggesting digital go racing....  Oh well.
    
    MadMike

	I can understand that F1 is expencive, but anyhow it's *INTERNATIONAL*.

		Asko

    
    
    
    To me it seems as the choise should be based on if the mony comes out
    of a corporate or "local" (US,Europe or AP) budget. I assume that
    it would not make sense to do this on a country by country level.
    
    If it's a corporate budget it should be effective world wide too...
    I don't know of any 4 wheel motor sport that has the world wide
    coverage needed other than F1 or possibly Indy Car. I'm not sure but
    2 wheel racing (Road Racing) seems to have a much more international 
    coverage than any of the 4 wheel race forms. 
    
    If it is a "local" budget you should use it to get the best "local"
    coverage. But you split your resources and will have even less money
    to spend.
    
    IMVeryHO
    /Kjell

    MadMike,
    
    I wasn't suggesting we sponsor a team! :-)  I would love to have
    seen a Digital logo on the side of Nigel Mansell's helmet that
    would have been picked up every time that camera mounted on the
    rear right of his car was flipped on :-) (While he was driving
    Indycars).  
    
    I mentioned F1 because of its international appeal; I wouldn't 
    mind seeing our logo somewhere on the car/helmets of Michael
    Schumacher, Damon Hill or Jean Alessi.  Hopefully, those would
    catch the eyes of our German, British and Italian customers and
    co-workers.
    
    No matter what venue we might choose, sponsoring a team is out of
    the question (IMHO).
    
    

    The "bank" decal on Sennas helmet cost $800,000.
    
    I'm looking at this from a cost v. benefits issue.
    
    Take a look at the CART attendance and tv exposure and take
    a look a WC attendance and tv.  The outcome is obvious, not because
    I say so, but because the numbers say so.
    
    Now, put yourself in the la-z-boy of an average tv viewer.
    You watch the race and say, "this is cool".  TIDE, BUD, etc...
    you go take a leak and they switch to "wheel cam" and the little
    digital decal is on tv of a couple seconds.  You come back and
    see "tide won".
    
    It needs to be a whole car, or a contingency program.  Otherwise,
    I wouldn't waste the money.  The only people who'll be looking for
    the decal on TV would be US.  It would be more of a novelty.
    Seeing DIGITAL/AXP on the side of a car is unmistakable.  "Do they
    make watches?"  Hmmm, the press release says digital is in maynard
    and makes real fast computer stuff... and I'm in the market for
    a computer (or I'm the director at a company and we need computers)."
    
    Finally, while comparing CART to NASCAR Winston cup.  This weekend
    at Talladega 42-44 cars will start the race.  What is the average
    field for Indy cars?  28?  The INDY 500 only accepts 33 cars.
    You've got to make it into the race to begin with, to ever get on
    TV.
    
    Cost v. Benefit.  WC = economical.  CART = too expensive.  Not because
    I said so, the numbers do.

    and... as I said once before, my wife and I went to the Coca-Cola 600
    (real long races - lots of tv time) and sitting next to us were a
    couple from a "large AeroSpace Corporation". (The only one now?)
    
    Between them (both management) they controlled budgets of double
    digits, in MILLIONS. And here we sit sipping' Bud, with them in their
    Bill Elliot clothes, that they paid big bucks for, watching a Winston
    Cup race. And all four of us could be called "yankees". Do you really
    think that a DECmobile would have gone un-noticed? Do you think that
    the 700+ Sun workstations/servers would be installed at said
    large-aerospace-corporation? Maybe yes, maybe no, but damnit lets do
    something more than some bizarre off the wall here now and then gone
    wierd tv commercials.
    
    We probably don't get the non-crank "Can'ya fix my watch" calls now
    because they laid off the recptionist and nobody likes the answering
    machine, but watching Winston Cup is growing a lot more than we are,
    and if we don't do some real serious long term effective advertising
    soon, then we may not have to. This whole bit seems typically digital
    to me, study it do death and hope it goes away so I/we/us/them won;t
    have to actually make a real decision.
    
    Sorry if I sound bitter, but I am.
    
    .mike.

    
    
    And Mad Mike and I will gladly take upon ourselves the positions of
    being the corporate liasons to the racing team.  Right Mike?
    
    
    
    Mike

    And besides .... there are many more square meters of painted
    surface on a Winston Cup car. They make a much better Billboard!
    
    ;-)
    

    
     Re: WC vs. F1/CART, etc ..
    
    But it is hard to read a bill board at 200+mph. And sometimes when they
    come to an unexpected stop, pieces of the bill board are missing or
    impaled on someone else's billboard.
    
    -Mike Z.

    Mike .... come on .... those TV camera guys are good!
    I watched the race in Alabama on TV Sunday and reading the
    Logos was easy at 195 mph. 
    
    You are correct ... they do come to abrupt halts sometimes. But
    unlike F1/CART cars, they often patch 'em up and get back out
    there. Not so with the fragile open wheel cars. Stock car racing
    is a contact sport! :-)
    
    (Yes, I said sport - but that's another rathole!)
    

    
    And just to continue further down this particular rathole, might I
    inquire just how many Digital Employees/Contractors/Customers-you've
    spoken-to, watched Mark Martin win at Talladega?
    
    I feel that sponsoring a race and an every race fast-lap-kinda-like-the
    Busch-Pole-award would be an awesome start to awakening America to our
    existance. We are everywhere, and most people don't even know it.
    
    .mike.
    (Valvoline user, Folgers coffee drinker.)

    I did -- classic NASCAR finish, with a battle for the lead in the last lap.
    
    					andrew

    I watched also.  I sure scared the cats when I yelled when Earnhart
    spun at the end of the race!
    
    				-John

Here is a testimonial from a sponsor in one of NASCARs minor leagues but 
the same goes for NASCAR Winston Cup (if not more so).

Jilly

Article 23125 of rec.autos.sport.nascar:
From: [email protected] (Russ Gould)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport.nascar
Subject: BGNN: The Business of Racing

With all the postings regarding sponsorship I found this article in my
local Sunday paper interesting and thought I would pass it along.


Sunday News, Lancaster, PA
April 16, 1995

The Business of Racing

Lancaster-based Burnham wins the checkered flag with its car, driver and
motorsports marketing strategy.

By Gil Smart  Sunday News Staff Writer

Four-speed transmission.  More than 500 horses revving at a red line
R.P.M. of 8,200.  A snazzy paint job.  And a top NASCAR driver.

What does it all add up to?

Burnham Corporation hopes the right answer is "profits."

The boiler and heating equipment manufacturer, based in Lancaster, PA, is
the primary sponsor of Avery Motorsports' Busch Grand National North #09
race car, driven by two-time NASCAR Winston Modified Tour Champion Mike
Stefanick of Coventry, RI.  The car and driver will compete in 20 races on
the Busch Grand National North Series this season, racing throughout the
northeastern US.

The team has already raced once - at the NASCAR Busch Grand National North
125 at Loudon, NH., on April 11, 1995 - and they won it.  And that excites
Burnham vice president of marketing Bob Coons, who helped coordinate the
company's racing program, for two reasons.

First, as a big NASCAR fan, he was thrilled to see his team win.  Second,
Burnham's car and logo was splashed across sports pages and evening
newscast across the country.  And you can't beat that kind of exposure.

"We've already had a ton of interest," says Coons.  "This is a really
exciting way to get our name out there."  Burnham's not interested in
getting its name out to the average guy on the street.  The company sells
nearly all of its products to wholesalers, plumbers and heating
contractors.  Among that group there are quite a few NASCAR fans, Coons
says.

But there are more and more NASCAR fans everywhere you look these days. 
And those fans have money and want to spend it on NASCAR sponsors. 
According to a recent study, 70 percent of NASCAR fans always or
frequently buy products from NASCAR sponsors.  Nearly half of those fans
work in "white collar" jobs, more than 40 percent earn more than $40,000 a
year.  Small wonder, then, that the companies are racing to market their
goods on NASCAR cars.

Burnham's not the only sponsor for the car; there are four associate
sponsors.  Amtrol, a Rhode Island indirect water heater and accessory
maker; Wirsbo, a Minnesota based radiant heater manufacturer; Taco, a
Rhode Island maker of hydronic components; and Honeywell, with plants and
offices worldwide, all have their company logos on the car.  But none as
prominently as Burnham.

Burnham got into motorsports last year, when it sponsored a two race pilot
program in the North series.  The response the company received was
tremendous, Coons says, and Burnham decided to go all the way this year.

There are a variety of marketing opportunities and racing series for
potential sponsors.  Burnham, assisted by Godfrey Advertising, selected
the Busch North Series because it's based in the area where the company
sells most, if not all, of its products -  the Northeast.

"The target market for the North series was perfect - Virginia to Maine,"
says Coons.  "It was where we wanted to be, and the investment was
relatively small."  How small was that investment?  Coons won't say, but
the figure is in the tens of thousands.

In addition to the car, emblazoned with the Burnham logo and painted the
company's red, white, and blue, there is racing gear for Stefanick and his
team; additional promotions and advertising based on the racing theme; and
hospitality events.  

At five of this year's 21 races, Burnham will set up a "hospitality tent"
where food, beverages and racing paraphernalia will be given away to
invited guest, mostly wholesalers and other customers.  Burnham pays half
the cost for the event, as well as the race ticket; wholesalers pay the
other half.  The hospitality tent in Loudon drew about 400 people, Coons
says.  At some events this year, they expect up to 1,000.

And if that doesn't sound expensive enough, a few weeks ago Burnham
decided to sponsor an entire race - the Burnham 150, which will run at
Watkins Glen International in New York on August 12, as part of the Bud at
the Glen NASCAR Winston Cup Weekend.  The 62 lap event will be televised
live on ESPN.

Coon says all of this is "surprisingly affordable" - Burnham isn't
spending any more than it usually does on advertising and promotions, it's
just redirected its advertising dollars.  And the exposure the company has
received would have cost much more had the company tried to buy
advertising space and air time instead of getting it free when Stefanick
does well in a race.

There has been a downside to Burnham's sponsorship - it takes time. 
Godfrey Advertising's John Vastyan, who works with Burnham on the
projects, estimates there are up to 50 people working on some aspect off
the program at Burnham and Godfrey.  And Coons, referring to the
hospitality events, adds that "Normally in the course of running a boiler
company you don't have to plan a party for 1,000 people."  

But Burnham considers the time and money will spent.  Coons expects
Stefanick to keep on winning, or at least remain competitive.  If Burnham
didn't think Stefanick could win, the company wouldn't have signed him to
a contract.  "We want to run with the best of them," Coons says.  "If we
weren't competitive, it would taint our image.  But Mike's a great
driver."

And his achievements, as well as the success of the company's motorsports
program, are more than have been anticipated.  "Has this translated into
additional boiler sales?  I don't have the figures to prove that yet.  But
the response to this has been way beyond our expectations.

-- 
-Russ Gould-

[email protected]

    Just to drive the point home about advertising, Sunday's winners were:
    
    Valvoline,
    Dupont, &
    Citgo.
    
    Other advertisers that were shown quite a bit:
    
    Health Source, Spam (yes, SPAM!), Kodak, The Family Channel,
    Ford Quality Care, GM Goodwrench, etc... these from memory... there
    were many more.
    
    Advertisers are having a field day with Winston Cup... it's cheap
    (relatively speaking) and the exposure is massive.
    
    Later...
    Steve
    

    How many people *outside* the U.S. watched the Winston Cup race
    from Talledega?  There is no question this race series is extremely
    popular in the States, but what about the rest of the world?
    
    If (mighty big if) Digital is going to go all out to advertise with
    racing it must pick a venue that has universal appeal.
    
    Yes, I did watch the race Sunday (Dale wuz robbed) :-)  I also 
    watched the Imola F1 earlier in the day. (I've been known to tape
    an Indy race that conflicted with either of the previous 2 races
    mentioned).
    
    

    
    
    Karen,
    
    
    They'll (the rest of the planet) catch on pretty soon. ;')
    
    
    Mike

    Just got back from Western Auto where I bought a DieHard battery for
    my Chevrolet....
    
    Karen, I don't propose we leave out the rest of the world, but what
    part of our market is in the United States?  40-45%?  So, we drop
    $6M, say, for a big huge branding blitz in the states and it does
    happen to spill out to the rest of the world (mainly England & Oz).
    
    Now, I don't follow events in europe enough to know how well something
    like this (auto racing) would sell, so I can't say.  I THINK it
    would be difficult to justify spending $25Million to hop on board
    an F-1 car.  I don't really know.  I do know that NASCAR would
    be a huge benefit for the US bizness.  Nothings guaranteed, but the
    potential benefit is painfully obvious.
    
    Oh, and I watched the race too.  My neighbor came in 6th.  They'll
    be ringing the siren in town in the near future I'm sure. 
    
    MadMike 
                                           

>    How many people *outside* the U.S. watched the Winston Cup race
>    from Talledega?  There is no question this race series is extremely
>    popular in the States, but what about the rest of the world?

I haven't a clue how many people outside the U.S. "watched" the Winston
Cup race but I do believe NASCAR racing has a following outside the
United States.  

I understand that several of the condominiums at Atlanta Int'l Raceway (or
whatever it's called now) were purchased by some large Japanese businesses 
for exclusive use in settling business transactions.  What better way to 
close the deal than to fly to Atlanta (or Charlotte) for a weekend of NASCAR
racing?

