In the late
1960's, Xerox ran a print campaign that was both strategic and brilliant. It was
before my time, but I remember seeing it in the awards books. The headline was
something like, "There's no such thing as a Xerox."
With those
simple words, Xerox both protected its brand legally (by telling people to stop
using the word as a noun or verb), and reminded everyone that Xerox really was
a noun and a verb.
Few brands
ever reach the point where their name is so strong they own the category.
Kleenex is one. Google is another. It's what we strive for in marketing, the
ideal position to be in. What could be better than owning a category?
Then I saw
the new Xerox campaign, which aired during this year's U.S. Open Golf
Championship. A perky woman walks around a staged set and gushes over all the
things that Xerox does besides, well, Xeroxing. I won't bore you with the
details of the ad. Suffice it to say that the company's executives have
apparently decided that the copy machine, that cash cow that fed the company
for decades, is beginning to look like a different animal altogether. In the
age of mobile communications, the old brand has become an albatross.
So Xerox is
trying as fast as it can to get away from the category it has owned for
decades, but now wishes it didn't. No doubt they had to do it, and this
probably isn't the first time they've tried.
They got it
half right. Like the original ad, the new campaign is very strategic. But it
isn't very brilliant.
