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Show The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Sunday March 31, 1996 JANE APPLEGATE NeedCapital? Line Upthe Right Peopie it's time to really go kaboom!” said Tsippi Wilson. founder of Intelliplay, a chain of educational toy stores in SouthernCalifornia. “I want to growfast That is why Wilsonand about 100entrepreneurs wereat re- cent daylong financing seminar sponsored by UCLA Extension's department of business and management. Entrepreneurs in various stages of business growth met, listened to and mingled with venturecapitalists, bankers, in- vestment bankers, accountants, lawyersand others whospecialize in financial deal making. “There are 30 to 40 significant sources of capital LynnR. Johnson/The Salt Lake Tribune Thesebillboardscluttering a Salt LakeCity street represent a fraction of the advertising that bombardsresidents. The saturation has sent advertisers into new arenas. Consumers Are Drowningin a Sea of Ads Ads, Ads, Ads Everywhere You Look, Sit, Walk But the Life Jacket Likely “T don't ink we should have ads everywhereweturt Curtis Wright, president says. Brought to You By . of Batonberg Filhardt & Wright, a San Jose ad agency. people.” Of course, not everyone is irked by finding an ad in a new place. In guerrilla marketing — more capital than there’s been in a long time,” said Richard Citron, a West Los Angeles law- yer who has helped set up 18 “The founding fathers wanted a churchstate separation,” he says. “I think we should By Hal Kahn KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE also separate commercefrom the state.” Feeling besieged? It's no wonder. You are Advertisers spend $150 billion a year on a companies. Citron said the sources include venturecapital- sensory bombardment designed to hit us 24 hours a day family and banks. One secret of attracting outside capital: “Thecritical element is putting together the advertisers are invading previously ad-free territory and spending more than ever doing ists, private investors, friends, right people,” Citron said No matter how great your productor service is, without a strong management team, it’s nearly impossible to finance your dream, For years, Gene Wang helped his big employers, including Symantec, grow and prosper. A few years ago, he joined his brother to found Computer Mo- tion, a Santa Barbara, Calif.based medical robot company. The company, which has at- To rise above the clutter they've created, 80. Today, we encounter ads on school lunch menus, police cars, basketball backboards, ur- ban sidewalks and even while on hold on the telephone This profusion of advertising is happening for two reasons. VCRs, remote controls and PCs let consumerstake control over when — andif — they see ads andalso enable even the tiniest companiesto target consumerswith un- precedented specificity. Simultaneously, we are living in an era of shifting cultural standards that permits ads to appear in placesthat werepreviously off-limits. The result? “We're supersaturated with ads,” says Nelson Thail, research director for the Center for Media Studies in Toronto. capital so far, makes robots that help surgeons perform complex tasks, something that helps hospitals save on personnel. Wanghad this advice for entrepreneurs in a money-raising “The average consumer is so bombarded with sales pitches that he becomesoblivious to it; he grows a shell," Thall says. To get our attention, he says, “advertisers are trying to make the sledgehammerheavier.” Ads are also popping up in unexpected places because of the mass media's “inability @ Really understand your business or product. @ Havea greatproduct. @ Never run out of money. Running out of moneystill sends too many entrepreneurs running to the bank. But banks are not in business to bail out ailing companies. Barbara Kamm,senior vice president of Silicon Valley Bank in NewportBeach, Calif., said business owners often expect a bank to take more risk than it can or should. if your company is strong and ready for bank financing, she said, shop aroundfor a bank with an interest and a track record in dealing with your particularin- dustry, “The small-business owner shouid interview the lenders places an ad on police cruiser. Pas ers-by might wonderif the cops are inclined to look the other wayif a pizza delivery van exceeds the speed limit, he