FWIW, while I was at COMDEX this past week, I noticed that Apple had one
of it's "Power Macintosh Racing" IMSA race cars (with their Apple logo
slapped all over it) on display.  I picked up a free poster to help remind 
me of this topic :-(

Hey Mike -- do 'ya think Digital could somehow out-bid McDonalds sponsorship?

-Andy

    I don't think there is a single sport that has world-wide appeal.
    Certain events as the Superbowl, World Series, etc. have some
    international following, but I was in London last week and baseball
    wasn't even mention.  The only racing I saw was Formula 1 and a nice
    article about Nigel Mansell.
    
    				-John

re .383

 Did that article about Nigel Mansell have anything to say about what happened
with his car at the beginning of the season?  Why he didn't "fit" the car?  We
thought it very strange that he didn't start the season this year.

Switch gears to another suggestion.  Does anyone know what it would cost to
sponsor Villeneuve in Indy car?  I'm sure Little Al, Emmo and Rahal are way
too pricey, but Jacques is one of the hottest young drivers around.  The 
announcers love talking about him, the cameramen love shooting him and every-
one seems to enjoy talking with him.  A Digital logo on his car and helmet 
could go a long way.  He always mentions the sponsors in interviews like 
Little Al. It's worth checking out, if Bill Troy is still listening.

			SQ

    Don't know the details but Digital Canada is involved again this year
    with sponsorship for two Indy races (Toronto & Vancouver) and also the
    Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
    
    	Owen.

    Up north in Friesland ditch jumping and - in the spring - egg hunting
    are top of the bill. Ditch jumping is pole vaulting over a ditch.
    Winners stay dry, losers don't. Egg hunting for the first (too early)
    egg of a particular bird (i've forgotten which) is fraught with
    tension, excitement, disappointment and skill. The first found egg
    is presented to a representative of the Queen and therefor 
    the finder, the sponser (and the egg) have high exposure.
    
    Those knowledgeable in the sport will undoubtedly realize that these
    sports easily surpass cars knockety-knocking around tarmac in terms
    of sheer blood curdling knuckle whitening excitement.
    
    I must admit that I am trifle worried that under the onslaught of 
    nascarism and indynightedness, ditch jumping and egg hunting may not
    be getting its fair share of sponsorship attention. Say it ain't so,
    Bill?
    
    re roelof
    
    PS We could have the poles done  up in tasteful burgundy for starters.

    
    From my sojourn in NL, I remember another interesting Dutch sport. It
    consisted of the participants sitting on top of 12 metre poles in the
    middle of a lake. I don't know what it was called but it seemed to
    happen when the weather was determined to be cold and windy. I think
    the winner was the last one to fall off, after a week or so.
    
    This seems to be an ideal situation for advertising our wares. It
    received attention on TV every night for the course of the game, it
    didn't move at 195mph, and it emphasises our good engineering / goes
    on-and-on / real users don't want excitement marketing message.
    
    Yes, Roelof, I think we're onto something.
    
    Mike.
    
    PS The one I saw had contestants called A, B, C, D ... Now if we can
    get them to change it to Alpha, D, E, C ...
                          

    FWIW re the last 20 or so, I have a photo on my office wall of a
    Ferrari team F1 car from a few years back sporting the Digital logo on
    the nose cone and rear wing, looks great and caught a lot of TV
    exposure for us.
    
    I follow Indy (and the two wheelers) as well but feel if we are going 
    to venture into this type of advertising that something with 
    international coverage would probably give us the widest exposure, 
    don't forget that a lot of key decision makers are guests in corporate 
    boxes for these events too.

    Steve Manuel, my nick name is "automatic".
    Adelaide, F1 capital of Australia for the last 10 years.

    
    We do get coverage of Winston Cup races over here in the UK, though its
    only covered by satellite channels. I don't know what the coverage is
    like these days, as its a couple of years since I lived in a house with
    a satellite dish. When I did have it, the coverage was pretty good. A 
    lot of the events were covered live and they were always repeated at 
    various times through the week. (Pretty difficult to miss actually).
    
    Cable seems to be the next big thing to hit these shores (can we say
    behind the times!!!!) so the coverage of such channels can only expand.
    
    POL.

    .389
    
    Thanks, I thought I remembered someone mentioning that they used to
    get limited coverage but I couldn't remember if I saw it in the F1,
    CARS_UK or RACERS conference :-)
    
    You do get Indycar coverage, correct?
    

    The other way to get brand name awareness is not to sponsor a car, but
    to provide the scoring.
    
    A few years ago, DEC in Australia had an emplopyee who was interested
    in motor sport and he managed to get DEC to provide the scoring system for 
    the televison coverage for our best known race, the Bathurst 1000
    (touring cars doing 1000 km over a road circuit).
    
    Whenever the results came up on screen, there was the DEC logo. We also
    had those pull across type ads during the coverage that mentioned DEC.
    
    

>    From my sojourn in NL, I remember another interesting Dutch sport. It
>    consisted of the participants sitting on top of 12 metre poles in the
>    middle of a lake. I don't know what it was called but it seemed to

    Hmmm, we could have these poles done up in tasteful burgundy too :-)
    
>    PS The one I saw had contestants called A, B, C, D ... Now if we can
>    get them to change it to Alpha, D, E, C ...
 
    We could even put an Alpha _on_ the pole. Bet it would stay up there
    a damn site longer than any of the contestants :-). Use the alpha
    as the scoring timer with a microsecond granularity and we can
    even make a case that we need 64 bit computing :-) :-)
    
    Haven't heard from Bill yet but I bet he's already whizzed down
    to Needham and is ferverishly working on these plans as we speak...
    ..ehhh...note.
    
    re roelof                         

    >Note 3528.390 by SUFRNG::REESE_K
    
    >You do get Indycar coverage, correct?
    
    The coverage was a lot better over here when Mansell was racing in the
    series (even made it onto one of the national terrestrial channels for
    a weekly report show). Mansells attempts at the Indy 500 were prime time
    news over here. When I had the satellite dish a few years back, every
    Indy race was shown live over here (not sure about this seasons
    coverage though)
    
    POL (who'll watch just about any kind of motor racing 'cept truck
    racing 'coz there is even less overtaking than in F1!!!)

    I've noticed the commentators for Winston Cup are mentioning more
    and more teams using lap-tops or PCs in the pits during races to
    calculate gas mileage etc.  Rusty Wallace apparently used some sort
    of on-board computer during qualifying (don't think he's allowed
    to use it during actual race).
    
    Unfortunately for Rusty, his computer failed during the race; his pit
    crew scrambled to calculate gas mileage the way they used to, alas
    he ran out of gas with 3/4 laps to go :-)
    
    Louden, N.H. is right in HQ's back yard; it might make sense to 
    sponsor an event there or at least get our logo on display (if we
    don't do that already).
    

    Karen, Rusty's car ran out of fuel with over four laps to go --
    he wasn't nearly as close as he hoped to be.  A noble gamble,
    but it failed sooner than they expected.
    
    					andrew

    
    Wasn't there a story a few years back, where Bobby Rahal won the Indy
    title after his pit team worked out using a Digital system, that he
    didn't need to make a final 'splash and dash' pitstop. 
    
    POl

    I'd just like to comment that I've seen some of the most ingenious
    comments and suggestions in this string regarding "bang for the buck"
    advertising via racing.  From helmets to scoreboards to laptops.  I
    hope someone will compile these ideas and forward them to the
    appropriate area.  They're too good to be lost.
    
    								Tex

re .390

>  You do get Indycar coverage, correct?


	Winston Cup and Indycar racing are only availble on Satelite or cable
but only less than about 30% of the UK have either of these things (but the
numbers for cable are rising rapidly!)

Gerald

    re .397
    
    I seem to recall a couple of years ago, many teams were using IBM
    laptops.  When being interviewed about their new techno-toys, they all
    went out of their way to mention that it was an _IBM_ laptop (Thinkpad,
    I believe).  That's the way race teams work.  They KNOW which side 
    their bread is buttered on.  They ALWAYS go out of their way to get
    their plugs in.
    
    And what did IBM do for all that publicity?  Probably just gave all the
    teams a laptop (or at least the big ones).  We NEED to do more of this
    sort of "hands on" marketing.
    
    Later...
    Steve
    

    Psstt... hey Bob... over here.... start back around .320   %^)

    
    Hi - I am tuned into this but thought we were done for the moment on
    the topic of NASCAR, etc. - silly me.  BTW - the name Needham is a
    'who' not a 'where', and they prefer DDB Needham, not DDB of Needham.
                                        
    Anyway,  We are currrently evaluating FY96 advertising plans, budgets
    and the whole big picture of relationships marketing - including sports
    marketing, sponsorships and the like.  
    
    BT 

    Just to open this back up again...
    Here's a note on how Apple is using racing to market its Power
    Macintosh.
    
    -Steve
    
Article: 2364
From: [email protected] (David Reininger)
Subject: IMSA: Power Macintosh Racing notes
Organization: MNI - Motorsport News International
Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 02:53:12 GMT
 
 
The Power Macintosh sponsored Wheel Works Racing Team will
be bringing the Power Macintosh on Wheels Tour to Lime Rock
for the WSC/Trans Am doubleheader on May 26-29. The Power Macintosh
on Wheels Tour brings Apple technology and the Apple World Sports Car
and transporter to corporate sites, college campuses and large
computer stores in conjunction with races around the country.
 
While at Lime Rock, fans will be able to enter the team's
transporter and test drive the latest Apple technology.
Using side-by-side demonstrations, race fans will get
a chance to see for themselves the speed advantage
the Power Mac has over Pentium machines.
 
Power Mac Racing is contesting the WSC with two Spice
chassis powered by Oldsmobile engines. In addition to
team owner, Rick Sutherland drivers have included
Stanley Dickens, John Graham, Jeff Gray and Dan Marvin.
 
The Lime Rock race will be broadcast live by ESPN on
May 29 at 1:30 p.m.
 
Power Mac Racing Team merchandise is available
exclusively from Maryland Motorsports. Contact
Dave Treffer of Maryland Motorsports at 410-741-5530
 
 
    

    Check out: 
    
    http://www.racecar.com/detgp.html
    
    SUN Microsystems is helping sponsor the Detroit Grand Prix.
    
    -Steve

    
    
    
     
    from Digital Today, Issue #19, May 15, 1995...
    
    Statistically, the average person's chances of standing next to a 1953
    Corvette are even more remote than winning the lottery.
    
    People passing through the AKO1 lobby in Acton, Mass. are actually
    beating the odds.  Parked next to the lobby staircase is a '53 Corvette
    - one of only 300 made.
    
    This 'Vette, shining with Digital burgundy and sporting a HiNote Ultra
    notebook computer, sits waiting to go to New York City, where it will
    join up with a 1955 Porsche and a 1964 Ford Cobra for use at the
    Digital booth at PC Expo in mid-June.
    
    The three vintage cars are part of the 1995 Digital PC event strategy
    that compares Digital's 'Vehicles for the Information Highway' with
    legendary vehicles for the paved highway.  The theme drives home a
    message about the high performance of Digital's personal computers.
    
    In consumer markets, purchase are often made largely on the basis of
    image and perception, jsaid Bob Carty, PC marketing manager.
    
    "We have to achieve very high memorability," Carty said.  "At PC Expo,
    for example, we have an IBM booth on one sid eof us and a Compaq booth
    on the other.  They're 10 feet away.
    
    "We have to do what we can to have visitors remember what they've
    experienced at our booth.  We want them to experience the booth, not
    just attend it."
    
    In addition to PC Expo, Digital's classic sports cars are scheduled to
    appear at several other major trade shows, including COMDEX and the
    Consumer Electronics show.

    gee, and I just took the DEC Rdb plate off my Stealth.
    
    ed

    
 >>>   The three vintage cars are part of the 1995 Digital PC event strategy
    
    .... cars built in 1953, 1955 and 1964 however desirable they may be
    (and these three are!) are NOT vintage, they're just old.
    
    I do like the idea tho', it'll certainly make sure people remember the
    event.
    
    Graham
    

    In the USA, a car more than thirty years old can be officially
    designated an antique -- this would qualify it for "vintage" status
    in the eyes of most journalists.
    	
    					andrew

>    .... cars built in 1953, 1955 and 1964 however desirable they may be
>    (and these three are!) are NOT vintage, they're just old.
    
    Cool!  This means they're fully depreciated and should be available in
    Idle Assets after the shows! :^]
    
    								Tex

Hmm, my immediate thought on seeing that was: just what
DEC needs, to be equated with once-leading-edge technology
which is now obsolete, expensive, and plain irrelevant.

Dave:

  I had the same thought.  But I thought we could have alleviated
  it a bit by putting a PDP-1 next to them with signage that called
  it "We've been building Personal Computers almost since these were
  the newest models!" or thoughts to that effect.

                                   Atlant

> Hmm, my immediate thought on seeing that was: just what
> DEC needs, to be equated with once-leading-edge technology
> which is now obsolete, expensive, and plain irrelevant.

