Conference 7.286::digital

    
    Will we ever see any of these TV adds in Europe - UK  ???
    

    Is London not in Europe then ? (I know the House of Commons doesn't
    want to be...)

from .0    
>	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.  
    
    adieu
    john

    In re .0: "globality" ?? Look THAT up in your Funk & Wagnalls. Good
    thing we're a high-tech company, maybe we get a free pass on issues 
    of good English....
    
    

    Re .0 also --- original memo was from Jeff Brooks, VP, Marketing
    Communications, not from Bill X....although thanks to .0 for posting
    it...

I caught the "future of corporate computing" ad a number of times
over the weekend. I was very impressed with both the stunning production 
quality and the underlying messages in the words and images.

The images really grabbed my attention, and because they fly past so
quickly, I wanted to watch this ad over and over to really
get a look at the details. I could hardly believe that this was a Digital ad!

The people traversing the "Escher staircases" was intriguing, and evoked images
of the potential complexity of networking.

The color Digital logo was a vast improvement over the black and white of
our previous ad's.

The gadgets, especially the wrist "whatzit" were very much in line with
the image of an imaginitive high-tech company.

This ad seemed confident, but at the same time a whole lot less arrogant
than others. 

I could probably go on analyzing the form and content, and why it struck a 
nerve for me, but it's probably more expedient just to say that I really
thought that this was a killer ad. DO IT AGAIN!, and again...

Rick

    I aggre with the previous note -1. However I was surprised to see 
    "Whatever it Takes" . I tought we got in trouble before for doing
    "whatever it takes"        

    What bothers me most about "whatever it takes" is that it's diluted
    from overuse. The staff at Hyatt hotels all wear pins that say
    "whatever it takes", purolater courier has it on their trucks, and I've
    seen it elsewhere, everybody says it nobody believes it.

    For those of us who don't watch TV, Is there any chance of these TV ads
    being available for viewing internally?
    
    Bob

    
    No trouble with "Whatever It Takes" use legally. We are clear to use it
    in the Computer category.  A management decision was made to delay the
    start of its use last year as we were still coming out of the Woods, so
    to speak.  We believe that the idea of "Engineering Networked Systems in
    Anticipation of Uncertainty" nicely balances the idea of DIGITAL
    people's effort and customer commitment from last year's campaign. 
    
    The Multi Vendor Customer Services group has been using "WIT" as a
    core promise to its customer base in the Americas for about 8 months or
    so as part of their "loyalty" campaign, which is designed to thank and
    retain our installed base as they renew or buy new services from
    DIGITAL. 
    
    Bill

    
    The commercial will be shown as part of the DVN re-broadcast of the Annual
    Stockholder's meeting this week. It will also be used at COMDEX and
    other trade shows.  
    
    We are trying to give specific information on what shows you can see it
    on - so that you might only have to put up with a 1/2 hour of tv or so.
    
    :^) 

Bill, how about a tape we can order for those of us who don't watch TV at all?
(I have a TV and VCR, but no cable or antenna.)

				Steve

    Very good ad, saw it on Sunday AM, could not believe it was ours,
    now we seem to be getting something for our ad dollars, Good Job
    to all connected to this production.

But will never agree with the 'Sunday only' runs...

-Stephen

    
    Second .11! I'd love to have a tape of DEC ads to show at parties.
    

    If you would Take a Copy of DIGITAL ads - maybe we could accomodate
    you. No DEC ads I am aware of. :^)
    
    We are still editing another commercial that is scheduled to start
    running the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  We'll look at creating a tape
    of them after we are finished.  All a matter of money.  
    
    Bill

    I caught the "future of corporate computing" ad over the weekend, too.
    This is a stunningly good ad! It should win a pile of awards by itself.
    
    It is as much a breakthrough as the "1984" Macintosh ad. In fact,
    didn't I see a bit of homage to that ad, with a screen-filling face
    somewhere in the middle of it all?
    
    To whomever did it: fantastic job!
    
      John

    A bit radical maybe, but if it's THAT good, how about a AVI files that
    we could play (quietly) on AlphaStations (or Intels, whatever) at
    customer events ... ?

    Make that .mpeg files

No, make that QuickTime.

Paul

    
    I am passing the comments on to the advertising agency, DDB Needham.
    You're right - we did a "big brother" take off as a small homage to the
    famous 1984 MacIntosh ad, but also to paint as broad a spectrum of the
    future as we could. Of course, Big Brother computing did not come to
    pass.
    
    We also liked the contrast of the dark and threatening Big Brother to the
    (hopefully) warm and uplifting we created using the Escher stairs and
    the guitar music.  The actor spent most of his time at the shoot snarling 
    at the camera, probably 50-75 times to get it just right.
    
