Conference 7.286::digital

Stephen,

   I agree with your comments regarding the commercials, absolutely great and
first class! 

Rick C.

GO DETROIT LIONS!

    I think the commercials are GREAT also.
    
    Gene 

    
      - do we dare do the Superbowl this year, especially now that we have 
    a top rate commercial. (I'll have to admit, I want to see what the BUD 
    frogs do this year!)
    
      - great commercials, Microsoft alliance/endorsement, a killer Web
    search engine (Alta Vista!) - stock value up .....
    
         ....maybe we really are on a roll!
    

    
    More Weekend Tv and TV during the Week are a function of moolah, cash,
    green, etc.
    
    Our first priority would be to extend the campaign into most weekends,
    second into the week.
    
    Thanks for the Support - we think they are working in the market.
    
    Bill  

    
    	Have my latest copy of Washington Technology, a  biweekly newspaper
    for government systems integrators. Being the New Years issue, they
    had a section on "What's In - What's Out". Draw your own conclusions...
    
    	WHAT'S OUT			WHAT'S IN
    
    	information highway		the Internet
    	business process reengineering	change management
    	time clocks			keystroke monitoring
    	PC				Internet terminal
    	Newt Gingrich			Al Gore
    	Unisys				DEC
    	flat-fee			a ticking meter
    	content				style
    	the message			the medium
    	Microsoft			Microsoft
    
    	They also picked the "Five Technologies That Matter Most" for 1996
    as:
    
    	Key Escrow - the "spare key" decryption technology
    	PCS        - personal communications services
    	Internet phone - who needs AT&T?
    	E-Cash     - digital money
    	Java       - Sun's virtual machine applet programming language
    
    	Have a happy New Years everyone......
    
    
    		the Greyhawk
     

    Glad to hear DEC is in!  I was proud also watching the AD with
    friends... They all said, "Heard your company's doing great!"..
    
    We are getting positive mindshare...
    
    Jon
    

I finally got to see the new TV ads (I ordered them on tape) - excellent.  While
visiting relatives, I also heard positive comments (my brother hated the
"Hell has our number" ad, apparently.)  My wife was pleased to see women with
a prominent role (and for the voiceover) in the ads.

					Steve

    re. .5
    
    Another nice mention is for DIGITAL as a stock to buy in the January
    issue of Money magazine.  The folks who make the forecast see $80/share
    at $3.50 EPS by end of year 1996. (these factoids are from memory, so I
    may a bit off on the numbers)
    
    Bill Troy
    
    

Over here on the 'left coast', the Rose Bowl is really a New Year's Day
staple...all of my friends, relatives, etc. plan the days activities around
kick-off, right down to when to pop the nachos in the Microwave 8^).

It was *really* a great experience to sit and watch the game....a game that
I have been watching for years, and have it sponsered by Digital, and to see
my friends and relatives react to both the 'Corporate Computing' and 'Internet'
commercials both run...and I think that is the intagible that makes advertising
well worth the money...customers see the Ad and our proud to be running our
stuff..."It's good to see Digital is out there advertising, we just bought a
bunch of Alpha's".  "Oh...hey, nice ad, you work for them don't you?  What
do you guys make again?"  "You know, I have been hearing a lot about this
company called Digital" "Yeah, this is definately not the same folks we used
to call DEC, that's for sure"  "Wow, DEC is advetising during the Rose Bowl,
geez, who would have thought?"

The ultimate compliment...my Uncle, who has done quite well doing all of
his own investing over the years in the stock market...sat me down and
grilled me about Digital, and the 'Alpha thing-a-majigg' everyone at Boeing
keeps talking about...

I must admitt, I *never* thought I would see this day.  BP, couple more
financial wins...couple of more Alpha wins...couple more 8400
wins...it just might be time to declare victory in public...I'll bring the
bubbly!!

-Stephen

I'd hold off on the bubbly until we can get our retail PC side of the house
in order.  We blew off the holiday shopping season by our inability to ship.

					Steve

    And just before the Rose Bowl, was the CompUSA Citrus Bowl.  There
    were commericals there also!  Its a great idea to put Digital's
    name in people's minds as they are going to CompUSA to buy a new PC.
    
    I was very impressed.
    