Reminds me of the Sun Ad from a few months ago depicting some
huge dinosaurs from Jurassic Park.  The point of the Ad was
that Sun machines were used to develop the special effects
for that movie.  But I couldn't help identifying Sun computers
with the huge beasts in the Ad (SPARCosaurus?), that were powerful
in their time, but are now extinct.  I wonder ifmany others seeing
the ad felt the same way.

    gosh, they're copying us again!

re: .411

They took a lot of heat from this.  Seems people were saying "Jurassic 
SPARC".

Ray

    
>>    In the USA, a car more than thirty years old can be officially
>>    designated an antique -- this would qualify it for "vintage" status
    
    sorry, I didn't realise the rules were different in the USA - I assumed
    that as the motor car had only been around for 100 years or so, that
    they'd be treated the same everywhere.
    
    Graham
    

re: .409
    
|Hmm, my immediate thought on seeing that was: just what
|DEC needs, to be equated with once-leading-edge technology
|which is now obsolete, expensive, and plain irrelevant.
    
    I suspect that your reaction would be the exception, not the rule.
    
    The vast majority of potential customers of the HiNote family
    probably have very positive associations with those cars.
    
    (Same thing with the Mustang ads from Ford a while back.  "Then"
    "Now" "Then" "Now".  Everytime I saw that ad, I said "Then, then,
    then, not now!"  But, I never was likely to buy a new Mustang,
    so I wasn't part of the audience they were trying to reach.)
    
re: .411
    
|   The point of the Ad was that Sun machines were used to develop the
|   special effects for that movie.
    
    Uh huh.  But unfortunatlely for Sun, the flying pigs sequence they were
    involved with ended up on the cutting room floor.
    
    (I think still have a copy of the periodic table from SGI with the
    "Jurassic Classic" listed.)
    
    								-mr. bill

vintage: adj. 2. characterized by excellence, maturity, 
and enduring appeal; classic

American Heritage Dictionary, on line edition

American Heritage Dictionary: see 'joke'.

    
    Three Step program for getting along:
    
    1 - Sprinkle Prozac liberally on Corn Flakes.
    
    2 - Eat several bowls of same.
    
    3 - Begin noting.
    
    Apparently, Porter's got the order mixed up.
    
    								Tex

re .409

>Hmm, my immediate thought on seeing that was: just what
>DEC needs, to be equated with once-leading-edge technology
>which is now obsolete, expensive, and plain irrelevant.

I'd give my eye teeth for one of those obsolete vehicles, especially the Cobra.
That display would be awesome, but then, only the guys who can plunk down a 
quarter mil would be interested in this "irrelevant" stuff (and we wouldn't
want their attention would we?  :-))

			SQ

Back from 3 weeks vacation -- loaded and ready for bear.  Saw a Shelby Cobra 
at the gas station last week _ WOW!!

    Personally, I equate a Cobra with power, speed, and quality.  Hyundais,
    although current, cheap, and relevant to transportation needs, I don't
    equate with the above.  Nor, I surmise, will the power, speed, and
    quality enthusiasts either today or 25 years from now.
    
    You want butt-kickin', neck-snappin', wheel-diggin' power and speed,
    buy a Cobra...or an Alpha at a lot lower price.
    
    You want a slow, stodgey machine to meet your minimum needs?  Buy a
    Vega...or an IBM!
    
    Hey, *that's* an ad!  A Cobra with a Digital logo and a Vega with an
    IBM logo on a quarter mile strip.  The Christmas tree turns green, the
    Cobra thunders down the track, driver hits the pits, gets the trophy. 
    The Vega finally crosses the line.  Fade to black...
    
    	  "If these two cars cost the same, which would you buy?"
    
    	  "Digital.  All the power without all the price"
    
    Close-up of Vega fades back in, showing chagrined driver as a tire
    blows and the Cobra driver meets the press.
    
    								Tex

    I was glad to hear our PC advertising was working.
    
    I was speaking to Netscape Communications about a problem with NEtscape
    and was asked what PC I said Digital Venturis, I was asked if this was
    intel based, yes I said, wow, I didn't know you made intel PCs, are they 
    your entry level systems?
    
    Mark

    This isn't about an actual advertisement, but...

    On CNN's Computer Connection this weekend, they showed a HiNote
    with a multi-media box (cd rom, speakers, etc.) which can be
    attached to the bottom of the HiNote.

    This was mentioned in the 'computer news' (or whatever) section of
    the show.  Unfortunately, they didn't show the Digital logo (except
    for the very slightly visible logo on the HiNote), but they did call
    us 'Digital Equipment' (as the company name).

    I had it on tape and had to run through it a second time to see it
    clearly.

    It's nice to see this make 'computer news', but I'd love to see it
    advertised as well.  The multi-media option for the HiNote is very
    exciting news!  

Yes - it is a nice option (for the Ultra only).  Too bad it's double the
price it should be.

				Steve

Came across this on DECUServe:

              <<< EISNER::$2$DIA7:[NOTES$HIVOL]SHOP_TALK.NOTE;1 >>>
                                 -< SHOP_TALK >-
================================================================================
Note 13.10                         DEC TV Ads                           10 of 10
EISNER::STEFFEN "Wayne Steffen"                       5 lines  19-JUL-1995 13:22
                              -< Digital Signage >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not TV ads, but at the recent Molson IndyCar race in Toronto, there were 
numerous and some large Digital signs on fences and by the grandstands.
Thought it was interesting, and a positive sign that Digital needs to 
become a household word like I**.

    re. last
    
    Digital of Canada was also the co-sponsor of the Grand Prix du Canada
    along with the traditional sponsor, Molson. Digital had numerous large
    banners on the grandstands and some sort of tent set up(which I never
    found;still trying to get one the cool Digital/Grand Prix jackets). 
    CERASO

    And Digital Canada is one of the sponsors of the Molson Indy here in
    Vancouver 1-3 September, 1995.
    
    Exposure is two part
    	- VIP booth for selected Digital customers with real-time race
          monitoring on Digital systems in every VIP booth.
    	- Showcase of DEC PC's incorporating live Internet access in a
    	  general public exhibition area.
    
    Presumably there will be many banners laid out around the race site as
    well.
    
    	Owen.

    While tuned in to CNN News last night at around 8:45 I happened to
    catch two new Digital PC commercials - and they were great!  The music
    was very upbeat and fit the message perfectly, and the written messages
    were worded very nicely.
    
    This is the first time I was left with a very good feeling after seeing
    Digital PC advertisements.
    
    FWIW,
    Janet Brown
    :-)

    re: .426
    
    I'll be in Vancouver for the race, let me know if I can help in any
    way.

saw the new hi-note ad yesterday (sunday). much better than the 
last ad's we did. must have changed agents...

    
    Well it's been a number of months since a reply to this topic,
    and about that long since I've seen any Digital TV advertising.
    
    Does anyone have any information about when we'll see our next
    ad?
    
    					Ed
    
    
    

It's also been a LONG time since I've seen a print ad in PC World (the one
I happen to get.)  Looking back it appears the last ad was a whopping
2 pages in April - 7 issues ago.  (I don't see my Sep. issue, so it's
possible there was some advertising in that one WIndows-95 issue.)

For comparison, this month's edition (and from what I've seen, this seems
to be fairly typical for these vendors) has:

    Compaq: 4 pages, Compaq Direct Plus: 4 pages    In 4 different places
    Gateway 2000: 8 pages			    In 3 different places
    Dell: 11 pages				    In 5 different places
    HP: PC 2 pages, + 2 pages for products	    In 3 different places
    AT&T: 6 pages				    In 2 different places
    IBM: 9 pages				    In 7 different places
    Micron: 4 pages				    In 3 different places
    NEC: several (laptop + monitors)		    In 2 different places
    TI: 8 pages					    In 1 place
    Zeos: 5 pages				    In 1 place
    Toshiba: 3 pages				    In 2 different places
    ALR: 1 page					    In 1 place
    Apple: 1 page (remember, this is a PC pub...)   In 1 place

    Microsoft: 10 pages				    In 3 different places

    Digital: Not listed, 0 pages		    In 0 places for at least
						    5 of the last 6 months
						    (to be contrasted with
						    the prev. that seem to be
						    very consistently present...)

Digital did get 1/4 of 1 page of a 3 page spread for PC Compleat (along with
Compaq, HP, AST, NEC, TI, Packard Bell, AST and Toshiba...)

If you try to find Digital in the advertisers/products list, the only pointer
is to a table that includes the Celebris XL 590, reviewed in may, with
the comment "Fine Pentium-90 perfomrance, large monitor, high price
on corporate PC from big vendor".

----------

It was good to see the Starions at Lechmere (which is the first one that
I would consider buying, since it does appear to be price competitive.)
However, at least if you're a reader of PC World, you wouldn't even know
Digital was in the PC business unless you looked *really* hard...

    Ok, maybe if we say it long enough and loud enough someone will listen?
    
    What is our Advertising budget? What is HP's? IBM's? Intel's? Compaq's?
    
    Do we *HAVE* an advertising dept? If we do, I have another question.
    
    - Compare our ad budget to the top 10 competitors in the PC, Server,
      Large System, Storage and whatever other category fits and report the
      results here.
    
    Waiting...
    
    .mike.

re: .432 
�"...What is our Advertising budget? What is HP's? IBM's? Intel's? Compaq's?..."

The note below is very old.  But it will provide some history.  Does anybody
have Computer Reseller News handy?  Mr. Corson, I believe you've sworn by it in
this space.

Do they still print vendors' ad budgets?

Bruce

            <<< QUARK::USER_DISK:[NOTES$LIBRARY]MARKETING.NOTE;1 >>>
                                 -< MARKETING >-
================================================================================
Note 199.5         FAQ: `how much do we spend on advertising?'            5 of 5
LEDER1::PETTENGILL "mulp"                      31 lines   6-JUN-1994 17:56:53.08
                            -< March 1994 Print ad >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Vendors

Compaq		$2,732K
Gateway 2000	 1,983
Apple		 1,937
Digital Equip	 1,843
Dell		 1,636
IBM		 1,616
Ambra		   888
Zeos		   785
NCR (AT&T)	   746
NECT		   669
Vtech		   595
AST		   591
Acer		   535
HP		   469

Application Software

Lotus		$841K
Wordperfect	 796
Borland		 634
Microsoft	 551
Micrografx	 525
CA		 514
Corel		 464
Oracle		 370
Intergraph	 306
Lotus WP div	 288
DCA		 250
Informix	 232

    
    Hello from advertising land -
    
    There are several advertising depts - and two ad agencies (DDB Needham
    for Coporate and most of the BU's, and Young and Rubicam for PC's).  Major
    DIGITAL ad depts are Corporate advertising (where I work), SBU and
    PCBU.  Each other BU has a person half or full time assigned to
    advertising. 
    
    We are busy finalising the new Corporate Television and print ads - 
    they will run starting in November in U.S., start in January 
    overseas.  We will1 be changing to a much higher production value 
    advertising look. A great deal is currently being written 
    on our overall Company advertising plans to be communicated in a 
    couple of weeks. The campaign is designed to support the new strategy
    of the company that started being communicated in September to the
    Industry analysts.
    
    On ad spending - we spend what the company has decided it can afford -
    it is not ideal but workable.
    I will not share advertising dollars in a public forum - we are about
    on par with HP and Compaq - quite a bit below IBM. If you factor in
    coop or market development funds for resellers, we are outspent by all
    of the above, IMHO.  Advertising Age publishes spending periodically.     
    
    Bill

So it ain't perfect, but will take it...

Let's get going!!

-Stephen

    
    re .434
    
    Thanks for the reply Bill. Glad you're still with us. Looking
    forward to seeing the new stuff.
    
    						Ed
    
    

    
    Ditto .436, Bill, but I have to ask a question. I hope it won't be
    taken as an attack, personal or otherwise.
    
>>    I will not share advertising dollars in a public forum - we are about
>>    on par with HP and Compaq...
    
    I'll hazard a guess that the concensus in this forum would be that our
    visibility is certainly not on a par with HP and Compaq, so where are
    those advertising dollars going? Are we getting our money's worth? Is
    there something else we should be doing?
    

    If we're spending as much on advertising as Compaq is, we're getting
    seriously ripped off somewhere. I see Compaq advertising everywhere. I
    hardly see Digital advertising anywhere, yet I'm actually _looking_ for
    the Digital ads! Where's the money going?
    
    Harry
    

> Where's the money going?

  Well, I have seen the (eminently forgetable) "Put your software
  in our beautiful storage boxes" ad in Newsweek. Its presence
  there actually surprised me; I just wish it was a better ad.

                                   Atlant

    
    YEp - I'm here, actually in new York on my faithful 486 laptop
    whilst finalising the spots.
    
    Getting ripped off - hey,` some ads work, some don't .  I think that
    our direct ad spending is close to the HP and COmpaq examples, but they
    are 1. Juggernauts on a roll (as we were in '85-89), 2. Very Large Coop
    and market development spenders, so that they have an extensive
    reseller and retail presence 3. Had consistent high revenue and profit
    growth over a few years - while we have had some hopeful quarters, and
    the 11% revenue growth in apples to apples comparisons is nice, we are
    still recovering in image from 3 absolutely horrible years, that eroded
    the company's reputation and customer confdence. I remember a study a
    couple of years ago saying essentialy that DIGITAL had one of the
    lagrest cumulative losses in Corporate history that did not lead to
    Chapter 11.  Contrast our toes on the precipice posiiton to the
    enhanced image that HP and Compaq were buidling with that huge
    profitable growth in the same time frame.  And that really affects a
    company's image. 
    