says. Even public broadcasting, once an ad-free island amid the turbulent currents of commercial TV, has easedits restrictions in the wake of funding cutbacks. KQED, the PBSstationin San Francisco, for instance, allows Intel Corp. to broadcast the same 30-second imagespotsit airs on commercial networks. tracted $8 million in outside mode: @ Never run out of money. Suppose, Wright says, Domino’s Pizza to demonstrate effectiveness” with broadcast ads,says Tom Jordan, an advertising profes- sor at San Jose State University. It's impossible for Anheuser-Busch to measure exactly how manybottles of Budweiser are sold by a trio of frogs croaking a cappella on CBS, but when Round Table Pizza on The Alameda in San Jose puts a coupon on the back of a cash register receipt at the Safeway next door, it can countthe resulting sales down to the last slice of pepperoni. In the past, an unwritten code kept certain areas off-limits to commercial pitches. But now, government agenciesofall sizes are so hungry for funds that they sometimes accept advertiser dollars. “Everybody wants to cut government spending,” says Jeffrey Mordos, executive vice president at BBDO New York, a major national ad agency, “but no one wants fewer services.” In someareas, ads have appeared onpolice cars or on schoollunch menus. Butsuchsites can backfire on marketers. Movingads into what was once noncommercial space can pose threats to the arts and education, says Matthew McAllister, author of The Commercialization ofAmericanCulture. Since advertisers want their products asso- ciated with positive feelings, he says, “Is it legitimate to wonder if film studios might start altering moviesto be moread-friendly?” For instance, he says, a producer who wants consumer-product manufacturers to pay to have their goods appear in a film might alter a script to produce a happier ending. “People who are upset are worthless to advertisers,” McAllister says. Similarly, he suggests, Channel One, which provides televised news programsto schools, could subconsciously tilt its story-selection process to provide an environment in which advertisers are eager to be seen. Even if an ad appears in what everyone agrees is commercial space, a movie theater, for instance,it can spark resentment.“I don’t like [on-screen] cinema ads,” says PaulFin- gerole, parenacre. executive, “I've in eeneal tis urges tarketare: “Don't ok for people wherethey're not looking for you.”” That's a philosophy CompuServe tries to follow, says Deborah Knight, a sales executive at the online service. Although the affluent demographic profiles of Playboy subscribers match CompuServe’s target audience, she says the company doesn’t advertise in the magazine. “I don’t think a man looking at Playboy is going to be thinking, ‘I could really use an online service.’ ” In a constantly changing commerciallandscape, no one can be sure where shoppers are looking. Craig Dunkerley, a San Josereal-estate agent, places ads on grocery carts, letting him target the Berryessa neighborhood in which he works. “It’s a tricky balance,” he “You want name recognition, but if you push too hard you just end up annoying KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSSERVICE The low-cost efforts to reach niche populations — splintering of the mass market means adver- the target audience may feel flattered by the attention. Some experts suggest, for instance that products gearedto teen-agers might ben- tisers have to spread their dollars among moreniches. Here's a look at someof the efit from an ad on a rack usedto store skateboards more innovative places you might see ads: Sidewalks: Pedestrians Although consumers are sometimesstartled to see ads in new places — at the bottom of holes ongolf putting greens, say — the surprise itself can bolster the product pitch, at least initially. In some cases, even picking up a telephone and initiating a call can bring an unsolicited message. Callers to SouthwestAirlines, for instance, sometime hear a tape of jokes, ditties and ads designed to keep their attention while they wait for flight information. looking down at the pave- ment in Manhattan a few years ago saw this slogan stenciled in water-soluble paint: “From HereIt Looks Like You Could Use Some NewUnderwear — Bamboo Lingerie.” School-Lunch Menus; Your Favorite Producers, a Los Angeles company, puts ads and coupons on school- Sounds