    				-John

re Note 4339.11 by TLE::REAGAN:

>     Its a great idea to put Digital's
>     name in people's minds as they are going to CompUSA to buy a new PC.
  
        Well, only if they will find the models they want, in stock,
        at CompUSA.

        Otherwise the net effect could be negative.

        Bob

    Repeat 20 times out loud:
    
    	Digital does not do retail PC.
    
    
    Maybe then it will sink in!!!!!!!
    
    
    
    Randy
    

    re:        <<< Note 4339.13 by ACISS2::MARES "you get what you settle for" >>>
                     -< What we say vs. what we do not do >-

<    Repeat 20 times out loud:
<    
<    	Digital does not do retail PC.
<    
<    
<    Maybe then it will sink in!!!!!!!
<    
<    
<    
<    Randy
    

    
    Seeing Digital's ads during many of the bowl games was great, but the 
    content of one was somewhat questionable. The ad shows the Pepsi and
    Kentucky Fried Chicken logos passing each other left to right and the
    voiceover says something to the effect "someday the secret formulas
    for Pepsi and the Colonel's Kentucky Fried will pass each other on 
    the Internet".

    Say what? What the heck are we endorsing here? I had to watch and listen
    to the ad twice and I still couldn't believe my eyes and ears. I can't
    envision either Pepsi or KFC thinking this was appropriate use of their
    logos - particularly with respect to their secret formulas. 

    Does anyone else feel this way and could someone from advertising
    explain why something so contoversial is used in the ads?

    -Dom

I know we did have a bid in for some outsourcing work for Pepsi.  One of the big concerns was 
security, they want to make sure that ONLY authorized people have access the the formula. 
I do not know if we won the project, but, from the comercial I would guess we may have.

Dave V

I am sure that we got permission to use the logos.  I took it to mean that
businesses would be using the Internet to transmit confidential information
without worrying about someone stealing the data, though I admit that's due
to my knowledge about Digital's Internet security solutions.  My wife thought
it meant someone would be breaking into Pepsi and KFC's systems and stealing
the formulas.  I gues sthat it was none too clear.

				Steve

re Note 4339.17 by QUARK::LIONEL:

> I took it to mean that
> businesses would be using the Internet to transmit confidential information
> without worrying about someone stealing the data, though I admit that's due
> to my knowledge about Digital's Internet security solutions.  My wife thought
> it meant someone would be breaking into Pepsi and KFC's systems and stealing
> the formulas.  I gues sthat it was none too clear.
  
        But that was the point of the ad:  nobody knows for sure what
        will be.

        (Or was it that we have bets placed on all the horses?)

        Bob

    The point of the Add was that someday in the not to distant future
    companies will use the internet like they use the Telephone companies
    today.  IE trust it to run their private networks over.  We now sell a
    product called Digital Internet Tunnels
    http:/tunnel.ibg.ljo.dec.com/tunnel.html  Which allows you to connect
    LAN's over the internet, incrypting all trafix while it is on the
    internet.  It also includes Personal tunnels which allow home users or
    users on the road to connect to their private network over the
    internet, eliminating the need for long distance calls, modem banks,
    business telephone lines, WATN etc.  As a matter of fact I am currently
    typing this from my home in Marlboro connected to Tiac using tunnels. 
    This is pretty neet stuff.
    
    Dan
    

    
    
    404 Not Found
    
    The requested URL /tunnel.ibg.ljo.dec.com/tunnel.html was not found on
    this server.
    
    
    Regards,
    Ian.
     

    http://tunnel.ibg.ljo.dec.com/tunnel.html 

Does this mean that I can use my Powerbook running MacOS or my Alphabook
running OpenVMS, dial into some local internet provider while travelling,
and connect back to my own site inside our group's own firewall?

Or is it somewhat more restrictive, requiring such configurations to
continue to call LD into existing site servers?

/john

	Currently the clients are limited to I think Windows95. You'd
	want to check with the Tunnel folks.

