Microsoft, Unilever HPC-USA and FamilyPC Team Up To Make the Home Computer “Click” With Families

Microsoft, Unilever HPC-USA and FamilyPC Team Up To Make the Home Computer “Click” With Families

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 7, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. today announced it has teamed up with Unilever HPC-USA and FamilyPC magazine for a multifaceted consumer promotion to help families get the most out of their home computers. The centerpiece of the promotion is a brochure, titled “What Clicks,” with editorial content created by FamilyPC that includes tips on great games, family activities and other practical information related to the home computer. Also featured are coupons and mail-in certificates with up to $40 in savings on Microsoft® and Unilever HPC-USA products.

“The ‘What Clicks’ promotion illustrates for consumers the benefits of personal computers, as well as the wide array of Microsoft software options available to them,” said Ruthann Lorentzen, director of division marketing, interactive media group at Microsoft. “Working with Unilever HPC-USA and FamilyPC ensures that we will reach millions of consumers with tips and information they can use right at home.”

“What Clicks” is included with the January issue of FamilyPC to reach subscribers and store shelves by this week. The brochure will also be available to consumers nationally through in-store displays in mass merchant, grocery and drug store channels, as well as through a direct-mail campaign designed to increase local in-store traffic. In addition, a full-color free-standing insert with a total circulation of approximately 45 million is scheduled to be distributed on Jan. 11 in newspapers nationally, offering further savings on Microsoft and Unilever HPC-USA products and discounts on subscriptions to FamilyPC.

“Today’s consumers want to understand technology and how it can improve the quality of their lives,” said Elizabeth Crehan, director of promotions, Unilever HPC-USA. “Unilever HPC-USA provides consumers with household and personal products that help improve their lives. Now, through this partnership with Microsoft and Family PC, we’ll be able to extend this improvement throughout the home.”

Microsoft plans to offer mail-in savings certificates on Microsoft Money 98 Financial Suite, Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection, Microsoft Greetings Workshop Deluxe, Microsoft Picture It!
™2.0 personal imaging software, Microsoft My Personal Tutor, Microsoft Encarta® Virtual Globe and Microsoft Encarta 98 Deluxe Encyclopedia. These offers are good through Feb. 28, 1998.

Unilever HPC-USA will offer money-saving coupons on 11 of its popular consumer brands, good through March 31, 1998, including Surf® laundry detergent, Snuggle® fabric softener and Lever 2000® deodorant soap and body wash. And FamilyPC will offer a one-year subscription for 50 percent off the annual cover price.

“We think it’s only a matter of time before software becomes as ubiquitous as other household products,” said Robin Raskin, editor in chief and publisher of FamilyPC. “It gives FamilyPC great pleasure to be the catalyst behind the meeting of high tech and family living.”

Unilever Home & Personal Care-USA develops, manufactures and markets some of the nation’s leading consumer products. Some of its best known brands are: Dove® , Caress® , Lever 2000, Pond’s® , Vaseline® and Mentadent® from its Chesebrough-Pond’s business unit; Suave® , Salon Selectives® , Finesse® and Degree® from its Helene Curtis business unit; and Wisk® , Surf,

all® , Snuggle and Sunlight® from its Lever Brothers business unit. Unilever HPC-USA is part of the Unilever group, the third largest consumer products company in the world, with operations in 90 countries, 300,000 employees and annual sales of $50 billion.

FamilyPC is the premier source for information on family computing and the Internet and is a publication of Ziff-Davis, the leading provider of special-interest content about the Internet and computing. In the 1997 Intelliquest Home Influencer Study, FamilyPC was found to have 1.35 million readers. Adweek named FamilyPC one of the 10 Hot Up-and-Comers in its annual hottest magazines issue (March 3, 1997).

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, Picture It! and Encarta are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.

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