    We have still photos and some video footage also - focus is completing
    the next ad.  You'll see a couple of shots of the scenes and creative
    people involved in this week's DIGITAL Today.  
    
    Bill T.
    
    
    
    

If someone in the ZKO area is willing to tape one or more of these ads so I
can see them, I'd really appreciate it.

					Steve

> Of course, Big Brother computing did not come to pass.
    
  Yes it did. We were just all thinking of the wrong brother at the time.

                                   Atlant

    re: .10 Watch the DVN
    
    O.K., you've put a gun to my head, I'll watch the DVN:-)
    
    Thanks for the info,
    
    Bob

    I saw the "future of corporate computing" ad on the Discovery Channel
    this weekend.  To whomever is responsible for this ad, GREAT JOB!...(yes
    I am shouting).  At the time we had the "dynamo" plastic label ads,
    everyone was using the same motif.  And lots of companies are saying,
    "whatever it takes."  I often felt that our ad agency was charging us
    the big bucks to deliver the same ad gimmicks that they had delivered
    to their other 10 big accounts.  But this is original, flashy, and
    delivers a strong corporate identity.
    
    I liked the message of, separate the hype from the facts and depend on
    Digital for your corporate computing strategy.  To me the ad said,
    "depend on Digital for solid engineering and proven technology."
    
    Keep up the good work!
    
    
    Paul B.

    Gee folks, I don't really care if they're AVI or MPEG or Quicktime or
    even .ODL (note 1) files, I just want something that commonly-used
    Alpha and Intel applications can play. The FullVideo hardware we sell
    should make this a piece of cake to do, right ? There were some nice
    videos around derived from the "Educating Peter" stuff ... more would
    be better.
    
    regards
    john
    
    Note 1: ODL = On-Demand Literature (definitely not Overlay Description
    Language).

    I'm REALLY hoping these commercials hit our http://www.digital.com
    server somewhere...  
    
    I have Seltzer/Langer's original "Glimpse of the Future" video on my
    Ultra and it's stunning.  _A fortiori,_ these new commercials would be
    worth many megabytes...
    

    
    One thing I've been noticing on many other commercials, is that they
    publicize their http address. Examples are; Toyota, MCI, Motorola,
    Magnavox, etc.
    
    Why are we not including within (or closing) these commercial with our
    http://www.digital.com address?
    
    Ray  

    
    We are working on more broad distribution mechanisms for the ads - and
    that would include the internal Web for digital, i.e., www.dec.com. 
    This is part of a project to have a internal reference point for ads so
    that people can see what campaigns are running across BU's, where they
    are running, etc.
    
    A start at this is the special insert of DIGITAL Today.  
    
    Right now we are concentrating on launching DIGITAL and the WIT 
    slogan with the big ending.  More tactical followup references 
    will be added later on TV.  Print has them now. 
    
    
      
    

    
    I should also mention for sales people and resellers that the Sales
    Source CD ROM features the commercial and that will be available in a
    couple of weeks. The CDROM is currently in final edit.
    
    Bill

    >> We are working on more broad distribution mechanisms for the ads - and
    >> that would include the internal Web for digital, i.e., www.dec.com. 

Hopefully you'll use www.digital.com when the time comes.  There are no
guarantees that www.dec.com and www.digital.com will be the same in the
future and www.digital.com is the one set up for external reference.

j. 

We're a computer company that can't get our advertisements up on the 
network.  What a wonderful way to publicize our products and expertise!

Did we TFSO the wrong people?

    
    	Say the new ad at Bali and then on TV during the Bears/Steelers
    game. Very good. Even my totally computer illiterate Mom got the point.
    
    	This morning heard the radio commercial on NewsRadio 670 in
    Chicago. 
    
    	This is good. Life is good. DO IT.
    
    
    			the Greyhawk 

Personal threats will not diminish the fact that we do not have a presence 
on the Internet.  As a computer company, this is a pretty poor example to 
be setting.

    
    Grey Hawk 
    
    Great to hear - wait until you see the Internet spot.
    
    Bill

We have a MAJOR presence on the Internet.  www.digital.com is often in the
"top 5" visited web sites.  We have used the Internet address in print ads,
it probably wouldn't hurt to use it in TV ads either.

				Steve

|     <<< Note 4239.35 by QUARK::LIONEL "Free advice is worth every cent" >>>

|We have a MAJOR presence on the Internet.  www.digital.com is often in the
|"top 5" visited web sites.  We have used the Internet address in print ads,
|it probably wouldn't hurt to use it in TV ads either.
|
|				Steve
    
    
    I wonder if that is because the internal Netscape installs
    usually have www.digital.com as the default home page - 
    
    We may be our own best customer.
    