    We are seeing hopeful signs that our image is slowly improving, but it
    took a while to take down, it will take a while to rebuild. IMHO, we
    are on the upward track and building momentum, and much prefer the
    place we are today versus last year.  The recent Senior management
    decisions on company strategy help further focus the company and
    therefore what we speak about in Communications.
    
    
    Bill
    
    

     Well I just watched a nice commercial, or possibly two (1) minute
  commercials consecutivley, on Comedy Central at approx. 11:50 pm.  
  Not exactly prime time, but they were both to the point, and touted the speed 
  and affordability of our Celebris PCs. It was without doubt exclusively
  a PC advert., and the burgundy logo was prominently displayed at the end
  of each spot.

     Frankly,  I was caught offguard. I've occasionally seen sponsorship 
  acknowledgements for ~digital~ on PBS before, but this looked like a true
  commercial.
 
  
                                                        -- BMG

      Oh, and lest I forget to mention it...  just before the spot faded to
 black, the "Intel Inside" logo morphed onto the screen just below and to
 the left of the ~digital~ logo.


							-- BMG

    
    Earlier this week I caught the tailend of a Digital PC commercial on
    SportCenter on ESPN.  I had it on in the morning while I was getting
    dressed and missed most of it, but I was pleased to see it nonetheless.
    
    Also, there is an ad currently running from Circuit City, about getting
    a free color printer whenever you buy an IBM-compatible PC.  It's just
    a quick mention, along with Compaq and NEC (but a higher placing), while 
    they give more time to Packard-Bell and IBM.  Unfortunately, when they
    mention Digital, they flash the black Digital logo rather than the
    Burgundy one.  But they spelled our name right...
    
    --Jay
    

    
    re .441
    
    PCBU is primarily buying Cable TV programming in the states, while the
    Corporate Advertising dept is on a mixture of Network TV and Cable.
    
    PCBU also runs ads over the course of the week, while Corporate focuses
    on Sundays (i.e., NFL).
    
    Use of the Intel Inside banner and sound means that PCBU can get coop
    reimbursement and can stretch their Ad dollars further.  Corporate
    Brand advertising does not use other people's logos, since we are
    promoting overall DIGITAL capabilities.

    
    Not to revisit previous ratholes Bill, but has anyone priced to cost
    and benefits of putting that pretty maroon logo on the (quarter
    panel/hood/trunk/suspension-cam/dashboard {pick one or more}) of a
    Winston Cup Stock car?
    
    I hesitate to actually put a number on it, but I'd have to say that
    $100K would go a lot further there, than on TV.
    
    I'll bet someone who lives near (insert popular McD's driver name here)
    could find out some numbers too...  :-)
    
    .mike.

    re -.1
    
    FWIW...
    
    At yesterday's race (Phoenix), Dave Marcis' car was sponsored by
    Prodigy and Packard Bell.
    
    -Steve
    

    RE: DAVE MARCIS and PRODIGY
    
    I know, that's what prompted my rathole revisit.
    
    .mike.

    Mike -
    
    As we look more broadly into spreading our message - we certainly will
    be looking at sports marketing opportunities like Indy Car, Stock Cars,
    etc. We will be reviewing sports and leisure interests of our target
    audiences as a starting point shortly.  
    
    That said - we need the opportunity to restate/rebuild interest in the
    company first - on tv, radio, and print. Our mistake in the past has
    been to buy into auto racing properties 'on the cheap' like with Bobby
    Rahal a few years ago - and have no money to leverage the association
    with racing to the broader audience, build our messages, etc. Pure
    logo bill boarding from signage, etc. only helps if you have either a.
    Instant recognition so you build more impressions and build on your
    current mind share and image (like Coke, Pepsi, etc.) 
    or b.  Have additional vehicles to build up the image (Like Visa does
    in building up to the '96 Olympics). 
    
    Short term the focus is getting the new ads out to help reposition the
    company.
    
    Bill
    
    Bill   
    
    
     

    
    
    Bill,
    
    
    When you go to NASCAR, you will ne a liason to the team sponsored.  I
    humbly offer my services for this position.  Put me down first on the
    list.
    
    
    Mike

From:	STAR::GRANIT::GRANIT::MRGATE::"NEMTS::SALES::A1::ADVERTISING"  1-NOV-1995 08:48:35.92
To:	@Distribution_List
CC:	
Subj:	Digital's Worldwide Brand Advertising Campaign                         1

From:	NAME: Corporate Advertising          <ADVERTISING@A1@SALES@AKO>
To:     See Below

From: Jeffrey Brooks @AKO, DTN 244-6234
    

	On Sunday, Nov. 5, Digital begins its second year of brand 
advertising with a new ad campaign created by DDB Needham Worldwide.  
It's the most widespread communication yet of the company's direction 
for the future -- "connectivity."  

	That week, a special issue of "Digital Today" describing and 
illustrating our worldwide brand- and product-focused ad campaign 
will be distributed to all Digital facilities worldwide and to our 
partners in the Americas.

	Connectivity means connecting people to people, people to 
information, and companies to companies.  Digital is in the best 
position to provide that connectivity.  The advertisements you'll see 
over the next few weeks and months will deliver this message in 
forceful and compelling terms.  

	In the United States, Digital's brand advertising will appear 
primarily on Sundays in selected broadcast and cable TV programs -- 
sports, news and entertainment; on radio nationwide; and in 
newspapers and business magazines.  Product- and service-specific ads 
will appear in business and information technology publications.  
This high-impact television and business print activity provides a 
broad umbrella under which all Digital products and services will 
fit. 

 	The brand ads complement Digital's ongoing product and service 
advertising, which many of you have seen, and reinforce the company's 
contemporary market-direct approach and "voice," which separates 
Digital from its competitors.  These ads have much in common with and 
compliment the advertising for Digital's Personal Computer Business 
Unit, which is created by Young & Rubicam.  As you'll see, both 
efforts "speak" in a confident, assertive voice.

	The advertising also acknowledges the complexity of today's IT 
environment.  It recognizes that no one knows exactly what the future 
will bring -- not us, not our customers, not our competitors.  But 
Digital positions itself by defining how it supplies infrastructure 
tools so flexible, they can make the future work, whichever and 
whatever that future turns out to be.

	The TV commercials and print ads will feature the tag line, 
"Digital...Whatever It Takes."  This statement communicates the 
position and differentiation of our company on several levels.  It's 
a declaration of:
    
    	o  our ability to provide connectivity, to anticipate change, to 
           respond to customer needs and protect customer investments; 
           
    	o  our willingness to incorporate, integrate, and maintain 
           whatever operating system or hardware clients require; 
    
    	o  our intent to compete vigorously and ethically; and
    
    	o  our willingness to work hard on behalf of our clients.  
    
    	In a very real sense, "Whatever it takes" reflects our 
    willingness -- your willingness -- to go above and beyond standard 
    expectations.
    
    	The new campaign is worldwide.  For the first time, Digital will 
    air brand advertising on TV in top overseas markets, such as London 
    and Tokyo.  These commercials will commence in Q3.  
    
    	We've also worked with our agency's extensive global network of 
    offices to translate and adapt the campaign for local markets.  Each 
    image and line of copy will be honed country by country.  While the 
    voice is constant, the European and Asian influences for the ads that 
    run in those markets will be unmistakable.  
    
    	In particular, specific local adaptation of the "Whatever It 
    Takes" tag line is under way.  Some countries may choose to retain 
    the original tag line because of its distinctively American flavor.  
    Other countries may translate or modify it, as appropriate, to meet 
    their cultural needs. 
    
    	I am convinced this new campaign accurately reflects Digital's 
    image as a truly global company.  The ads communicate our message -- 
    connectivity, power, strategic alliances, services, and globality -- 
    strongly and clearly.
    
    	The TV ads that begin on Sunday in the U.S. will be followed by 
    network radio starting Monday, Nov. 6.  A three-page ad will appear 
    in the "Wall Street Journal" on Tuesday, Nov. 7.  In Canada, the 
    campaign kicks off the week of Nov. 5 with ads in broadcast and print 
    media.   
    
    	The schedule of the TV ads in the U.S. and Canada is listed 
    below.  More information about the new brand advertising campaign -- 
    including the four-week schedule of TV, radio and print ads in the 
    U.S. and Canada -- will appear in LIVE WIRE and the Information 
    Repository.  I encourage you to watch and listen for these 
    advertisements in your local media.  We look forward to your feedback 
    and comments.
    
    Regards,
    

    
    U.S. Media Schedule for Sunday, Nov. 5 (subject to change)
    
    Network             Program
    
    ABC			"Good Morning America/Sunday"
    ABC			Sunday Movie
    
    Fox			National Football Conference Game
    
    NBC			"Sunday Today"
    NBC			American Football Conference Game 1
    NBC			American Football Conference Game 2
    
    TLC	          	"Scientific American World"
    			"Wonders of the Universe"
    			"Science Frontiers"
    
    TDC 		"Time Traveler"
    
    A&E			"Screening Room"
    
    Canada Media Schedule for Week of Nov. 5
    (Ads begin airing on Monday, Nov. 6 and are subject to change.)
    
    CBC			"Fifth Estate"
    CBC			Prime Time News
    
    Discovery Channel	"Beyond 2000"
      (Canada only)	"Hi-Tech Culture"
    			"On the Internet"
    			"Wings"
    
    Global TV Network	"Early News"
    			"NYPD Blue"
    			"Late News"
    
    NewsWorld		"Business World"
    			"On the Arts"
    			"Pacific Rim Report"
    			"The Lead"
    			"Pam Wallin Live"
    
    Showcase		"Phoenix" 
    			"Crocodile Shoes"
    			"Festival Films"
    
    TSN			"Grand Slam Golf"
    			"SportsDesk"
    
 Distribution:
 This message was delivered to you utilizing the Readers Choice delivery 
 services.  You received this message because you are a Digital employee.  
 If you have questions regarding this message, please contact the author.
 




To Distribution List:

[deleted]

    
.450> It's the most widespread communication yet of the company's direction 
.450> for the future -- "connectivity."  
    
    (Let's all pray that some corporate wordsmith doesn't change this to
    "conDUCtivity" befor we hit the air. :-)
    

    Heard the same Digital radio ad at least 3 times during my 1.5 hr trip
    back from a customer site today, on WCBS in NYC (all-news AM station). 
    I was impressed that I was hearing the ad.  I was not impressed by the
    ad itself.  Frankly, the first time I heard it, it almost didn't come
    across that the ad was for a company called "Digital" - it came out
    more like the word "digital".  Too bad you can't use the logo to
    reinforce the text on radio.

    I heard it on Rush Limbaugh. Now there is 10m listeners in one whack!
    

> I heard it on Rush Limbaugh. Now there is 10m listeners in one whack!

  And 250 million boycotters.

  Yeah, great choice. :-(
                                   Atlant

>    I heard it on Rush Limbaugh. Now there is 10m listeners in one whack!
    
There's one place I'll never hear it........

...so put it on Howard Stern for non-Rushies...



Just kidding!!! :-)

... Back alot

the mention was made that there was no WWW address in our ads.
That should be in the ads.

Also, We could paint the address on the sides of our trucks that are
running around the country. The address doesn't changes like a slogan might.
You got a box that's up to 8 foot tall by 40 foot long. You got an 8 by 7
rear end that good use something more interesting than "Caution - Truck makes
wide right turns". The new boxes already have the burgundy logo.
You have a mobile bill board that is already paid for. 

Some do nots on this concept:
 no pictures - the hw goes obsolete way to fast today. I used to wince every
	time I saw the trailers with the rainbow, decmate and pro on them
 no slogans - Slogans get retired almost as fast as hw.
 no cutesy graphics - I believe you want people to look at the address, and
	not wade through a lot of other clutter. After all they are in their 
	car doing 75 mph.

Send retainer check to address above.
Regards,
/jon

    I think that's a super idea.  Many will not understand what
    http://www.digital.com/ means; many others will be struck that DIGITAL
    is the first to emblazon realspace-highway-cruisers with signposts for
    cyberspace-highway-cruisers.  Such "Wow, whatta company!" impressions
    are imho hard to make.
    
    As it says on my own rear license-plate holder:
    		+------------------------------------------+
    		|                  INTERNET                |
    		|                                          |
		|                  191-YXL                 |
    		|                                          |
    		| http://www.digital.com/info/kalikow.html |
    		+------------------------------------------+
    :-)
    

    Dan,
    
    Whoa!!  Looks like you're inviting the proverbial Pandora's box
    to be opened here.  Are you saying that IBG officially condone
    personal employee web pages on the external server and that they 
    can be advertised in/on popular media?.  Or is this perquisite
    reserved for true web evangelists?
    
    Not begrudging you the spoils of your labour, but inquiring minds and
    all that ........
    
    /Chris.

    Fair question.
    
    The personal part of "my" web pages which are hosted on the webforum
    demo machine are going to be moved to a private ISP (in my copious free
    time... coming soon!) but there are in fact a chosen EARLY-ADOPTER,
    knew-how-to-bug-Russ-Jones, wide-eyed fanatic, few, proud,
    Webevangelists who do, in fact, have personal pages on
    www.digital.com...   
    
