Re: IBM Spin Doctors on AS/400 Marketing

> I still don't feel like advertising 400s is as valuable to Rochester
>as advertising TVs is to Japan but I do see that there can be
>some sales from it.

Unfortunately we got into all kinds of side issues on this discussion.

The value is there in the advertising but that doesn't necessarily

mean that it is the only item or the most important.



Selling the AS/400 can be (and should be) approached from

many different angles:



1.) General advertising - remember all kinds of institutions are

potential AS/400 customers and not all read professional

publications.  If brand recognition was similar to MS or Intel

it would help (some).  IBM has not done this (other than the

Pure Guavo commercial).



2.) Executive advertising - Get information out to CEO's,

COO's, and CFO's of the world.  Make them know that

it exists, it's not dead, etc.  This should include ads

for both the system and applications.  I think this is

being done fairly well.  If memory serves me this issue

came up at last years BP Summit.



3.) Professional advertising - Get information out into

industry and professional areas - real estate, sales

management, mining, data collection, glass bottle

manufacturing, etc.  This probably is more important

that it be application based but it could be general

system.  I don't think this is being done well but I

could be missing something.  I wouldn't quote me

but I believe some of the ad $ are being passed

done to the solution providers....to assist them in

running an ad campaign.



4.) Articles.  All kinds, all publications.  Never

underestimate the power of press - Good and

bad.  These can be both application and general

system based.  (If you read T.S. Elliot's Trilogy or

Megatrends you can get an appreciation for this.)



5.) Industry analysis.  IBM has a lot of good and

substantiated reports that help spell out the benefits

of the system (IDC, Yankee Group, etc.).  Make them

available (done pretty well on the WEB) and keep them

coming.



6.) Work with the BP's and keep them happy and help

make them better.



7.) Keep the customer satisfaction high.  If we are happy

we will tell others....



8.) Education.  Get the AS/400's out in the colleges and

get more people trained and familiar with the AS/400.



9.) Use the WEB.



etc., etc. Sorry for chewing up bandwidth.





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