An interesting post from MF:
<<Subject: $100 million Presentation; NOT
Date: Sun, Jan 25, 1998 11:59 EST
From: Clay Hagan
I was very upset with the way KE presented the $100 million ad campaign. He could have easily presented the ad campaign in a very positive light.
Example: "As you know, our goal is the replacement of the floppy. To this end, 1997 was been a spectacular year. Our OEM Zip drive sales were up 11 times over the OEM drive sales in 1996. Our OEM sales for the 4th Q were 1 million drives. That is more than the total, retail and OEM, sales we had in the frist Q of 1997. That is right on target with our objective of getting into the box. Up until this point we have not had the production capacity to keep up with demand. However, we have grown our ability to produce drives from the stated value of 8 million per year (1Q97) to the current ability to produce 20 million drives per year. Furthermore, our licensee's are currently producing and have ramp plans in place to support 6 - 12 million drives this year.
As you know, the independent projections of Zip type drive sales in 1998 stands between 12.5 million and 21.4 million drives. We intend to maintain our current commanding market share. Furthermore, we see 1998 as the year that we "cross the chasm" into a truly mass market appeal product. Thus, with the production capacity in place we are embarking on a $100 million Zip marketing campaign. Our objectives for this campaign are as follows:
1) Educate the masses on the need for a Zip drive.
2) Increase tie ratios by encouraging the use of Zip disks
(especially by the Zip Built-In consumers)
3) Create strong branding
4) Co-op Ads with Box makers to encourage Zip Built-In pull through
.....etc.
The roll out of this campaign will be approximately 1Q = 15MM, 2Q = 15MM, 3Q = 30MM, 4Q = 40MM. This will allow us to access the effectiveness of our campaign by mid 2Q and make any necessary adjustments before the big push begins in 3Q."
I think with that type of presentation I would have still have my money. Oh well, I guess even great news can be spun into a negative risky endeavor. >> |