    Hey, I'm OLD enuf to be a grandfather, why shouldn't I get the benefit
    of at least one "Grandfather Clause?"  :-)
    

    I already seen tons of TV adverts with http addresses in them.  I
    found Canon's new page the other day from their TV ad.
    
    Does our new TV ads include our page address, if not, it should.
    
    As for painting the trucks, that would be good idea.  I haven't seen
    a truck with a URL on it, but I have seen billboards with URLs.
    
    				-John

    There is a new Disney animated film being advertised --
    its Web address is:
    
    		       www.toystory.com
    
    This address is displayed both on TV and in movie theaters.
    Web addresses are becoming more common than phone numbers
    in every advertising medium.  If we don't have ours listed,
    we're out of step.
    
    Of course, if we display our address, then we'd best have
    a really neat site to visit.

    Gee, the s/w house up the block from me has a good sized sign out
    front.  On it, they have their logo (a cowboy's head) and under it is
    written:
    
    		internet mail: [email protected]
    
    I forget whether it has their web page address posted (but it's easy
    enough to guess, anyway).
    
    They didn't even bother writing their company NAME on the sign!  When I
    exchanged email with the owner, he said how surprised he was to get so
    many email responses because of the sign.  And this is in a rural town
    in Maryland (there's a farmette across the street, for instance), not 
    some high-tech urban center!
    
    IMO, no visual advertisement should omit our web page address.  Neither
    should we be producing business cards without our web page address.
    
    -- Russ

And to make the political personal, add this to your sigs when
you are out in the newsgroups. (of course I'm hyping OUR product :*))

resolv> cat .signature
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Digital = Internet = Servers, Security and Service

DSNlink V2.0 for Digital UNIX and ULTRIX http://www.service.digital.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

liesl

www addresses are showing up everywhere. During the Suns/Celtics game the 
other night, the "rolling ads" at courtside in front of the scorers table 
were often displaying a simple    "http://www.nba.com"  - no other info 
given. I'll bet a great deal of the TV audience knew what to do with that 
info.

I can't believe we don't put our ww address in the ads, almost every other 
technical company I see ads for includes their www address ...

Arlan

Are the ads avaialable to us on VHS tapes (other than setting our VCR to 
tape them off broadcast) ?? I'd like to use them at some customer events.

Arlan

I saw one of our trucks again on RT.495 heading south in Chelmsford, MA, USA
the other day. Still the same boring box with no URL painted on the side.


>Also, We could paint the address on the sides of our trucks that are
>running around the country. The address doesn't changes like a slogan might.
>You got a box that's up to 8 foot tall by 40 foot long. You got an 8 by 7
>rear end that good use something more interesting than "Caution - Truck makes
>wide right turns". The new boxes already have the burgundy logo.
>You have a mobile bill board that is already paid for. 

WEB WEEK magazine had an article on just this concept in their Dec 95* issue.
Point your browser at 
  http://www.iworld.com/ww-online/ 
   go to the WEB week magazine
    go to help
     search for the author Anne Bilodeau ( she has written two articles for 
                                           web week )
      Picking the correct document is left as an exercise for the reader.


Still waiting for first retainer check.

/jon


* And yes I know it's February. I'm behind on my hardcopy reading also.

    re:  NASCAR
    
    I'll second the motion for NASCAR.  
    
    If QVC (the infamous shop-at-home channel) can sponsor a car for
    Bodine, why shouldn't we get a driver ad go for it??  
    
    In fact, when Bodine was interviewed after his accident yesterday, 
    he even "plugged" his sponsor, telling the QVC fans not to
    give up on him, and to buy lots of stuff from the Q, since he'd be
    needing a new car now -:)!
    
    M.
    

    
    re; .-1 MadMike, You couldn't be more correct, but I seriously doubt
    that digital will even consider it. It makes too much sense, and would
    probably sell way too much hardware for us to a) deliver, b) install c)
    service. 
    
    .mike.

    RE: MadMIke
    
    If you're serious, you should take your suggestion up with either Bill Troy
    or David Simler of Digital's Corporate Advertising department.
                                                                        
    hth                        

RE: .471

	I recall seeing a note in here from Bill Troy on the topic of
	NASCAR/racing promotion. I think he mentioned it was being
	looked at but no decision was made at the time.

	I'd love to see a burgandy DEC car..

							mike

    I *am* serious.  I got "sucess" (considerable) from posting something
    in here recently, so I know most of this stuff gets passed to the
    proper people (eventually).  I was kinda hoping someone "in the know"
    would want to contact me about opportunities or suggestions if 
    *THEY* were serious.  If they are not, I am not going to waste my
    time with something that anyone not in a coma can see is benefitcial
    (IF DONE PROPERLY).  If my phone rings, that's nice.  If it doesn't,
    life goes on.. another day, another headache.
    
    hth  (har tee har?)  
    That's why I'm not actively following up on this.  Every year I 
    state my mind and then shut up (for the most part).  If digital
    is seriously interested I'm sure I'd find out through the (non
    digital) rumor mill.  
    
    The only "concern" I have is with digital missing out on the game,
    i.e. being a johnny come lately or an also ran.  Which looks like
    that may be happening.  I've seen IBM toying in this sport.
    The other thing I'm concerned about is digital blowing a huge wad
    on "motor racing" and then getting upset they got jipped because they
    bought into Formula one or off road rally racing or something.
    It's gotta be Busch Grand National at a minumum, Winston Cup series
    would be the best bet.  Anywhere else and I'd keep my money in the
    bank.
    
    MadMike 
    
     

Mike, who placed 6th at Daytona? (side note: Bill Elliott placed 8th)

-Andy

Well, it's that time of year again...

I just got back from Daytona, where I and 250,000 other folks, (along
with an estimated 30 million people on TV) saw the Daytona 500.

This year people like us only brought an estimated $190,000,000 to
the local Daytona economy.  Which sounds about right, since the 2
Atlanta races generate $300,000,000 for our economy.

But this year I noticed something different....
The #8 car was sponsored by Circuit City
The #71 car was sponsored by Prodigy
The #15 car, which had a one race deal, had Hayes on the side of it.
Hayes figured out real quick like what was happening and during speedweeks,
extended their sponsorship for the whole year.

And there was the pretty, unlettered #27 car out there all day long.
Oh well. For the tiny sum of $3 million these folks would "take care of us"
like kings for a whole year.  Get us on national TV 31, well, make that
30 more times for about 3 hours each time.  Probably have 2 independant
show cars at our disposal all year long, appearing wherever we tell them.
Sponsorship used to be (probably still is) around $1M a year.  "big dogs"
can generally get $6M.  Knowing the 27 folks, they'd probably thought
they'd died and gone to heaven if someone mentioned they have $2-3M
to invest for a year long venture.

The sport is exploding.  We'd fit right in.  With the proper marketing
angle it's obvious how we can leverage our involvement with just the 3 
above mentioned cars.  NASCAR is now on the web (finally), the hype appears
to be toward internet, not computers in general, however if digital 
muscled in I don't see why we couldn't be the "official computer of 
NASCAR", as well as have a car out there.  I'm not a marketing guy
or a finance guy, but I know this amount of money is chump change
compared to what goes on in the industry.  This isn't a bunch of yahoo's
(no pun) out running fast every weekend all over the country, this sport is
becoming (already) BIG BUSINESS.  The networks are fighting over who will 
cover the events.  The "minor leagues" if you will, are getting picked up 
by national tv now too (sponsorship is around .5 to 1.5M/year for them).
These events continuously set viewer and attendance records every year.
The series is expanding and people are building tracks in the hopes
of landing one of these events, but the current schedule is considered 
"full".  They race in practically every major market in the USA, they
have "goodwill" events in Australia, and soon Japan (rumor).  

Now is the time to get in, I would have said on the bottom floor, but the
elevator is moving up rapidly.  This whole deal is an excellent advertising
tool.

Regards,
MadMike
(Oh ya, my neighbor came in 8th and led the race for a bunch of laps.)
:^)                                                                                                                     

    Ya, I screwed up, but fixed it.  I was in a hurry to get out
    of their so when I glanced over at the position board I noticed
    the "94" down a ways.  It looked like it was 6th but it was
    8th.

    RE: .473
    
    If you're going to wait for a phone call from the DEC execs to 
    discuss your vision of Digital's brand marketing and strategy,
    then my recommendation is "don't hold your breath".
    
    I applaud your efforts to *drive* suggestions internally within
    the company, but to take the attitutde of "sit back and wait for
    their call" is unrealistic in *today's* Digital, imvho.

Hi...

  Not a great NASCAR fan, but I did watch this weekends race. Remebering the
previous discussions in this conference I tried to pay special attention
to the sponsors and their "place" in the race. Here are my impressions as a 
non-NASCAR fan (not a detractor just not a fan).

 1) Beyond the front 5 or so cars there's very little air time for the sponsor. 
You gotta' be up there in the big races.

 2) I did notice (with some amusement) the plug for QVC.

 3) By far, the standout sponsor for me was a furniture store I've never heard
of. I remember this because the sponsors name was prominately featured on the 
wrecked car as it was being hauled away. I thought "Boy, I bet that sponsors 
happy.". Then I began to imagine the fun competitiors would have with a wrecked 
Digital sponsored car and a mention of Digitals place on the Information 
SuperHighway.

 So...I still like the idea of Digital sponsoring a car if we can be guaranteed
the following:

    - It will be the fastest car out there, bar none (this is our claim isn't 
      it).

    - The car will never be involved in a wreck, at least not shown on camera.

    - The car always finishes in the top 5

Since this obviously can't be guaranteed, it's a dicey proposition at best
for Digital to sponsor a car. Honestly though, I really do like the image of
an Alpha-Generation logo'd car blazing past the rest of the back to the 
checkered flag.

Chuck

BTW Just out of curiosity, how long did it take to leave the speedway? There
were an awful lot of people there.

    Hayes (the modem company) sponsored a car... and so did Prodigy.  HP,
    Sun, IBM, and other high-tech companies sponsor cars in other racing
    leagues (associate sponsorships).
    
    We seem to be the only ones not bright enough to cash in on this.
    
    re .477.  The top 5 got LOTS of exposure in the race, but so did the
    others... and especially those that had tied in their race sponsorship
    to TV advertising during the race.  Although the Daytona 500 is the
    "super bowl" of NASCAR, there are 30 other Winston Cup races throughout
    the year, and the ratings are very good and getting better every year. 
    Every driver out there with a full time sponsor will get LOTS of
    on-camera air-time throughout the year.  And it's not just during the
    races.  There are at least a half dozen weekly shows about racing, not
    to mention that there is a daily half-hour program on ESPN every night
    dedicated to the days racing news, not to mention all the people who
    walk around with t-shirts and hats displaying the cars/logos of their
    favorite drivers.
    
    Race fans are intesely loyal to their favorite drivers and their
    sponsors.  They buy and recommend the products of sponsors so that
    their favorites can go race every weekend.
    
    We're blowing it... again.
    
    -Steve
    
    

It could be as simple as a d|i|g|i|t|a|l logo on the dash of a car that carries
an in-car camera.  CBS had 9 in car cams for the Daytona 500.

They usually pan to those every 10-15 minutes or so.  A simple burgundy emblem
on the dash would be seen by all tv viewers, but not by the spectators.

Tim

Speaking as someone who is disinterested in racing and most other similar
activities, I find it difficult to believe that people really base their
major buying decisions on whose logo is on a race car.

				Steve

        RE: Note 3528.480 by QUARK::LIONEL

>Speaking as someone who is disinterested in racing and most other similar
>activities, I find it difficult to believe that people really base their
>major buying decisions on whose logo is on a race car.

    I agree with you Steve, the people in the past few replies seem to
    think  spending $3M on this would have some great return.  I wonder
    what other types of advertising or customer awareness could be purchased 
    for $3M.

    
    	For the same reason someone would buy a gallon of Tide after see-
    	ing some bimbo on TV using it?
    

re:  Note 3528.482 by BUSY::SLABOUNTY 

> For the same reason someone would buy a gallon of Tide after see-
> ing some bimbo on TV using it?

I can see it now.

The Boss:  "Dilbert, why did you decided to buy our files server from
            Digital?"

Dilbert:   "Wally and I really liked the Digital car in this weekends
            NASCAR race."

    

    There have been studies that show great fan loyalty with the products
    on their favorite driver's car.  Lets put it this way, if it didn't
    sell the product, why would anybody spend the money.  Winston certainly
    doesn't sponsor the entire race series as a hobby...
    
    				-John

    It's just another form of name awareness. That's it, nothing more,
    nothing less.
    
    Car racing in general doesn't float my boat so it makes no diff to
    me but obviously many millions of people do.
    
    Jim C.
    
    

Winston cigarettes are purchased on an individual level, and Winston (or
whichever of the coffin-nail manufacturers makes Winston) uses race cars
and all of the associated paraphenalia promotion to provide an "image".  "Cool
race car drivers support Winston (even if they don't smoke), so maybe I
should too."  I can't see the same sort of basis used to decide to buy
a Turbolaser.

Now if you have to buy a sponsorship to run ads during the race, that may be
supportable.  But the sponsorship by and of itself is fairly worthless.

