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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

3556.0. "Digital ads using old IBM PC photo to sell Venturis" by CGOOA::BONTJE (High performance and tolerant, too) Tue Dec 06 1994 18:21

    While I also feel we've turned the corner, and I'm very bullish about
    the TV ads, someone needs to pay more attention in our print PR.  I
    direct your attention to Digital News & Review, Nov. 21, 1994 issue,
    Page 21.  This is the ad insert called November Digital Update, which I 
    suspect is found in other publications as well.
    
    To highlight the announcement of our new Venturis PCs, the lead article
    features three sharp looking yuppie exec-types huddled excitedly around
    their PC.  Regrettably, the PC about which they are huddled, is not a
    Venturis, or even a DX2lp+, or even a Robin.  It's unmistakably an IBM
    PS/2, one of the older small box, angled front types, with what is clearly
    an IBM 8513 monitor.
    
    This was pointed out to me by a sharp-eyed but otherwise non-obsessive
    customer.  I know that the use of generic photos is customary in
    advertising, but not in a PC announcement for crying out loud!
    
    bonj

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
3556.1	find waldo	SWAM1::MEUSE_DA		`Tue Dec 06 1994 19:08`	5
	gee....and they thought nobody would notice.
3556.2	Somebody technical needs to proof those ads!	DPDMAI::HARDMAN	Sucker for what the cowgirls do...	`Tue Dec 06 1994 22:54`	7
	You'd think they would have learned after the ads that ran last year. There was a caption under a photograph explaining the choices that were available in hard disk drive sizes. Too bad the photograph was of a floppy drive. :-( Harry
3556.3	Re. .2, seconded!	PEKING::RICKETTSK	Drop the dead donkey	`Wed Dec 07 1994 03:44`	5
	A couple of years back, they ran some ads for a (320P?) mono notebook, with a colour picture on the display. I heard there were some very unhappy customers out there. Ken
3556.4	We're not alone	TROOA::SOLEY	Fall down, go boom	`Wed Dec 07 1994 23:04`	15
	We're not alone in this. My wife works in advertising for a large well known retailer. In the last year they: Ran an ad for their house brand jeans but used Gap Jeans for the photo with label prominently visable. Ran an ad for a Nintendo showing a game that only runs on Sega on screen (or vice versa) At the last minute (stop the presses style) discovered a typo in an ad for a wood burning stove "burns dogs up to 24 inches long" Although they sell drapes, wallpaper etc. the rooms shown in furniture shots do not use the products they sell, the photo studio usually sends someone to the competition to decorate the sets.
3556.5	"Stock photo"	AKOCOA::TROY		`Thu Dec 08 1994 13:48`	9
	The ad in question used a stock photo to help warm up the advertorial with an ongoing theme we had for 'people and technology'. The photo was only in focus for the people, the terminal/pc was photographed from the side. It was a poor decision to locate the ad above the Venturis product brief, but it was not a traditional product 'beauty shot' head on view. Not sure on the model - but we should have used a different photo if it was identifiable as a competitor's product.
3556.6	Next Time go with "President's Choice!"	CGOOA::WARDLAW	CHARLES WARDLAW @CGO	`Thu Dec 08 1994 14:14`	22
	The issue is not the use of "stock" photos, but of images that should be generic. In this case, the monitor clearly shows a red power switch on the left side (facing the camera). In addition, the beveled front edge of the system unit is fuzzy but also clearly visible. Any experienced IS-type reading the article may not care a whit about Digital using stock photos, but he/she might chuckle about us advertising our "PC-prowess" while using obvious IBM pieces (and rather obsolete ones at that). If the PC and monitor had been truly generic (unrecognizable with respect to manufacturing origin), then this makes sense. Charles (former IS-type with extensive IBM-pc experience) P.S. - Given the Murphy factor here, interested parties should note that the IBM 8513 monitor displayed ( I think - they all had red switches then) was of notoriously bad quality; small screen, tended to go bad (fuzzy after 2 years of hard use), and subject to a recall (if the customer was big enough) - check the PCWeek back issue archive. Therefore using a "generic" image of such a lemon in one of our ads served in my case as a "red switch <er> flag". ;')
3556.7	Texas MCS district made the most of it!	DPDMAI::HARDMAN	Sucker for what the cowgirls do...	`Thu Dec 08 1994 23:46`	8
	Re .6 IBM did indeed bite the big one with the 8513 monitors. Once I found out about the recall, I would have IBM bring me a refurbed monitor any time a contract customer would call in to Digital with a fuzzy or dead 8513. That way Digital didn't have to consume a part on the call. I'm sure it saved us a _bunch_ of money over the years! :-) Harry
3556.8	Seems like a tempest in a teacup to me....	QUARRY::neth	Craig Neth	`Mon Dec 12 1994 16:30`	19
	> The issue is not the use of "stock" photos, but of images that should > be generic. In this case, the monitor clearly shows a red power switch > on the left side (facing the camera). In addition, the beveled front > edge of the system unit is fuzzy but also clearly visible. Boy, you have better eyes than I do. I can't see anything 'clearly' in that picture. The so called 'power switch' is just a pinkish blob. The whole picture is intentionally blurred around the edges, especially in the area of the PC! If you say it looks like a IBM machine, ok. I find it hard to believe most people looking at the ad could make the distinction. From where I sit, it's a bunch of yuppies pointing at a 'generic' screen, apparantly exactly what the ad people intended...