on Hold, a Cleveland company. makes tapes designed to amuse people who have been puton hold. If listeners are enter- lunch menus. Police Cars: Most police tained while waiting for service, “they're in a better disposition” once thecall is answered says Steve Rosen, who started the company after a lengthy stay on hold exhaustedhis patience but nothis creativity. Although consumers may feel besieged by cars in Crown Point, Ind., carry adson their trunks. Fruit: Stickers on kiwis will soon remind shoppers that a kiwi-strawberry fla- vor Snappleis available in groceries. Putting Greens: Golfers in constantadvertising, the growthof niche marketing offers an upside to shoppers, according to Ed Dillworth, president of Lai, Venuti & the East may find ads when they sink their putts, thanks to Links Inc., a Connecticut companythat places ads in Lai, a Santa Clara, Calif., advertising agency “Due to the proliferation of media vehicles,” he says, “consumers arein a better position to pull in what they want.” the cups Ads for health andfitness products, such as those inside the Central YMCA on The Alame- Public Restrooms: The ailvantageis a “captive au- da, rather than being seen as intrusive, might be reaching a receptive audience among gym dience,”” says Joan Cox of California Indoor, which places ads in restrooms. In Airplane Snacks: Delysair Ltd. of Reno provides members. “'Nooneobjects to adsthatare relevantto their interests,” Dillworth says Advocatesof online advertising makea similar point. Since Web surfers have the option of deciding which adsto click on, those marketers whose on-screen banners tempt consumers have an audience that could be especially receptive, since it chose to be there. free snacks for airlines to distribute to passengers. Each snack comesin a plastie bag that also includes an advertising pitch Yet, a climate in which we receive thou- ATM Receipts: ATM Cou- sands of advertising messages a day can produce a yearning to find times and places where poning of Atlanta sells ad space on the receipts gener- wecan be free from ads. ated by automated tellers. Floors: 3M sells graphics that becomepart of a store’s In Congress, the House is considering a Senate-passed bill that would ban orbiting bill- boards visible on Earth with the naked eye. floor surface and are de- “Afterall,” one Capitol Hill staffer says, “who signed to sway consumers while they're shopping wants to look up in the sky and see the moon. the stars and McDonald's?” much as they would someone they'dlike to hire,” Kammsaid. Whenbankers review a busi- ness plan, she said, they wantto STATE OF UTAH VERTISEMENT see a well-written executive summary “The executive summary is pyv aUeeuBENEey TRBhme eC wea:ag Probably Not & Here's Why the key — it’s where you distill the essence of your business,” Kammsaid. The essence of what Carol A Fax Cleaning Can Clear-Up missing or brokenlettering © impropererror codes ¢ vertical or horizontal lines Coleman wants to do is provide a product she sees a need for. Coleman, a veteran emergency- slow sending time room nurse, said she has seen distorted or faded images what happens when patients take too much ornot enough of their prescribed medicines. eres ia tions and other information. “I'm hopingto find some venture capital and seed money so I can at least get my manufactur- ing started,” said Coleman, founder of R.N. Consultantin INTEREST OF re svar, compliance with sence the American eft Dnusotiiee Ravocan manding ce motArt§ ropes shouscaly Be Onenon ©Factni e et laeat Serco Sd Memegenest leghons 858-2018. 36 how's fer to be one woe ene Pete meme a 1 Manageme Dominguez Hills, Calif. “I'll start with private investors because I’m not ready to go to a bank.” Wilson, the founderof Intel- liplay, started selling educational toys from her home in Nationally syndicated business columnist Jane Applegate is the author of “Succeeding in Pentium-460 7 ”~ 6.15% 24 Mos 6.05% 12 Mos 5.90% Systems W:ashington Federal Savings 200 South. 60 So Hightand Drew 308 E Main Pre aa i Peor ad Bate) HDIC Insured ATTGemeel ea NOT INCLUDED!” Gameat a>OMSD>ausE>ax [ed 16 bit 08 Re wwe Fa Ee... Ker Full looded | netnses monitor » ZIP DRIVES AVAILABLE MBDicital Cancepts 963-5500 ais6 a ee Wee )F- XS. Highland Drive rd. Salt Lake (ity othill Drive Sure. Troma, 509#1 N. E. 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