				Steve

NASCAR spectators cover the whole spectrum.  You used to see sponsors like STP,
Goodyear, Sunoco which were very much tied in to autos/auto racing

Now you see everything:

Hayes
3COM ?
Kellogs Corn Flakes - Including a picture of the driver on the box
Tide
Maxwell House
Quality Life
McDonalds
Hooters Restaurants
Kodak
Miller - Miller features the car in their ads
Budweiser - Bud sponsors NASCAR, BGN, CART and jet boats just to name a few.

Lots of household products with little tie in to racing spend big bucks
sponsoring cars.  These races attract several hundred thousand spectators and
millions of tv viewers.  Every race is televised (Between CBS, TBS, ESPN and
TNN) on Sunday afternoon and lasts 4+ hours.  The season starts in February and
goes until Oct/Nov.


Tim

>Hayes
>3COM ?
>Kellogs Corn Flakes - Including a picture of the driver on the box
>Tide
>Maxwell House
>Quality Life
>McDonalds
>Hooters Restaurants
>Kodak
>Miller - Miller features the car in their ads
>Budweiser - Bud sponsors NASCAR, BGN, CART and jet boats just to name a few.

I've got this image of a bunch of guys hanging around the ol' TV drinking beers
(miller and budweiser).  One of them is probably having a coffee (Maxwell
House) and most of them are chowing down on some Big MACs, but at least one of
them is eating a bowl of corn flakes.  One of them is doing his laundry (Tide)
because he walking to hooters that nite and is taking his camera along (Kodak)
in case he sees something along the way he wants to take a picture of. 

One person is dialed into a web server (3COM) over his Hayes PCMCIA card and is
looking at Quality Life's home page.

-mark

re: Mr. Buckley

After 4 years, I don't (and never did) expect a phone call.  I'm just
tossing this idea out into the open.  I COULD howerver be helpful, since
I have a vested interest in seeing that digital is represented properly.
If marketing calls abc company and steers us to sponsor joe-no-name,
we're screwed.  They got our money, but we got hosed.  We obviously
will not be picking up Earnhardt, Elliott, or any of the other big
names, at least not this year.  The 27 is Elton Sawyer, a good guy,
good team, but not worth 6 million, probably 2 or so.  The determining
factor would be what the sponsor (digital) wants.  The more we want the
more expensive it gets.

re:  Chuck

} 1) Beyond the front 5 or so cars there's very little air time for the sponsor. 
}You gotta' be up there in the big races.

True, but there is a lot of opportunity during 3 - 5 hours to get on TV.
However, there can be 2 other cars appearing at whatever event we want.
Parked in front of MSO, at comdex, wherever.  The things travel down the
road all year long in a nice big truck with friendly folks happy to
answer questions about the car, driver and sponsor.  It gets written up
in papers, magazines, on special shows (this week in NASCAR, Inside NASCAR,
etc...).  So the exposure is not just limited to the time the car is on
the track.

} 3) By far, the standout sponsor for me was a furniture store I've never heard
}of. I remember this because the sponsors name was prominately featured on the 
}wrecked car as it was being hauled away. I thought "Boy, I bet that sponsors 
}happy.". Then I began to imagine the fun competitiors would have with a wrecked 
}Digital sponsored car and a mention of Digitals place on the Information 
}SuperHighway.

Heilig-Meyers.  There probably aren't any of there stores up in your
neck of the woods, but you know who they are now, don't you?  The thing to
know here and it is very important is SPONSOR LOYALTY.  Fans are (proven
via that marketing stuff) known to be very sponsor loyal.  So, even though
the fact the 90 car was all smashed up, they'll still sell a big pile
of extra furniture because of the mere fact that they support NASCAR and
therefore the masses will support them.  This is the key.  If a fan has
a choice to make, they'll usually choose a sponsors brand over "the other
guy".

} So...I still like the idea of Digital sponsoring a car if we can be guaranteed
}the following.
}    - It will be the fastest car out there, bar none (this is our claim isn't 
}      it).
}    - The car will never be involved in a wreck, at least not shown on camera.
}    - The car always finishes in the top 5
}Since this obviously can't be guaranteed, it's a dicey proposition at best
}for Digital to sponsor a car. Honestly though, I really do like the image of
}an Alpha-Generation logo'd car blazing past the rest of the back to the 
}checkered flag.

It ain't gonna happen, of course.  The best bet is to make sure you're
not sponsoring junk.  Now, you are competing against 50 other people
who want to get into a race.  The important thing is how the sponsor
blends it's marketing with the team, leveraging the involvment with
the team to its own marketing efforts (i.e. TV commercials, printed
commercials, appearances).  Whatever.  This whole deal goes WAY BEYOND
just what you saw on Sunday.  Those cars were in Daytona for months.
They'll be running next sunday, and all the way until mid november.
Physically travelling all over the country, being seen in all sorts
of media.  The exposure is enormous.

}BTW Just out of curiosity, how long did it take to leave the speedway? There
}were an awful lot of people there.

Less than an hour.  After doing this for 10 years you get the hang of it.
The trick is parking.  I walk a little futher than some folks, but when I
get to my car I'm right off the main road out of there.  I blend in with
traffic and hit the freeway.  Lots of folks are gridlocked in parking lots,
or purposly hang around after a race to let the traffic die down.  I park
in a mall down the street from the track when I go to Daytona.  

Regards,
MadMike
                                                              

    re: Note 3528.488 by NOTAPC::SEGER
    
    Simply put, your image is wrong.  1/2 the fans are female (actually,
    I think it's over 50%).  At one time you were right.  Apparently
    over the past several years this deal is becoming "mainstream".
    That's why timing is important.  We're probably gonna miss the boat,
    but I said my piece.
    
    MadMike

    Sponsorships provide more than race day visibility.  We used to sponsor
    Rayhal's Indy car until times got tough.
    
    I personally closed a few hundred K because of bringing in a bunch of
    my (then) Toyota customers to hear Bobby speak at a Digital Autofact
    session in Detroit.  Driver endorsements, speaking events, pit passes, 
    camera shots and autographs with customers and their kids...
    
    All in addition to the obvious race day(s) visibility.  Whether you're a
    gearhead or not, we have a customer community (existing or potential)
    out there that we could recoup a SMARTLY CHOSEN sponsorship investment 
    from.
    
    BT

    The key is to be creative incorporating our message with their sport. 
    A few possibilities/examples:
    
    - IBM gave a bunch of ThinkPads to race teams.  They sent an engineer
    (maybe more) to help them develp useful programs to calculate fuel
    status, tire wear, and other things they could use during practice and
    race day.  During interviews, the teams mentioned "IBM" by name when
    talking about the technology.  We could do something similar.
    
    - We have the fastest systems on the planet.  Donate one (or more)
    to the team so that they can run advanced airflow and mechanical models
    as part of their engineering effort.  They're doing this now, but with 
    our systems, I'm sure they could be doing it better.
    
    - Up in Canada for one of the Indycar races, I remember we did some
    sort of 1 race deal where we set up a bunch of our PC's running the
    game "Indycar Racing" for the race fans to try out.  Something similar
    could be done for every race.  It certainly would get TV coverage if we
    did.
    
    - A web page with the team car, stats, and examples of how Digital
    products went into the effort (the above examples).  How about a live
    video feed (Cu-See-Me? or similar) from in the car during the race? 
    We'd need to exploit the high-tech aspects of this sport.
    
    If we do this, I think it could be a great marketing tool for Digital. 
    If we don't, I see it as just another in a long list of marking
    opportunities that we were too sluggish and/or foolish to capitalize
    on.
    
    -Steve
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Advertising at Daytona or other NASCAR events may be a good
idea. I don't know. But don't forget that it is advertising
pitched at only one third of Digital's marketplace (North
America). Most of the sponsors you listed, like Bud, Hooters
etc. are first and foremost American. So it wouldn't be
"corporate" advertising, just North America's.

RE: .493

	NASCAR is catching on worldwide.

							mike

>Advertising at Daytona or other NASCAR events may be a good
>idea. I don't know. But don't forget that it is advertising
>pitched at only one third of Digital's marketplace (North
>America). Most of the sponsors you listed, like Bud, Hooters
>etc. are first and foremost American. So it wouldn't be
>"corporate" advertising, just North America's.

I disagree with the opinion that NASCAR is strictly North American.  
At Atlanta Speedway (and this may hold true at Charlotte as well), 
several of the Condominiums built at the track (yes, *at* the speedway) 
are fully owned by foreign companies and used by company marketing
types to swoon clients.  Imagine the impact of flying to Atlanta from
Japan for a weekend of NASCAR racing (not unknown to them, you know).

-Andy

    
     Saw the advert for Starion PCs last night on the tv. Great ad.
    But even my 11 year old gave me grief about the timing of the 
    ad. A few weeks ago I had to explain why DEC was getting out
    of the "home PC" market segment. "We don't make enough money on them"
    I said.
     Now he wants to know why we're spending more money on a product
    we're not going to sell anymore.
     This conversation took place while I was banging away on our Starion
    930, trying to get DOS to recognize the cd rom so he could run a new
    game he bought. He's not impressed.
    
     If we decide to get into NASCAR events I hope we know enough to show
    up on the DAY of the race.
    
    bob

    
    Hello,
    
    A formal market research study is being conducted with customers and
    prospects on the role sponsorships/event marketing could play in our
    mix.  THis will be a major factor in guiding our selections, along with
    the criteria we use for selection (target audience appeal -
    extensability to key messages for DIGITAL, etc.)
    
    NASCAR, Indy Car, etc. are certainly viable opportunities for such
    sponsorships, but the world is full of them - this is a multi-billion
    business annually, and whatever we do we need to commit FULLY and
    DEEPLY to the venue - this has not been a DIGITAL strength, and why for
    example we passed on a Bowl Game opportunity last year. And unless you
    have the commitment - it doesn't help - it is just a money sink.
    
    One quick market example - for last time's Olympics, DDB needham in
    Chicago tracked major brands sponsoring the Olympics, and the awareness
    of these firms major competitors. The customer question was: "Do they
    sponsor the Olympics?".  WHile firms like VISA have a 4 year commitment
    to them, and it was clear they were the Olympic sponsor, not AMEX, many
    customers for other categories had no idea who was the sponsor for 
    example - KMART,Sears, Walmart, etc. (The answer was JC Penney). 
    
    Without the ongoing commitment little happens.   
    
    Bottom line - we all have our Favs - I would say DIGITAL should be the
    Worldwide Sponsor of UMASS BBALL, not to start another rat hole.  
    
    But the company is taking a more organized and strategic approach to these
    endeavors, and believe me 180 mph machines would certainly be in the
    consideration set.
                                                                
    Bill
    
    
     
    
    
    
    

In Europe, NASCAR is only available via satellite channels and is therfore
restricted to the minority who actually have the dishes and decoders! coupled
with the fact that it is a typically North American sport using vehicle outlines
peculiar to North America! and its sponsored by companies, and products not
known in Europe, Hooters for instance!

Yes, there is some interest but mainly by the anorak wearing motor racing
fraternity, who will watch anything with a motor in that races! Formula 1 still
holds the hearts and minds of most European enthusiast, and for a while Indycars
when Nigel Mansell was doing so well but that interest seems to have waned!

If we want to sponsor motor racing and reach a world-wide audience Formula 1
would be a better bet as i understand i commands the biggest worldwide TV
audiences! In the past we did sponsor Ferrari in F1 but not in very prominent
places (Across the top of the nose and on the front wing endplates), even though
the cars got good airtime!

Gerald

I got my autoweek racing series summary yesterday and there was a summary of
NASCAR, F1 and CART of each car, driver crew and other information.

Major sponsors with tech background include

RCA
Motorola
Panasonic
Konica

So sponsors are not limited to products you buy at the grocery/auto stores.

Tim

> This conversation took place while I was banging away on our Starion
> 930, trying to get DOS to recognize the cd rom so he could run a new
> game he bought. He's not impressed.

  Did he then go over to the other kid's house, where their
  Macintosh was already running that CD-ROM?

                                   Atlant

>>       Did he then go over to the other kid's house, where their
    
     No, but he did go to his room and plug the SAME game title into
     his handheld Sega thingy and played away.
      I know the ad you're talking about. They got that one dead right.
    The scenario has played out many times over at my house since the 
    arrival of the peecee. Three pc game titles for christmas presents.
    One runs, the other two are useless at the moment.
     
    bob
    

    Yep.  That scenario plays out in my house too.  My kids can fly a
    Jumbo-Jet with 2 engines on fire through a hurricane into Kennedy
    airport and land it safely but they regard "EMM386 failed to
    load the memory thingajiggy" as the equivalent of a major disaster.
    
    Getting Flight Simulator to run from CD-ROM on DOS was a poignant 
    reminder of how accurate that Apple TV advert is.
    
    Windows 95 has made things quite a lot simpler.
    
    /Chris.

In the Feb. 26 issue of Time Magazine, page 56, is an article on NASCAR and 
how it isn't your daddy's NASCAR anymore.

Some stats (from what I recall):

- $2 billion industry last year (and growing)
- 1995 live attendance was over 5-million
- Roughly 1/3 NASCAR fans make over $50k/year
- Approx. 38% are women

(Perhaps someone else {someone with the article?} can provide more)

Point is, IMO, the exposure resulting from becoming a corporate sponsor
(North American or not) would assuredly offset the relative expense.

-Andy

    Very good Andy,  That shows the point I was trying to make which
    is cost vs. benefits.
    
