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Good news for Software.net followers..Massive PR blitz, marketing, print radio and television advertisements...
Software.net Changes Name to Beyond.com; Launches New Brand, Advances How People Buy Software
BusinessWire, Monday, August 24, 1998 at 08:47
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 1998--Internet
software superstore Software.net Corporation (NASDAQ:SWNT) has changed
its name to "Beyond.com" (NASDAQ:BYND beginning August 25), enhanced
its web site (http://www.beyond.com) to give people a better way to
buy software and launched a national advertising campaign to promote
its new brand.
The initiatives are aimed at making Beyond.com the brand of
choice for people who buy software.
"Beyond.com promises that we will deliver beyond the expectations
of our customers and partners," said Mark Breier, president and chief
executive officer of Beyond.com.
"With this launch, Beyond.com makes software buying easy and
pleasant -- not the case in the physical world," Breier said. "We've
gone beyond offering selection, convenience and price to
"helpfulness." The site is now full of ideas and recommendations for
each visitor."
*T
Key, new features of the site include:
-- A Recommendation Guide that suggests suitable software products
to customers based on their answers to a short questionnaire. The
questionnaire asks whether the software is for personal use or is
a gift, for whom the software is being purchased and how the
software will be used. Up to five recommendations are made with
every response.
-- 3 New Software Centers -- Hobbies, Edutainment and Reference have
been added, bringing to nine the number of Software Centers on
Beyond.com. Other Software Centers are: Games, Utilities,
Graphics, Communications, Internet, Business, Programming,
Reference, Hand-held Computing and Mac.
-- 26 New Product Categories, bringing to 80 the total number of
Product Categories on the site. For example, the Hobbies Software
Center features ten Product Categories: Cooking and Wine, Home
Design, Gardening, Genealogy, Travel, Foreign Language, Religion,
Music, Home Publishing and Sports.
-- Software Reviews from CMP TechShopper (including Windows Magazine
and GamePower.com) to help customers make educated choices and
buy software with confidence.
-- Side-by-side displays of downloadable and boxed software products
at the same time; Beyond.com is the only web site that lets
customers compare.
-- Faster, easier site navigation and enhanced search capabilities
so customers can search for software by title, publisher or
operating system.
*T
"We want to embody the ease, opportunity and optimism people
already associate with shopping on the Internet," said Brian Sroub,
vice-president of marketing for Beyond.com.
As part of the launch, Beyond.com unveiled a bold, new
advertising campaign aimed at transforming the new brand into a
household name with consumers who shop on the Internet. The brand
campaign is scheduled to launch the week of August 24th and includes
TV, radio and print ads in national and leading Internet markets. Over
the next six weeks, the company will also run an aggressive
advertising campaign on heavily trafficked Internet sites, including
AOL, Excite, Yahoo! and ZDNet.
As part of the launch of Beyond.com, the company also announced a
free software giveaway for the first 250,000 people who visit the new
web site. With a retail value of $29.95, "ShortCuts" by Kiss
Publishing lets people assign their favorite web site addresses to the
function keys on their computer keyboard. It is another example of how
Beyond.com strives to deliver the convenience and helpful guidance
customers search for when they buy software.
About Beyond.com
Beyond.com is a leading, online reseller of commercial,
off-the-shelf software to the government enterprise, corporate and
consumer markets, offering its customers a better way to buy software.
Visitors to the company's online store (http://www.beyond.com) enjoy a
comprehensive selection of software backed by customer service and
competitive pricing. Approximately 30,000 software stock-keeping units
(SKUs) are available for online purchase with more than 3,300 SKUs
available for immediate, electronic delivery, including software from
such major publishers as Adobe, Lotus, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and
Symantec. The company has established strategic marketing alliances
with America Online, Inc., Excite, Inc. and Netscape Communications
Corporation. Beyond.com is incorporated in Delaware as Software.net
Corporation. Software.net Corporation has applied for federal
registration of the marks BEYOND.COM and SOFTWARE.NET. Beyond.com
trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol ("BYND"). More information on
the company's business is included in the company's Prospectus dated
June 18, 1998, which is filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. A copy of the Prospectus may be obtained by contacting
Software.net directly at 408/616-4200.
To the extent that this news release discusses expectations about
software.net (Beyond.com's) business in the third quarter of 1988 and
beyond, or plans to grow the company through an advertising campaign,
or enhancement of the company's web site, these statements are
forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to substantial risks and
uncertainties. Actual results for the third quarter of 1998 and
subsequent quarters could differ materially from any future
performance suggested above. Among the factors that could affect
subsequent periods include: Reductions in or cancellations of customer
orders, changes in relationships with software suppliers, changes in
relationships with strategic partners, changes in the product mix sold
by the company, competition from other online software resellers or
publishers and other factors described in the company's prospectus
dated June 17, 1998, as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC").
CONTACT: Parker LePla
Lisa Samuelson, 206/285-5280
lisas@parkerlepla.com
or
Beyond.com
Laura Dayton, 408/616-4328 (Investor Relations)
laurad@beyond.com
or
Beyond.com
Lise Olson, 408/616-4256
liseo@beyond.com |
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