26 FEBRUARY 2002 AMSTRAD IN £8 MILLION MARKETING PUSH Amstrad is backing the launch of its new e-m@ilerplus, the internet enabled home phone, with an integrated marketing campaign valued at £8 million, focusing on TV, press advertising and PR. Following a high profile press launch at the beginning of February, Amstrad will embark upon its first major TV advertising campaign for 5 years, breaking on 4 March, and running initially for eight weeks. The first ad will air in the much-hyped Being Victoria Beckham documentary on ITV1 at 9 pm. The series of ads will feature ‘Union Jack Man’ (TV presenter Henry Cole), who will be urging Brits to get online with the tag line, “Come on Britain, your country needs you”. There is a single 30 second execution and six additional ten second ads, each demonstrating a different function of the em@ilerplus, from surfing the Internet to playing Sinclair ZX Spectrum games. Planned by Zed Media, the campaign will be across terrestrial and satellite TV channels, concentrating particularly on ITV1, Sky 1 and Sky Sports, and targeting 16 to 34 year olds. Amstrad has taken some of the most high profile slots available, including Coronation Street, Sex and the City, The Simpsons, Friends and various Champions League football matches. The campaign will deliver 12 million opportunities to see. Press activity will focus on men’s lifestyle titles such as FHM, Front and Stuff with full page ads planned in several titles during the next three months. There is also major national press advertising planned in conjunction with leading electrical retailers. The em@ilerplus, which Amstrad is confident will take the home technology market by storm, provides the quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to send email worldwide, access the Internet, download and play Sinclair ZX Spectrum games, send electronic greetings cards to PCs, and send SMS text messages to mobile phones. At a retail price of £99, the company expects it to be a huge hit with consumers. Simon Sugar, Amstrad commercial director, said: ‘As a company, we are completely committed to the em@ilerplus product, which is why we have invested heavily in marketing it to consumers. We are also confident in the business model, as the phone’s digital screen is proving to be a highly effective form of interactive advertising. We have already attracted a number of high profile advertisers such as HSBC, Virgin Mobile and UCI Cinemas, and will shortly be announcing a raft of new wins.’ ENDS Notes to editors: For further information, contact: Eva Sogbanmu / Gavin Lewis Frank PR T: 020 7693 6999 E: eva@frankpr.it Go to News Headlines