3M INTRODUCES MULTI-FACETED MARKETING PROGRAM FOR RESELLERS, DISTRIBUTORS
OF NEW "GO ANYWHERE" DISKETTES

NEW YORK, NY (June 28, 1994) -- Picture an advertising campaign featuring
cartoons, packaging designed to grab attention on the shelf, glossy new
sales literature, sales training including presentations on diskette, a
news kit that's both educational and persuasive, and a trade show booth
with a large photo of a mobile computer user.

Those are some of the marketing initiatives 3M has developed to help
distributors and resellers merchandise its new 3.5-inch 2 MB "go anywhere"
diskettes. The product is being introduced here this week in Booth 2152 at
the PC Expo computer trade show.

3M's campaign supports distribution channels in their outreach to office
supply buyers, computer users, MIS professionals, technology enthusiasts
and other types of end users.

"The 'go anywhere' diskette is an especially important tool for mobile
computing workers and those who use diskettes for data transport," said
Karyn Greco, marketing development manager, 3M Data Storage Markets
Division. "We're determined to help our distributors and resellers capture
a bigger slice of this pie with the introduction of a feature-rich
replacement for our market-leading 3.5-inch 2 MB branded diskette and the
launch of our integrated marketing campaign."

Enhanced diskettes

3M enhanced its 2 MB diskettes by incorporating several design features to
improve their reliability in a wide variety of office, industrial and
field conditions. Those include:

* Anti-static diskette to help protect against static buildup during
operation -- a 40 percent reduction vs. ordinary diskettes.

* A high-performance wiping fabric that helps provide trouble-free
computing by reducing the amount of dust, lint and other airborne debris
that collects on the media surface, prolonging diskette life.

* Climate-adaptive media to help prevent data loss under extreme
temperature and humidity conditions; in tests of hot, humid conditions
after 10 days -- 95 percent reduction in fungus and mold coverage on
diskette recording media vs. conventional diskettes.

* A new lower-torque design that reduces friction while the diskette is in
use, resulting in cleaner and smoother media rotation -- up to 20 percent
reduction in torque vs. conventional diskettes.

* Removable write-on labels that makes it easier to relabel and reuse
diskettes, with no label buildup to jam diskette drives.

* A visual write-protect icon system that helps users easily identify and
understand the write-protection mechanism on the diskette -- this visual
system is found only on 3M diskettes.

* An all-metal shutter to enhance the ruggedness of the diskette on the
move.

The new 3.5-inch, 2 MB high-density, double-sided diskette is available now
through authorized 3M distributors in unformatted, IBM formatted and
Macintosh formatted versions. They are certified by 3M to be 100 percent
error free for reliability and also feature a lifetime-of-the-product
warranty.

Users will find that although 3M is significantly raising the value of its
"go anywhere" diskettes, there is no change in cost. Suggested list price
for a 10 pack of 3M 3.5-inch, 2 MB, high-density, double-sided,
unformatted diskettes is $15.89. Retail prices may vary.

Advertising

3M's advertising campaign is built around the slogan, "Run With It" and
features icons or cartoon figures. The approach was endorsed by
participants in primary market research commissioned by 3M.

Conducted near Chicago, the focus groups were made up of both MIS
professionals and computer users. Among the findings was the desire of
participants to see advertising that appealed more to the imagination
rather than showing a familiar "floating" product photo supported by
technical messages.

Instead, the result is a fun, brand-building campaign that breaks the mold
for 3M and distinguishes the company's diskettes from competition. The ad
campaign breaks June 28 and will continue into 1995 in publications such
as PC Magazine, PC World, Managing Office Technology and Business Week.

A version of the "Run With It" ad that can be customized is being offered
to 3M distributors for their own use.

Another feature of the program is availability of line art about the "go
anywhere" diskettes for distributors to adapt for their own advertising
and flyers.

3M's data storage advertising is created and placed by Kamstra
Communications, St. Paul.

Packaging

3M has introduced new packaging as part of its launch. Modified with subtle
changes that research participants found both fresh and distinguishing,
the silver box features a field of gold stripes with an icon on the lower
left proclaiming: Enhanced Performance Diskette.

Boxes sold through retail channels also feature a gold foil "bug label"
that helps to catch attention on the shelf. Inside the box, a U-board that
envelops the diskettes shows a schematic diagram of the product with
call-outs describing product enhancements.

Copy on packages for sale in the US and Canada is printed in English and
French.

Training and sales tools

Another element of 3M's marketing initiative is a three-step training
program for company sales representatives who work with the sister units
of 3M's Data Storage Markets Division. The effort aims to complete
training at approximately the same time.

First, Data Storage personnel trained their own selling organization people
and the management of the chief sister divisions that sell diskettes as
well as their own product lines.

Training took place in St. Paul and by teleconference phone calls. Second,
the Data Storage field sales force trained their counterparts in sister
divisions. Third, the field sales people made training calls on their
distributors.

Those 3M sales reps also provided resellers with high-quality promotional
materials. Items include a sample of the new enhanced diskette containing
a sales presentation about product features and benefits. There will be
fact sheets, brochures, news releases, reprints of ads, the customizable
ad and line art.

The sales brochure is glossy, four-pages and in color. The cover photo
shows a worker doing mobile computing on a construction site. Inside,
there's an exploded view of a "go anywhere" diskette and plenty of test
results and descriptions of the product's features and benefits. - The
back page emphasizes factors that have made 3M the market leader in data
storage.

The brochure was created for 3M by Concept Group, St. Paul.

News kit and trade show

A multi-faceted news kit about the "go anywhere" diskettes, containing a
whimsical "travel tag" on the jacket cover, is being distributed by 3M to
key news media. Inside, product stories and photos are supplemented by
in-depth educational articles about the trend to mobile computing and data
transfer.

Those stories include findings of recent focus groups conducted for 3M by
Mobile Computing Insights, Cupertino, Calif., which shed new light on the
scope and speed with which mobile computing is being adopted by end users.
The studies highlighted the environmental challenges faced when data is
taken into the field. They also underscored the reason 3M enhanced its
popular 3.5-inch 2 MB diskettes in the first place.

Plus, the news kit contains articles about 3M's integrated marketing
program that's designed to help distributors and resellers market the "go
anywhere" diskettes.

Distribution of the kit involves visits to offices of key editors on both
coasts, a round of interviews at the PC Expo trade show in New York, and
widespread mailings. Preparing the news kit for 3M, and handling
distribution, is the technology unit at Fleishman-Hillard Inc.'s Los
Angeles office.

A dramatic feature of 3M's PC Expo booth, number 2152, is a large color
photo of an end user using a new "go anywhere" diskette in a mobile
computer in a challenging industrial environment.

3M is the world's largest supplier of diskettes for data storage
applications.

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