Micron Electronics Unveils Corporate Growth Strategy; Aims to Win New Customers in the Mid Market Who Need New Tools to Get Ahead in the New Economy
SUN VALLEY, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 1998--
--Micron Debuts New Advertising Campaign and New Programs
For Customers In Support of Strategy--
Micron Electronics, Inc., the third largest provider of computers
sold through the direct channel, today unveiled its new corporate
strategy to achieve growth and position the company to become a top
tier player in the industry.
Before an annual gathering of press and analysts in Sun Valley,
Idaho, Micron said it plans to grow by continuing to build its base
of customers in consumer, business and government sectors, while
launching a new initiative to attract new customers in the mid
market. Micron defines the mid market as growing businesses with
approximately 1,000 employees or less.
"Micron's current customers are technology-savvy consumers and
'driven' users in business and government," said Joel Kocher,
Micron's chairman and chief executive officer. "These customers are
the core of our business, and we will continue to aggressively design
products and programs for them. In addition, our key growth
initiative will be to focus on the 'mid market.' We believe our
current and future customers share many similarities. They are
entrepreneurial in spirit and seek the latest, most powerful
computing tools to help them win in today's new economy."
The new company strategy consists of four key elements:
Sharpening its customer focus: Micron is re-architecting its
entire business around the specific needs of its customers. The
company's products, marketing, support and programs are being
designed specifically for these customers in consumer, SoHo, medium
and small businesses and government.
Leveraging the direct model: Micron plans to use its considerable
expertise in the direct model to fully exploit its advantages and
achieve greater efficiencies in its business operations. This
includes development of more sophisticated customer database
management systems that will enable the company to maintain direct
contact with its customers, pinpoint their needs and be extremely
responsive to changes in their requirements.
Maximizing industry opportunities and company strengths: Micron
will take advantage of industry opportunities, like the upcoming
transition to Windows NT(R), to provide competitive advantages for its
customers in the mid market. It also plans to use its core strength
in product engineering to create high-performance technology
solutions that lead the industry.
Developing a differentiated brand: Micron is launching a brand
identity campaign that articulates the company's belief that its
customers want new computing tools and programs to better compete in
the new economy. The campaign includes corporate advertising which
is designed to appeal to fast-growing, entrepreneurial and
technology-savvy individuals and companies looking for an edge in the
marketplace.
"We are at an inflection point in the industry, and the old rules
of commerce no longer apply," said Kocher. "Buyers seek and are
gaining dramatic new power. The networked economy is empowering
individuals and smaller organizations with new opportunities to
compete and win. Success in the future will be based more than ever
on developing a 1:1 relationship with your customers. This dictates
change. Micron is responding by proactively re-engineering every
aspect of our business and lining it up to support our customers."
In support of its new growth strategy and brand positioning,
Micron is launching a new advertising campaign, "New Rules, New
Tools." The new advertising campaign is designed to position Micron
as a leading provider of technology solutions in the new economy.
The ads are designed to demonstrate to driven users, growth-oriented
companies and mid-market companies, that Micron understands their
motivations and needs, as they fight to win in the new economy. The
ads convey that these customers can rely on Micron to provide them
with "new tools" to succeed in an economy with "new rules."
In addition, Micron also unveiled the first in a series of new
tools, consisting of products, services and programs specifically
designed to support its target customers:
Tool #1: MPower, an innovative and comprehensive program to deal
with the nagging industry issue of obsolescence. Micron believes
this is the industry's first comprehensive program for evergreen
computing. The program encompasses computer lifecycle management and
offers extensive and flexible options for unmatched computer
trade-ins, financing, leasing, upgrading and disposal. MPower
customers can even trade in competitive systems for a cash rebate.
Tool #2: AdvanceDeploy is a new program aimed at helping
customers prepare for the upcoming transition to Microsoft Windows NT
5. Consisting of software, systems and support, the program allows
users to order pre-released versions of NT 5.0, as well as utilize a
special support hotline staffed with trained technical staff. Micron
has already established a leading position in the transition to
Windows NT, the operating system that Microsoft has tapped to become
the standard environment for networked business computing. As many
as 50% of Micron's desktop systems and 25% of its notebook systems
currently ship with the NT operating systems installed. It is
Micron's goal is to continue to lead the industry, and give its
customers a competitive edge in this important transition.
Micron also said it plans to continue its historic leadership in
delivering the highest performing computing solutions in the
industry. The company plans to integrate the highest-performing
silicon technology from Intel, as well as technology developed
internally. Micron Electronics will leverage its ongoing
relationship with Micron Technology, Inc. in delivering
high-performance memory and graphics subsystems to the market.
In addition, Micron products will be characterized by a sharp
focus on their intended customers. For example, the Millennia(R)
desktop line will be more oriented to customers who are looking for
the highest performance and latest technology. Its ClientPro(R)
desktop product line will be designed for customers who value
reliability, stability and managed product transitions. Micron's
ultimate goal is to further segment all of its product lines based on
customer needs.
The new strategy for growth and related announcements today
represents Micron's implementation of the second phase of the
business plan Kocher put in place after his arrival at the company
earlier this year. Kocher was named chairman and CEO in June. In
the first phase of Micron's new business plan, the company focused
its efforts on improving operations and business fundamentals.
"Clearly last quarter's results indicated that our business
recovery strategy was working as we improved gross margins, increased
inventory turns, improved the cash conversion cycle, and reworked the
supply chain. Since then we have been accelerating improvements in
our implementation of the direct model, and making organizational
refinements to help us better implement the model. Now we are
positioned for growth," said Kocher.
"To get to the next level we plan to continue to emphasize
operational excellence and flawless execution in all aspects of the
business, including supply chain management, customer management
systems, leveraging the Web, innovative and integrated marketing and
sales," said Kocher.
As a forerunner to today's announcement and as an underpinning of
Micron's new strategy, in June the company announced the creation of
three customer-focused business units responsible for sales,
marketing and support for their respective constituencies. The three
units focus on consumers and small business, commercial customers,
and public sector customers. |
