The Homa Files

TakeAway: Xerox takes a risk with borrowed-interest advertising. 

What if people who see their new ads featuring some of their clients remember Marriott’s customer service pitch rather than Xerox? 

Xerox says, “We think because these clients are being seen in an unusual space that it will make people look twice. We think the risk is offset by the power of the creative and the relevance of the message in the marketplace.” 

Time will tell…

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Excerpted from blogs.forbes.com, “Xerox Hopes Other Brands Help New Ads Shine” By Melanie Wells,September 1, 2010

It can be difficult for B-to-B companies to create lapel-grabbing advertising. Xerox hopes to get around that in its biggest ad effort in decades by featuring clients, such as P&G and Target. Some ads feature their well-recognized brand icons shown doing Xerox-related work, such as invoicing or digitizing documents. The campaign tagline: “Ready for Real Business.” The campaign will feature 20 companies that use Xerox products or services by the end of 2011. Companies featured in the initial TV and print ads include Marriott Hotels & Resorts; Ducati, the motorcycle maker; and the University of Notre Dame. Xerox admits some companies it approached weren’t comfortable lending their brands to this campaign, other executives liked the idea of having their icons appear in media where Xerox advertises but consumer-focused companies do not. CEO Ursula Burns “picked up the phone [to fellow CEOs], saying ‘Would you be interested in being in this campaign?’” Edit by AMW* * * * *

Full Article:
http://blogs.forbes.com/melaniewells/2010/09/01/xerox-brands-ad-campaign/

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This entry was posted on September 20, 2010 at 6:20 am and is filed under Mktg - Brands, Mktg - Positioning, Mktg - Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.