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Non-Tech : Tyco International Limited (TYC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: luther yow who wrote (756)	11/28/1999 2:34:00 PM
From: Walcalla	Respond to of 3770

Article from Worth online worth.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Need to Know 1999/11 A Brand New Pitch By Laura Petrecca Photograph by Andrew French In the first commercial of its kind, Tyco has begun advertising not the company's name but its stock symbol Tyco International is suffering from an identity crisis: People confuse the diversified manufacturing and service company with the same-name toy brand -- if they know the name at all. The $22 billion conglomerate has long been a darling on Wall Street, but the manufacturer of disposable medical supplies and electronic security components is virtually unknown on Main Street. So Tyco has launched a provocative ad campaign with a twist: It's not promoting its products -- it's touting its stock. While institutional advertising has long been commonplace, advertising the stock symbol to a mass audience is brand-new. In one ad that aired during the U.S. Open tennis tournament, a rugby player advises a buddy: "Check out Tyco... Tyco International. Security, health care, electronics. Crackin' performer, mate. As simple as T-Y-C." While the campaign is groundbreaking, it has also raised some questions about financial and advertising regulations. "You've got to be very careful in how you describe your company," says advertising lawyer Felix Kent of the firm Hall Dickler Kent Friedman & Wood in New York City. Companies not only have to abide by federal, state, and stock-exchange rules but must also avoid misleading shareholders with forward-looking statements. "You can't tell the public, ?Buy our stock because we're going to do good things in the future,'" Kent says. The only iffy line in the ad might be the one when a character implies that Tyco might "help an old mate retire gracefully," which could possibly be construed as forward-looking. Brand-awareness advertising has long been popular among such corporations as Lockheed Martin and TRW. "Everyone inside the company assumes the primary message is to enhance the stock's value" with a branding campaign, says Al Ries, chairman of marketing consultancy Ries & Ries. But he says most companies opt not to be so direct in their marketing strategy. Some people might not agree with either the means of the communication or the message. "Why take a chance of getting people annoyed or having stockholders complain?" Ries asks. Tyco's campaign may also help feed its voracious appetite for acquiring companies. Chief executive officer L. Dennis Kozlowski has spent more than $30 billion on acquisitions, but he doesn't believe in hostile takeovers. Tyco hopes the ads will introduce the quiet giant to executives at its acquisition targets, according to Thomas Stone, a partner at Tyco's advertising agency, Bozell Kamstra. But the ads will primarily serve to introduce Tyco to TV viewers who buy stock on the Internet without a broker's help. With this market growing every day, maybe the larger question is not why Tyco has begun advertising its stock but why it took so long for a company to do so.