AST UNVEILS NEW "OBSESSION" AD CAMPAIGN TO DISTINGUISH COMPANY AND BREAK
AWAY FROM MUNDANE PC INDUSTRY ADVERTISING

IRVINE, Calif., November 16, 1992 -- Sporting a fresh look and feel over
traditional industry efforts, AST Research Inc. today unveiled a new
advertising campaign that not only communicates product information, but
also offers an insight into the personality and culture of the company.

The new campaign, which begins today in leading business and computer trade
publications, is comprised of a series of ads that are designed to
highlight specific characteristics that distinguish AST from other
mainstream PC competitors. The campaign's new tagline is "AST Computer:
The Product of Our Obsession."

"Our advertising campaign signals a new marketing direction for AST," said
Mike Morand, AST vice president. "It is designed to build brand equity for
AST, while differentiating the company from IBM, Compaq, Apple and other
first-tier computer manufacturers.

"We want to convey the mindset behind AST products, while reminding PC
buyers that AST is an engineering leader, not a follower. We also want to
develop a unique, relevant and distinctive brand personality for AST,
while establishing a consistent look and feel across all product lines and
in all corporate materials."

Developed by El Segundo, Calif.-based Team One Advertising, the campaign's
objective is to communicate why and how AST PCs are superior to
competitors. The tactics utilized within the ads differ from traditional
industry efforts in that each goes beyond customary product photos and
specification tables to include lifestyle profiles that emphasize the
culture, personality and employee dedication responsible for creating
AST's PC systems.

"In developing the campaign for AST, Team One employed the same creativity
that has enabled them to successfully distinguish Lexus from competitors
in an extremely crowded luxury car market," added Morand.

Following an extensive research effort, the campaign's theme was chosen as
a result of reoccurring responses gathered in focus group studies.

"During meetings with customers and resellers, a common element surfaced
about how devoted and thorough AST employees are," said Scott Gilbert,
executive vice president/account director of Team One. "Over and over,
they conveyed the zeal witnessed of AST employees in designing, marketing,
producing and servicing PCs. It was from these comments that we decided to
anchor and position the campaign with the 'The Product of Our Obsession'
tagline."

AST's first ad illustrates employee dedication through a headline that
states "Only an AST engineer would choose 200 megabytes over their 1200cc
V-Twin." The ad prominently displays a photo of a Harley-Davidson
motorcycle, with a much smaller photo of the company's new Power Exec
notebook computer wrapped by body copy explaining the inherent dedication
AST engineers employ to make better products. Information about the
notebook's unique selling features take a subordinate position to the
headline, body copy and motorcycle photo.

"This ad succinctly blends the culture of AST with an explanation of why
the Power Exec delivers extraordinary value," said Morand. "We chose to
feature the Power Exec in the campaign's first piece because it is the
company's newest product and it incorporates many features that illustrate
AST's engineering prowess. Also, notebooks PCs are one of the industry's
hottest product categories."

Future ads in the campaign will focus on other aspects of AST's corporate
culture, while simultaneously highlighting different products and/or
services. A new series of collateral materials also is in development
which complement the campaign's look and theme.

Each ad also will prominently feature the "AST Computer" name in larger
type than previous campaigns. "This is designed to clearly associate AST
with computers, which is our one and only business," said Morand.

AST's media strategy will increase its emphasis on mainstream business
publications, while maintaining high visibility in computer trade
publications. Initial publications will include Business Week and The Wall
Street Journal, in addition to major reseller and end-user PC magazines.
Outdoor and other advertising vehicles will also be utilized.

Target audiences include volume buyers and influential purchasers of PC
technology, in addition to AST's sales channels, which include value added
resellers (VARs), distributors, systems integrators and consultants.
Business media will be used to reach corporate influencers such as chief
executive officers, presidents, chief financial officers, department heads
and the financial community.

Team One Advertising, a division of Saatchi & Saatchi, is a full service
agency boasting a track record of brand building experience for clients
such as Lexus, Yonex, Beech Aircraft and VCR Plus.

Ranked number 431 on the Fortune 500 list of America's largest companies,
AST Research Inc. is an information technology company holding a prominent
market share position for desktop, file server and notebook computers.

AST's product lines include the Power Premium, Bravo, Advantage!, Power
Exec and Manhattan which allow users to choose from a full range of price
and performance options. The company is represented in 100 countries and
operates 34 international subsidiaries and sales offices.

The company reported record sales of $286.4 million for the first quarter
of fiscal year 1993, ended Oct. 3, 1992, representing a 70 percent
increase in unit shipments over the comparable prior year quarter. Fiscal
year 1992 revenues were 944.1 million, compared to sales of $688.5 million
for fiscal year 1991. AST Research corporate headquarters is located at
16215 Alton Parkway, P.O. Box 19658, Irvine, Calif. 92713-9658. Telephone:
(714) 7274141, (800) 876-4278. Fax: (714) 727-9355.

  +---------------------------------------------------------------+
  |   From the America Online - New Product Information Services  |
  +===============================================================+
  | This information was processed from data provided by the      |
  | above mentioned company. For additional details, contact the  |
  | company at the address or telephone number indicated above.   |
  |    All submissions for this service should be addressed to    |
  |   BAKER ENTERPRISES, 20 Ferro Drive, Sewell, NJ 08080 U.S.A.  |
  +---------------------------------------------------------------+