	You would dial into your local Internet provider (Ultranet, TIAC,
	Compuserve, etc...) and start up the tunnelling stuff and 
	connect to your systems in DEC. No long distance calls to a 
	site server.

							mike

    Windows 95 and Digital UNIX are the only supported platforms for
    Tunnels currently.  We have plans to go to other platforms in the
    future for both Clients and Servers.  Macintosh, NT, Solaris, BSD are
    being considered. We would love to have partners working on these or
    other platforms.  Contact Steve ([email protected]) for further info. 
    He is the prodcut manager.

    Perhaps could a moderator move thisTunnel discussion to its on note.
    
    Dan
    

    
    re: use of pepsi and kfc logos.
    
    A couple of points of clarification:
    
    o  Trust me, it is a really difficult proposition getting to use other
    people's logos - you absolutely need to have the permission of the
    involved companies - their logos are among their most prized assets. 
    And even if the firms involved don't insist on written permission, 
    the networks do.  The largely hidden world of network censors - which
    might seem anachronistic in this day of 500 channels, internet for the
    masses, etc. is one that carefully controls what goes "on air" - they
    for example insist on all of the 'fine print' that goes on the end of
    special lease deal automobile advertisements.  There are a lot of
    hoops.
    
    o  The logos were chosen to fit both the ideas of "secret" and being
    readily recognized. The rivalries of a couple of other firms closed 
    out their use - one would agree, one would not.  The idea of secure 
    electronic commerce protection is a core idea we are getting across, and we
    believe is a competitive advantage DIGITAL needs to leverage - whether
    its implementations be tunneling, secure private networks, or whatever.
    
    o  Think about the progress we have made as a company in the past year. 
    This time last year we would have had no success getting permission and
    using another company's logo, it would have been viewed as an unequal
    bargain. Especially if we do not have a major customer relationship
    with the firms involved.
    
    Bill   

Isn't KFC owned by Pepsi anyway?

Bill: Are you saying that permission was received by Coke/Pepsi for that 
commercial with the two soft drink delivery guys in the Diner that ends up 
with them having a brawl? I find that hard to believe.

Jim

    Jim,
    
    I'll bet the two companies DID have an agreement for that commercial. 
    They are rivals, but I'd call it a "friendly" competition.  Not so when
    Polar Soda ran a commercial last year that dinged Coke's reputation. 
    The lawyers work hard to protect the company.
    
    Mark

    
    re: Coke/Pepsi driver commercial
    
    Interesting point - I don't know the details.  They must have both seen
    a real benefit to it, or the sponsoring company was ready to play
    Lawyer Wars Big Time. In any case, even if there weren't a specific
    network requirement, we would always contact the other firms for such a
    use, as I am sure most firms would.  
    
    The only general exception on use of names would be saying you are
    faster/cheaper/etc. than your direct competitor, and use their name
    (Sun, Hp, etc.), but not their logos.  We do this most often in SBU
    advertising in Print.  Obviously, you need to have the right third
    party information, such as benchmarks, to back up your claims. 
    
    Bill Troy  
     

anyway...my point is...this truly is a New Digital, the marketing initiative
is truly impressive, the commercials are sharp.  The response I get from
my peers and relatives is a *change*.  We are turning this company around in
mind, body and spirit. I love to root for the Underdog, especially when I'm part
of the team.  Digital employees are walking a bit taller, a bit quicker. 

People are starting to notice us, when I say people I mean mainstream mindshare.
I'm seeing our Hinote Ultra as props in other advertising...it's starting
to be 'hip' to own Digital hardware.  Kids are putting posters of Alpha systems
in thier lockers at school...(OK, I made that up...but it might be true!)

This is our finest hour.

IMHO, of course.

-Stephen

    Stephen, can you get me a poster?

Actually, you can order our print ad pages from VTX...

I have "we wanted to call it killer compliant mega open 64 bit unix...",
and "there is a difference between massaging your data...", "In Engineering
terms, make cooler stuff happen way faster..." and a couple of 2100 posters
in my cube...can't remember exactly how, but I ordered them from VTX.

I still get called 'the kid' around here, so maybe I was talking about myself...

;^)

    I watched every bowl game I could manage and I must say it felt
    good to see the ads and see Digital, Whatever It Takes flash across
    the screen.
    
    I didn't see continued advertising throughout the games, I noticed
    our ads were run during the 4th quarter in each game.  I can't 
    remember them all, but I do believe the ads ran in more than just 2
    bowl games.