    Publius
    
    P.S.:  No, I do not use Netscape from 'work'.

>> I wonder if that is because the internal Netscape installs
>> usually have www.digital.com as the default home page - 

Internal Netscape installs still use a page at Netscape until you change it.
It doesn't make much sense to use www.digital.com since it's outside the
firewall.  Internal folks should use something internal and most appear to.

Even so, I believe that the logs would show that the we have a major amount
of internet hits from outside Digital.  We've got a VERY popular site.  

j.

>We have a MAJOR presence on the Internet.  www.digital.com is often in the
>"top 5" visited web sites.  We have used the Internet address in print ads,
>it probably wouldn't hurt to use it in TV ads either.

I have it in my bookmark file, however, it is quite boring compared to a 
lot of other internet sites.  I look at the new press releases and the 
what's new, but I quit poring through the rest of the data.  BTW, what's 
"Richly Formatted?"

A major ADVERTISING presence is still missing from the internet.  What's 
wrong with a picture (like we used to have on the lobby brochures) for some 
of the products?  Doesn't anyone take publicity photos of our products any 
more?

For a company like us to be JUST GETTING ONTO THE INTERNET (I got the mail 
message a couple of months back when the powers that be were finalizing the 
homepage) is a pretty poor showing.  ...and we've got a host of sites to 
look at and the majority of what we see looks like a Xerox of a sales 
update.  Where's the "style", the "class", etc.?

Even the old PDP-11 Handbook had a few interesting photographs.

We're a computer company.  We've been in this business for a LONG time, we 
like to say we started this interactive computing phenomenon.  Why are we 
so far behind when it comes to showing off our product offering, especially 
in an Internet setting.  We're still in the typeset era while the rest of 
the industry is imaging their way into people's homes.

Excuse me?  Just getting on to the Internet?  We've been there longer than
any of the other computer companies.  Our web server went up in October 1993,
and was the first from a major vendor, and we've had an FTP site for many
years.  In the early days of "Arpanet", Digital's systems were a major
backbone for traffic.  I was sending and receiving e-mail at Digital in
1979.

The server has grown incredibly - the home page may or may not look snazzy 
(I think it looks better than some, worse than others), but it leads to
a mind-boggling amount of useful information.  There are snazzier parts of
the service, and the new www.pc.digital.com "InfoCenter" has a nice look to
it (if you have a compatible browser).

						Steve

I think the home page was finalized sometime last year! Check the 
INTERNET_TOOLS conference for more info. It has been so long that I don't 
remember anymore. Something is wrong with how you are coming to your 
conclusions.

	C'Ya,
	Wayne

>For a company like us to be JUST GETTING ONTO THE INTERNET (I got the mail 
>message a couple of months back when the powers that be were finalizing 
the 
>homepage) is a pretty poor showing.  ...and we've got a host of sites to 
>look at and the majority of what we see looks like a Xerox of a sales 
>update.  Where's the "style", the "class", etc.?

I really like our homepage...I would call it 'content rich', and our
page gets linked to a lot...the comments on the links are 'lots of stuff
here'.

The 'front page' could use a face lift I guess...one thing I have a slight
complaint about is having to click on infocenters to find the major
sub-headings...but that's really a nit.

I think we have a GREAT homepage, and the PCBU's is one of the nicest I have
seen on the net.

-Stephen

    BTW, if you happen to visit Ben & Jerry's (Ice Cream) homepage at
    http://www.benjerry.com you'll find a page that talks about how they
    run their site and the first thing they mention is:
    
    "We use a Digital Alpha 400/233 (233mhz fast!0 [in italics] Internet
    Server running Digital UNIX (formerly OSF/1) [in italics]..." 
    
    and the word Digital is actually a hot-link back to www.digital.com!!  
    That was really nice to see.  Their site is very colorful and cute --
    appropriate for them (IMHO), but a bit over the edge for our company.
    
    	/jeff

>I think the home page was finalized sometime last year! Check the 
>INTERNET_TOOLS conference for more info. It has been so long that I don't 
>remember anymore. Something is wrong with how you are coming to your 
>conclusions.

The Reader's Choice announcement I rec'd regarding the finalizing of the 
homepage came this summer.  That's when we all found out about the DIGITAL 
vs. DEC page in our group.

