Lotus Development Corp. signed an agreement
with DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros., to allow the use of the Superman
character in the promotion of Lotus’ Notes R5 and Domino products and in the
company’s Super.Human.Software marketing campaign.
The campaign was created by Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, the advertising and marketing agency for Lotus and its parent company, IBM. The campaign
underscores the continuing proliferation and impact of technology upon
consumers worldwide.
The Lotus R5 products–Notes R5, Domino R5 and Domino Designer R5–will
allow organizations to create global collaborative technology solutions.
“We believe the characteristics of Superman represent the perfect embodiment
of what the R5 products will allow our customers to do. By enabling each
individual to do the best job possible–giving them the tools to be ‘super-
human’–we can work together to solve any problem,” said Steve Sayre, Lotus’
senior vice president of worldwide corporate marketing. “We believe that
technology is increasingly impacting peoples’ everyday lives, and therefore
warrants leveraging a pop-culture icon of Superman’s stature.”
The global campaign leverages broadcast television as well as outdoor,
Internet and business and trade print advertising. In the United States, Lotus
advertisements featuring the Super.Human.Sofware theme will appear in national
newspapers, business publications, newsmagazines and computer trade
publications. Lotus will run network and national cable broadcast spots over a
six-month period. The Lotus commercials will be featured on prime time and
morning news programs, in major sporting events and in prime-time programming.
Spending was not disclosed.