Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 9, 1995 TAG: 9506100016
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
IBM's hostile bid for Lotus Development Corp. has spilled into a new battleground: the Internet.
Public relations experts say they've never seen any company match IBM's blitz on the global computer network to promote a corporate buyout.
Once the financial markets were formally notified of the $3.3 billion deal Monday morning, Big Blue's public relations team reached out to the media and anyone with a computer and Internet access, particularly Lotus employees.
A letter from IBM Chief Executive Louis V. Gerstner Jr. to Lotus chief executive Jim Manzi, Gerstner's internal memo to IBM workers, a press release and audio clips of Gerstner explaining the offer instantly appeared on IBM's home page on the World Wide Web portion of the Internet.
Later in the day, it included a transcript of Gerstner's 45-minute news conference and even photographs from that event.
``We thought it was obviously a very valuable way to communicate with Lotus in real time,'' said Jon Iwata, an IBM spokesman. About 23,000 people gained access to the IBM Web page Tuesday, more than double the typical daily level.
The strategy caught Lotus' attention.
``It's a good place for us to find out what's going on, to tell you the truth,'' said one Lotus employee, who spoke on condition that his name not be used.
Lotus has its own Web page. It contains a four-paragraph statement from Manzi about the proposed buyout. The company hasn't said much about the IBM offer, and its Web page reflects that, said Karen Warner Smith, director of electronic media at Lotus.
When Lotus has something more definitive to say, she said, ``We would be just as aggressive as IBM in terms of putting photos and sound bites.''
The World Wide Web is an information space where documents that have text, graphics, photos and sound can be easily reached and linked to similar documents on another computer.
For a business, the Web is an inexpensive and fast way to distribute an unfiltered message about a complex matter, such as a corporate takeover.
``What you can put on the Internet, in terms of the depth and breadth of material, is a lot better than a couple of minutes on CNBC,'' said a New York public relations executive, who wished to speak anonymously.
Corporate use of the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, is growing rapidly. By conservative estimates, at least 80,000 corporate Web sites have sprung up in the last year, said Robert L. Smith of the Interactive Services Association.
It's a political tool as well: Republican presidential candidates Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas and former Gov. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have Web pages, as does the White House.
And tens of thousands of other people create Web pages to display their own interests.
They're vying for attention from an audience of perhaps 20 million computer users in 90 countries.
``I feel, frankly, that we will be seeing more of this with companies dealing with important transactions or policy issue using the Internet to reach the `thought leaders' of the world,'' said Smith of the Interactive Services Association.
Though unstoppable, some Internet pioneers worry that all such marketing activity demeans the computer network.
``People are very anxious for the World Wide Web to be noncommercial in nature,'' said Scott McCready, principal at the market research firm IDC-Avante in Framingham, Mass.
by CNB