FWIW, being "on the internet" isn't the same as having a home page, by any 
stretch of the imagination.  Our home page has finally "put us on the 
internet".  My question is; "What took us this long to get here?"  Have we 
not seen the forest for the trees?  Did someone finally realize it was time 
to toot our own horn instead of just "participating" in everything.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the homepage.  I was just wondering why 
it took us this long to get where we are now and why aren't we employing 
some of the whiz-bang technology at our fingertips to really make this 
homepage jump out at the user?  I can see someone like General Motors or 
Norfolk Southern Railroad taking their time.  They have to hire another 
marketing firm that is familiar with the network.  I wouldn't expect them 
to have a homepage overnight.  We, however, already have the network 
expertise, why was there the delay?  Have we been so immersed in using the 
net that we failed to realize it's advertising opportunity for years?

Yes, I understand we are to be treated to new and bigger things from 
marketing on the www.  ...but why are we "expecting"?  It should have been 
done a long time ago.  Heck, even an ad from one of the computer 
periodicals would be nice, especially in a downloadable .gif or .jpg file, 
but not a bland excerpt from Sales Update.

    
    	Like the idea of pictures of our hardware on the Web pages; but
    think that past sins are immaterial. We are doing it, doing it well for
    starters, and the key is to keep doing it (the age-old Digital/DEC
    problem-continuous anything).
    
    	However I also believe we got to keep beating on them (tough, if
    you don't like this marketing folks go to work at McD's. After all it
    is YOUR reputation) to keep 'em going. So do not hesitate to use
    whatever is handy...
    
    		the Greyhawk

Skip, the home page that you got the notification about was a redone page
from Corporate Communications.  We've had a very popular home page on the
web since very early on in the "home page game", thanks largely to Russ
Jones.  I don't see any signs that our leadership on the internet is in
any way abating.  Matter of fact, I'm staking my job on it.

Jeff, Internet Business Group

Do we have sunday schedules available for the coming sunday ads ?

I hear the radio add several times a day when in my car travelling from 
customer to customer - I like them !!

Arlan

    While we're on the subject of home pages, there seems to be some
    confusion about which is the official Digital internal home page.
    Is http://www-iu.ako.dec.com/int/homepage.html it?  Or is it
    http://www.crl.dec.com/Digital/home.html?
    

    re: .46
    
    Look up the Brand Advertising campaign on VTX LIVEWIRE in the WorldWide
    menu for program information.
    
    Bill

>> Is http://www-iu.ako.dec.com/int/homepage.html it?  Or is it
>> http://www.crl.dec.com/Digital/home.html?

There really isn't an "official" Digital internal home page, but the one at
www-iu.ako is from the Internet Program office and is probably going to be
a very good source for internal information.  All depends on what you're
looking for.

j.
    

    Re: .49
    
    I'm looking for the root of the internal tree, so I can put a
    link to it in my group's home page.
                

Re: .50

There's your problem.

It is NOT a tree.

It is a web.  There IS NO root!

    Re. a few back --
    
    LIVE WIRE is also carrying the monthly schedule of broadcast and print
    ads for the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and France.  IT's in the
    Information Repository, too.

I just happened to catch Digital's newest Internet ad last night (Sunday, 
11/27 about 10:30 during Jurassic Park) - AND I WAS COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY!

This ad sits right at the top of any ads I have ever seen on TV.  Even though
I was doing something on my computer at the time, almost from the moment it
started it grabbed my attention over to the TV and HELD it.  Then, when it got
to the end and the Digital logo appeared, my jaw just dropped and stayed there
awhile.  THIS AD WAS GREAT!! 

THIS is just the type of message that represents Digital's creativity, 
foresight, and capabilities, packaged in a way that WILL GET peoples' 
attention.  In my opinion, this ad not only defines an entirely new level of 
advertising innovation and quality for Digital, but represents a benchmark for
other computer companies to attempt to reach.

Congratulations(!!) to those who made this happen, and I eagerly look forward
to your (our!) future ads. 

  (By the way, I agree with earlier notes that these ads should indeed be 
  digitized and made available on the Web at the top level of Digital's home 
  page -- this would garner a LOT of attention for Digital (these ads are SO 
  good that word-of-mouth would get LOTS of people looking at them quickly, 
  and hence at the other information we have on our Web site).
  And, especially considering the content of this latest Internet-focused ad,
  this could be a powerful contributor to a positive-economics cycle around 
  Digital and the Internet.

  Also, following up on previous suggestions for how these "movies" should 
  be represented, I suggest that they be published in ALL of the following 
  formats:  QuickTime, AVI, and the newest on-demand formats, Xing's
  Streamworks, and   VDOlive. 
 
  Doing this VERY rapidly would not be a major technical challenge, and could 
  yield great leverage from current and potential customers, as well as from 
  the industry in general (remember the mileage we got from the excellent 
  "Glimpse of the  Future" tape?) from this great work!)

Sincerely,

Jeff Harrow
Senior Consulting Engineer

    Yeah, I caught this ad last night, too.
    
