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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lynn who wrote (29496)	7/19/1998 10:41:00 AM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Lynn - Compaq's own news writers reinforce Compaq=box maker Great comments on brand image. I believe that Enrico Pesatori is now attempting to solve that problem. Of course, most of the PR people grew up in Compaq the box maker, so that's how they think. Thus all of the confusion over the Schrock comments about 'highest margin product' - NO ONE has figured out that he was talking about Presario and not all of CPQ. If energiser came out with a statement that 9V batteries were the most profitable, no readers would assume that meant that batteries were more profitable than dog food... It's a hard problem, I hope that Pesatori and the CPQ management can get ahead of it.

To: Lynn who wrote (29496)	7/19/1998 2:17:00 PM
From: Mark Woolfson	Respond to of 97611

Lynn, MY POINTS EXACTLY. Well spoken! Mark

To: Lynn who wrote (29496)	7/19/1998 11:17:00 PM
From: Night Writer	Respond to of 97611

Lynn, We are very much on the same page. Your prior communication was excellent. My reply was written in haste after a long week. I was trying to say that the quality of the competitor's operation is not the point of comparison, but the type of competitive operation is important. Somehow, the last comment could be misconstrued. So let's just say comparing apples to oranges does not make sense. The message you posted this time is excellent. It addresses the corporate image Compaq projects to customers, potential customers, investors and the general public. This is a complex problem for Compaq. It appears they redefined who their customers are. The channel or the consumer. Many companies get lost in this process. They confuse distributors with customers. Distributors should be partners with companies serving customers. Compaq now has a more diversified customer base. Some customers are served by a distribution channel, and some direct. This makes the process complex. Public messages have to be diplomatic and not step on valued channel partners, but also open the door to direct corporate relationships. Retail channels to retail customers are important, and direct sales to sophisticated customers are important. How will they handle this potential conflict. Interesting issues that impact the future. What can I say, your final comment says it all. "Big and diversified does not necessarily have to have clumsy as its end result. IBM was indeed a hippo but Compaq, no matter how many areas it expands into, can remain a gazel. It depends on structural integration, autonomy of units on one level yet integration on another." NW