craig@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Craig Hubley) (06/29/90)
Oh no! Fake CDTV ads!
I know this really belongs in comp.sys.amiga.bogus.marketing.campaigns or
comp.sys.amiga.come.on.commodore.sell.the.things but since those groups
have minimal distribution, I'll put this here in comp.sys.amiga.
Now, this doesn't mean that I have no faith in Commodore... but maybe it
will start a thread that will give someone a good idea. I know at least
one Commodore marketing person used to read this group. But advertising
isn't all up to Commodore - you can sell the things in your own neck of the
woods, and thanks to Amigas, good cheap TV commercials aren't hard to make!
This is designed as a series of ads that run separately - perhaps one per
commercial break throughout an hour show, wrapping things up at the end
(the break before the show ends). The legal department might have to
look at some of the things I say here, and some of the things I describe
as perqs don't exist yet, but will have equivalents soon enough. Of course,
you wouldn't run the Nintendo segment on Masterpiece Theater, but that's
the point of separating them! Just play the summary everywhere.
The one thing I would really like to see is a fully CD-ROM based
complete interactive instruction manual for the thing! Of course,
instructions for hooking it up still has to be printed on paper!
Times given are estimates - I read through this, assuming the shots would
accompany the voiceover (VO). The final drop has an 800 number (or equivalent
depending on where in the world you are) you can call to get free advertising.
Participating dealers who help pay for ads will get the local name list...
-------------------------
Round 1: CDTV vs. Nintendo (60 sec)
[Narrator appears - table behind him has CDTV, and Nintendo game system]
"Let's compare a Commodore CDTV to a Nintendo"
"VO: The Nintendo plays games"
[shot of stupidest Nintendo game we can find]
"VO: So does the CDTV"
[shot of some visually stunning Amiga game, maybe F-18]
"VO: Both hook up to your TV...
...but the CDTV *also* hooks up to your stereo"
[more of the same game, now with sound]
VO: "You can hook Nintendos together and play two-player games"
[shot of stupidest two-player Nintendo game we can find]
VO: "You can hook CDTVs together, too - even over the phone"
[shot of two people playing F-18]
VO: "You can get a lot of the same games for Nintendo and CDTV"
[shot of One-on-one, Marble Madness... showing CDTV doing them better]
VO: "9 of 10 players say CDTV does them better"
[something like this shouldn't be hard to prove]
"You can get one Nintendo game on a cartridge like this, for $50"
[shot of narrator with Nintendo cartridge]
"OR FIFTY CDTV games on a disc like this, for $99"
[brandishes "Classic Amiga Games" CD-ROM, repackaged and sold cheap]
[shots of the games in action]
"The CDTV is also a remote CD player..."
[brandish remote, play music designed to put people in 'buy' mood]
"VO: ...an Amiga home computer..."
[quick montage of Amiga applications, spreadsheets, dbs, etc.]
"...a home video center..."
[pull back from shot to show ad on a CDTV, guy overlaying titles, etc.]
VO: "...a terminal for online services..."
[shot of X, CompuServe, Minitel terminal emulators running]
VO: "...and an electronic encyclopedia..."
[shot of "Encyclopedia Britannica" CD-ROM and interactive manual CD-ROM]
"...so the kids can do more than play games."
[Narrator looks down at Nintendo, brushes it off table with a crash]
VO: "Commodore CDTV. Available now."
[Black drop with CDTV, price, "FREE BROCHURE" 800 number]
--------
Round 2: CDTV vs. expensive CD player (40 seconds)
[Narrator appears - table behind him has CDTV, and expensive CD player]
"Let's compare a Commodore CDTV to an expensive CD player"
"Both play CDs at 16 times oversampling"
[music comes from stereos]
"Both have remote controls"
[one in each hand, switch channels on both]
"Both hook up to your TV to play CD graphics"
[shot of some CD+G graphics on a wall TV]
VO: "You can program the CDTV on your TV screen..."
[shot of track selection on screen]
VO: "...learn everything it does..."
[shot of interactive CDTV instruction manual."
VO: "...or keep an index of all your recordings..."
[shot of music organizer program]
VO: "...because the CDTV is an Amiga home computer..."
[montage of millions of applications whizzes by]
VO: "...a great game machine..."
[montage of millions of games whizzes by]
"...a home video center..."
[pull back from shot to show set on a CDTV, guy overlaying titles, etc.]
VO: "...a terminal for online services..."
[shot of X, CompuServe, Minitel terminal emulators running]
VO: "...and an electronic encyclopedia."
[shot of "Encyclopedia Britannica" CD-ROM]
[Narrator looks down at CD player, brushes it off table with a crash]
VO: "Commodore CDTV. Available now."
[Black drop with CDTV, price, "FREE BROCHURE" 800 number]
-------
Round 3: CDTV vs. IBM PS/1 (60 seconds)
[Narrator appears - table behind him has CDTV, and IBM PS/1]
"Let's compare a Commodore CDTV to an IBM PS/1"
VO: "The PS/1 claims to be user-friendly"
[shot of DOS]
VO: "So does the CDTV"
[shot of Amiga windowing, including pulling down screens]
VO: "The PS/1 can do one thing at a time"
[shot of DOS switching applications]
VO: "The CDTV does as many as you want"
[shot of Amiga windowing, multitasking, multiscreens]
VO: "The PS/1 is a terminal for online services..."