    As the ad was playing, the thought went through my mind,
    "gee, I wish DEC would come up with something like this"
    and my curiosity was aroused to see what company it was.
    
    Suffice it to say I was pleasantly surprised at the end.
    
    Dave

    and all 12 of the other folk who saw it were equally impressed.
    
    tony

    Well, my wife (who also works at Digital) and I both saw it and both
    realized that it was a Digital ad after the first 10 seconds or so. 
    Besides the fact that this is a great ad, this really is a testament to
    the quality of the first ad because we were able to recognize the
    campaign so quickly.  I hope the customers have the same reaction and
    take positive actions accordingly.  
    
    Congratulations,
    	/jeff

    Last night on "Venture" (CBC news/journal type of show on business and/or 
    entrepreneurs) there was a commercial for a computer company telling
    all about how many PC'c it makes and how it exports them to countries
    all over the world except one.....Canada!
    
    
    
    ...because that's where we make them!
    
    
    
    
    Digital - whatever it takes!
    
    
    I liked it, and it could be re-packaged for Taiwan and Scotland (since
    they took a little poetic license with the manufacturing site list).
    
    Rob Wall
    

Would someone please describe the "Internet" ad for those of us who are
broadcast-TV-challenged?

				Steve

    re: Note 4239.58 by QUARK::LIONEL
    
    Do you mean you saw it and didn't get it or you didn't see it because
    you can't/don't watch network television?
    
    
    
    Anyway, I thought it was great also. While it was running I kept saying
    to myself "Oh please let this be a Digital ad" because it's similiar to
    the 'network visions' ad, and had it turned out to be a Sun or HP, etc ad,
    I think I would have put my foot thru the TV.
    
    Ken....
    

    Great ad.  I thought to myself, why can't -we- do this kind
    of advertising, and just about fell over when I saw it was
    us.
    

I can't/don't watch network (nor cable) television. 

			Steve

    
    A couple of points from TV Ad land....
    
    We have worked hard to keep the ad fresh but retain some common
    elements, like the Key actors, quick cuts between scenes, the music and 
    female voiceover.  Hopefully we will get the carryover we got last year
    When we used the music a lot of people hated but retained a clear 
    "that's a digital commercial".
    
    If you cannot get to a TV at home Sundays, we are running these ads as 
    precursors to the DVN's.
    
    We added www.digital.com for the internet ad, and will evalute its use
    for future tv ads - right now the Corporate TV campaign commercial
    development is complete, so the PCBU would be the next TV commercial to
    add it - but I do not know their specific intentions on that score.
    
    Bill
    
    
    
     

    Re: .62, web address
    
    "Everyone" has a web address in their ads now, even various
    network news programs (Dateline, etc.), print ads in TV Guide...
    

      ... and DIGITAL was the first company to establish a website ...
    

 re: Note 4239.55 by ICS::BEAN "Attila the Hun was a LIBERAL!"

    >     and all 12 of the other folk who saw it were equally impressed.
    >
    >     tony

    I will give you my yearly salary if you give me a penny for everyone that 
    saw the Digital commercial during Jurassic Park last night.
    
    -Bruce

    Presumably there were 12 other people in the room with him who saw it
    and all 12 of them liked it.
    
                                    August

	I too would still like to see an AVI or QuickTime version of this
	posted at www.digital.com. I've seen Jurassic Park about 5 times
	and passed on seeing it the 6th and missed the commercial.

								mike

    
    
    rep .67	Mike
    
    >>> I too would still like to see an AVI or QuickTime version of this
            posted at www.digital.com.
    
      Of course that would be about 4Mbytes to download and at 14.4K only
    about 50-60 minutes. Not that it isn't a good idea but how many people
    are going to look at it?
    
    -mike
    

    
    This fits into the Wishful Thinking department, but.....
    
    Let's see: Since Sunday Night ratings are about 12.5 gross rating 
    (12.5 of all tv's are watching a particular show) - I think that this
    is low for Jurassic Park, but I am doing this on the fly.
    
    And each point is worth about 975,000 households
    
    HH reach for target is about 12,187,500, so HH reach @ $.01 is $121,187 
    - you can assume that about 2.5 people are watching in each HH, 
    so your salary conversion for viewers is: 
    
    $305,000!!!!
    
    I'll even take the HH reach figure.
    
    BT

    Yea, at 14.4 it would take some time....
    
    But a major portion of the people that we want to show it to are hooked
    into the internet better than that..
    
    It is a minor investment for us to make in time, disk space and 
    bandwidth...  Tell the user how big it is and let them decide 
    for themselves..
    
    cheers,
    jeff
    

    Re: .68
    
    50-60 minutes, or 5-6 minutes?  What's wrong with my math:
    
    (4x10**6)/(14.4x10**3) = (4/14.4)*(10**3) = approx 300 seconds
    
    That's 5 minutes at 14.4, or a minute or less for anyone with an
    ISDN line.
    