    If you want exposure, this'll do it _very_ economically,
    very quickly, and to a lot of people.
    
    The "what if the car wrecks or the guy gets killed and people will
    make fun of us", argument is no good because we get tons of exposure
    even while the car is sitting still.  Of course we want our guy to
    WIN all the time, but it won't happen.  The better the guy does, the
    more hype we get. 
    
    Granted this will mainly target the USA. for 3 million bucks that's nice.
    That's 3 minutes of commercials during the superbowl.  Thanks.
    I've said before, spending $50Million to play (via Formula one) to
    a world wide audience would be a waste of money.  Some of this
    marketing effort will spill over into other parts of the world
    automatically.
    
    Finally, I know we sponsored an Indy Car, with a tiny little decal.
    It brought in some revenue, and was sort of neat-o.  But the car
    still said "MILLER GENUINE DRAFT" all over it.  It was the miller
    car. If you LOOKED REAL HARD you could see the digital decal on it.
    IMHO: I hope we didn't spend very much to have that decal there.
    
    For 3 Million I want 3 cars in action, 1 in competition, and 2 at
    my disposal for whatever I want all year long.  Heck, park one in
    the lobby of hq all year long.  Park one in front of a customers
    hq for a couple days.  It'll look exactly like we want, and it'll
    do what we want.  We won't be playing 2nd fiddle to anyone.
    Heck, for $3Million in F-1 you might get a guy to put a little
    digital decal on the back of his helmet.
    
    I am not slamming F-1.  I'm not slamming cart/indy.  I'm just pointing
    out the reality that NASCAR Winston Cup is where we should look IF
    we look anywhere.
    
    Regards,
    MadMike
                                                    

	We used to sponsor a golf tournament and what sport's more global than
	golf?  I personally don't care in the least about NASCAR just like lots
	of people wouldn't spend a minute watching golf.  Remember, just because
	you're a big fan of something doesn't mean the world revolves around it.
		For $X million you could get some pretty good golfers to put 	
		|d|i|g|i|t|a|l| on their caps and have it seen by millions every
	saturday and sunday and several thursday and friday's as well....JT

    re .505
    
    We're not going on and on about NASCAR sponsorship because we like the
    sport (although we do).
    
    We're doing it because we believe it represents "the most bang for the
    buck".  Companies that live and die by marketing have figured it out. 
    Technology companies are starting to figure it out.  I think it
    represents a solid opportunity not only to get our name out there, but
    as part of a whole marketing package (fast systems/fast cars, etc). 
    It's an opportunity to be creative with marketing rather than just
    sticking your logo on someone's golf cap.
    
    -Steve

RE: .497

	You're right Bill, unless we COMMIT to doing something like this,
	it would be crazy to pump money into it. I'd rather Digital 
	didn't get into NASCAR than to go in half-heartedly. What's needed
	is a commitment. That's going to be hard to do. And commitment is
	more than just $$, it's time to wait for something to pay off. 
	Digital is always looking for the quick turnaround. ("If I pay
	$3million, it should return 12 times that the first week or I'm
	out")

RE: Formula 1

	Yup, great sport, I like it, but to get the most bang for the
	racing buck, NASCAR can't be beat. Formula 1 is VERY expensive.

								mike

    New Hampshiree College in Manchester, NH has figured this out. A
    student ( I believe from Maine) came to the adminsitration with a
    proposal for the college to provide a sponsorship for his car that
    he drives on the New England cuircuit. He did such a good job of
    selling the proposal, using business classes that he took to lay out
    the plan, that the school bought the idea and now sports a decal and his car
    ( at least for last year)                 

    On the other hand, NASCAR might be good way to advertise "enduser"
    products.  Oil, detergent, etc.  With our withdrawl from the home
    PC space, what are we trying to sell?  
    
    There are non-enduser sponsors.  DuPont for instance is getting
    great name recognization, but I wonder if they are really making
    any money off it...
    
    				-John

    re: DuPont for instance is getting great name recognization, but I
    wonder if they are really making any money off it...
    
    (hypotetical)
    I own madmike's autobody shop.  I need to buy 20,000 gallons of
    paint.... hmmm... who do I call?
    
    this part:
    }  what are we trying to sell?
    
    is very important.  If we don't commit to marketing this properly, we
    shouldn't do it.
    
    IMO: A successful package would reach not only joe computer buyer,
    but the fellow who makes purchasing decisions for big companys.
    I think this would be a good way to set us aside from our competitors.
    Not only is our stuff quicker than their stuff, but we got a racecar
    too!!!!  
    
    MadMike

    
Square D Employees Revving Up For Goodwrench 400

              Company Feels At Home On NASCAR Circuit  


  ROCKINGHAM, N.C., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of Square D Company
employees from five North and South Carolina manufacturing sites will be
more than casual observers of the Goodwrench 400 at the North Carolina
Motor Speedway in Rockingham this weekend. 

  That's because Square D has become a primary sponsor of the FILMAR Racing
Ford Thunderbird and driver Kenny Wallace.  The sponsorship between the
Palatine, Ill.-based maker of electrical distribution and industrial
control and automation products and FILMAR/Wallace covers the entire 1996
NASCAR Winston Cup Series. 

  Square D has power equipment plants in Monroe and Seneca, N.C., and
control equipment plants in Asheville and Raleigh, N.C. and Columbia, S.C. 

  Square D ventured into auto racing last year as an associate sponsor of
the Kenny Wallace Dog/Square D Ford Thunderbird, which raced in 14 NASCAR
Busch Grand National races. 

  The Square D racing sponsorship fits into its energetic approach to
growing its business. 

  "Our goal is to increase our sales to $3 billion by the year 2000, and to
do that, we are willing to break new ground in the way we communicate and
connect with our customers," said Charles W. Denny, president of Square D
and president and CEO of Groupe Schneider-North America. 

  Square D Company is the flagship brand of Groupe Schneider-North America,
with posted sales of $2.3 billion last year.  Groupe Schneider, a
Paris-based global leader in the electrical industry, acquired Square D in
1991. 

  "The sponsorship last year was more successful and popular than we ever
imagined with our distributors, customers and our own people," Denny said.
"It got us close to key customers and to prospects.  With the full
sponsorship, we will do more to leverage our involvement, gain a
competitive advantage over competition and enhance brand loyalty." 

  "The construction industry is a big part of our business, and many of our
distributors and contractors who use our products, or could use our
products, are loyal NASCAR fans," said Denny.  "In addition, this
sponsorship helps us market to major industrial customers, many of whom are
also NASCAR fans or sponsors." 

  "Our association with NASCAR and driver Kenny Wallace has resulted in
terrific opportunities for Square D and its distributor partners to build
customer relationships," says Bob Trice, director of Square D Marketing
Operations. "We've been able to measurably boost customers conversions at
scheduled races, and our 16,000 employees at Square D are rooting for
Kenny.  It's a fun morale boost." 

  As part of its sponsorship, Square D will host hospitality events at
numerous NASCAR races.  "These events help us connect with our customers in
an environment that's exciting and memorable and one that is conducive to
building good customer relationships," says Trice. "We also help them
connect with their customers by providing access to race tickets and the
hospitality tent." 

  To help build a fan following for the Square D racing team, the
sponsorship program also will include a merchandise catalog of shirts,
hats, jackets, souvenir cards and several other items boasting the Square D
racing logo. These items will be available to Square D distributors and
customers. 

  NASCAR racing is one of America's most popular sports, and provides an
ideal geographic and demographic fit with Square D's marketing efforts. 
Trice stressed the following facts: 

  --   NASCAR leads all U.S. auto racing series in total attendance, 
       which is growing at 10 percent a year;  

  --   NASCAR is cable TV's fastest-growing sport, second only to 
       NFL in audience ratings;  

  --   NASCAR has the largest average attendance of any sport -- 
       more than 134,000 people per race.  

  "Square D is at an advantage on the NASCAR circuit because our products
are not aimed specifically at the auto market," says Trice. "We stand apart
from our competitors by talking directly to the people who use and sell our
products, and who also love auto racing." 

  Square D Company is a market-leading manufacturer of electrical
distribution, industrial control and automation products, systems and
services for the distribution, application and control of electricity.
Square D's products and systems are found in all types of residential,
commercial and industrial construction, in a wide range of manufacturing
and processing facilities, and in the products of other manufacturers. 


2687 02/21/96 12:35 EST
:SUBJECT: NC SC SPRT
Copyright (c) 1996 PR Newswire
Received by NewsEDGE/LAN: 2/21/96 12:56 PM

RE: Note 3528.506 by CONSLT::OWEN 
    
>    We're not going on and on about NASCAR sponsorship because we like
>     the sport (although we do).
>   
>    We're doing it because we believe it represents "the most bang for the
>    buck".  Companies that live and die by marketing have figured it out. 
>    Technology companies are starting to figure it out.  

What analysis have you done to say you get anymore bang for the buck with 
NASCAR vs anything else?  

-Bruce  
    

5M spectators a year is hard to compete with.  Plus a little digital logo on a
cap for a golfer is not visible to every spectator during the entire event. 
Most sports don't allow corporate logos on a uniform.

Look at the sheetmetal on a NASCAR vehicle.  You could put the digital logo
across the back of the car and that would be the same as putting the logo the
length of a F1 or Indycar.  F1 teams spend 100M+ year.  I agree with MadMike F1
is too expensive.

Tieing in our advertising with the car would be a great opportunity.  Using
telemetry measurements for chassis tuning calculations, simulations etc.  We
would have a great subject for commercials and you would simply be documenting
the use of the digital hardware software used by the team.

I mean, Miller features Rusty Wallace in their ads and you can bet he's not
using their product during the race...

>I mean, Miller features Rusty Wallace in their ads and you can bet he's not
>using their product during the race...

But the viewers are.

    I would think that sponsorship of a marathoner would be more in 
    tune with our prez's image.  It would be cheaper too...

    justme....jacqui

    You have to start -somewhere- reaching the masses, and NASCAR is a
    major vehicle to that end. NASCAR fans are everywhere, in every level
    of business, top to bottom. Sure, you may have the opinion that it's
    all drunken redneck losers for fans, but then you'd be wrong. The
    impact that this sport has had on people is amazing. I remember sitting
    next to a couple at the Coca-Cola 600, who were dressed in their Bill
    Elliot uniforms and not looking at all like two people who controlled
    over $10,000,000 budgets between them. (Lockheed Martin) Guess how many
    new DEC machines are going in there? Compared to *how many*
    HP/SUN/DELL machines? If there had been a DECmobile out there, I would
    have meant a lot.
    
    So it isn't world-wide, so what? Try it, DO IT RIGHT, and then look
    elsewhere for similar ideas. Is there an equivilent flavor of racing in
    <insert country name here>? Get into that too. "The World Wide Digital
    Racing Team" has a nice ring to it.
    
    Enough
    .mike.

    I heard on a news report that for NASCAR, its an average of $40K/year
    to get your logo on a quarter-panel (not sure of how big...)  While
    it takes about $1M/year to get your name on the hood/reardeck.  This
    was an average and certain can be less expensive on the younger
    racers and more expensive on the established teams.
    
    Also for those of you who want to be "1st or nothing else", let me
    say that I doubt Digital has the money to get Dale Earnhart to
    dump GM Goodwrench and repaint in Digital burgandy...  You might
    get on Dale's quarterpanel, but we're not going to displace sponsors
    with long term contracts (and deeper pockets).  You'll have to start
    at the bottom.  Perhaps we can be big shots in the Busch series or
    the SuperTruck series?
    
    				-John

    re .514,
    
    	Rusty does drink Miller when the race is over. :^).
    
    Ron

    re: Note 3528.518 by TLE::REAGAN
                                                     
    It cost's ~$1-2 million dollars to run the Winston Cup circuit.
    
    There are 3 main types of sponsorships:
    Primary: "your name on hood/deck/quarter panel"
    Associate "your small name somewhere other than hood/quarter panel"
    Sanctioning sponsor:  Sponsor a race, or a program within the 
    race or series.
    
    Primary sponsorship generally starts at $1M.  More if you're
    good.  More if you don't want an associate sponsor.  Even more
    if you dont want your car having all those tiny decals all over it
    (like Miller & Pennzoil do).
    
    Those people that are on the tiny decals are the $40K/race folks.
    Take "True Value" for example.  They sponsor the "True Value Hard
    Charger" award.  The person who leads the most laps of a race
    AND DISPLAYS THAT DECAL will win $x from true value.  So, you can
    lead the whole race and blow up on the last lap and still get money.
    
    An associate sponsor is tagging along for the ride.  You don't have
    as prominent a display, but you can boast about being on the car, and
    use the program in marketting, but the car will still say "MILLER"
    on it, in the Rahal Indy car example.  I hear these are about
    $250,000/year.   The problem with this is control.  2nd fiddle.
    I don't think this is a good option.
    
    In the case where the primary sponsor wants a "clean" car, with
    no decals (actually, there will still be 5 - 7 decals), the sponsor
    will pay what the driver would have won if he had ran the decal.
    For example, if the hard charger deal pays $5000 and we would have
    won it, the sponsor would pay the $5000.

    Everything is negotiable.  Everything has a price.  
    That is why selecting a good TEAM is important.  We could hook up
    with a good Grand National team, write them a check for $1.5M and
    tell them we want them racing in Winston Cup within a month.
    