[shot of stupid VT100 emulator or something]
VO: "...so is the CDTV."
[shot of X, CompuServe, Minitel terminal emulators running at once]
"Both hook up to their own sharp monitors"
[side-by-side mono PS/1 and high-res Amiga]
"The CDTV also hooks up to your TV..."
[shot of visual database running on wall TV]
"...and your stereo..."
[more of the same graphics, now with appropriate sound, on a wall TV]
"...in fact, it's a remote CD player!"
[narrator hits remote, changes database sounds to music]
VO: "You can get a lot of software for a PS/1..."
[shots of popular IBM PC applications and their high prices]
VO: "...and a lot of software for a CDTV..."
[shots of popular Amiga applications and their lower prices]
VO: "...because it's an Amiga home computer."
VO: "In fact, a lot of it's the same software..."
[shot of Aegis animator (now on PCs), WordPerfect, whatever]
VO: "...or better..."
[shot of Professional Page, Deluxe Paint, etc.]
"...especially the games!"
[shot of some visually stunning Amiga game, maybe F-18, on wall TV]
"About two hundred pages of paper fit on this PS/1 disk..."
[shot of narrator with PS/1 disk and 200 pages]
"...but a CDTV disc can hold about TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND" (or whatever)
[dumps out box of 1000 or so PS/1 disks, huge stack of paper]
VO: "So the illustrated Encyclopedia Britannica fits on one disc!"
[shot of interactive EB, narrator brandishes disc]
VO: "And everything you need to know about CDTV is on another"
[shot of interactive CDTV instruction manual]
"Commodore has sold two million Amiga home computers..."
[narrator looks hesitant, looks at PS/1, wrinkles brow, shakes head]
"...but IBM's last home machine, the PCjr, didn't survive."
[narrator plucks one out of a trash can by its power cord]
"The CDTV is also a home video center..."
[pull back from shot to show ad on a CDTV, guy overlaying titles, etc.]
"...and it's under a thousand bucks."
[Narrator looks down at PS/1, brushes it off table with a crash]
"Commodore CDTV. Available now."
[Black drop with CDTV, price, "FREE BROCHURE" 800 number]
---------
Round 4: Similar rake job on new cheap Mac
---------
Round 5: Ad aimed at video bugs, showing what they can do with CDTV
---------
Final Round: Summary (40 seconds)
[Narrator appears - table behind him has CDTV, Nintendo, CD player, PS/1...]
"By now you know how the Commodore CDTV measures up against..."
"Nintendo" [indicates it, price appears]
"an expensive CD player" [indicates it, price appears]
"the Encyclopedia Britannica" [indicates it, price appears]
"and the IBM PS/1" [indicates it, price appears]
[repeat as required to cover everthing]
"Together, all of this would cost about THREE THOUSAND BUCKS"
[show addition]
"WHICH IS THREE TIMES what you'll pay for a CDTV."
[Black drop with CDTV, price, "FREE BROCHURE" 800 number]
"The CDTV does a lot more, too..."
[quick montage of all unique features shown...
"...home video..."
- video titling
"...instruction..."
- interactive instruction
"...and online services..." (yeah, I know PS/1s can do it too!)
- X terminal]
"...because it's an Amiga home computer."
"So you can fill your house..."
[shot of all this other stuff in a living room]
"...and empty your wallet..."
[narrator opens his wallet and throws money around]
"...or get a CDTV..."
[back to narrator, looking sincere, clicks remote...
"...and enjoy."
[music starts to play]
"Commodore CDTV. Available now. Under a thousand bucks."
[Black drop with CDTV, price, "FREE BROCHURE" 800 number]
----------------
There are probably better slogans than 'under a thousand bucks'! Anyone
got one ?
OK, now I can get back to work.
Craig
--
Craig Hubley -------------------------------------
Craig Hubley & Associates "Lead, follow, or get out of the way"
craig@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca -------------------------------------
craig@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu mnetor!utgpu!craig@uunet.UU.NETceej@pawl.rpi.edu (Chris J Hillery) (06/30/90)
[...list of ideas for ad series for CDTV...] Bravo! An entirely good idea, with the salient points coherently presented (gee, two big words in one sentence!). Commodore advertisers, take note... this is certainly a good starting point at the very least... -- //..is|While 1 DO|Erin,Erin,where are|Art of Noise space| -- Ceej (= \X/there| Fork; |you? /-----------.-^------------------|ceej@pawl.rpi.edu AMIGAany|----------^-----|Cebhq gb or|Reclaimer:Hey!That's| gmry@mts.rpi.edu (=other?|HOW DO YOU FEEL.|Yvoreny! (=|mine! Bring it back!|aka Chris Hillery
bn@okcusr.UUCP (07/04/90)
I tend to disagree. I don't think that CDTV should or will be marketed as a nintendo killer.It is much more than just a game.
murphyd@csuchico.edu (Dave Murphy) (07/12/90)
CDTV should be marketed as the high end video/audio piece of hardware
that it is. I would like to see it at Department stores, video and audio
stores and where ever CD player or VCR's are sold.
CDTV is unique in that it can replace a home computer, CD player, and a
video player. Therefore it should be marketed as such a machine, and in
allo those places.
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/// __ __ __ __ | \\\
/// /\ __|| || || | | David L. Murphy \\\
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