    CNN has QuickTime movies embedded in many of its pages,
    and the link notes the file size.  Typically they are on
    the order of one meg.
    

    >What's wrong with my math:
    
    The units are not consistent. 14.4K refers to bits not bytes.
    (4x10**6)/(14.4x10**2) = (4/14.4)*(10**4) = approx 46 minutes.
    
    
    md

>    HH reach for target is about 12,187,500, so HH reach @ $.01 is $121,187 
>    - you can assume that about 2.5 people are watching in each HH, 
>    so your salary conversion for viewers is: 
>    
>    $305,000!!!!

Yeah, but ...

Decrease that number by the 95% of viewers who either hit the Mute button as
soon as the commercial starts, or dive into the fridge for another Diet Pepsi,
or disappear elsewhere to get rid of the *last* Diet Pepsi, and you're left
with about $15K ...

    
    While there are clearly "Zappers" and "Leavers" 95% is awfully high
    even for the 9 millionth "ring around the collar" commercial, much less
    the new ads that are running during the pre-XMAS ad push. 
    
    BT

Regarding the comments on the time required to download either an AVI or
QuickTime movie file of the commercials -- that's why I also suggested that we
publish the video ads using the Xing Streamworks and VDOlive formats.  

These two new formats actually allow you to view the video WITHOUT having to
pre-download it, and it even works over a 14.4 modem (although the
quality/size is scalable -- it gets better as your bandwidth goes up.)  These
two formats represent the beginning of a whole new form of video-on-demand,
and I'd like to see Digital (which already has a significant presence in the
"traditional" (my, how fast things can become 'traditional' when they haven't
even yet become commercialized!) video-on-demand sector, capitalize on our
VOD experience and name recognition in this new type of video-on-demand 
marketplace.  Providing our video ads in these formats on our Web site 
and touting the AlphaServers that would be "serving" them could have many 
positive benefits to Digital in another just-emerging market.

Jeff 

Can we get a video tape copy of all of the new ads into the IR so we can use 
them for customer meetings?


Thanks

RE: .68

	So? Like Jeff said, there are plenty of people out there
	who are hooked on the Internet. Who cares how long it takes.
	The fact would be that we put it up there. That's most of the
	battle.

	Remember, most of the people we (Digital) can immeadiately target 
	are those with exisiting high speed lines to the Internet.
	Schools, Fortune 500 companies, etc.. It probably won't take 
	46 minutes for them to download it.

							mike

    
      I'm AMAZED! I was actually listening to an AM radio station on the 
    drive home (5:15 - prime "drive time"). I heard a cool ad about the 
    Internet being a terrifying place to do business, but also being 
    one of the most the most lucrative. It went on to saying how one company 
    can help you with using the Internet to your advantage. 
      Anyway - by now the ad already caught my attention, and my jaw drops
    when I hear DIGITAL (our ad? And a good one at that!) Cool - I didn't know
    we were doing much with radio? 
      FWIW - I have been more impressed with our TV ads as of late as well.
    I have friends telling me about the ads, another good sign!

    me too.  This AM, (around 8AM) I was listening to WBZ radio and heard a
    neat ad which mentioned Digital and the Internet.  Nice ad.
    
    
    tony

    
    The radio is playing for about 1 month in the U.S.  The idea was to
    broaden the reach of the Tv effort, without the huge cost of going into
    local newspapers.  It also allows us 6 days/week electronic coverage.
    It plays on am and pm drivetime across 98% of the U.S., primarily by
    reaching those radio stations that buy Network National News radio 
    broadcasts, which generally have 8-10 subscribing stations per large
    market.
    
    Bill

FINALLY!

It's about time we got an ad that someone not computer-literate could 
understand and, more important, get the message.

Aside from our corporate sponsorship of PBS programs, this is the first 
time in my nearly 23 years at Digital where I've seen an ad on television 
that actually conveys an understandable message.

I had walked in the door and flipped on the TV to catch the news as I was 
unloading my car (I have to walk past the TV to carry stuff into the house) 
and the football game was on.  Before I could tear myself away from 
arranging cases on the floor the ad came on and actually caught my 
attention.

I was impressed when I saw the Digital logo fold onto the screen. (That's 
when I realized what all the hoopla was about)  I wasn't paying a great 
deal of attention to the TV but something about the ad caught my eye and I 
stopped to watch it.  Then I saw the "Digital" and thought.  Wow, it's 
about time.   ...then I switched channels and caught a bit of the news 
before I shut the idiot box off and got to work.