    MadMike

A couple of replies back, someone asked, quite sensibly,
what analysis had been done to indicate that NASCAR would
represent the best bang per buck. The answer appears to be
nobody has done it. I won't attempt it either, but ...

Five million spectators would make NASCAR "small/mid sized" in international
sport. The biggest events in terms of live+TV coverage are all from
truely international sports, where the audience is spread over Asia, Europe,
Africa and the Americas. NASCAR would be an order of magnitude behind the big
ones, such as
	- the British Open or US Open (golf)
	- tour de France (cycling)
	- world cup soccer (or any of 10 other big matches)
	- the summer Olympics
	- Wimbeldon (tennis)

Don't forget that two thirds of Digital's marketplace is outside North
America. I know it is hard for some people to internalise this, but that's
the way it is. Our real growth marketplaces are Eastern Europe and South
East Asia. Go spend time im Malaysia or Thailand. Sport there looks a
little different to your place!

    The current string is a nice discussion on the wisdom of
    whether *sponsorship* expenses are a good value to Digital.  Several of
    us are hard core believers that they are.
    
    Whether NASCAR, Indy/CART, F/1, Golf, or whatever is or isn't a good
    choice for the entire planet is missing the mark.  Sponsorship can be
    effective.  Multiple sponsorships can be more effective.  Targeted
    sponsorships that reflect local customs and interests are optimally
    effective.  There is no single *best* choice.
    
    Sponsorship of scholastic, sporting, or any of a host of other types of
    causes can be great values toward promoting Digital business & image.  
    Let's avoid "one size fits all" thinking.
    
    JMVHO, of course!

    
    re: where's the beef.
    I mentioned before, I'll put the ball in play.  It's not my job to
    market something to marketing.  I offered several sources to some
    folks and they can do what they want with it.  I'm not going to
    go out of my way selling or proving this;  #1: It's obvious.  #2:
    not my job mon!, #3: IF someone (anyone) were to research this
    for themselves, they would find out relatively quick like that
    this is a viable place to advertise.   
    
    I also mentioned that I'm close enough to this deal that I could
    care less if digital gets in or not.  I just don't want anyone
    thinking I'm not putting my money where my mouth is.  I can't justify
    goofing off for a week gathering this info just to make a noter or
    two happy.  Besides, it sounds like the proper people have picked up
    on this.  It doesn't hurt to discuss it though. 
    
    Regards, 
    MadMike                                          

just to take a slightly different twist, how much longer will it make sense to
advertise on TV?  I'm being a little facetious here but consider that as the
world moves more toward 100's or 1000's of television channels (I admit it
could take a few more years) the size of the viewing audience for any
particular channel is going to drop like a stone.  How many people will continue
to watch Seinfeld on Thursday nites when you can catch a good Leave it to
Beaver rerun on channel 8377?   8-) 

Maybe what we should instead do is think about what the primary communications
media will be 3-5 years from now (Interent, CD-ROM, ???) and think about what
we can start doing NOW to position ourselves for that future.  OR at the very
least think about how to redefine TV advertising in a 1000 channel world...

-mark

    We just LOVE our sponsorships discussions.
    
    On new media and being on TV. Sure there are 67 channels and there's
    nothing on.
    
    The issue really is what the viewing habits of our target audiences
    are.  The market analyses still have Business and IT managers watch a
    good deal of Network Tv - although the shows differ from other
    audiences.  Some Cable shows deliver our target audiences also.  Our
    issue is really maintaining a consistent electronic presence (TV and
    Radio) - not short flights with long delay periods - rather 
    than "hopping and bopping" toward the new media du jour.
    
    There are lots of new media - they are on the radar screen - but most
    are niche.  Frankly, I like the brand building attention of Alta Vista
    to DIGITAL - which gives you the demonstration potential at the end
    user level of excellent DIGITAL engineering and computing power, than just
    buying some web banners.
    
    That said, as bandwidth and power improve on the Net, we ad types will
    figure out more ways to bother you (i'm sorry, intrude) without your
    seeking out advertising. It's the Marketing Way.
    
    BT

>    re: where's the beef.
>    I mentioned before, I'll put the ball in play.  It's not my job to
>    market something to marketing.  I offered several sources to some
>    folks and they can do what they want with it.  I'm not going to
>    go out of my way selling or proving this;  #1: It's obvious.  #2:
    
    What is obvious?  
    
    -Bruce
    

    } What is obvious?
    
    exposure.  From January to Mid november you get coverage in TV, print
    and elsewhere, in front of a lot of people.  
    
    At first this was on ABC wide world of sports.  Then CBS did a race,
    (daytona 500) flag to flag in '79.  ESPN was built on auto racing.  Today
    ABC, CBS, TNN, ESPN and TBS fight over broadcast rights to these
    events.  So, even if there are 1000 channels of stuff, apparently
    WHEREVER this stuff is being broadcasted  people are tuning in.
    
    The "proof" for this is on nielson (sp?) ratings for events.  This
    is proven, but I don't have that info handy.  "The Family Channel"
    even sponsors a car.  Why?  Maybe because their ratings skyrocketed
    after doing so I guess.  They also have a weekly race program now.
    
    This exposure is year long, ie there isn't a spike where we show
    up on tv for a week or two and disappear.  We're on every weekend,
    somewhere.
    
    MadMike    

RE: Note 3528.527 by VMSNET::M_MACIOLEK 

>    } What is obvious?
>    
>    exposure.  From January to Mid november you get coverage in TV, print
>    and elsewhere, in front of a lot of people.  
.
.
>    The "proof" for this is on nielson (sp?) ratings for events.  


Digital does not have a deep pockets when it comes to advertising. Yes,
"d|i|g|i|t|a|l" would be seen by a large amount of people if you if Digital
sponsored a NASCAR entry.  You can also get exposure from other forms of
advertising.  We need to spend our advertising dollars where they will help
generate the most business.  What proof do you have that makes you say
NASCAR vs other options is obvious.

-Bruce

Was that a Digital HiNote that Jaime was using on Mad About You last night? 

Sure looked like our burgundy logo from where I was sitting. 

    re .529 Mad About You Hinote
    We've always wondered about that ourselves... if it is, it's not
    a unit that touched the normal PR channels (like were used in
    that short-lived Mary Tyler Moore series or the Sundance thing).
    Kratz

    
    Looked like it said Compaq to me.

Anyone catch the new HP PC TV commercial? (How's that for consecutive
acronyms?) Very hip, like the Kodak commercial with the "Gremster" (?), and
featuring a color scanner built into the system box. It appears to be aimed at
the youth market, and is being shown on the Discovery channel in the 8 to 9 PM
(EDT) slot, maybe elsewhere.

I think it's a winner for them, but as an old fuddy-duddy, I (lightly) object
to the story line featuring a deliberate falsification:

Someone snaps a photo of the guy who owns the PC at the finish line of a
marathon. The photo also shows the race clock which displays an elapsed time
something like "9:08:02". Back home, the runner scans in the picture, brings up
a bitmap editor, cuts a rectangle containing the numeral "2" and pastes it over
the "9" so that he ends up with a photo showing him finishing the marathon in
"2:08:02". 

-- Steve

<<< Note 3528.532 by UNXA::ZASLAW >>> -

>>Someone snaps a photo of the guy who owns the PC at the finish line of a
>>marathon. The photo also shows the race clock which displays an elapsed time
>>something like "9:08:02". Back home, the runner scans in the picture, brings up
>>a bitmap editor, cuts a rectangle containing the numeral "2" and pastes it over
>>the "9" so that he ends up with a photo showing him finishing the marathon in
>>"2:08:02". 

I agree - no longer is "a picture is worth a thousand words".  With my 
limited talent, I can do fun things with my $100 scanner and Paint Shop Pro.

Also being a fuddy-duddy - I did not enjoy Forest Gump for this same
reason. Not to be an alarmist but you know in 20 years from now people
will be remembering that the guy who mooned JFK(orLBJ), later "invented"
jogging and other things.  They will remember the black and white film
clip in the documentationary style film. tim.,.

But just think of the benefits! Now when the National Enquirer
needs a photo of the love child of Elvis and Mrs Bigfoot they
can whip it up so no one can prove it's a fake. 

Actually, I think the commercial does a good job in that it's
making the public aware of how bogus images/videos may be as
proof of anything. Now if I could just work my way past the clerks
who still say "if it's in the computer it must be correct". 
liesl

.533 They'll remember that as history only if they're
     idiots. If this is the case, they've got bigger problems
     than what they believe to be story v. history.

     You couldn't even remember which president FG mooned.

     

    Before every racing season begins, a bunch of us show up in this note
    to voice our opinion that Digital is missing the boat by not using auto
    racing as a vehicle (no pun intended) for delivering our message.  We
    weren't just talking about sponsoring, but getting involved by
    supplying computer equipment that could could be used in the design and
    testing of a race car.
    
    Well... nevermind.  Hewlett Packard has beat us to the punch.  Again.
    
    There's a big link on the main page which leads you to:
    
    http://hpcc998.external.hp.com/abouthp/features/rahal/
    
    -Steve
          

    I'm sympathetic to the cause of Digital using motorsport for marketing,
    but I have a nit:  HP didn't beat us to the punch in the case of Rahal;
    they took over after we got out.
    
    Chuck

DEC (I'm an old timer) is getting big coverage during the UEFA cup in England.
The Americas may or may not be getting the coverage but the rest of the world
certainly is. The signs proudly say "Digital PC". Is this a politically correct
watch? Just kidding. 

rgds ted

Digital already supplies the N�1 motor racing team in the world. They use 
Alpha for design and manufacture and Prioris in the pits. The cars are seen 
by a massive world-wide audience. Their drivers are currently 1 & 2 in the 
championship. Companies pay millions to be associated with them. 

Dave.
P.S. I'm talking about the ultimate - Formula 1 and Williams.

    Yabbut, how many people outside (or indeed, inside) know that? Surely,
    that's the whole point...
    
    Laurie.

    re .540
    
    Yes, my point exactly.  Throwing money and equipment at them is not
    enough.  It's the public relationship between the team and the company
    that is the big plus.
    
    When we were sponsoring Rahal, did we leverage our relationship with
    them to extend to different advertising mediums?   Or did we just give
    them money and got a sticker on the side of his car?  
    
    Just look at what HP is doing.  That's HOW it should be done.
    
    With the F1 thing... is this something we advertise?  "Hey, look at us. 
    Our amazing computers are the brains behind the two best race teams in
    the world!"  If not, then it's a wasted relationship.  I follow all
    sorts of racing, and that was the first I've heard that we have any
    sort of relationship with those teams.
    
    -Steve

Sort of on the subject of motor racing, Digital is sponsoring the Thrust SSC
attempt to break the absolute land speed record (and to go supersonic in the
process). The Thrust SSC folks have a nice web site with Digital logos all over
it. I don't recall the URL but it only took me a few moments with Alta Vista to
find it the last time I checked it.
						-- Tom

Anybody know who in Digital handles these types of corporate
sponsorships?  Or who does sports marketing?  Is there one single
group/VP who handles this?  

 - Ford

    .39
    
    F1 Williams-Renault will stop "racing" at the end of 1997.
    Just announced on the radio yesterday in France.
    
    B
    

    You'd have to wheel Frank Williams dead body from the pits before he
    stopped Formula 1 motor racing. (He's already in a wheelchair)
    
    The announcement was from Renault - the engine manufacturer.  I'd bet
    big money on the Williams team being around as long as Frank is alive. 
    The telemetry systems that Digital provide to the Williams team will 
    probably stay.
    
    By the way, when we had a motor-racing (Italian) European VP at the 
    helm, we *DID* get a lot of publicity from our tie-up with Ferrari.
    Those beautiful ruby-red nose cones with the contrasting blue & white
    |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| logo smack in the middle - really made you feel proud
    to see the photos and posters all over the place.
    
    /Chris.
    

    Not sure why its here but its not quite accurate. Renault are to
    withdraw from providing f1 engines to Williams & Benetton at the end on
    the 1997 season. Both teams will look for alternatives with Honda and
    BMW being rumoured.
    
    As a side issue - I do not think we have made nearly enough of a noise
    about the Alpha involvement in Williams design and engineering.
    
    Paul

    By hells teeth Chris Lovell lives & breathes!! 
    
    Ooops - notes clash!
    
    Paul

re.540/541:

Did you think I was arguing against you? I was agreeing. My point is quite
simply that the Williams F1 team _bought_ Digital products and use Digital
products. We are not paying them. Do we take advantage of this? We do take
guests to special track days but that is all. I can only assume that our lack of
promotion at corporate level is due to the fact it is taking place outside the
U.S. (Like Thrust SSC and EURO96). 

re.544:

>  F1 Williams-Renault will stop "racing" at the end of 1997.
>  Just announced on the radio yesterday in France.

Yesterday's announcement was by Renault not Williams. Renault have decided to
pull out of F1 because they believe they have nothing more to achieve. I expect
Williams to carry on winning with another supplier in 1998, just as they have
done in the past.

Dave.

               Good.  Hope you're all back to WORK by now, then!!
    
                                      :-) 

    I notice HP and Benneton running some stuff recently in the UK press
    about how the two are working closely together, how Benneton needs HP's
    high performing kit, etc etc. Sure would be nice if we and Williams
    could do something similiar.