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Technology Stocks : CheckFree Holdings Corp. (CKFR), the next Dell, Intel? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Erik T who wrote (8013)	7/14/1999 7:40:00 AM
From: salva	Respond to of 20297

In case you may have missed this < opinion > on the yhaoo thread: {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ Powered By CheckFree by: WSSMP (34/M/Bellevue, WA) 7476 of 7477 The link below was posted on the SI board by Erik T. He has different thoughts on CF branding its name. Message 10497521 He thinks by CF branding its name might actually be a mistake b/cos it takes away from "distributors/portals" branding CF's service as their own. I find his thinking intriguing and introspective. What do you guys think? Here are my thoughts. I think there are definately pros and cons to "Powered by CF". The question is which (pros or cons) wins the day. Erik has already elaborated on the cons. On the pros, my first analogy is from the semi-conductor industry. There are several players in the semi-conductor industry. However, if you were to walk up to the average Joe on the street and throw out the names of the different companies, Intel will probably be the only one to have any significant recognition. Yet Intel makes chips for every PC maker out there. Why don't the PC makers simply abandon Intel in favor of the generic makers? For one, consumers are now asking for the intel inside by name. Secondly, the PC makers still have their names all over the PC, hence the PC is co-branded. Let's not forget MSFT either (co-branded on 90% of PCs). What about your TV set or VCRs? Are there essential components in these units that are made by others? Well we don't know, it just says Yamaha or Sony or whatever. I wonder what would have happened if the essential component maker took the intel approach early on. How about your cell phone? It is usually co-branded by the maker of the phone (e.g. Qualcomm) as well as the service provide (e.g. At&T). Infact, do you know that 10 years after AT&T stopped providing local phone service that the majority of consumers still thought AT&T was their local service provider? The reason is partially b/cos the baby bells failed to market their name. The name recognition was an impetus for AT&T to get into the wireless business. AT&T promptly did away with the McCaw name after the acquisition. Mind you McCaw was the largets wireless operator at the time. Branding is priceless. It gives firms enormous bargaining power in business to business dealings as well as with consumers. Yes, many companies would prefer private label solutions, of course, they want to promote their own names. However, when a company builds a solid brand, other companies will eventually want to be associated with the brand. I think CF would be crazy not to insist on co-branding. Why do you think the 3 banks were so bold to threaten CF? According to Pete "Chase did not want us to do it" (the portal deal, that is). Maybe the banks felt they had CF by the balls- CF has no name recognition. The banks even get the credit for CF's customer service for crying out loud. With branding one can differentiate any product even a commodity like salt or chicken. Morton salt, Purdue chicken. Guess what? these companies charge more for their "commodity" products. Contrary to Eriks thoughts, I think portals like Yahoo, AOL etc. are much likely to replace CF with a competitor if CF is not branded than they would if CF is branded. With a branded CF that customers trust, Yahoo or any other portal will have its e-mail littered with customers complaints if it tries to switch out CF and customers experience problems. A company without a brand is without a soul. No branding power means no bargaining power. The company's product is used as a cheap date to be discarded when a better/cheaper one comes along. "Powered By CheckFree" has the ring of a winner and must appear on any site that uses CheckFree. Just make sure the sites use the official CheckFree logo. JMHO }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

To: Erik T who wrote (8013)	7/14/1999 7:42:00 AM
From: Benny Baga	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20297

>>>I know many on the thread want Checkfree to brand their product, but I think this would be a mistake. Well you have to remember that CheckFree isn't going to "brand" all their clients, especially bank clients. Wells Fargo reps will answer the phone the same way they do today, the banks for the most part will remain unchanged. What will be branded are the Portals and maybe some brokers (Schwab is somewhat branded today)... mybills.com IMHO, For Years CheckFree has bent over backwards for the banks (making marginal profit from time to time), providing a unbranded service for Years with a high level of quality. A service so good that 9 out of the top 10 banks use CheckFree. The banks launched Integrion, and CheckFree gives them 3 million shares and provides a service nobody else can. ...Wells Fargo had excellent quality bill pay for years (no mention of CF), but as soon has they have a problem, they can't mention CheckFree's name enough. (and people wonder why CF gets no good press) ...So finally, after many, many, years of hard work with the banks, ....then banks decide to launch "The Exchange", in retaliation to CheckFree working with someone other than the banks. Well, CheckFree deserves to work with who they want and brand it if they want. They earned it and they deserve it. If the banks had their way, CheckFree would never work with anyone except the banks. CheckFree had to make the decision of whether they are in business for themselves or the banks. The Branded Portal is the answer they made. Amen brother, Benny(IMHO)