In the past I have been very critical of this company's lame attempts to 
create catchy ads.  This latest offering is a sensible ad and has grabbed 
the attention of a much larger segment of the viewing audience than, say, 
the Bobby Orr ad during a Super Bowl a few years ago or those confusing ads 
of a couple of years ago.

Again, it's about time we came up with a good ad.  Congrats to the ad staff.

     
    re: ,- last few 
    
    Regarding the radio ads I think they are good except that the ad should
    say DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP instead of just Digital since people will
    associate Digital with say Digital sound not DEC.
    
    Just a nit I guess :)

    re .83
    I had the exact thought when I heard the add.  Even thought about
    mentioning it in my last reply.
    
    
    

    I just saw the print ads in the latest copy of Digital
    Today.  Nifty ads.  How come every human in them is male?
    

    
    An interesting but flawed observation, since so few of the ads have
    pictures of people.  By my count in this DIGITAL Today issue:
    
    -  Total of 20 print ads across DIGITAL business units and Corporate
    -  Total of 6 have any "humanoid" pictures, of these:
       > One is a caricature of a baby
       > One is a caricature of cupid
       > Two have caricatures of men
       > Two have pictures of more than one man
    
    -  IMHO - we probably are too in love with product shots and need to
    put a more human face on the company in general.
    
    -  While we have a diverse number of business units conducting
    advertising in this company, the fact is that all but the Corporate
    advertising campaign I manage are managed by women, this includes:
    PCBU, SBU, NPBU, Semiconductor, MCS, Storage, Components and
    Peripherals.
    
    -	That all said, we do take diversity seriously and for example in
    the TV spots we had a woman as "hero" at the end of both spots, we have
    a female narrator, and we strove to have a mix of races and sexes as
    other actors. We also feel that these choices were the right choices
    for the best possible commercials for DIGITAL - a case where 
    diversity yielded the best, and were not gratuitous selections.
    
    -	I do expect the agencies to maintain a balanced approach and we will  
        continue to review the totality of the advertising.
    
    Bill

    Re: .86
    
    The tv ads looked fine to me, but looking at the print ads in toto,
    what leapt out was several ads with men in them, and not one ad with a
    woman.
    

Since I've seen and heard so many Digital employees looking for ways to view
this latest (wonderful) Internet TV ad, I've just made it available to those
with Web access on the "Rapidly Changing Face of Computing's" Advanced
Services Web site at:

http://decmac.mko.dec.com/rcfoc/rcfoc_special_svcs_home.html 

At the bottom of that page is a link to the Multimedia Web Examples section, 
where you'll find the movie.

HOWEVER,  as explained in more detail there, this file is large(!)  Please 
read the information there prior to downloading it.

I hope you all enjoy the ad as much as I did.

Jeff

BOY - talk about interest!  My poor little Web server is busier than it's ever
been in its silicon life, and just minutes after I posted the note that the
Internet commercial was available! 

So, don't be surprised if you get a "Busy" message, or if the page you do get 
doesn't display some of the static graphics (the server is so busy that even 
though you're loading the page, there may not be any other open connections 
when it's time to load the static graphics.)  But, it should still work fine.

If you can't get in, or have any other problems, please just try a bit later.

I'll be interested in what you-all think of making video available over the 
internal Web -- would you find it valuable if commercials, internal videos, 
DVNs, etc. were made available in one of the "video-on-demand" formats I
discuss on the Web page (where you didn't have to download a huge file before
viewing it? 

(Oh, and if you might be interested in "The Rapidly Changing Face of 
Computing" internal technology newsletter, there's a link at the top of the 
first page that will describe how to subscribe.)

Jeff

    
    Re .88:
    
    Got it.  Cool!  Thanks!!
    

    
    Re .85, .87
    
    Well, the women must be busy leaving those 'important' papers
    on the copiers; new to MSO, there are Digital Information Security
    Program posters at each copier.  
    
    jc  
      

I hope that those of you have have downloaded the Digital Internet commercial 
have found it as positive a statement about Digital as I did.  However, there 
are some important responsibilities associated with this availability, and I
ask that anyone who has downloaded the movie abide by the following (which are
also incorporated into the Web page.) 

Thanks.

----------
Please exercise caution in how this movie file is used!

Making this online version of the Digital Internet commercial available on
our internal Web represents an experiment in being able to bring information
that has sometimes not been quickly or widely available to all of our own
employees, right to your desktops. But even as we advertise our considerable
Internet expertise to our current (and potential) customers, there are
numerous "uncharted waters" - technical, business, and social - associated
with its new capabilities (such as making this commercial available on the
internal Web).

