Canon Invites Customers to "See What We Mean" in its Aggressive Fall Marketing Approach.

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 1997--

TV Campaign Brings Bubble Jet Printer "PhotoRealism" to Life;

MultiPASS Makes Its TV Advertising Debut

Canon Computer Systems Inc. (CCSI) Friday announced that it will kick off the fall season by launching an aggressive and customer-focused marketing campaign -- an approximate $25 million effort.

The fall activities will revolve around the new line of Canon Color Bubble Jet printers as well as its Canon Convertible printer, which for the first time in CCSI history, will be making its debut in national television advertisements.

The campaign continues Canon's focus on customer benefits rather than on product specifications, and includes three television spots that will appear on national television this fall. The spots were produced to promote Canon's recently announced photo-realistic Bubble Jet printers -- the BJC-4300, the BJC-7000 and the MultiPASS C3000 Canon Convertible printer.

In addition to the television spots, consumer magazine advertisements have been created to match the TV creative for the same three products. A fourth advertisement has been created specifically for both reseller publications and corporate volume buyer publications, which will feature Canon's new color portable printer, the BJC-80. Newspaper advertisements on the BJC-4300 and the MultiPASS C3000 will also appear, as well as on-line banner advertisements for the BJC-4300 and the BJC-80.

"`See What We Mean,' the theme that surrounds the Canon product line this fall, is an evolution of the `What Can You Do?' campaign that showed customers new and exciting ways to use their printers, such as creating T-shirt transfer designs and greeting cards," said Peter Bergman, CCSI vice president of marketing and customer care.

"Two years have passed since that successful campaign, and customers have become more sophisticated when it comes to color printing. Today, the customer is looking for PhotoRealism -- the best quality printing to meet their needs."

"Whether it be photo-quality printing or everyday text printing, the customer is much more interested in output quality than ever before," continued Bergman. "`See What We Mean' reinforces Canon's dedication to meeting the needs of customers and providing them with the best results -- we're letting them decide which is the best, we're not just throwing out a specification number claiming superiority."

The Start of the Campaign

The advertising campaign, which was created by Marina del Rey, Calif.-based agency, Hajjar and Partners, reflects the "See What We Mean" theme throughout its many different communications. The first ad to highlight this theme will be a print ad for the BJC-4300 that is scheduled to appear in 37 daily newspapers nationwide, plus leading national newspapers, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

The focus of the ad is a strong statement based on Canon's customer research that there are many other ways of judging print quality -- it's not just about DPI (dots per inch -- a number that is used to measure resolution in printers).

TV Advertising-First Ever for MultiPASS

The highlight of the marketing effort is the television campaign that will start airing on national television in October. The three, 15-second spots will highlight each product (the BJC-4300, the BJC-7000 and the MultiPASS C3000) and will reinforce the photo-realistic results by focusing on the output that only Canon can provide. Emphasizing the importance of the printing function of its MFP (multifunctional peripheral) units, Canon has dedicated one spot solely to CCSI's latest Canon Convertible printer -- the MultiPASS C3000.

Canon emerged as the leader in this growing category last year with the MultiPASS C2500, the top-selling MFP unit in 1996 according to International Data Corp. (IDC). As the market continues to grow this year, which according to IDC, personal MFP unit shipments are expected to increase by 42 percent, Canon will once again be a leader by being the first to dedicate a TV spot to an MFP product for the SOHOME (small office/home office) market.

In addition to the TV and newspaper campaign, a series of print ads will appear in consumer magazines such as PC Magazine, Family PC and Wired.

Launch of photorealism.com

Another integral part of the fall marketing campaign is the latest Canon Web site -- photorealism.com . The site will go live in September and will focus on the innovative technologies that Canon has incorporated into its new line of color Bubble Jet printers such as Plain Paper Optimized Printing (P-POP), Bi-level inks, the industry's first seven-color system and Drop Modulation Technology -- all of which create enhanced print quality.

The site will give customers comprehensive information on the features and benefits of Canon products covering the input, output and processing steps that achieve PhotoRealism.

Also, CCSI revamped its main Web site by adding new features, expanded content and a brighter, bolder look. The site contains more information on Canon's new line of Bubble Jet printers, as well as newly designed sections on Canon Creative 3, specialty papers, inks and software. All of these changes are focused on giving the customer comprehensive information on the entire product line as well as on the company itself.

In-Store Support

Canon is also keeping the commitment to its customers by maintaining a strong and knowledgeable field support team. Throughout the fall this team will begin demonstrating Canon's new line of Bubble Jet printers in more than 1,000 retail stores across the country, showing customers how to achieve photo-realistic results simply and affordably.

About CCSI

Canon Computer Systems is a subsidiary of both Canon USA Inc. (Lake Success, N.Y.) and Canon Inc. (Tokyo). The company, with headquarters in Costa Mesa, was founded in 1992 to market Canon- branded computer peripheral products in the United States, including Color Bubble Jet printers, and Photo Inks, the MultiPASS line of Canon Convertible printers, FAXPHONE facsimile machines, PowerShot digital cameras, Canon Creative and WebRecord Internet printing software.

CCSI is uniquely positioned to offer both home and small office consumers true PhotoRealism -- the new gold standard in computer input and output quality -- based on its technological heritage in optical imaging and color printing. Customers are reached via the mass market channel -- a network of computer dealers, superstores and mass merchants. For more information, customers can call 800/848-4123 or visit the CCSI Web site at www.ccsi.canon.com .

Canon, celebrating its 60-year anniversary, is recognized as the world's largest computer printer manufacturer, a leader in imaging technology and a top worldwide patent holder. As a global technology leader, Canon achieved $22 billion in worldwide sales in 1996.

CONTACT: Canon Computer Systems Inc., Costa Mesa

Sherri Snelling/Kristine Skrabski, 714/438-3075/3484

[e-mail]

or

Golin/Harris Communications

Jennifer Boggs, 213/623-4200, ext. 769

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