The television commercial looks like one-minute version of the movie Close Encounters of t
he Third Kind. A well-dressed threesome walks through the early morning mist. They come closer and closer to a cubelike object that is named "Framework. ” A voice chimes in, "Framework is for thinkers,” as the three approach the cube and read the name. This is the way the manufacturers of Framework are presenting their software product to the public.
Since software is now such a big business, companies are experimenting with a wide variety of marketing techniques. Whether television ads are the way to go is still a controversial issue. They are expensive and only a small percentage of viewers are influenced. At this time there is little agreement about the impact of a commercial's content on potential purchasers of software.
Computer software has so quickly become a billion dollar business that everyone wants to get involved. If you use a personal computer, you probably have heard of Lotus Development, Ashton-Tate, and Microsoft, today's software superstars who have distributed their product in all different ways — in cellophane bags, in hobby stores, and through mail-order catalogs.
A growing question is how will software be distributed in 1987-1990？ Will the cellophane bag be the delivery vehicle, or will the software be bundled with Apple or IBM computers？ Some stores, like B. Dalton Bookseller, Inc., are experimenting with the idea of marketing software alongside books, providing book browsers with opportunities to look at computer software and make purchases. Selecting the best distribution channel is a decision that is important to the success of software publishers.
Lotus 1-2-3 was an extremely popular software package, selling about 700,000 copies by the beginning of 1985. Symphony, the second product from Lotus, has sold only 100,000, and marketing experts feel that poor distribution was the reason for limping sales. Would better methods of distribution, like selling through bookstores or through catalogues, have meant more success for Symphony？ Or does the saturation in the software market mean that, no matter what distribution channel is used, sales will be slow？
Exactly how software companies like Noumenon Corp., Lotus Development, Microsoft, Micro Pro International, and Software Publishing will be distributing their current and new software is still an unsettled question. A close eye will be kept on the B. Dalton experiments and on the methods of the ma]or computer manufacturers like IBM, Apple, and Hewlett-Packard.
There are some who boldly predict that software firms will be running the computer industry. These prognosticators suggest that people will figure out what they want to do, have the retailers show them what is available, and finally decide what kind of computer they need to run their programs.
The long-term survival of software publishers depends, to a great extent, on finding the best distribution channels to reach customers. An incorrect decision can result in large inventories and small cash-register sales of software. In this chapter, marketing channels of distribution, for products ranging from toothpaste to gourmet food to computer software, will be discussed. Marketing relies heavily on the timely, cost efficient, and convenient distribution of products and/or services, but distribution is sometimes treated as a necessary, but generally ignored, part of the process. Any software writer or publisher knows that ignoring this part will certainly mean failure or even extinction.
This passage is about______.
A．marketing of software
B．one version of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind
C．major computer companies
D．impact of TV commercials
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