As with pushing any new frontiers, there are some cautions and
responsibilities associated with access to this material that we should each
observe.

Bill Troy (AKOCOA::), Digital's Advertising Strategy Manager, has requested
that anyone downloading this movie please respect the following so that this
new type of internal information-sharing benefits all with no downside to
Digital:

   * This Web version of the movie, which, due to the technology is
     necessarily smaller and of lower quality than the actual videotape
     (which will be available on request from Bill in the future) is for
     viewing only by Digital employees!

   * Do not make this Web movie available to anyone outside of Digital in
     any manner.

   * Given the file's large size, please don't proliferate copies within the
     company.

   * Do not in any way alter the movie's content or use it to create any
     derivative works.

    
    Folks,
    
    You can now order a VHS videotape of the U.S./Canada TV and Radio 
    directly from the Integrated Repository.  These tapes include 60 and 30
    second versions of the "Future of Corporate Computing" (aka
    'Manifesto') and the "Internet Will Be" plus the two 30 second radio
    spots.
    
    Type VTX IR 
    
    Pick Option 2 for New/Revised
    
    Type VI
    
    Select "Corporate Advertising Campaign"
    
    The system will prompt you through addressing details.
    
    Order Number is VI567L
    
    Bill Troy
    Corporate Advertising
    

From Aaron Goldberg's column in the January 8 issue of PC Week, in which he
comments on various vendor's TV ads:

   "We'll help you get there."  Compelling production values makes Digital's
   corporate image campaign visually pleasing and memorable.  The people
   moving from gear to gear inside a clock get your attention.  However, the
   most remarkable thing about these spots is that they reflect the worries of
   real customers - issues about which even Digital admits it's unsure.  This
   is one of the most honest and uncontrived messages I've ever heard. 
   Imagine, a computer company ad that doesn't blow smoke.

    
    Cool - thanks Steve.
    
    Bill

...but I cannot help wondering why Digital doesn't turn its brandname 
confusion into an asset and play with it in adverstising.  Picture this ad:

Two corporate managemeent types discussing installing some product/service
they want.  One guy says: "I have a bid from DEC -- they do networking really
well."

Other guy, "Well,  I think we should go with Digital...blah, blah, blah"
(Where "blah" equals whatever product/service Digital wants to blow its horn
about) and then guy 1 says "DEC *is* Digital."

Across the bottom of the screen --- "Digital. DEC. We're the same great
network provider."

    RE: .96
    
    Forget it. No-one's listening.
    
    Laurie.

    
    re: .97 
    
    Simple solution; name a Vice President of Listening.
    
    jc

    
    Listening is not agreeing. We do listen, and respond, sometimes we
    agree, sometimes not. The notes file string on DIGITAL v. DEC has
    played out numerous times elsewhere - while we are doing the
    advertising we have now on the Uncertain future, our role in helping customers
    through it, etc., it's a much bigger idea than the DEC/DIGITAL
    cacophony.  High end TV and broad band Web use of digital in WWW hot
    lists for applications like the web spider Altavista.digital.com also will
    help.   The more people see the logo, can touch and sense what DIGITAL
    is all about, the less need we have for this sort of ad you are
    proposing.  
    
    Bill   
    
      

I agree with Bill it's better to spend money reinforcing the branding. 
This is only an issue because of lack of general market awareness in the past.
If you ran a DEC vs Digital ad you would be amusing the people that know 
and confusing the people that don't know who we are. We've made this 
mistake in the (recent) past when we ran an ad saying that Digital was 
making a comeback - most people didn't know we were in trouble until that 
ad!

Bottom line is, we have to stop believing that everyone knows who we are 
and what we do, and then act accordingly.

Dave.

    
    	Well a customer is disappointed we changed our moniker from
    DEC to Digital as they used to always say -
    
    
    DEC - Oh yes Darn (Well not Quite)
    		 Expensive
    		 Cables
    
    						Bill:-).

    Seen recently on the boards of the brand new Ottawa Senator's Hockey
    Arena in Kanata, Ontario - Digital's Logo!!!
    
    This is not surprising as Kanata is a major manufacturing centre for
    Digital, where we are probably one of the major employers.
    
    Of course, it would be even better to have our name right on the ice,
    like Corel does (another big Ottawa-area company).
    
    Michael
    

    Re: Digital logos in the Kanata Paladium:
    
    On the boards in two spots (opposite corners?), is the Digital logo with 
    "PC" beside it.  Above the ice (in the corners opposite the Digital PC
    on the boards?), is the Digital logo.  Digital is also the first hitech
    company featured in a pregame video displayed on the score board.
    
    Digital PC was also on the boards at the Ottawa Civic Centre (where the
    Senator's played before the Paladium was ready).